Letter Log
March 2020
30° 25.60’N 86° 35.58’W
Fleet Captain’s Report
April finds the sailing world becalmed amid the Covid-19 Pandemic. Across the Gulf Coast events large
and small have been indefinitely postponed, deferred to 2021 or simply cancelled. At the request of
fleet organizers, the Flying Scot Midwinters, Wetafest and the A Cat CatAtac have been rescheduled
for similar dates next year. The club had incurred no expenses related to these events and all regis-
trants have had their entry fees returned in full. The Fleet Captain will see a reduction in projected
income of course, but regattas scheduled for June or later are still tentatively being held.
As always, we thank those members who had volunteered their time and resources for these events.
Sam and I will keep you informed as to future regattas and are forever grateful for your support.
Wednesday Night Fun Races will not begin on April 1st in accordance with social distancing recommen-
dations and common sense. We look forward to seeing all of you on the water as soon as we safely can do so and do not plan to
attempt to make up un-sailed races in this series. All weekend events are also postponed until later in the year. These races we will
attempt to sail on make-up days. New dates will be announced as soon as feasible.
On a better note, the final Zevin was held on March 15. Thank you all for coming out, enjoying the club and participating in the Mongo-
lian BBQ. It was a fine day to be on the water. A special thanks to Lou Richard for running the final day of racing as Sam and I were sail-
ing at St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club.
In A fleet, Craig and Deborah Wilusz sailed into first place for this annual Zevin Series. They were followed by Jerry and Faye Black
aboard Pelirrojas and Phil Pritchett on Jammin’. B Fleet was won by Jeff Brown skippering Amigo and C Fleet was topped by Pat White
sailing My Mistress.
The final Frosty Nipple was to be held on March 29th and I am personally sad to be sitting on the sofa writing this article rather than
defending our second place. We are coming for you first place sailor Carson Smith. We plan to sail the Final Nipple and hold a Final
Fiesta in its honor. Stay tuned for dates. A big shout out to Phyllis Seaton and her employers at Coastal Carpet and Tile-Carpet One for
sponsoring the annual Frosty Nipple T-shirts. They’re super cool.
The final Frosty Nipple Gulf Coast Viper series was sailed on February 29th and March 1st. Winds were up and Saturday had moments
of challenge on the race course. Thank you to John Farris for being the principal race officer for this event and Linda Wright for acting as
his alternate on the 29th. Thank you to all the volunteers on the racecourse. You did a fabulous job. Thank you to the FWYC staff for
your hard work. You are appreciated.
Brian Harrison doubled as the ultimate winner and regatta chair for this inaugural event. Great job behind the scenes and on the water.
Second place was awarded to one of our favorite young sailors, Cam Farrah. A big congratulations to Cam and crew. Third place was
won by Josh Dupree and crew from Mobile.
Lastly but never leastly, congratulations to Rob Brown and crew. After three days and twelve races, our sailors tied for second place in
the Tripp 26 Midwinters. Everything came down to the last race and unfortunately the tie breaker didn’t go in the team’s favor. It was
nevertheless a well sailed regatta.
Please stay safe and take care of each other. Sam and I miss you all. If you need to fuel your racing addiction from home, you can join
many of our gulf coast sailors online. There are virtual regattas sailing all the time.
Our thoughts are with the FWYC staff during this time of service reductions and we can’t wait to safely return to business as usual. Our
leadership, especially our manager Tom Garner, is working diligently to see that our club rides this unwelcome tide to the best of her
ability. Bless you all.
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