By Kent & Bonnie Arndt
Six Coronado 15s participated in the Small Boat Midwinter Racing Series hosted by the Richmond Yacht Club, located in Richmond, CA. The Half Moon Bay Yacht Club had four skippers in attendance (Patrick Melley, Charlie Quest, Lucy Gillies, and Adam Quest), and the balance of the fleet was represented by Connor Vance from the Lake Washington Sailing Club (Sacramento, CA) and Seamus Vanecko from the Cal Berkley Sailing Club. The C15 fleet raced in the February and March regattas, and managed to complete a total of 5 races. This year’s midwinter racing in the San Francisco Bay area has been plagued by light winds, forcing some local SF Bay Area Yacht Clubs to cancel their races. February’s pair of races were held in very light winds, while the three races completed in the March regatta benefited from a mid-day breeze that built to about 10 knots by the afternoon. This regatta series has become very popular with small boat racers from all over California and Nevada. This year there were a grand total of 309 boats entered including Opti’s, Lasers, El Toros, 29ers, 505s, Snipes, Bytes, Daysailors, Thistles, various multi-hulls, Ultimate 20s, Wylie Wabbits, and so on. Three separate racing areas were used simultaneously to accommodate all of these fleets. This group of C15 racers was very impressed with the warm hospitality shown by the Richmond Yacht Club, and the well organized racing out on the water. Plans are already in the works to have an even bigger turn-out of local C15s for next years RYC midwinter series which begins the first Sunday in December, 2012. For more race info and complete results go to www.richmondyc.org Hope to see you there in December! Congratulations to skipper Patrick Melley from HMBYC for winning the C15 fleet midwinter series in style with 5 “bullets” (all “firsts” in each race). Race results: 1st – Patrick Melley, 2nd – Lucy Gillies, 3rd – Charlie Quest, 4th – Adam Quest, 5th – Connor Vance, 6th – Seamus Vanecko