US Midwinters Overall
23 March 2015
The Weathermark Sailboats Fireball Midwinters concluded Sunday with no racing due to light conditions. There were no complaints from the fleet as the opportunity to pack up early and begin the trek home was appreciated.
Tof Nicol-Griffith and Peter Kelly repeated their victory from the North Americans but were tied with Christina Haerdi and Xavier Brose with 15 points. Pat Crump and Jane Millican placed third.
For 50 years Fireball sailors have made an annual pilgrimage to the Davis Island YC in Tampa. The event kicked off Thursday evening with a presentation from the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. to entice everyone to Barbados for the 50th World Championship in 2018.
The Midwinters tradition continued today as twenty crews from Switzerland, France, Denmark, Great Britain, Canada and the USA started the three day event in 18 to 20 knots and temperatures in the 80's to kick off ...the Weathermark Sailboats 2015 Midwinters.
The heavier winds were a sharp contrast to the lighter conditions experienced during the recently completed North Americans. For some of the Canadian crews sailing for the first time in several months the result was tired aching bodies. And some of the older boats were tired and aching too!
The tag line for the Fireball Class is Fast, Fun and Friendly. As a change from the usual fleet racing the Midwinters today focused on the Fast and Fun part.
Today's racing featured a variety of courses including one which required a 360 turn on each leg of the course and one requiring the boats to finish stern first.
Sailboat racing usually involves going forward fast. There were significant changes in the finishing order as crews tried to shift gears into reverse and cross ...the finish line stern first.
Among the highlights was the youngest skipper in the fleet, Preston Senior sailing a Fireball for the first time with veteran crew Rob Thompson with a best finish of third so far.
The big winners this week were the sailors who trekked to Tampa from all corners of the continent and Europe to enjoy a week of Fun, Fast and Friendly competition. Thanks to the Davis Island YC for the special relationship with Fireballs that has extended over 50 unbroken years. See you next year.
Full results can be found here (PDF format).
