29er sailors admire the view of Santa Catalina Island from Turkey Day Regatta Sunday

65th Turkey Day Regatta

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Long Beach, Calif.

Nov. 17-18, 2012

Nov. 18, 2012
Teenage brothers signal the future in Turkey sail
LONG BEACH, Calif.
Saturday's report on Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's 65th Turkey Day Regatta was about veteran sailors still going strong. Sunday's is about others just getting started.
Brothers Dane, 17, and Quinn Wilson, 15, of Ojai, Calif. and the Santa Barbara Yacht Clubhave their sights set on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016 when they will be just about old enough for a bid to reclaim some of the USA's lost Olympic sailing glory.
"That's what we want to do," said Quinn, who steered their 29er skiff while big brother Dane did the crew work in a remarkable string of six consecutive first-place finishes following a second place in the first race for the10-boat fleet.
"Actually," Dane said, smiling diplomatically, "we won that one, too, but there was a scoring mistake."
Oh, well, they figure to win a lot more and soon graduate into the 49er class for an Olympic campaign. As it is, Dane has sailed the similar 29er for only two years, while Quinn jumped aboard just this year.
Last summer they placed fourth in the ISAF Youth Worlds in Ireland.
"The competition was super good," Quinn said, "and it was cold, but we won two races out of 12."
Back home their victory here clinched California's 2012 PCC Series for the Maxam Trophy, dedicated to Bill Maxam, who started the 29er class in the state. It wasn't luck.
"We sail as much as possible---about three times a week---and prepare for everything," Dane said.
They were certainly ready for Long Beach, which met them with a light southeasterly breeze Saturday followed by a brisk 12-knot southwesterly of 65 degrees Sunday under clear blue skies rimmed by a parade of white cotton clouds.
Their nearest rivals were Campbell D'Eliscu and crew Conner Kelter of Newport Harbor and ABYC, respectively, nine points back with no finishes worse than third.
As for the oldtimers, Henry Sprague, 67, held on to dominate the singlehanded Finns with wins in five of the seven races, while Barney Flam, soon to be 88, and son Steve struggled a bit in the bigger breeze but held onto fourth place overall among 14 Cal 20s.
The Cal 20 winners, as in the past, emerged as Keith Ives and Chuck Stevens of ABYC with two wins and two seconds in the last four races.
The winners came from as far north as San Francisco and as far south as San Diego, all collecting the traditional turkeys instead of trophies. Altogether, there were 18 classes comprised of nearly 200 boats and 300 competitors racing on two ocean courses and the inside Bay.
Class winners
Ocean courses
LASER FULL (20 boats)---Stephen Long, Santa Barbara YC, 5-2-3-(22/OCS)-1-3-1, 15.
LASER RADIAL (31)---Cooper Weitz, San Francisco/St. Francis YCs, 1-(8)-1-2-2-2-2-7, 15.
29ER (11)---Quinn Wilson/Dane Wilson, NewportHarbor YC/ABYC, (2)-2-1-1-1-1-1, 6.
CAL 20 (14)---Keith Ives/Chuck Stevens, ABYC, 5-(7)-2-1-2-1-1, 14.
VIPER 640 (10)---Kevin Taugher/Chuck Tripp, ABYC, (2)-1-1-1-1-2-1, 7, 5.
MERCURY (10)---David West/Mark Roberts, Richmond YC, (5)-1-1-3-1-1-3-3, 9.
FINN (11)---Henry Sprague, no club, 1-2-1-1-(5)-1-1, 7.
FORMULA 18 (4)---Stephen Stroebel/Matt Morris, Mission Bay YC, (4)-3-2-2-1-1-1, 10 (def. Alex and Bill Westland, ABYC, on tiebreaker).
INTERNATIONAL 14 (3)---Brad Ruetenik/Kula Dog, San Diego YC, (1)-1-1-1-1, 4.
HOBIE 16 (3)---John Hauser/Linda Hauser, no club, (3)-1-2-1-2-1, 7.
PORTSMOUTH (9)---Dominic Meo III/Deandra Morse, ABYC, 2-3-4-(6)-4-2-1, 16.
Bay courses
SABOT A (3)---Joseph Hou, NewportHarbor YC, 1-1-1-1-(2)-2-1, 7.
SABOT B (7)---Bradley Clinton, ABYC, (3)-1-3-1-2-1-2, 10.
SABOT C1 (15)---Millie Dorgan, San Diego YC, (3)-1-1-1-1-1-1, 6.
SABOT C2 (9)---Mac Brennan, Balboa YC, 2-2-3-1-3-1-(4), 12.
SABOT C3 (4)---Christina Van Dyke, LBYC/ABYC, 1-2-2-(3)-1-1-1, 8.
LIDO 14 A (11)---Mark Ryan/Smoking Hot Lady Friend, Cal State Long Beach Sailing Team, 1-2-1-5-(14/DNC)-1-1, 11.
LIDO 14 B (10)---Ethan Michaelis/Ryan Schack, ABYC, 1-1-2-2-(3)-2-2, 10.
Complete results
MEDIA CONTACT
Rich Roberts
310.835.2526
Cell 310.766.6547
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Alamitos Bay Yacht Club

Dane (r.) and Quinn Wilson lead 29er runners-upCampbell D'Eliscu and Conner Kelter on last day

Barney Flam (r.) and son Steve
push their Cal20 in brisk wind

Veteran Henry Sprague
cruised to victory in Finns

San Diego's Jack McGraw and Tristan Thrush right their 29er

Phil Toth and Dustin Durant
saved their Viper from flipping

Lido 14s drift to leeward mark
Hi-res photo gallery