Mr. King,

Good effort, Douglas, but please allow me to edit your article to make it more
palatable. Here we go . . .


Johnson 18 1998 Midwinter's, Sarasota Florida
by Doug King (edited by Capt. Neal)

The Sarasota Sailing Squadron hosts an annual, Midwinter, One-Design
regatta. This year approximately 109 boats from eight classes competed.

My capable and enthusiastic wife, Kathie, usually crews for me, however,
she was unavailable for this event so I recruited Pete Thorn, an excellent
sailor and a great guy who competes in a different class.

The Johnson 18 class was comprised of only nine boats - slightly down from
last year's number. On Friday, there were two practice races in balmy conditions
with winds of about eight knots but there was a threat of thunderstorms which
did not materialize. However, they heralded some very different conditions
the following day.

A strong cold front passed through the area during the night bringing
with it a crystal clear, Saturday morning accompanied by a brisk and chilly,
25 to 30 knot wind blowing right down the bay. A number of other boats
were hesitating at the dock but we maneuvered past them and got underway
like a shot from a cannon. Our goal was to conserve our strength during the
forty-five minute beat to the course starting line.

The brisk conditions seemed invigorating to us but some boats found them
trying. Only one E-Scow dared to brave the winds and seas but they suffered
a knock-down and were swamped immediately to windward of the starting line.
The only other class to complete races on our course was the Vipers.

The long beat, steering through the chop, was good practice and when we
lined up for our start we were definitely ready for business- windward/leeward
course, pin end favored, wind shifted slightly left: Bang!

Pointing is not the Johnson 18’s strong suit. We footed off even more
than usual for power through the chop; traveler down, hiked like crazy . . .
We got plenty wet, but it was worth it when we came around on a long port
tack clean, well ahead of the fleet. By the windward mark, we enjoyed a
sizeable lead while taking off downwind on a fast but comfortable spinnaker
run.

I looked back often, checking Matt Michaud in second-place. Their boat headed
up onto a closer reach and came surging towards us, spinnaker taught and straining.

“Let’s head up for speed, Pete,” I said. Boy did we ever! A five-degree change
in heading gave us a fifteen-degree shift in apparent wind and we took off as if
on afterburners. Pete later said it felt like being in a Road Runner cartoon where
Wiley Coyote lights the fuse on a giant, red, sky rocket strapped to his back.

In spite of this, Matt had gained significantly on us but was pushing it too
much as he approached the leeward mark. Of course, when closing on the
mark at 20+ knots it's not easy to accurately judge time and distance. Being
preoccupied with our own boat, we did not see what lead up to it but Matt's
boat rounded up during the spinnaker take-down and capsized.

We maintained our lead during the remainder of the first race, covering
loosely. David Keane held on for a second place finish, followed by Shelley
Cerf, John Weiss, and Charlie Kilandor.

The second race turned out to be even tougher as the wind and chop built.
We led briefly, then Matt Michaud passed us just before the windward
mark when we mishandled a jib sheet. We caught back up at the leeward
mark and regained the lead even as both boats sailed well past the mark
in the process of getting our spinnakers under control!

On the next downwind run, it was our turn to capsize and, to lend a little
variety, we did it gybing which afforded Matt a well-earned, first place
finish. Waving off assistance from a powerboat, Pete stuffed the soggy
spinnaker back into its bag before we righted the boat and jogged around
the course finishing a dog-tired third.

By Sunday, conditions were somewhat calmer. It was sunny with winds of
twelve to fifteen knots from the same direction. The chop was less steep.

The first start saw a recall flag. We circled back. Although I was
fairly certain we were safe, doing so is cheap insurance, nonetheless.
Pete and I reassured each other of that fact as we fell in line.

This put us a ways back in the fleet but at the first leeward mark
several boats pulled up and hove-to next to the race committee boat.
They had been recalled, not us! Suddenly we found ourselves
in third place.

At about that time, John Weiss from White Bear Lake and his crew Cara
came zooming up on a hot reach and we busied ourselves fending off this
determined challenge from astern. The next weather leg saw us engaging
in an exciting tacking duel, including some false tacks. Up ahead, Charlie
Kilandor was getting a bullet, closely followed by Herman Sorin in his new
boat crewing for Jason from Johnson Boat Works. We held on and finished
third which maintained our solid lead for the regatta.

As luck would have it, the third race saw me botch the start, but at least we
were at the favored end and not over early. On the first leeward leg, we
caught a nice gust and planed cleanly past most of the pack in front of us.

Directly ahead, Jason was reading the shifts well and out pointing us by
just enough to keep clear. On the next downwind leg we gained, but couldn’t
close enough to jockey for the all-important inside overlap at the mark. We
finished second in that race, followed by David Keane, Charlie Kilandor,
Matt Michaud, John Weiss, Shelley Cerf and Gregg Graton. By my reckoning,
we had the regatta locked up. So I asked Pete if he wanted to drive in the
last race. “Sure!” he beamed.

Pete did us proud with our best start of the regatta so we sailed
conservatively taking no chances. We did have one wild scramble, though,
planing in hot to the leeward mark with boats close on the outside and,
although I couldn’t see much while kneeling in bow wrestling the spinnaker,
Pete held the inside line and around we went like a pros. A little covering
was in order and we followed Jason and Charlie across the finish line with
another, clean third place and the overall, Johnson 18, Midwinter Championship.

YES!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++

Skippers Crew Sail # Finishes Score
Douglas King/Pete Thorn 140 1-3-3-2-3 12
Charlie Kilandor 183 5-DNF-1-4-2 22
David Keane 0 2-2-DNS-3-5 22
Herman Sorin/Jason Brown 173 DNF-DNF-2-1-1 24
Matt Michaud 151 DNF-1-DNS-5-4 30
John Weiss/Cara Weiss 148 4-DNF-4-6-6 30
Shelley Cerf 138 3-DNF-DNS-7-7 37
Gregg Graton/Eileen Graton 152 DNF-DNF-5-8-8 41
Brian Malone, Bahamas 147 DNF- - - - 50

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++

I hope this helps.

CN