Smooth sailing for Lido regattas Posted by Joan Pringle | Aug 01, 2012 | 440 views

Fidalgo Bay buoyed its reputation of being a great place for sailing when more than two dozen Lido 14s came to town for the 55th annual Class Championship Regattas last week.

“I think the women had a perfect Fidalgo Bay as far as wind strength,” said regatta Chairman Steve Orsini of Friday’s women’s championship regatta.

Most of the rest of the week was dedicated to the senior championship regatta, which divided sailors into gold and silver flights during qualifying races on Tuesday.

The actual races were on Wednesday, and Garrett Johns and Mira Lutz, who sail out of the Anacortes Yacht Club, placed fourth in the gold flight.

Johns of Burlington and Lutz, a Fidalgo Elementary School science teacher, followed teams from Portland, Ore., and California.

Orsini and his wife, Ginger, took eighth place and David Way and Alexis Orsini, all of Anacortes, came in 13th.

Tony and Catheryn Billera of Langley were second in the silver flight races.

Anacortes sailors Nick Estvold and Gabe Hill took fifth place, Austin Murphy and Elise King were eighth and Tom Glade and Toby King were 13th.

Byron Skubi and Jane Mays of Oak Harbor took ninth place.

The wind never kicked up enough on Thursday for the second round of gold and silver flight races, but it returned robustly for the women’s competition on Friday.

“There were four good races on Wednesday, so it didn’t affect the outcome,” Orsini said. “These are pretty seasoned racers and this happens. As my friend from New Zealand says, ‘That’s yacht racing.’”

With relatively high wind conditions, up to 15 mph, on Friday, “the women had their hands full just keeping control,” Orsini said.

Ginger Orsini and daughter Alexis took third place and Elise King and Beth Bell of Anacortes took fifth.

Through it all, Anacortes and the host Anacortes Yacht Club showed they could host a national dinghy regatta, Orsini said.

“We always knew we had the natural environment, and now we proved we can do it logistically,” he said.

Orsini described Fidalgo Bay as having consistent winds in the afternoons and easy currents. Those characteristics along with recently added amenities at Cap Sante Boat Haven, such as the small boat hoist, made for a great event.

All the approximately 75 people who made up the two-person crews, family and other supporters went away pleased with the regattas — how they were run, the venue and the people, Orsini said.

“We had just great community support right from the mayor on down,” he said. “Anacortes Yacht Club did a superior job.”

As far as coming out ahead or behind money-wise for sponsoring the event, Orsini said Monday he didn’t know.

“If we break even we’re happy as clams at high tide,” he said.