Note: All of Jan’s DJOD photos can be seen at her Smugmug site.
Bellingham Yacht Club’s Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta (once upon a time known as the Bellingham Bay One Design Regatta) has been known to dish up some of everything wind wise. Sometimes it’s a gnarly southerly with a short chop and a one-way track. At other times, the Bay can be maddeningly flat, for hours. Seldom, it seemed, would it deliver fresh breezes plus the sunshine that brightens smiles all around. Well, those are the conditions that prevailed this past weekend, at least on Saturday. B-Bay came up flat on Sunday, but the fleets were held on shore so it became a great opportunity to socialize and recover.
There was an impressive turnout this year. Twenty seven Lasers, 19 505s and 11 Tasars formed the largest classes. Flying Juniors, Laser Radials and i550s made up the remainder of the classes. Even though only three i550s attended, it’s intriguing that such a thing as a high-performance, home-built boat is gaining a toehold in North America.
Another trend of note was the tremendous Canadian attendance. The 505 and Laser fleets in particular saw good mix of Canadian and US boats.
Saturday’s races started out with two very light and shifty races in an easterly. When the westerly filled in around 1400 hrs, three races were sailed in virtually perfect dinghy racing conditions. Racing was tight in most classes. Results posted here.
It was a tired group of sailors that gathered for Regatta Chair Mike Poulos’ pulled pork recipe, and every last scrap of food was consumed along with a keg of beer. For those with enough energy, there was karaoke. It will be hard to top Darren Redies’ rendition of “Old Time Rock and Roll” for years to come.
The Bellingham Yacht Club crew puts on a complete regatta, and this time the weather did as well, at least for a day.
