December 13-14, 2014 – Sarasota Sailing Squadron – Sarasota, FL

Phil and Wendy Lotz sailing with Luke Lawrence dominated followed mostly by Brad Boston. It was great to have Ethan Bixby (former North Sails St. Pete) in with the Hampton guys and they earned a solid third.

Some notable things to highlight: Stephan Michael, the new owner of #99 joined us in his first public Viper outing and Cliff Whatmore of Sarasota made his first outing in Jeffery Lee’s Viper 105. Both teams had a blast learning the ropes.

Full results: http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/9200
Photos: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarasota-Viper-640-Fleet/587973181298375?sk=photos_stream

Wendy and Phil Lotz with Luke Lawrence

Provided by Travis Yates:

Saturday we started at noon in 5-8kts out of the NNW and sailed one race in that before the breeze dialed up 8-10 for the next two then it was 10-15 on and off for the balance with some planning in the last race. With north-ish breeze we get a little chop but it was nice for going down hill. All this was in bright sun and what we consider chilly, as the high did not make it above 70. Ron Pletsch did a killer job with the course and the length of race times were all in and around the target 35-40 min.

We got six races off because the forecast for Sunday was no breeze AND the breeze was getting better the longer we sailed Saturday. Boats were back on the dock by 4:45 and folks showered and started in on drinks. Michelle Lee organized a great Chili and Baked potato bar complemented with her custom assortment of handmade liquors and a keg of holiday Vermont microbrew on tap. The Viper Fleet had a mile long table in the “VIP” seating of the outdoor pavilion and all were fed/marinated and then treated (along with 300 or so Squadron members) to the Sarasota Holiday Boat Parade, which passes down the north seawall of the Squadron.

Sunday started early with a 10am warning signal in 4-7kts and the breeze stayed right about there in terms of velocity. The direction was fairly consistent and Ron had one postponement between races to shift the course as the breeze went to the left rather then dying. The ‘I’ flag was up most of the day to keep the races firing off. We got another three races today and headed back in to get folks on the road with nine good races under their belts.