The 18 boat fleet sported mostly jibs as they approached the starting line for race 1 but with mr. happy’s genoa rounding the first mark just behind Running on Empty as they dropped their jib to the deck, it was clear that either headsail could work. But later in the race the breeze built such as to give the jib boats an advantage…but in spite of Ambassador’s impressive walk through the fleet late in the race (they finished 3rd after being as deep at 12th!), mr. happy, driven by Bob Harden, held on to win with Running on Empty, driven by Ryan Harden, close behind in 2nd. After Midnight, driven by Mark Smith, and Flying Circus, driven by Jim Mitchell, rounded out the top 5 respectively.

For race 2 the whole fleet had switched to jibs as the wind built with gusts into the low 20’s. The RC had the pin pretty favored and mr. happy could not resist the bait and set up early near the pin…Out of Control, driven by ‘AWOL for too long’ David Wahlberg, set up late just to weather of mr. happy and forced mr. happy to back wind on port into the approaching fleet that was building speed to the line! Running on Empty, leading the pack, could not avoid mr. happy and once there was contact, an I flag went up on mr. happy almost as soon as the red one hoisted on Running on Empty. Meanwhile Mothership Connection, driven by Pat Hitchens, and Three Sheets to the Wind, driven by Kurt Carson, made the best on their good starts and rounded the first weather mark 1, 2; but Ambassador, driven by Doug Weakly, was close on their heels, continuing the momentum they started in race 1. mr. happy, recovering from their start foul, limped past the first weather mark in 11th, 4 places back of Running on Empty…at the second weather mark Ambassador has moved into 1st and Tropical Aggression, carrying an 11th in race 1 due to going back after being OCS, had moved into 2nd, pushing Mothership Connection and Three Sheets to the Wind down 2 places. Ambassador and Tropical Aggression, driven by Stuart Lindow, pulled from the fleet by playing the left low and picking the right time to cross to the finish on port to be 1,2…but mr. happy found some favorable shifts middle and right at the top of course to squeeze out a 3rd after rounding 7th the previous weather mark. Mothership Connection and After Midnight closed out the top 5. Running on Empty finished in 6th to tie mr. happy overall for 2nd once the 4 point I flag penalty was added, putting Ambassador in 1st overall by 4 points.

Race 3 conditions were pretty steady, velocity and shift wise, and the top 3 boats rounded each mark in the same order as they finished. Tropical Agreesion liked the left and led at each mark to finish first, closely followed by mr. happy and Rum Line, driven by Jason Dyer. Ambassador couldn’t recreate their successful wind shift phasing calls of earlier races and finished in 11th. Mothership Connection successfully pulled off their second 4th place finish and Running on Empty finished 5th, just enough to recapture 2nd overall; 1 and 2 points in front of the hard charging Tropical Aggression and the regrouping Ambassador respectively! 

Race 4 saw the wind lighten some and back about 10-20 degrees but the fleet stuck with their jibs. The RC set a square line and many boats seemed to like the left after the start. It certainly was to Tropical Aggression’s and Running on Empty’s liking as they used that strategy to round 1,2 respectively for the first 2 weather marks but Running on Empty split late and played a small shift to take their first bullet of the regatta. mr. happy was 3rd, overlapped with Ambassador at the finish, who performed another one of their race come backs, being 10th at the second weather mark! Flying Circus showed their race 1 top 5 finish was no fluke and did a repeat for race 4. With their 1st place finish, Running on Empty at the end of the day was just 1 point behind mr. happy, who was in first overall and Tropical Aggression was 1 point in front of Ambassador overall. Flying Circus rode their two 5th place finishes to be 5th overall, but Rum  Line was lurking just 1 point back!

After Saturday’s racing the fleet enjoyed socializing, snacking and just hanging out in the great environs of the Austin Yacht Club! Many stayed after dark to be part of the memorial service for David Kenyon and Dick Edwards, both active circuit participants that are no longer with us…Thank you Jorge for making it happen!

Sunday morning brought similar conditions as Saturday, albeit somewhat lighter given the 9:30 am first signal, and there were several headsail changes going on back and forth before the first start! But after a General Recall, the wind picked up just enough that most the fleet switched down in time for the restart.

Once again the top 2 boats split at the start with mr. happy working right and Running on Empty working left, along with Ambassador. From my perspective it seemed most the shifts were velocity related more than true wind direction changes so staying in the breeze was key, especially since most the fleet had jibs hoisted. mr. happy worked to ‘connect the wind dots’ well enough to win the race, but Running on Empty was still well in the hunt to win the regatta by finishing 2nd. Ambassador finished 3rd and moved into 3rd overall with Mothership Connection squeezing Tropical Aggression out of 4th.

Going into the last race, 1st overall was still up for grabs between mr. happy and Running on Empty and 3rd overall was in a similar fate between Ambassador and Tropical Aggression. Plus the Fort Worth Boat Club representatives; Rum Line, After Midnight and Flying Circus were poised to battle for 5th overall. mr. happy and Running on Empty raced closer together than any other time during the regatta, trading the lead several times…but at the last gate rounding they split and mr. happy worked a favorable back on port heading to the right side and when Running on Empty tried to work toward mr. happy by tacking to port, the breeze lightened for them in the middle, allowing mr. happy to stretch out a small lead. Meanwhile on this same last leg, Tropical Aggression split from Ambassador to play the right and Ambassador banged (at least that is what it looked like to me!) the left to almost squeezes out mr. happy for 1st in the race! But Ambassador’s close 2nd was not enough to break the tie with Tropical Aggression, who ended up in 3rd overall with a 5th in this last race, behind Running on Empty’s 2nd overall position. Rum Line’s 9th place finish is more than enough to lock in 5th overall.

After the races the trophy presentation included custom made/bottled/labeled wine for each top 5 crew members and mr. happy was awarded the J/24 Texas State Championship Trophy, the Kenyon Cup.

Can’t wait for Corpus!    

Race results can be found here.

Check the gallery for some great photos or go to the photographer's site .