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2023 North Americans- Marina Del Rey

Report from Sue Service:
The M242 fleet had champagne conditions for their 2023 North American Championship, held at Cal YC July 7-9. Team TC, led by Alan Field sailing Trolleycar, was the big winner. Not only did they win first place in the regatta but they also won the Fleet 3 sponsored Nautical Trivia Night, taking home the grand prize of a new jib, donated by MG Marine and Ullman Sails. Second place went to Del Rey YC's Lee Lewis, sailing Sandbox, and third place was the all-women team from Cal YC on All In, led by Denise George. A special shout-out to Ken Machtley who made the trek down from Orcas Island YC in WA to join the fun.

Report from Ken Machtley:

Team Treachery with Ken Machtley, Chris White, Jeff Rodenberger, and Carolyn Costa headed to Marina Del Ray this past weekend as the sole representatives to attend from the PNW. Local CA team Off the Wagon, whose A-team crew were on Transpac, generously loaned us their well-prepared steed, making attendance an easy flight down. 
 
Cal Yacht Club was our host to a spectacular 3-day regatta with 15 boats attending. Weather was mostly sunshine with 8-12 knots of breeze and variable swell and wind chop. A total of 8 races were scheduled and run; 3 each on Fri/Sat and 2 on Sunday. 
 
Sailing in CA is significantly different than the flat water and currents common in PNW regattas. Our team climbed a steep learning curve searching for power and point upwind and working to dial in downwind surfing and tactics. We ended up 10th with our top finish being a 6th in the last race. The top nine teams had at least one 4th or better finish and the top 5 teams were separated by only 7 points when all was said and done. 
 
Some of our takeaways from the weekend: 
  1. Rig tension and jib car position were essential for power. We wound up at 35/35 (US Loos) with jib cars way more forward than we usually run on the final day and we were very happy. 
  2. Upwind, speed above 5.8 was essential to get the boat foiling to weather. Pinching was death. 
  3. As always, clear air ruled. Almost all boats were in the front row at the start. The outside edges often were better than the middle. The wind commonly shifts right later in the day, especially when inland temps are high and the marine layer burns off earlier. 
  4. While we found some success at slightly higher angles downwind, most of the top teams were DDW and/or square to waves. Crew positioning to minimize roll and keep sails drawing was important. Half kept crew forward of the mast, most others kept the bow person at the shrouds. 
#MartinsWinTheParty is alive and well at Cal Yacht Club! Trivia night with BBQ on Friday, a keg on the dock each day after racing, and super friendly sailors all made us feel welcome and super glad we attended. 
We're already looking forward to returning and putting our new skillz to work. Midwinters next year anyone? 


Busy Start Line! -credit Simone Staff


Downwind Battle -credit Simone Staff



Hardware! Left to right: Matt Wenner, Ryan Costello, Bill Petersen, Alan Field on Team TC
-credit Simone Staff


Fleet 3 sponsored Nautical Trivia Night - Grand Prize. Left to Right: Mike George (MG Marine), Bruce Cooper (Ullman Sails), Matt Wenner, Alan Field, Ryan Costello, Bill Petersen
-credit Sue Service


Full results are here

 More pictures here thanks to Simone Staff.

Round Bowen Race 2023
by Tim Murphy, with crew Connie Leung and Paul Watson
Dirty Dog #282
 
Connie and Tim; Connie and Paul

I felt quite lucky to have the opportunity to drive Dirty Dog with excellent crew Connie Leung spinnaker trim and Paul Watson foredeck and tactics for the Round Bowen race as owner Matt Collingwood was out of town. At the start things seemed relatively normal despite a steady drizzle and 12 C temperatures; most crews looked like they were ready for the southern ocean and not sunshine. 

SOLD - Simply Red (Vancouver, BC, listed April 4, 2023 for CDN$13,800)

On May 6th, Martin 242 “Simply Red”, hull number 8, was sold by Alan Drinkwater to Matthew Sullivan, who will be moving the boat from RVYC to KYC. The boat measured-in perfectly and is race ready, competitive (top third of Fleet), well equipped, and in excellent condition. Included a 2022 North jib & spin, 2016 valid Measurement Cert, dock trailer, Honda 2hp. :Click on link for full equipment list: https://www.gapyearish.com/simply-red


Matt grew up racing in Kingston Ontario, sailing Lasers for around 10 years before moving to Vancouver for grad school in 2013.  He started racing in the local keelboat circuit in 2014 and joined the Martin 242 fleet in 2021, sailing with Matt Collingwood.  Along with his affinity for being on a boat, Matt also works as a Naval Architect at a Vancouver based design firm. Following the purchase of Simply Red he and his crew began racing on Wednesday night in the local Fleet. They had a very successful first night as they were lucky enough to win their 2nd race! This was the 4th transaction of 2023, and the 63rd in 6.3 years.

Welcome to the Regional Fleet, Matt, and enjoy your first 242!