Herb Meyer Regatta 2021
by Chris Burrell
Herb Meyer Regatta
Saturday, November 13th was a gorgeous fall morning on the Bay and a perfect day for the rescheduled Herb Meyer Regatta. Careful readers may remember that our first regatta was canceled due to the forecast of an “Atmospheric River” that didn’t quite materialize on Saturday but flooded in with an Ark all day Sunday. Everyone has a story to tell from that day.
But getting back to today’s story. Although the winds were a bit light and not uncharacteristic for this time of year, the 70° weather in San Francisco was enough to attract a full belay of sailors and volunteers. Out in McCovey Cove, the six racers battled in Hansa Liberties. Chris Naughton served as the PRO and ran four tight races where the winds were a consistent 5 knots North by Northwest.
Carwile Leroy had the hottest boat of the day and won three out of four races. But small boat boatswain, John Wallace, had a few tricks up his sleeve and took a bullet in one race. Even though he hasn’t sailed since the last Herb Meyer Regatta, Eddie Elliott placed second. John was also on the podium coming in third with John Greener and Laura Groffman rounding out the field. Chris Burrell sailed the stunning orange boat with the new controls and took first in the servo category. Irrespective of final standings, all sailors were competitive and raced well so a good time was had by all.
Many hands made light work so thank you to all of the volunteers who made the day a success: Carl Pearl, Stan Freedman, Melissa Ryan, Paulo Flores, Ryan Bruington, Charles Wienbar and Gary Goldsborough. Awards were handed out in the clubhouse with Carwile generously providing the first round of libations for the group so perhaps the competitors might let him win again next year as well.
