J/22, J/24, J/80s Love Dillon Open(Dillon, CO)- This year's Dillon Open Regatta continues to bring thrilling sailing experiences to sailors on Lake Dillon. The Dillon Open, known for its superior race management and challenging sailing conditions, is the premier sailing regatta in the Rocky Mountain region and all proceeds from the Dillon Open are donated to the Dillon Yacht Club Junior Sailing Program (DYCJSP), a non-profit organization that provides weekly sailing camps for youth kids in Summit County, Western slope and along the front-range.
The
Dillon Yacht Club (DYC), founded in 1968, is America's highest yacht
club at 9,017 feet above sea level. The Dillon Open Regatta is one of
the most unique sailing regattas in the world and draws amateur and
professional sailors from various states to compete in the challenging
conditions of Lake Dillon. The highly competitive nature of this regatta
hosts seven fleets of one-design boats to participate in this sailing
event. Colorado has no shortage of top contenders, the Dillon Yacht Club
is proud to claim several of its members as past winners of the Dillon
Open Regatta.The J/22s had one of their best regatta turnouts in years, with fourteen boats fighting for "King of the Hill" honors in the big Rocky Mountain region! This year's newly crowned "King" is Robin Jackson sailing K'NAE to a 1-1-6-1 record for 9 points, easily eclipsing his competitors who all had to be suffering nose-bleeds from such a beating. Bill Darling's crew on CAMPROBBER kept them honest, but could scarcely match their speed and cunning, getting a 3-3-3-6 score for 15 points. Just behind them were Mike Kline's team on the NAUTI MOOSE with a 5-2-7-3 record for 17 points.
All
the drama was in the J/24 class. As one of the longest running
one-design keelboat fleets on Lake Dillon, the J/24s were not lacking
for competition despite having seven entries racing for all the
marbles. It was the ONLY fleet that determined its winner on a
tie-breaker!! OMG, the top four were nearly ALL tied together going
into the last race! What gives?! Clearly these teams were having a
"fiesta" amongst themselves and enjoyed the fun, camaraderie and
competition. Day one leaders became day two toast, literally. Not sure
how that happened but perhaps it was some of Lake Dillon's famous
watering holes and 9k altitude had something to do with some teams
losing common sense or some brain cells to boot. Nevertheless, coming
from way behind after day one and winning the tie-breaker was Dave
Irwin's team on IBAJ (get it? I-B-A-J. Ha!). Their 3-3-2-1 for 9
points beat out Tim Nelson's FLY MO'J team that had a 2-1-3-3 for an
IDENTICAL score!? Yes, in such case the tie-break goes to who beat who
last! Bummer. Just behind them was Frank Keesling on THE (big)
DUMPSTER also winning his tie-break to get third!! Wow. His 4-4-1-2
for 11 pts beat out Greg Johnson's PINOTAGE team with an IDENTICAL
1-2-4-4 record on the same basis as the winners tied for first!! Holy
COW, when has THAT ever happened in ONE regatta-- probably NEVER. One
for the record books and a fun one to be a part of in yachting history.The J/80s had good competition in the PHRF A fleet and sailing as a sub-class. At the end of the day, Dave Leavenworth's HARMATTAN sailed well to win the J/80s. Second was Kurt Van der wal's HENDRIX and third was Bob Lane's BLISS. Sailing photo credits- Greg Schertz For more Dillon Open sailing information
