In Like a Lion, Out Like a… Bigger Lion

Paul-Jon Patin won his third Sunfish International Masters Championship, held March 13-15 in Clearwater, FL. With 68 boats, nearly a third of the fleet was women led by Gail Heausler in eighth overall.

Following a strong storm system, Day 1 of the International Masters began with not-exactly-spring-break temperatures in the 30s. Only 34 competitors completed all three of the day’s races sailed in four-foot waves and a fresh northerly breeze. At the end of the day, Patin had claimed the lead with a 2-3-2 score line followed by International Class President Rich Chapman with his 1-2-5.

Conditions moderated somewhat for Day 2, as PRO Rick Lillie and company ran four races in 10-18 kts. of wind on relatively flat water. Patin increased his lead finishing 2-1-2-4 as Doug Kaukeinen, Mike Ingham, and Eugene Schmitt moved ahead of Chapman with these top five sailing consistently top-10 in a 68-boat fleet.

Competitors launched for the final day expecting similar conditions as the second day, but the forecast proved to be spectacularly off base. Unexpectedly strong winds – sustained low 20s gusting to 33 – allowed for two races to close out the event.

Patin, whose victory adds to his wins in 2016 and 2017, has his eye on an even bigger prize in 2022. “I have been training with Doug (Kaukeinen – 2nd) and Mike (Ingham – 3rd) for a while now, each of us with an eye on the upcoming Sunfish World Championship this coming September in Lake Garda, Italy. It would appear we finally got our acts together as each of us ended-up on the podium.

“And there were others in the hunt, too, like Eugene Schmitt who won three races outright and Rich Chapman. Eugene was really fast and, if he didn’t have a breakdown in the last race when it was gusting up to 30, he likely would have finished higher than his fourth. And, Andy Beckman, a 505 sailor relatively new to the Sunfish, was phenomenally fast downwind. This was one heck of a competitive fleet!”

Results https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=23705

Next up is the Sunfish U.S. Team Race Championship on March 17 followed by the Sunfish U.S. National Championship at Midwinters on March 18-20.