TURNING POINT WINS WINDY ZUKASKY REGATTA
VAYU is 2nd, La Tempete 3rd
 
(Saturday, August 8, 2009) On a windy day, with gusts hitting 35 knots toward the end of the second race, Turning Point under skippers Dave Hardy and Bill Bartz finished 1st in the second race, after finishing 2nd in the first race, to win overall at Burnham Park Yacht Club’s Kathy Zukasky Regatta. Ron Buzil’s Vayu finished in 2nd place overall with finishes of 1st and 3rd, and Tom Weber’s La Tempete finished 3rd with 4th and 2nd place finishes. Ten boats competed in this one-design event. 
 

Skipper Dave had this to say about Turning Point’s successful day:
“It was nice to get some wind for a change. Since we hadn’t been out on the water for a while, we spent the first two legs shaking out the cob webs. We didn’t get off to a very good start, but found some good wind toward shore and were able to stay close to the fleet. With the racing so close, we had some really fun jibing “exchanges” with Vayu and Das Boot down wind. For some reason we weren’t able to sail as deep and fast as everyone else, so when we figured we couldn’t catch Vayu, we thought we’d try to cover the boats behind -- just jibing back and forth. Fortunately, we were able to hang on for a respectable finish. (Did you realize that just over two minutes separated places two thru nine? That’s close racing!)
“The second race brought more wind and we were able to find a good sail balance. We were able to stay in the thick of it for the first two legs and rounded the leeward mark pretty close to La Tempete, Vayu and Excalibur. The problem came (the first problem that is) when Vayu went left, and La Tempete went right. Whom do we cover? La Tempete, our historical nemesis and the wind has been good on the right, or Vayu who we’re closer to on points? We chose left, and fortunately still had a few boat lengths on La Tempete at the windward mark. 
“All seemed to be going well and we were able to stay close. However… when it came time to jibe back, the wind picked up to 34 with the waves quartering off the stern. I figured if we could just get over, the wave set would be better and all would be good, but jibing in 34? Too risky. So we rode it out for a bit and when it got down to 26, we went for the jibe. Well, you probably saw what happened. Just as we’re turning, the wind gusted, a wave kicked the stern around, and, well, I was driving from the high side, and my feet got wet. Fortunately, we were able to get the boat pointed back down wind before the chute filled again. I figured at that point we had lost La Tempete, but I think we may have just gotten our own little patch of breeze and it was enough to keep us ahead. 
“Sometimes better to be lucky than good.”
 
Both races of this event count in the season-long Area III Buoy Boat of the Year competition. 

 
 
Photos of the 40.7's at the Zukasky Regatta are at:  Zukasky09photos