Mike Eades

Commodore, West Valley RC Mariners

Regatta Director

 

The Notice Of Race  (NOR) provides all the key information needed on the event and the entry form. NOR 2009 MM NCR.pdf

 

As an international class the the United States Class Association has decided that, if the fleet needs to be divided, the international Heat Management System 2007 will be used. HMS 2007 modifies some racing and scoring rules as well as how and when protests are heard. A Skippers guide to HMS  is a user friendly explanation of the system. A complete set of the rules of the system and the Advice Notes are available via this link. HMS 2007 Final Version 5.1.07.pdf. A set of the Rules and Advice Notes will be included with the Sailing Instructions.

 

Maps and Directions to the site are provided HERE.

 

Want to see who's registered? 

HOTEL Recommendation: The Holiday Inn Express, Glendale has given us a very favorable Group Rate, ~23% below the lowest internet rate. This is an excellent new facility conveniently located just off Loop 101 Freeway at Glendale Avenue, approximately 15 minutes drive from either the sailing venue or the Kramer home for the Saturday evening social get together. For Hotel details, how to make your reservation and maps/directions to the above mentioned venues click this link:

2009 MM NCR Hotel Recommendation.pdf

SAILING INSTRUCTIONS: Sailing InstructionsMMNCRFinal

                                       Attachment "A" :  HMS 2007 Final Version 5.1.07.pdf

For those interested in Phoenix average weather stats try this link: http://phoenix.about.com/od/weather/a/averagetemps.htm

Micro Magic Class Owners Association: http://www.usa.magicmicro.org/news.php Lots of useful information about one of the newest AMYA classes.

 

Continue to visit this site for any last minute information.

2009 MICRO MAGIC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

by Mike Eades, Al Stiewing & Andy Rust

The first ever Micro Magic Class US National Championship Regatta was held October 2^nd – 4^th, 2009 at Litchfield Park, Arizona, hosted by the West Valley RC Mariners club. The event attracted 23 entries from California (5), Washington, Nebraska, Kansas, Florida (1 each) and from across the home state of Arizona.

All except two showed up for Friday boat weigh-in and inspection on a bright high-80 degree day with light shifty winds for practice. Class Secretary, Andy Rust was on hand to assist with inspection and collect some technical data on the class boats.

Forecast for Saturday was winds 6-8 mph rising on Sunday to 15-25mph. Well, they were half right! Saturday morning skippers, including the last two to weigh-in, were greeted by a light breeze 0-3mph from the southeast. Opening remarks by WVRCM Commodore and Regatta Chairman, Mike Eades and Andy Rust were followed by a skipper’s briefing by Al Stiewing, Race Director. Racing got under way promptly at 10:00 am although the RD had a tough time deciding on a course as winds shifted and varied constantly. Mark Mason, Costa Mesa, CA and Mike Eades took bullets in the two seeding races after which the HMS 2007 promotion/relegation system came into play (4 up/4 down). Skippers struggled all day to cope with the changing winds as did the RD in trying to set courses. Many endured the agony of seeing a nice lead evaporate as a wind from a different quarter lifted every other boat. On the first day 9 races (2 discards) had been completed with Mark Mason, 19 points, showing excellent steady form with 4 bullets overall followed by local skippers Dennis Desprois 21 and Mike Eades 24. A trio of Californians, Larry Grant, Bob Smith and Jeff Weiss were hot on their heels filling the next three places.

A Saturday evening highlight was a social get together hosted by George Kramer, WVRCM MM Fleet Captain and his wife Elaine at their Sun City home. Special recipe sloppy-joes, beans and potato salad followed by a special commemorative MM Class cake and cookies on a balmy Arizona evening, complete with a full moon, made for a memorable evening!

Sunday morning, skippers arrived at the lake full of eagerness and anticipation as the promised wind began to fill in, mutterings about "B" or "C" rigs were heard and awnings were secured with tent pegs to withstand the promised onslaught. Proceedings began again promptly at 10:00 am and the "A" fleet skippers watched the "B" fleet closely to see how things were going to go and hurried rig changes were made. After the first set of heats with largely southeasterly wind direction, the expected shift towards the southwest set in as winds began increasing resulting in a course reversal. This day proceeded to provide as much excitement as any of us could handle, good sized chop with knock-down gusts made "A "rigs a handful. Close quarters racing on the ragged edge gave everyone all they could ask for. Mark Mason once again mastered the conditions, maintaining a steady string of high places. Jeff Weiss also excelled in the conditions capturing three bullets from the 7 races and finally, with the 16^th race bringing in the third discard, shed the last of his first day poor finishes to claim second place over Mike Eades by 1 point. Larry Grant continued to produce steady high finishes to take 4^th place while Dennis Desprois could never quite recapture Saturday’s form and slipped to 5^th.

Within the Arizona contingent, the results were as scrambled as the fleet by Sunday’s stronger winds. Chuck Goerke sailed well in the strong winds but slipped to 8^th as Jay Barnes edged him for 7^th with a strong performance, reversing Saturday’s standing. Dave Nydell sailed a steady regatta both days for 10^th. Jack Kimball, Steve Sherry, Alan Metzger, and Dennis Poole, all putting in strong performances, struggled in the higher winds, perhaps playing good host, allowing Andy Rust to leapfrog them. George Kramer graciously surrendered his boat in the last two races to Chuck, allowing Chuck to continue his battle with Jay. Dave Steens experience in Yuma’s higher winds was evident on Sunday after struggling in Saturday’s light conditions. Tom Ruttledge launched his boat Saturday for the first time and scored a 3^rd in his first race. Larry Riese also struggled in Sunday’s wind before finally surrendering to a mechanical problem which ended his day early.

Race Director, Al Stiewing and his Committee, Janis Stiewing and Sheila Eades, scorers; Ralph Canfield John Allen and Donna Metzger, mark observers, did a fine job of keeping things moving and posting scores so that skippers could plot their strategies. AMYA Gold chevrons were presented to the top three and commemorative plaques to the top 5 skippers while the next 15 received laminated place certificates. Congratulations to Mark Mason, Micro Magic Class Champion!