DF95 REGION 8 TRAVELERS SERIES SCORES HOME RUN

Sailors came from California, Washington, Utah, and all parts Arizona for what's become an annual classic, the third DF95 Region 8 Travelers Trophy regatta at Estrella North Lake.

The wind was excellent, the temperature perfect, the competition strong. Home run.

Jess Atkinson took home the top prize. Mark Golison was second. San Diego sailors took places 1st and 3rd while Long Beach sailors nailed 2nd and 4th. The unfortunate boast award went to Dan Shier with his boat "Faster than Lenny," which finished 12th, one spot behind Lenny Bose.

A big thank-you to the crew that made this happen: Al Stiewing, Mike Fruciano, and Karen Roszyk for running 36 heats over two days. Rod Sturgess for organizing (while also managing to race). Mike Ferring for setting the marks and tending to the endless rescue of boats. (By Sunday, one high-finishing, but worn-down competitor launched his boat with the power switched off, then watched it sail out of control to the other side of the lake.) On Sunday, Al Lehman, Sr brought out the grill and served up tasty brats for lunch. Maryellen Ferring acted as the flexible glue to fill all the gaps wherever needed.  What a team!

 Here are the results. And below: 44 photographs snapped by Mike Ferring. If you're really into this stuff, here's a link to a very long video by Dan Shier on YouTube. Incidentally, you'll see people wearing clothes pins on their hats. Why is that? It's a method of keeping everyone organized for the somewhat technical HMS scoring system.