West Coast Wetas Event Report
Santa Barbara Spring Dinghy Regatta May 18 & 19, 2024
It’s not always sunny skies and warm winds out here in California. Actually, that vision of paradise might last just a few weeks during the height of summer. As Spring brings changing weather patterns to the Central and Southern California coasts, we experience a deep marine layer of coastal fog, overcast skies, and light and shifty winds. We can have days or weeks of this May Gray, followed by June Gloom, with occasional warm sunny days interspersed. Such is what we experienced when four of us Wetas convened in Santa Barbara for the Spring Dinghy regatta late in May.
Several days in the preceding week were gorgeous. The kind of days we live for (and pay for dearly in the high cost of living) around here. Nearly cloudless skies, lively sea breeze, cool evenings and mornings, and warm afternoons. Out on the water, we call this Champagne Sailing and paired with Santa Barbara, known as California’s Mediterranean, it’s great for making memories and dazzling promo video montages. Alas, as we each arrived on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, the May Gray was back and it stayed with us the whole weekend. Not to be deterred, it was a great weekend on the water.
Peter Karlsberg drove an hour up from Camarillo, new Weta owner Andrew Amenta drove 90 minutes down from Paso Robles, Bruce Fleming drove 4 hours up from San Diego, and we were joined by Santa Barbara local John Dutton.
Boats L to R: John's, Bruce's, Andrew's, Peter's. Photo Credit: Andrew's Father, Dave Amenta
Sailors L to R: Bruce, John, Andrew, Peter
In the past, the Santa Barbara Yacht club had hosted an annual event called the Skiff Fest, chiefly to attract and support young sailors in the high school sailing programs, on 29ers and ILCA Radials. It was renamed Spring Dinghy Regatta this year since the 29ers seemed to have lost interest over the past two years. Wouldn’t you know it? This seems to have brought them back. We saw 9 to 12 29ers on the water both days, joined by 9 to 12 ICLA Radials, and us 4 Wetas.
Race management ran a tightly organized event with pre-event video competitor’s briefing released the day before, an in-person briefing Saturday morning, plus breakfast dinner items (burritos on Saturday, pizza on Sunday), in top of squeezing at least 5 races in on both days.
Conditions were a bit light and shifty to start on both days, but the wind filled in well by Race 3 on Saturday, and we were all fully powered up by Race 5. Sunday, conditions remained lighter throughout the day. The water off Santa Barbara can see significant swells from the west after days of consistent westerly winds, or storm-produced South and Southwest swells that slip through the gaps in the Channel Islands offshore. This weekend, neither of them materialized so the water was as smooth as I have ever seen at this location.
During Races 1 – 3 on Saturday, I was significantly faster than the others, so I made an effort to circle back and give each some suggestions. Sit further forward, sheet in more on the upwind legs, play the kite more on the downwind legs, keep the dagger board down to maximize your kite’s power…the usual stuff. I think it paid off for everyone because races 4 and 5 saw all of us finishing much closer together. Peter saw a significant gain as the wind built, and once he passed me when I hit the top mark (and did my 360) on the first leg of Race 3, I could not catch him.
On Sunday, it was just 3 of us as Peter retired after Race 4 on Saturday to nurse a bad back, and the competition was close. Andrew and I duked it out, with John not far behind, and the score sheet shows the final outcomes. Only one point separated me, with the oldest boat, and Andrew with the newest.
In addition to a range of boat ages, there was a variety of sail configurations in this meeting of Wetas. I had a nearly new pin-top main and jib, and my original 2009 screecher. Andrew’s nearly new boat (#1348, sailed only twice by the two prior owners) sported a Square Top main and self-tacking jib. Peter sailed with a Square top main and an old Gaastra standard jib; and John sailed with his original Gaastra pin head main and jib.
If we call the sailing on Saturday the warm up, it seems to me that Andrew, on the newest boat with a larger main and smaller jibe, and I on the oldest, with the smaller main and slightly larger jib, were fairly evenly matched on Sunday. I think the differences in our finish times came down to a bit of boat handling and a bit of luck in choosing the best part of the course in the light and shifty breezes.
I have been distracted by several things going on in my personal life so this event write up is terribly late. I’ll make a concerted effort to edit some of my Go Pro footage and add it to this post as soon as I can.
Next event for the West Coast Wetas: The Commodore’s Open Classic at Huntington Lake in June.
Fair Winds,
Bruce Fleming
Akahele! #276