Ten Weta sailors competed at the annual Meigs Regatta at Fort Walton Yacht Club held July 9-10. Seven of the local Weta fleet raced and were joined by three out of town sailors, Cliff Peshek, Bill Swanson, and class president Bob Hodges. FWYC is also the host of WetaFest. This was the first time Weta’s had competed as a class at this multi-class one design regatta and we were the 2nd largest class racing (other classes included GYA Viper 640’s, Open Viper 640’s, Sears Qualifier Viper 640’s, Thistle, RS Aero, and Formula Wave).
While it was hot on land, Mother Nature really blessed us with champagne sailing on Saturday and we were able to get five races done in 10-13 knots of breeze. Bob Hodges almost swept every race except he forgot to read the course board for race 5 where they ran a single WL rather than the double WL’s of the previous four races so he lost three boats coming back to the finish line after he took off for a 2nd weather leg. Terry and Todd Garner had an epic father/son duel for 2nd and 3rd overall for the end of the day. Bill Swanson was in 4th but he had been hamstrung by a DNC in the first race after getting tangled up with a mark boat that left a small hole in one of his floats. Luckily it was not structural and a quick duct tape repair got him back on the course for races 2-5.
Sunday dawned with a light northwesterly and an earlier start time. The northwesterly died just before the warning gun but luckily the sea breeze started to fill in and three races were held in 6-10 knots of wind. This was just right for Bill Swanson who scored two wins being chased hard by Bob who squeezed one more win in. This bumped Bill up to 2nd overall while the Garner family duel continued and they both ended up tied for third overall with senior getting the tie-breaker.
This was a great regatta to expose the Weta to other one design sailors. The Viper sailors were turning their heads at Bob and Bill as they ripped past them on the sail in on Saturday afternoon and Bob lined up to leeward of the Aero fleet and sailed past them as they hiked their way up one upwind leg on Saturday. On Sunday morning that was worth three Aero sailors (who were also long time Laser and Sunfish competitors) giving the Weta a close look on the beach.
Thanks again to FWYC, their fleet captain John Farris, and our PRO Sam Grant for putting on a great event.
Results are here: https://nextsailor.com/docs/files/31/2022_Meigs_Open_Results1.htm
Cheers,
Bob Hodges
Weta 1194