The Melges24 QUANTUM RACING team helmed by Terry Hutchinson used the standard Quantum Melges 24 FUSION M upwind sails and the R1 and R2 spinnakers to win the 50 boat St. Pete NOOD regatta this past weekend.

Quantum sails were on quite a few of the top teams and turned a lot of heads with yet another great performance. The Quantum Racing Melges24 Team has now done three events including a win at the North East District Champs, a 3rd at the Atlantic Coast Champs and now another win at the St. Pete NOOD.

The 2008 Quantum Melges 24 sails are setting the standard in the class with the best technology and design. The downwind sails cover all the ranges and our R1 Reacher Asymmetrical is the fastest reacher in the class as tested last weekend. The St. Pete NOOD was sailed in mostly light conditions under 8 knots where the R1 is designed to perform. The sail is flatter and designed for the tighter angles the M24 sails in these conditions. In one race this sail enabled us to sail past 20+ boats in one leg!

J24 Midwinters - Tuesday, Feb 12th (Day 3)
Day cut short by storms

We are back on shore after two races....Race 3 was started (under Black Flag) and abandoned when storms approached quickly. They didn't really "hit hard" but it was looking scary for a while. The radar has a lot of activity in the area.

Before the weather went bad, the wind went bad. It was really light and shifty and the fleet was really mixed up. Many in the top 5 had very bad races, and some of those same teams were glad to be abandoned to "stop the bleeding".

It is hard to tell who is on top now, but when the results are posted, I'll try to get them up on the blog.

Here are some pics of the madness today:

J24 Midwinters - Davis Island Yacht Club
Feb 12, 2008
-Skip Dieball, Quantum Sails

The weather couldn't be better. Sunday's breeze was in the mid-teens and the group got 3 great races in. Doug Clark's team on Blind Squirrel was leading after Day 1.

They held their lead after another 4 races on Monday. Once again the story is the weather. 70s and sunny and great wind!!! 2nd place tie between Twins and Team Tarheel with Chris Snow's 5277 in 4th after a good Monday.

As I sit in the club to catch up on some work on Tuesday morning, the forecast is for some lighter winds and rain. The group is heading out and seem to have enough breeze to go straight downwind (not VMG), which is a good indication of more great sailing.

I'm heading off the dock and will hopefully post an update with scores tonight. There have been a number of protests, which is common for a group that races as tight as these guys.


Top 10:

Doug Clark 35pts
Chris Zaleski 39pts
Peter Bream 39pts
Chris Snow 63pts
Mark Hillman 64pts
Tony Parker 67pts
Jeff Johnstone 69pts
Stuart Challoner 70pts
Will Welles 75pts
Brian Smith 92pts.

Thistle Midwinters West - 2008

The Mission Bay Yacht Club was faced with some tough decisions after the 2007 event. The event wasn't growing, many were having a tough time with the timing (holidays). The gang at Fleet 13 decided to push the date back, tweak the venue with all ocean sailing and see how the masses would react. With nearly 40 boats this year, they've made the right call!

Paul Abdullah and I talked about going to MWW since last summer when Mike Polterak promised ocean sailing. It had been a few years since we drove out and seemed appropriate for us to make the trek again. As plans started to form, Ken Lane pulled the trigger and bought 3995 from me. He wanted to pick the boat up in San Diego....great! Then as we got closer Ken and I decided that he should sail his new prize. I was cool with that and then decided to run around in a motor boat and watch.

A few weeks later Scott McCormack, who attended the 1st Jacksonville training weekend in December, said that he had some interest in going to San Diego and that we could team up and sail his new boat, 4008. I was game and we put our plans together, which the end result was 3 boats heading from Jacksonville to San Diego.

Paul and I have fun when we travel and the trip out was no exception. Aside from some stiff headwinds that yielded about 8mpg, we made it with no issues and had fun catching up....all 36 hours!

The event itself was terrific. Weather couldn't have been better with sunny skies and temps in the 60s. The competition was incredible with many very good teams from all over the USA.

In the end, Paul Abdullah and his team of Nick Turney and Sarah Paisley won. They sailed a solid event and finished strong by winning the last race. Very impressive series by this team. Second place went to Greg Fisher sailing with Jeff Eiber and Joanne Fisher. Scott McCormack and I finished 3rd. We had a great time and though the wind was a bit more than we expected (we sailed 2-up), we hung in there and had fun!

Thanks to everyone at the MBYC. They bent over backwards to make sure we were taken care of and had fun. Free beer, hors devours, great meals, etc. If you are looking for a change of scenery (yes, all you in the east!), you should make the trip....it is worth it!

Photos by George Szabo.