Regatta Report: SDYC Spring Dinghy
Regatta Report by Morgan Paxhia
Emily and I first did a demo day on the Melges 15 in September 2024 at Mission Bay Yacht Club in San Diego, CA. Our sail was only about 30 minutes and we were instantly psyched about this boat we had been hearing so much about with the big East Coast fleets. Our initial impressions: fun, fast, and simple.
This past February, we chartered a boat for the Winter Series Event 2 out of the Melges Watersports Center in Merritt Island, FL. We signed up for their clinic prior to the regatta so we could learn more about the setup, boat handling, and glean any other tips and tricks from the Melges Team. The Winter Series was an incredible experience racing against 94 boats with a lot of serious talent.
A cool innovation we got to experience was the Vakaros Atlas 2, which has a software program called RaceSense. During starts, this program provides start time to all boats, tells you distance to the line, and if you are over the line at the start. We were OCS twice and the instrument makes it very apparent as your screen only displays “OCS” and red LED lights illuminate until you clear yourself. We also had compass heading, GPS speed, and heel angle. Great data package and a real game changer for the sport of sailing and the race committee.
In March, I took delivery of our new Melges 15 USA 846, now named Enigma. We chose the name in memory of our dog Dory, whom we recently said goodbye to after 14 years.
Emily flew down on Friday of the SDYC Spring Dinghy Regatta, and we got in a few hours of practice. Pablo Aguilar and crew from Mexico, who finished second in the event, were with us for the practice session. We had good upwind speed while they were quick downwind, which was consistent throughout the regatta as they were the fastest downwind boat out there.
We raced in San Diego’s South Bay with the Navy shipyard behind us and Coronado waterfront to weather. SDYC got in four races on Day 1 and three races on Day 2. We had a pretty classic SD weekend of blue skies and a modest sea breeze of 8-12 knots, max 14 knots for a little bit each day.
Our objectives were to continue learning the boat, be active with weight and controls, communicate nonstop, and have fun. The breeze was shifty off the Coronado shore, so we quickly learned that we could be pretty aggressive with tacking on the shifts, keeping the bow pointing toward the mark. This really helped us to be in the top 3-5 boats at each windward mark. We learned a lot downwind with weight placement, kite pressure, and using our weight to help turn the boat up and down. The angles downwind can be significant, and we learned that you work just as hard sub-planing as planing to get as much VMG as possible. Emily worked the boat nonstop — the sails and communicating. Upwind, Emily was on the compass and head-out-of-the-boat, and I took on that role downwind.
Next up, Cal Race Week May 31-June 1, Long Beach Race Week June 20-22, and the West Coast Championship September 13-14! We are in the process of building the SD fleet with Mission Bay Yacht Club as the primary home, and we look forward to being a regular in their weekly Thursday Night Thing. Please reach out if you are interested in learning more about the boat and participating in the fun - morganpaxhia@gmail.com.