2006 Juana's GoodTime Regatta

By Diamond Joe Quimby

Tina and I “hit the road” on Friday, September 8th, headed for Navarre Beach, where we were would be co-Race Captains for the regatta. After dropping off our stuff at the motel, we took the short drive across the bridge to Juana’s, where we assisted Steve Bogan with windsurfer registration and caught up with old friends.

Saturday morning found us back at Juana’s, with a light breeze and threatening weather. Despite a 80% chance of rain, the racers hit the water for a long distance race (approximately 3 miles one-way) around 10:30 local time. Our “boat captain” was a gentleman from Navarre named Larry (26’ cabin cruiser), ably assisted by his brother-in-law Randy. Larry had volunteered his services to Juana, who “hooked him up” with Steve Bogan. The two of them were GREAT and we had a good time throughout the week-end.

Lee Huels won the first race, followed by Mike Shulman in second and Lee’s father Buddy in third. Sport fleet was headed by Mike Scott, with Michelle Aukamp in second, “Mississippi Steve” Harrington in third, and Tracy Helfrich in fourth (it was Tracy’s first regatta). The wind was fairly consistent – averaging around 8 knots.

Coming back to Juana’s, Buddy finished first, with Lee second, and Mike third. In Sport fleet, Mike and Michelle finished first and second, respectively, while Tracy beat out Steve for third! The wind, naturally, died away to almost nothing, but everyone finished.

Juana provided her normal “spread” Saturday night – BBQ ribs and chicken, with plenty of sides (and free beer!) Later that evening, door prizes were given away and all participants came away with something.

On Sunday morning the skies were fairly clear, with a 10 knot Northeast wind. We set up a simple “upwind-downwind” course, approximately a mile long, and ran three races. The Open fleet went around twice, with Sport fleet doing one loop. This time, the wind cooperated, staying between 10-14 mph for all 3 races.

Lee Huels continued his dominance, finishing first in all 3 races. Buddy had a second and 2 thirds, while Mike had 2 seconds, but failed to round a mark in 1 race, finishing sixth, which cost him second place overall by 0.25 points! Mike Scott had 2 firsts and a second, which gave him first place in Sport fleet.

Overall, it was a very good regatta, with no major problems. Tina even caught some fish from the Committee boat (she also “hooked” a Hobie, but I’ll let her tell that story!).

Everyone who raced received a trophy, provided by Holly Hill pottery, and as usual, Juana provided superb overall event supervision. This is an event that should not be missed!

Joe Quimby
USW SP5