Over 200 boats from across Southern California entered this year’s Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC) Turkey Day Regatta, including two Shields representing the CSULB Sailing Association.

The Shields battled it out over two days and six races, but in the end it was Sopwith Camel Racing (SCR) and skipper Charlie Abbott who took home the Shields class victory. Abbott and crew won 5-of-6 races against skipper Dennis Trombley and his Denito Syndicate Racing team (DSR). 

See the full gallery of photos at the CSULBSA’s Facebook page, here. 

OVERALL REGATTA

The overall regatta featured more than a dozen types of boats split into three race courses: Bay (Sabots/Lidos/etc), Ocean A (Lasers/Finns/etc) and Ocean B (remaining boats, lumped into six comparable ocean classes): 
*A: 29ers 
*B: Viper 640s 
*C: 49ers + F-18s 
*D: 505s
*E: Shields + Mercury 18s 
*F: Cal 20s 

The Ocean B course was set between Islands Chafee and Freeman. The Shields class had their starting sequence with the Mercury 18 fleet, but would be scored separately. 

DAY ONE (Three Races)

Click here to see the DAY ONE race course.

Winds out of the South averaged about 10 mph most of the day and the committee set a traditional upwind-downwind course with a leeward gate and upwind finish. 

Sailing Karen, Team Denito (Dennis Trombley, Mossy Kennedy and Gwynn Markle) were a man down the entire day after one of their crew failed to show up for race day.

Team SCR (Charlie Abbott, Mike Fratantoro, Kyle Henneberque and Tim Gallagher), sailing Isabelle, took Race One, leading start to finish for the one-lap [W1-G-Finish] course.

It was much the same in Race Two, as SCR built a lead during the first leg of the [W2-G-W2-G-Finish] course and held off Denito on Leg 2. 

In Race Three, however, a one lap sprint [W2-G-Finish] played into Denito’s hands as they opted for a port tack start and found clean air on the West side of the race course. Meanwhile, SCR got stuck behind the Mercury fleet and had to play catch up. SCR battled back to take the lead but on the final upwind beat Denito poured on the speed and was able to cross the line three boat lengths ahead.

The teams finished Day One separated by only one point: SCR 4 versus DSR 5. 

DAY TWO (Three Races)

Click here to see the DAY TWO race course.

The wind was light and variable for most of the morning on Day Two, but by time Race One began it settled due West and slowly built up to about 12-13 mph by day’s end. The teams switched boats for the second day of racing in an attempt to prove/disprove the prevailing notion that one Shields hull (Isabelle) had an inherent speed advantage over the other (Karen).

Race One went to Karen and Team SCR (Charlie Abbott, Mike Fratantoro, Tatiana Misares and David Woerner) as they capitalized on a textbook starboard end start and led wire to wire for their first win of the day and fourth overall.

SCR helmsman Mike Fratantoro nailed another start in Race Two but SCR briefly opened the door to Team Denito (Dennis Trombley, Mossy Kennedy, Gwynn Markle and Camille Hambly) when SCR had some spinnaker troubles and nearly overshot the leeward gate. Denito passed SCR but a course split benefitted Abbott and crew as they were able to climb back ahead before the finish. 

Again, a strong start in Race Three by Team SCR allowed them to cover Denito most of the course. SCR closed out the final race with a clean sweep on Day Two and a four point overall win in the regatta. 

ABYC Turkey Day Regatta, Final Results, Shields Class – 11.23.14

7 pts – Sopwith Camel Racing (1-1-2-1-1-1)
*Charlie Abbott, Mike Fratantoro, Kyle Henneberque (Sat-only), Tim Gallagher (Sat-only), Tatiana Misares (Sun-only), David Woerner (Sun-only)

11 pts – Denito Syndicate Racing (2-2-1-2-2-2)
*Dennis Trombley, Mossy Kennedy, Gwynn Markle, Camille Hambly (Sun-only)

Next Race

CSULB Sailing Association will enter its Capri 14.2 fleet in the ABYC’s Boxing Day Pursuit Race on December 27.
…