(Huntington Lake, California)- The 60th High Sierras Regatta took place,
as always, on one of the most remote and scenic venues on the west
coast - Huntington Lake in the High Sierras of California. Hosted and
run by Fresno Yacht Club volunteers, the regatta spans two weekends, the
first on July 6-7 and the second on July 13-14. The first weekend was
made up of Centerboard Classes, with the second featuring mostly larger
keelboats. The number of boats each weekend is limited by the US Forest
Service, so entries are always on a first-come first-serve basis.Over the past six decades, the High Sierra Regatta has had more than its fair share of Olympic gold medalists and National champions sailing in the event. The consistent winds, sunny days and beautiful scenery attract sailors from all over the country; sailing on fresh water in Central California's biggest lake regatta is hard to beat!
The
first day of racing on Saturday saw 100+ keel boats on the water.
Imagine that many boats of wildly different speeds and sizes sharing a
lake that is only 2.25 square miles long-- an anxiety attack mid-course
is not in the cards if you want to sail well in this regatta! Like
clockwork, the breeze built in time for the races to start at 10:55am,
nearly the same time every day.Competitors saw gusts up to 19 kts towards the top of the lake and lows of 6-8 kts towards the bottom. The wind was very puffy and shifty and it typically favored the south shore breeze. Boats that were able to stay in phase on the south shore and play most of the shifts made out over the boats playing the middle or the north shore.
On Sunday the wind was pretty similar to Saturday, very puffy and shifty, favoring the south shore again. With most boats short-tacking up the south shore and the breeze dissipating as you go up the lake, there was a lot of disturbed air. This was where "heroes became zeroes" and were shot out the back. The boats that could stay out of disturbed air and avoid the holes along the shore were able to minimize their losses. Some boats played it conservatively and found large, shifting breeze lanes going out across the lake in breeze.
PHRF B fleet saw the J/24 and J/22 do battle with a cast of Olson 25s and Merit 25s. When all was said and done, Pat Bradley's J/24 OLD AND IN THE WAY took 2nd overall and Greg Greenlee's J/22 TEKEELA took third overall in class.
Bob Crooks J/80 WASAABI enjoyed their weekend on the lake and took 7th in PHRF A fleet. They just nipped out classmate Jim Powell sailing his J/27 LEVITY, who took 8th in class. Sailing photo credits- Eric Zamora- The Fresno Bee For more High Sierras Regatta sailing information
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