CYC POD 2025 - Day 1 Race Report
Dalton and Lindsey Bergan on ‘Mossy’ (486) and Boris Luchterhand and Ron Rosenberg on 'Riff' (496) fight for the lead in race 1
Fifteen J/70s enjoy a beautiful day of racing on Puget Sound with Dalton and Lindsey Bergan on ‘Mossy’ establishing a good lead after five races. Also, in the nine boat J/105 fleet, Jeffrey Pace and is crew on ‘Lift Off’ scored second in every race to prove that consistency is the key to winning sailboat regattas.
It was a beautiful day for sailboat racing on the Puget Sound and the PNW J/70 fleet, aka the "JPOD", added some hard fought racing to the clearing skies and sunshine. The CYC race committee took full advantage successfully running 5 races, evenly on the half hour, from 11:30 to 3:30.
Dalton and Lindsey Bergan on 'Mossy' came out at the top of the leaderboard with 12 points, ahead of Boris Luchterhand and Ron Rosenberg on 'Riff' with 18 and Mathieu Laffitte on 'Lift Ticket' with 23.
Team 'Riff' won the first and the last race, the only team with two race wins. The 'Mossy' crew came out ahead with supreme consistency, never finishing worse than 4th.
The scores seem bland compared to the action. It was a day with a dyeing breeze that had promised the teens, but delivered just over 10 at the start of the day and steadily declined to about 5 by the last race.
As the wind faded, the shifts and light spots became more pronounced, upending the fleet more than a few times. 'Mossy' was often deeper than 5th at the first weather mark, but was able to pick off boats on every leg. Their ability to keep the boat moving in up and down conditions, find a lane, and wait for their puff or shift was impressive.
It's a bit early for easter, but 'Riff' pulled their easter bunny out of its hat in race four. After a multiple boat cluster on the starting line, 'Riff' came off the line in dead last by more than a little bit. All races count in this regatta, so things were looking grim. But Boris and Ron found a lane, got out left of everyone, picked up some pressure and a pretty big shift, and rounded the first mark in 3rd. They were able to pass another boat and finished the race right behind 'Mossy' in 2nd.
By race 5 shown here, the wind was lighter, but so were the clouds, enabling the sailors to finish in the sun.
Also showing impressive speed and gear shifting abilities were Mathieu Laffitte on 'Lift Ticket' with a race win in the second race, and only one finish outside of the top 5, and William Heston, Bill Heston, and Lena Captain on 'Greenwitch' with 4 of 5 races in the single digits and a win in race 3.
Tomorrow is looking even lighter and even shiftier, so anything can happen.