None of the racers sailing the three-day 2004 Olympic Classes Regatta at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club this weekend have a right to complain about the weather: it was different every day.
Sunday's races were sailed in the finest weather Southern California can offer in the early spring: bright sunshine and moderate breezes made for a day of no mishaps among the four classes racing on the Olympic-style course set off the Seal Beach Pier in the waters of San Pedro Bay. It was a pleasant change from the blustery conditions of Friday that decimated the Finn class and the shifty conditions of Saturday that challenged both racers and race committee.
Andrew LEWIS of Waikiki dominated the 35-boat Laser class from start to finish. The Hawaiian sailor ended the week with wins in all but two races, and the score for one of them was discarded under the scoring rules; his eleven-point total was a third of the total rung up by the second-place finisher, Canadian John ROMANKO. Hometown sailor Chuck TRIPP rode a second-place finish in the first race of the day into third place, one point ahead of the next finisher.
Jennifer SPALDING continued her leadership in the Europe dinghy class. Her third-place finish in the penultimate race of the regatta was the worst finish she carded all week, but it was also her last race: her record of seven first-place finishes and one second allowed her to sit out the final race of the regatta and still end up the winner. Tanja SMUTNY and Brooke CAMPBELL finished second and third overall, respectively, to conclude a sweep in the seven-boat class by Canadian women.
Geoffrey BECK of Canada took his place on the medal stand as winner of the 12-boat Laser Radial class. The fight for the silver medal went down to the wire as Canadian Kevin Grierson and Southern Californian Jake SOROSKY went into the last day tied on points; Gripers touched out Sorosky by a single point after ten races.
The weekend was not friendly for the Finn class: five entered and three started racing on Friday, but each day saw one of the three drop out until only Robert CARLEN was left. He sailed the course in two races Sunday and then dropped out himself in first place overall. Jeff CASE raced two days and ended up in second place while Glenn SELVIN, who raced one day before his boat nearly sunk, ended up in third place of the scored but not with the medal.
Full results are available on the event website at the address below.