BABY DOE J/22 Leaps Ahead @ Dillon Open

THE DUMPSTER Trashes J/24 Fleet
(Lake Dillon, CO)- At 9,022 feet (2,750 meters or over a mile-and-a-half straight up into the stratosphere), there is no question that Dillon YC’s annual “Dillon Open” that is sailed on the Dillon Reservoir high up in Rocky Mountains is the longest-running, highest altitude regatta in the world.  It’s a gorgeous area to sail; just SSE is the fabulous Keystone Resort & Spa- the top of Keystone Mountain is 12,408 ft (3,782m, or over 2 miles up into the sky- the air does get a bit thin up there!)- https://www.keystoneresort.com/

Yet again, a great fleet sailors on J/22s and J/24s had to contend with incredibly challenging sailing conditions.  On Sunday, there was an amazing photo taken of Greg & Susan Johnson’s J/24 PINOTAGE rounding the windward mark, spinnaker up, then gets flattened by a 50mph hail-infested vertical micro-burst from the sky; shredding their spinnaker and jib all at once!  That is what happens when it blows over 100 mph just a few thousand feet above the tall 10-14,000 foot snow-capped peaks that surround Lake Dillon. The winds are often capricious and unpredictable, making for tough, tactical windward-leeward races.

Greg Schertz, the PRO for the Dillon Yacht Club running the races took this shot- he was blown away! “Yes, we have challenging sailing sometimes at the nation’s highest sailing club,” remarked Schertz.

Despite the crazy weather, Mateo & Tito Vargas talent-laden crew on BABY DOE took J/22 class honors with a remarkably steady 2-1-1-2-1-1 for 8 pts total. Reed Baldridge’s crew from the College of Charleston YC in Charleston, SC sailed fast to post a 4-3-3-1-3-4 for 18 pts to take the silver.  Rounding out the podium was Mike Kline’s NAUTI-MOOSE with a 1-5-4-5-2-3 for 20 pts.

Sailing with past J/24 World and Etchells-22 World Champion Vince Brun on board, Frank & Vivian Keesling’s THE DUMPSTER won their class only after the Johnson’s PINOTAGE got trashed by the hail-infused microburst.  THE DUMPSTER’s posted a 1-1-3-3-2-2-3 for 15 pts total.  The Johnson’s PINOTAGE had an equally impressive scoreline of 3-2-1-2-3-1-5 for 17 pts total.  Closing out the podium was Josh Bowens-Rubin’s ZERO GRAVITY with a 4-5-2-1-1-4-4 tally for 21 pts total.  For more Dillon Open sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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