| 2007 Season Report Melges 24 Fleet 11 Fleet Captain Richard Leslie 2008 was a magnificent year for Melges 24’s due mainly to the World championship event held in Santa Cruz. The event was extremely well run by the SCYC, weather spectacular and many will remember the conditions particularly the last day and the gusts of 30 plus knots and 4-6 ft swells. Planing speeds were remarkable with some recording in excess of 20 knots. Dave Ullman was victorious which was hugely popular with his peers with Brian Porter and the boys from Melges winning 2nd place. 14 of our members competed with the 3 Pegasus Boats being the best performed best being Mark Christensen 7 th place. Don Jesberg came in a credible 22nd . The experience of racing amongst such world class athletes was truly something that won’t be forgotten and the lessons learned invaluable. The San Francisco Yacht club hosted the Pacific Coast championships which was a lead up event to the World’s apart from having its own significance. Full throttle was the winner followed by Dave Ullman with Shark Kahn coming in third. Don Jesberg again featured by coming in 4 th. The excitement and input of the world’s was a huge deal for many which resulted in quite a few Boats and crews taking some time out. The regulars became consistent starters none more so than the team on Bones with Robert Harf being out there for every event. Tom Klenke traveled from Tahoe consistently and showed great improvement in Boat speed to pick a third place overall for the season pointscore .Tom was instrumental in beginning the Velocitek regatta at Tiburon yacht Kevin Clark and the boys on Smokin, Tom, Mike and Andrew had a fantastic year and who could forget them finishing the last race at the world’s with their rig down but sailing to the finish holding out their main to gain forward motion. Smokin continually set the pace for Boat speed when they were on the course and proved consistency was one of their many attributes.Smokin came second overall on the season pointscore. 1st overall was the Southern Cross team which began as Matilda #19 which is now in Australia enjoying some warm weather. My thanks go especially to Bill Odgers and Mahalynn Lu for being such superb crew and also many thanks to Steve Lovegove for teaching us many things not the least on how to hike !! I must say the intensity of the world’s taught us how much more there was to learn and how well our Boats must be sailed in order to be competitive.We are all very proud of our improvement with much more to come . And we thank the Smokin boys for not making it to some of the starts !!!! Sailor of the year for 2007 was awarded to Dan Hauserman and his crew. Dan Had a stellar year in terms of improvement, consistency, and supporting our class whether it be in Lake Tahoe or in the bay area. My thanks go to Treasurer Neal Ruxton who does many things behind the scenes for our class .Don Jesberg must be recognized for assisting always with advice, administration, planning etc. There are several measures I think we should focus on in 2008. Upgrades to the website Email communication Crew placement More members paying dues Crew paying dues There does seem to be an evolution in the Boats, exciting that we have Chris Farkus joining us as an owner and the possibility of two or three new Boats in the bay area. I would hope that we could plan ahead to be available to race on the nominated days so that our fleet is actively racing and improving. Best wishes for a happy festive season and a great new year Richard Leslie AUS 676 Fleet Captain 2007/8 |
