(San Diego, CA)- The International Masters Regatta was established in
1975 by St. Francis Yacht Club Member, Don Trask. For years, the worldʼs
greatest master sailors such as Elvstrom, Buchan, Burnham, Tillman,
Trask, Irish, Harken, North, Holland, Hinman and Dickson have competed
in this prestigious international sailing event on the San Francisco
Bay. After a three year hiatus, this year's event has moved down to the
sunny, friendly climate of San Diego, with the San Diego YC hosting the
event for the first time in 2012.
The
regatta, sailed in J/105 sailboats, included buoy-racing inside the
beautiful bay alongside San Diegoʼs gorgeous waterfront. On Saturday,
the regatta incorporated San Diegoʼs most beloved race, the Hot Rum,
where the master sailors mixed it up with 100+ other boats. The weather prognosticators could not have been more accurate for the three-day weekend. Truly "chamber of commerce" conditions were forecast and the weather Gods delivered, Neptune must've been happy! Gorgeous sky-blue days with NNW winds from 8-15 kts all three days made for some great racing inside San Diego Bay, as well as for the famous Hot Rum Race for the Masters 105 sailors.
After
the first day of racing on Friday, the regatta leader was Bruce Munro
from San Francisco with a 3-2-1-4 for a five pt lead over the fleet.
The make-or-break race for many of the teams was the fifth race counter,
the Hot Rum Race on Saturday. Making their bid for the top five was
Jon Andron's team from San Francisco, winning the Hot Rum Race with
Ireland's Ron Holland finishing 2nd and San Diego's own Malin Burnham
snagging 3rd. On the last day of racing with five teams within five
points of eachother, the top of the podium was up for grabs. Starting
out of the blocks fast on Sunday was Bruce Munro's team, winning the
first race with an emphatic 500 yard lead. However, after starting
fast, the Munro team saw the wheels fall-off the shopping trolley with
consecutive 7-7s to finish 2nd overall. Sailing a very consistent
series on the last day to win was Dennis & Sharon Case with a 3-4-4
to win by just 3 pts. Third was one of Denmark's (and later Toronto's)
more famous citizen sailors, Hans Fogh who finished the series with an
exclamation point- first in the last race. Fourth was Jon Andron and
fifth was local San Diego sailor Chuck Nichols. The Master Regatta was ably handled by San Diego YC's band of volunteers and excellent RC/PRO management. Kudos to Jeff & Karen Brown and team at JK3 Yachting (pictured above with sponsored spinnaker) for their extraordinary efforts to support this wonderful event along with their sponsors, friends and hosts at San Diego YC. Several sailors were overheard asking whether they could be included for the 2013 edition already! It was clear all the crews aboard the ten boats had a wonderful time sailing amongst one another and wished they could sail again next year! Sailing Photo Credts- Bob Grieser/ Outside Images. For more J/105 International Masters Regatta
