Test begins at International Masters Regatta

San Diego, CA (October 19, 2018) – San Diego mountains and U.S. Navy ships framed the course of the International Masters Regatta today as 12 seasoned skippers lived up to their Master titles, rotating J/105s after each of the four races on Day One.

Light winds in the morning resulted in a 30 minute postponement, but the wind peaked at 12 knots by midday with temperatures in the low 80s. Cloudless skies and flat water made for ideal racing on the windward leeward course on beautiful south San Diego Bay.

Dave Perry and Tad Lacey, both International Masters Regatta veterans, held their position in the front of the fleet and finished with a tie of 12 points. However, Perry’s win in Race Three was a crucial element to his standing, moving him into first place and putting Lacey in second. Currently holding the third place position is John Andron, winner of Race Two.

Perry explains how he feels about coming in first on Day One. “It’s fun to be racing with really good people, not only my crew but the other competitors on the course. Everyone on the boat knows the game and is always doing their job.”

SDYC Member John Reiter sailed onboard with Perry today. “Several of us have sailed together in this regatta on these boats five times. This year we put back together the old band, added Alex Camet, who sailed with us last year, and got together a great crew. Dave doesn’t have to worry at all about what’s happening on the boat. It’s easy for him to just relax and sail.

“There was more current than everyone thought. The boats that went out of the current were always gaining from the left. We remembered that eventually and did well. We had no real mistakes today.”

Newcomer Julian Bingham made an impressive comeback today winning Race Four after finishing towards the bottom of the fleet for the first three races.

“The competition is extremely tough here and it really makes for nice sailing,” remarked Bingham. “We seemed to get going reasonably well at times, but the racing was so close, the mark roundings were difficult to manage and we lost a few boats… It takes a little while to get a feel for the boat, the guys were trimming a little better and everything started to go well for us in Race Four. Hopefully one time wasn’t luck!”

New additions to the International Masters Regatta this year also include Andy Roy (4th), Bill Peterson (5th) and David Gould (10th).

Julian Bingham is a sailor from Mobile Yacht Club and is sailing J/105s for the first time this weekend. He has a similar boat, an Oyster 395 that he spends time sailing off-shore. He also enjoys sailing Pipers and Flying Scots. Bingham typically participates in any kind of even, One Design style racing.

Andy Roy is a sailor at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. He typically sails small boats, particularly Lasers. He was in the Americans Cup on Canada Two along with a few larger boat regattas. He heard about the Master’s from friends and thought it might be a fabulous event to participate in. Roy has little experience sailing J/105s.

David Gould is a San Diego local sailing with the Cortez Racing Association. He’s been sailing since he was 18 and has been sailing J/105s since 1992. His favorite races are in Puerto Vallarta because it has great wind and even better views. Gould has been helping set up the J/105s for the past four years and decided to join in the fun this year at the Masters.

Bill Peterson sails at California Yacht Club, has been sailing all his life and worked as a sailmaker for 20 years in the late 90’s. Peterson has won the Yachting Cup at SDYC three years in a row, was a sailmaker for Dennis Conner and has an extensive resume in racing around the world. Peterson is excited to sail at the Master’s Regatta with a crew full of old friends.

Event details – Team rosters – Results – Facebook

Day One Results:

The 37th edition of the International Masters Regatta has attracted a dozen teams for a round robin fleet race series in J/105s on October 19-21.

Source: Casey Allocco