Home2014 MacAlpine Downie Gibbs Cup

2014 MacAlpine Downie Gibbs Cup – Hornblower Regatta

Denver Sailing Association, Cherry Creek Reservoir, Colorado
May 17-18, 2014

This regatta marked the racing debuts for skippers Dave Neely, new Buccaneer owner, sailing with his son Sean and Cameron Holland with Max Williams, the Community Sailing of Colorado youth team sailing together in the Buccaneer for the first time. Rounding out the fleet are Chris Gulden with crew Erik Bartholomy and Sue Swisher with Ralph Stevenson. Both Chris and Sue started out crewing on the Bucc and are now helming their own boats based on Cherry Creek and training for BNAC. Erik skippers his own Bucc as well based at Union Sailing Club in Longmont. Tony Chapman from Arizona sailed with Dan Spira and past BNAC champs Jim Daus, and David Spira sailed with a new crew for the first time – Dawn Darling with Spira and Jim’s crew Nate Burger.

The first race was won by Spira and Darling with young Cameron and Max just behind in 2nd place! Cameron is very strong in the starts and they were very quick downwind as the lightest team in the fleet. After 3 more races in light shifty winds the standings put Spira on top with 4 wins, followed by Daus, Holland and Chapman all within a point of one another.

Saturday night the Buccaneer fleet hosted a rum bar for the regatta party and talked up the plans for BNAC at Dillon Yacht Club this August.

On Sunday the breeze was on! A solid 12-15kts with small shifts. Perfect for hiking and the RC sent the fleet on a marathon race consisting of 3 laps of the lake! This race would favor the most fit team and sure enough Jim and Nate won with a nice lead, followed by Spira, Chapman and Holland. Tony and Dan turned it on in the last two races as the breeze diminished a bit and their teamwork improved, winning the last two races of the series and 2nd overall!

Dave Neely and Sean were sailing their newly acquired Chrysler and racing for the first time. Eventually they had the spin flying well and steadily closing the gap with the fleet and improving their skills. No doubt they will be training right up to the opening race of the North Americans on Lake Dillon where they have a home in Frisco.

Thanks to DSA for hosting a great regatta, wonderful Colorado weather, and to all the teams who turned out including Tony, the BCA Treasurer who flew in from Phoenix, to make this a very memorable MDG Cup.

7 boats, 7 Races – 1st David Spira and Dawn Darling, 2nd Tony Chapman and Dan Spira 3rd Jim Daus and Nate Burger

– David Spira, Bucc 5280 Altitude

Racing Recap

Day 1

The weather forecast for Saturday included the possibility of an afternoon storm, and fortunately, none materialized anywhere near the lake. Northeasterly winds were generally light, ranging from 0 to about 10 MPH, up and down, with distinct wind lines on the water. The challenge for teams wanting to finish ahead was to find a wind line and stay in it. But there was always enough wind to start and complete races, and on a single course for both keelboats and dinghies, with the finish line offset to the right of the final mark in each race, keelboats got in five races and dinghies four.

The keelboat fleets included four U-20s, four J/22s, and a lone Santana sailing a PHRF Open fleet. The dinghies included fifteen Lasers, seven Buccaneers, five Lightnings, and three boats sailing in a Portsmouth Open (OOAK) fleet – a 420 and two Optis, all sailed by CSC Junior sailors.

The first race was on a windward-leeward course marked by inflatables; subsequent races were on a 1 – 5 course except for the last one for dinghies, which was on a 2 – 7 course.

All racers were off the water and back at the dock by 5 PM, where they then gathered for quaffs of complimentary Dry Dock beer before dinner. The dinner consisted of burgers and brats cooked to order by Jim Ulatowski and Steve Davis, coupled with sides, salads, and dessert, all brought by Barb Thompson who planned the menu and shopped for the food. The Buccaneer fleet provided a Rum Bar for an upscale touch to add to the dinner.

Day 2

The weather forecast for Sunday called for mostly sunny skies, with a high near 85, with south wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. From 10 AM to about 1 PM the winds were stronger than that, running about 20 MPH with powerful shifty gusts, but after that they settled down to the predicted range. And we definitely reached the 85 degree mark, making for a warm afternoon when out of the wind, and shirt sleve weather even in the wind.

RC set a 5 – 1 course and, for the first race, sent competitors three times around, keeping them on the course for two hours. Subsequent races were single loop races, allowing two more races before calling it a day at 3 PM. A second Santana had joined the PHRF fleet for day 2, making for a little more interesting competition there.

Back at the dock we started the awards ceremony at 4 PM. Results here. Congratulations to J/22 skipper Michael Kline and crew, who won the Shootout trophy for a second year in a row, beating out a U-20 team in a second-level tiebreaker. And congratulations to Kurt Robinson who handily won the Hornblower trophy.

Sincere thanks to all who helped plan and run this regatta, starting with Regatta Chair Curtis Rist, who also worked Race Committee on both days and served as PRO on Sunday. Special thanks to Julie Rist, our speedy and accurate scorekeeper, who also worked RC on both days. And to Paul Kresge, our PRO on Saturday; Roy Burley, Dan May; Mika Hamer; Barb Thompson; Mark Olszowy; and Tom Fitzpatrick (Julie’s brother) who rounded out the RC crew.

Other volunteers working to make the regatta a success included our registrar David Thompson; Jim Ulatowski who made delicious Juice Plus shakes; our dinner grillers Jim Ulatowski and Steve Davis; our clean-up crew Glenn Hackemer; Brad Lawson; David and Barb Thompson; and Curtis and Julie Rist; and our Subway runner Mika Hamer, who picked up sandwiches for RC on both days.

magnificent Yamaha twin-engine jet boat for use by our finish line crew on both days; also to Dry Dock Brewery that donated a cold keg of delicious Amber Ale; Ameriprise Financial that donated the bottled water; Juice Plus for donating the materials for the Juice plus shakes; and Cherry Creek Marina.