ROUTE 66 REGATTA REPORT
by Terry Rainey
 
The Greater Tulsa Model Yacht Club was invited to participate in the reopening of Route 66 in Tulsa on Saturday, June 10th. The park that we normally use for all local sailing activities was to be renamed the Route 66 Memorial Park, and on very short notice we were asked to sail a regatta to help dedicate the park. As it turned out, we did sail a full card of 15 races, but we only had five boats participate. That's the bad news. The good news is that we had some outstanding competitors, including our national Class Secretary Dick Martin and local skippers Roger Kerr, Phil Brodersen, Grant Gerondale and Terry Rainey all member of the Tulsa club.

As it turned out, Saturday was a perfect day for the 914. Winds were toward the top of the 914 tolerance in the 15+ mph range and we had the usual shifty conditions that we live with in the Tulsa area. Temperatures were in the high 80's all morning and approached the 90's by the time we finished at 12:30. Dick very quickly established his place in the pecking order by taking the first two races of the day with clean starts and very good boat speed. As the morning progressed others began to reel Dick back to the pack with Grant taking the next race and Roger and Terry taking sharing the next 4 races.

As the day progressed the winds built to their top velocity by about 11:00. Dick continued to sail consistently with high finishes in virtually all of his races with the rest of us having an occasional finish at the back of the pack. By the end of the day, Dick had five bullets, Roger had three, Terry had five and Grant had two to round out the bullets for the day.  Also, by the end of the day, boat speed on these extremely spirited boats was pretty even. It came down to consistency and patience on the race course and our national leader prevailed in these categories as he won three of the last six races of the day. After two throw outs, Dick won the day with 26 points, Roger was 2nd with 31 points, Grant was 3rd with 32 points and Terry was 4th with 33 points. Phil, one of GTMYC's newest members finished with 52 points.

GTMYC would like to thank Dick for making the trip to Tulsa to participate in this unique event, adding to the celebration and to the quality of the event.