Fishing Bay Yacht Club¹s 66th Annual Regatta was sailed August 13-14 by 80 boats in 8 fleets at the regatta, competing in the beautiful but challenging and shifty conditions. The competition was fierce and the race committee did an excellent job getting off five to eight races during the weekend. On Saturday, what started out as a tease of nice wind during registration quickly died out as the sailors made their way to the course for the first warning signal. After a 2 hour postponement the wind slowly built and by day’s end it was blowing hard. Before returning to dock, 4 races were completed in a range of conditions in the late afternoon. In the second two races on Saturday the wind built to what were light hiking conditions. Lead boats changed frequently by picking the right shifts, precision wind-spotting, and masterful boat-handling. The light wind and hot conditions made drinking plenty of water important to keeping cool and hydrated. Several sailors even sought the refreshment of the Piankatank River by going for a swim mid-race to cool off.The Saturday evening Luau cooled everyone down and attendees learned why hula dancing was invented in the heat and humidity of the middle Pacific – slo mo and Don Ho is the way to go in a Chesapeake Bay Bermuda High. Sunday morning the wind was expected to drop as it had on Saturday, but it held and competitors had a steady breeze into the afternoon. With good wind velocity, the competition was all about picking the right shifts. The Laser Fleet, for example, was hotly contested: all boats were so evenly matched that mark-roundings all the way around the course regularly had 4-5 boats bunched up in what was more reminiscent of large-fleet racing. At one point in the Laser’s 6th race, 7 boats were lined up going down wind dead-even with each other. Many thanks go to the dozens of volunteers who made this event such a success. Results are as follows: Flying Scott (17 boats): 1-Frank Gibson, 2-Jerry Latell, 3-John Hubbard Front Runner (8 boats): 1-Bill Spencer, 2-Lee Farinholt, 3-Matt Braun Hampton (8 boats): 1-Latane Montague, 2-Eddie Walcott, 3-Trevor Pardee, Jr. Mobjack (7 boats): 1-Jim Rice, 2-Meg Roberts, 3-Miles Booth 420 (7 boats): 1-Alex O’Toole, 2-Caroline Garrett, 3-Perry Guy Albacore (9 boats): 1-Jude Brown, 2-#6701, 3-David Rennie Laser (15 boats): 1-Brad Squires, 2-James Jacob, 3-Quentin Jenkins Complete results can be found at: http://www.fbyc.net/Events/2005/08.13.onedesign/results.html Thanks to Jon Deutsche for article content.