Super Cup write up!

Nine I-14’s headed down to San Diego over the weekend for SuperCup held out of San Diego Yacht Club.   SuperCup is a great 14 skiff event held on the bay with short courses showcasing a mid course gate that you have to sail through both upwind and downwind.   All of the races were twice around with three minute starts and the race committee kept the boats rolling by sending off the starts quickly.

Solid crew work and positioning paid huge dividends as all of the boats found out.   Even though the wind was lighter the conditions were tough on Saturday with shifty breeze with a few hidden holes on the course. Sunday had a more steady breeze, but certainly teams had to pay attention to where the wind was going to come in from next.   Sometimes the left paid and sometimes the right but watch out for that bay traffic! There was an amazing amount of lead changes, heated starts, a few collisions, many near misses and untimely capsizes done by all.   The racing was held close to shore and there was certainly a number of people watching on shore and on the water as well. Capsizes were abundant for many different reasons, but overall everyone had a great time.  

Kris Bundy & Jaimie Hanseler came out of the gates firing – but unfortunately suffered breakdowns on both Saturday and Sunday which forced them to retire early.   Brad Reutenik sailing with Dan ‘Sid Vicious’ Roberts were super consistent both days and held a tight lead after the first day.   Kris Henderson and Dan Kaseler looked really good throughout the regatta and had a few very convincing wins.   Gleeson and JP Barnes were not looking super sharp on the first day, but found a better groove on day 2. There was tight and consistent racing throughout the fleet and we had multiple mark roundings with almost all 9 boats getting to the top mark within a few lengths. Towards the end, Hendo/Kaseler and Gleeson/Barnes were making moves to get closer to the top – and with Reutenik/Roberts saving their worst race for last it was very close.   Gleeson/Barnes lost a number of boats while hitting the right and Hendo/Kaseler made a move left that paid off.   In the end, Brad and Dan fought back and had just enough to maintain their lead to win the event.   1 point out was 2^nd place for Gleeson/Barnes and 1 point behind them was Hendo & Kaseler.  

With super tight racing, great people, really good beers at the dock, SuperCup is certainly a SuperCool event!   Congrats to Brad and Dan on winning, and a huge thank you to Brad Reutenik, San Diego Yacht Club, and the volunteers for organizing and putting on the event!   We look forward to seeing a strong number of boats in beautiful Santa Barbara for Skiff Fest May 18-19.

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