CYC POD 2025 - Day 2 Race Report
Boris Luchterhand and Ron Rosenberg on 'Riff' in the 2025 CYC POD Regatta
With half of the races sailed in a regatta it is easy to get over focused on the boats close by in the current standings and start thinking about who to pass and who not to get passed by. About the time the onboard banter turns to which boats to push back, someone usually says: 'we need to sail our own race, don't worry so much about the scores'. Everyone nods, agrees, and absolutely continues to keep an eye open for certain sail numbers.
Team 'Mossy' started the day today with a six point lead over team 'Riff', but after the throw out was added, their lead was reduced to three points over 'Riff' and four points over 'Lift Ticket'. The forecast called for a moderate northerly to turn to a moderate easterly at about the time of the first race. In Seattle, easterly almost always means no wind, but when we got out on the course, there was a healthy 12 to 18 knots blowing directly from the north. Enough wind to break things, and enough weather uncertainty to figure anything could happen. So the sailors probably were thinking it would be wise to just sail their own boats and let the others do whatever they would do.
So the first race of the day, the 6th race of the regatta, showed the pin end significantly favored, and Dalton and team 'Mossy' won that end of the starting line convincingly with team 'Riff' on their hip. Ten boat lenths later, 'Mossy' was able to tack and cross the fleet. 'Riff' continued on then also tacked onto port. With the left shift, a large portion of the leg was spent on port. When 'Mossy' tacked on the layline, 'Riff' was less than a boatlength behind. Weather mark, the same, leeward mark, the same, weather mark second time, still only a boatlength or two between them. The edge of the seat, fingernails gripping tension was broken when during their set a big blast rounded 'Mossy' up and put a giant hole in the port side shoulder of their spinnaker. 'Riff' got through to leeward for the pass.
Dalton and Lindsey Bergan on ‘Mossy’ (486) and Boris Luchterhand and Ron Rosenberg on 'Riff' (496)
But wait, team 'Mossy', was not deterred by the gaping hole in their sail. They trimmed it in and blasted down the next wave. And so it went, neck and neck to the downwind finish. Somehow, rip and all, Dalton and Lindsey Bergan on 'Mossy' regained the lead over 'Riff'. But then 'Mossy' sailed right past the finish line as if they were sailing a different course. When they saw 'Riff' take the gun, they realized their mistake and took down their ripped sail and started sailing back upwind to the finish line. They scored a third, just behind 'Lift Ticket' who had done some amazing passing of their own after having been 6th at the first weather mark.
Six races had been run, the throw out had been calculated, and the score was: 'Mossy': 11, 'Riff': 12, 'Lift Ticket': 14. Oh boy.
At the start of race 7, the pin end was again heavily favored. This time it was 'Riff' taking the prize with 'Mossy' on their hip. At the weather mark, Boris Luchterhan and Ron Rosenberk on 'Riff' were the leaders with 'Mossy' just two boatlengths back. 'Lift Ticket' was in 7th. 'Mossy' had a slow set, 'Riff' was gone in a big puff. There was some writing on the wall showing the score tied after seven races. At the leeward mark, a pretty good gap. At the second weather mark, a smaller gap, but enough of one that 'Mossy' could split without 'Riff' reacting right away. This time the race actually did have one more leeward mark before the finish. 'Mossy' must have dialed up a pretty good puff or two, because when the boats came back together, there was less than a boatlenght in it. 'Mossy' had some great momentum, was able to get the overlap, and rounded ahead for the first time in race 7. 'Mossy' went on to win, 'Riff' second, 'Lift Ticket' seventh. 'Mossy': 12, 'Riff': 14, 'Lift Ticket': 21. 'Mossy' had to finish right behind 'Riff' or better in the 8th and final race to win.
Dalton and Lindsey Bergan on ‘Mossy’ (486) and Boris Luchterhand and Ron Rosenberg on 'Riff' (496)
The pin was heavily favored again for the final race. 'Lift Ticket' was in position to take it when the breeze went even more to the left. 'Lift Ticket' ran out of space and had to gybe around. 'Riff' also was not making it, but was able to tack onto port for the start -- because everyone else did too. 'Mossy' was so buried at the start they could not be spotted until half way up the leg, and they were somewhere around 10th. Team 'Riff' ended up overlapped with the Hestons on 'Greenwitch' at the weather mark, 'Lift Ticket' was back to 5th, right ahead of 'Mossy' in 6th. Lindsey and Dalton and team had to pass five boats to win the regatta.
'Lift Ticket' and 'Mossy' then split to the east side of the course while the four boats ahead of them stayed on the west side. By the time they got to the first leeward mark, just four minutes later, 'Mossy' was in third. But that is when the magic ran out. Plenty of splitting and speeding was employed by the Bergans, but the line up stayed the same. 'Riff', 'Greenwitch', 'Mossy', and 'Lift Ticket' was the finishing order.
Congratulations to everyone for a spectacular weekend of racing. Boris Luchterhand and Ron Rosenberg on 'Riff' won the 2025 CYC POD regatta with 15 points on a tie breaker with Lindsey and Dalton Bergan on 'Mossy', also with 15 points, and Mathieu Lafitte on 'Lift Ticket' took third with 25 points.