ON THE WATER 6
2022 Valentine's Day Opti Regatta Recap by Todd Fedyszyn, Youth Sailing Director
O
ver the weekend of February 12th & 13th, SPYC hosted the annual Valentine’s Day Opti Regatta. This year’s event was limited to Opti’s only with 270 sailors in attendance from all over the USA, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Canada. SPYC was well represented with 35 sailors competing in both the Gold Fleet and the Silver Fleet. Mother Nature decided she was not going to cooperate and gave our SPYC Race Committee Team some tough conditions to deal with. Saturday started off with glassy conditions and unfortunately the breeze did not fill until well after 4:30 pm, which was too late start a race. On Sunday, a weak cold front passed over the area and the sailors were greeted with a shifty, building west wind. Two races were sailed in the 200 boat Gold Fleet with Beck Brill from the Coconut Grove Sailing Club taking home the Jane Funsch Perpetual Trophy. Our top SPYC sailors were John Hartney in 21st place, Adam Mendelblatt in 37th, Christopher Shaffer in 48th, Tom Seibold in 61st, and Reid Mendelblatt in 67th. On the 70 boat Silver Fleet course, the RC was able to get in 3 races in shifty conditions tucked in behind the new St. Pete Pier. The overall winner of the Silver Fleet was Henry Latell from the Hampton Yacht Club in Virginia. Our top finishers from SPYC were Ethan Cox in 5th place overall and Reece Bizouarn in 8th overall.
MARCH 2022 | SMOOTH SAILING
One week earlier the SPYC Opti RWB Race Team made the trek to Key Largo to compete in the Buccaneer Blast Regatta hosted by the Upper Keys Sailing Club. Thirteen sailors made the trip south to compete in the crystal clear waters of the Keys. Our top performers were Blake Vincent in 15th overall followed closely by Tom Seibold in 21st. Also competing for SPYC were Chris Shaffer, Leah Abrams, Gloria Privis, Bennett Lamb, Pete Caputo, Finn and Ethan Cox, Reece and Scarlett Bizouarn, Anna and Maija Andert, Thomas and William Weidner, and Wesley Wood. Our SPYC Laser Team has been hard at work competing in the US Open Sailing Series event hosted by the Lauderdale Yacht Club. Our top performer was Sophia Fuller finishing a strong 8th place overall in the Laser 4.7 fleet. Also competing were Guthrie Braun, Ethan Danielson, Kate Danielson, Sidney Moyer, Jack Carter, Anthony Smart, and Callen Burnett.
