(Dillon, Colorado)- Billed as the world’s highest regatta at 9,017 ft
above sea level, racing for the Dillon Open Regatta takes place on
beautiful Dillon Reservoir in Dillon, Colorado, where sailors enjoy
mostly sunny days and spectacular views of the snow-capped Rocky
Mountains. The regatta is hosted by the Dillon Yacht Club, the nation’s
highest yacht club at 9,017 feet above sea level, located near the
Continental Divide, a 70 mile drive west on I-70 from downtown Denver.As Scott Spurlin from J/Boats Southwest once said, “It's been called the "Most dangerous Regatta in America", the "Highest Regatta in America", and the "Largest In-Land Lake Regatta West of the Mississippi". No matter what the claim-- the Dillon Open Regatta is a lot of fun!”
Think
you're good at reading the wind? Lake Dillon would certainly test your
skills! Mountains and valleys with rapidly changing weather again kept
the tacticians on their toes this year! With winds rolling down the
steep mountain sides along the lakefront (or the occasional micro-burst
blowing down vertically out of clear blue sky), the faster (and
sometimes luckier) crews had a field day picking up windshifts and
breeze lines to work themselves to the front of the fleet. 
For
well over 25 years, the J/24s from around the Midwest (as well as
refugees from the heat in the Deep South) have made their annual
migration to sail in the warm and friendly confines of Lake Dillon,
nestled cozily in the Rocky Mountains. Eight J/24 teams made the
starting line this year. It just so happened to be a good "vintage"
year for the crew on Greg & Susan Johnson's PINOTAGE, posting three
1sts in their scoreline on their way to winning the J/24 class with a
5-1-3-1-1-2-3 record for 16 pts. Alan Dille's crew on SEPTILLION made a
valiant effort to remain in contention, but two 4ths in races 4 & 6
hurt their chances for a comeback. Instead, SEPTILLION's
2-3-2-4-24.5-2 for 19.5 pts snagged them a second overall. Taking two
1sts but not staying at all consistent was Frank Kelble's team on USA
1966, amassing a 1-5-4-5-4-1-4 for 24 pts to take third on the podium.
The balance of the top five was taken by Doug Pierini on COLD SMOKE in
fourth and Stephen Bergman on EVENT HORIZON in fifth.
The
Dillon Open has also bee quite popular with the J/22 class, this year
fielding the largest one-design fleet in the regatta with twelve
participants. Sailing fast out of the starting blocks on the first day
was Mike Kline's NAUTI-MOOSE, taking a 1-1-2-1 to never relinquish the
lead for the rest of the regatta. However, victory clearly did not come
easy for this team. After what appeared to have been premature
celebrations taking place on Saturday night, the "Nauti-Boys" on
NAUTI-MOOSE could only muster a 6-5-2 on the last day to barely hang
onto their lead to take class honors! David Baker's UP FOR AIR started
slowly but closed the regatta with a 1-1-4 to take second overall.
Third was Robin Jackson & Kristin Zagray's BIG BUTT BOAT, closing
with a 3-2-1 to show rapid improvement in the standings to take the
silverware for third. Fourth was Stan Strathman's SCREAMIN J and the
"long-distance award" goes to fifth place finisher Richard Hallagan from
Canandaigua YC on New York's Canandaigua Lake. Sailing photo credits- Greg Schertz For more Dillon Open Regatta sailing information
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