2013 Freeze Your Butt Off Regatta – FYBOR III

by Dave Brawner

Well this is going to be the FYBOR that we talk about for quite awhile. For starters, Bing Crosby should have been there singing “I am dreaming of a white regatta…”. Every weather forecast said we might get a light dusting of snow starting around 3pm. Somehow that translated into snow falling at a rate of 2″ an hour starting at 11:30. By the time we finished with lunch and trophies, there were 5″ of snow on the ground.

To make things a little bit interesting, we used the “Line of Excellence”, which is a second starting line 15 yards to leeward of the main starting line. The skippers that finished in the top three of a race started at the Line of Excellence in the next race. No good deed should go unpunished. Rinehart, Ramos and Betz were given the “honor” in the first race. Mr. Ramos ended up starting every race at the LoE.

The original plan was to sail a dozen races. When we realized the forecast was completely inaccurate, we limited the event to six races followed by Nick’s delicious chilli and the trophy presentation where everybody ends up with something worth wearing.

The top six, Ramos, Betz, Rinehart, Mote, Walton and Ewing all earned the privilege of starting at the LoE. Skip Hall sailing in and completing every race ended up in the top half of the fleet. Newcomer, Bill Sysyn saved his best for the last race when he earned a second place.

As always, Nick Mortgu was the star of the FYBOR. While the chilli was perfect for a cold day, the assortment of clothing that he lays out on the table as trophies is incredible. Thank you Nick!! Sticking with tradition, the last place finisher picked first from the table. Mike Denest may have sandbagged for this position.

We’ll get some pics posted shortly.

Thanks to everyone for coming. I know it was a pain in the butt driving home. At least we didn’t have to put up with all that sunshine down in Punta Gorda. 😀

Jim Flach set down his transmitter for the last race and picked up his camera. Enjoy.
http://regatta.smugmug.com/2013-FYBOR/