18th Annual Banderas Bay Regatta Now in the History Books
 Richard Williams - Banderas Bay Regatta 2010
March 22, 2010
The 3rd and final race of the 2010 Banderas Ray Regatta was run Saturday. Boats raced a moderately long course and were blessed with some pretty brisk winds late in the afternoon. This led to some pretty spectacular spinnaker runs, treating those out on the bay watching the race, with a colorful visual treat.
Awards were given out at the Awards Dinner and Beach Party that was held at the Paradise Village Resort and Spa. The Awards Dinner and Party was attended by almost 500 people who danced to the music of Philo Hayward and his Mexican Shuffle Band, had a great dinner and cheered the race winners for their accomplishments.
An unexpected treat adding to the fun of the evening, sailboat skipper, crew member on Class C winner Maluhia, and song writer, Don Von Tress was convinced by Philo to join with the band and sing Achy Breaky Heart, a song Don wrote a number of years ago.
The final day of racing didn't bring many surprises as those boats showing dominance on Friday also dominated on Saturday. One exception was Bluzz. Skippered by Stephen Coleman, Bluzz came from way behind in race 1 and came very close to taking a 3rd place in division G after running superb races on day 2 and 3.
This year's overall division winners (top 3 finishers) are:
Division A
Cirque, Louis Kruck, skipper
Blue, Cheryl and Ken Solis, skippers
Bright Star, Don Anderson, skipper
Division B
Meshach, Thor Temme, skipper
Huma Huma, David Crowe, skipper
Pantera, Bob Smith, skipper
Division C
Maluhia, David Wegesend, skipper
Moodtide, Bill Lilly, skipper
Nina May, Jeff Parish, skipper
Division D
Wind Child, Rudy Heessels, skipper
Chicken Joe, Keven and Sandy, skippers
Full Quiver, Steve Lannen, skipper
Division E
Tomatillo, Jim Casey, skipper
Talion, Patsy Verhoeven, skipper
Befana, Randy Hough, skipper
Division F
Bolero, Thor and Cheryl Landgreen, skippers
Saber Vivir, Charles Naslund, skipper
Charissa, Tom Jones, skipper
Division G
Music, Rick Gio, skipper
Juggs, Ginjer Yachechak, skipper
Amaranth, Williams Gates, skipper
One final award was given out to Dan and Jackie Mackenzie, skippers of Splish Splash - even though they finished 7th in a field of 8.
Both Don and Jackie are accomplished sailors and they sail on a very competitive boat. With an experienced crew they probably would have been very hard to keep them out of the top three in their division. They choose however to bring aboard as crew local kids, several of the kids sailing experience was limited to 9 foot single sail Optimists, the rest had never been on a sailboat before.
Selfishly giving of their time so that local children could simply be on a 42 foot sailboat certainly deserves the recognition that was given to them. Each day they waited until all the boats in their class started and then until all the boats in divisions F and G started before they would cross the start line so the inexperience of their crew would not cause problems. Each day the kid worked hand in hand with Dan and Jackie and each day they finished the race.
That certainly deserves a very special WOW.
Click HERE for more 2010 Banderas Bay Regatta info
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