Mike Dow Wins The First Annual Gateway Melges 24 Spring Regatta

The first annual Gateway Melges 24 Spring Regatta is in the record books. Carlyle Sailing Association hosted the 12-boat fleet in what turned out to be a very nice, four-race regatta, the first of the Midwest District SLAM U.S. National Championship Series events.

Mike Dow and his Flying Toaster team not only traveled the farthest, but they also took away the prime SLAM prizes for the weekend.

Sprinkles greeted the out of town boats on Friday, but did not put the damper on the race prep or the dock party. The weather guessers had a tough call for the weekend, predicting rain and thunderstorms both days. Instead, we got a mix of sun and clouds, with an unstable stationary front just to the south. The race committee got in one good race Saturday before the wind shut off, in a flukey and shifty 5 knot northeasterly breeze.

The Flying Toaster took a win with Dan Moriarty on Top Notch close on their heels. Augie Hernandez's High Voltage and Tom Wyman's Hot Seat and several other boats finished within the next few seconds. After the breeze shut off the fleet returned to the harbor for lunch and part two of the dock party, followed by steaks, burgers, and choice beverages at the local Legion Hall.

Sunday started with an early boat call and warning signal before 9am. Racing conditions were excellent with the shifty northeasterly filling in to 6-10 knots providing plenty of race course choices. The race committee fired off three races before noon. The Toaster, Top Notch, and High Voltage showed great patience and consistency in calling the shifts, with Pat Sagan's USA-175 showing their ability with good finishes in races 3 and 4. In the end, Mike Dow took the tiebreaker from Moriarty, with Hernandez taking third in the event.

Carlyle Sailing Association and the Gateway Melges 24 Fleet thanks everyone who traveled in from out of town. We’re looking forward to the 2010 regatta, which will be scheduled May 1-2, 2010.

Final Standings:
1.) Dow Flying Toaster (613); 1-1-6-1 = 9
2.) Moriarty Top Notch (702); 2-2-3-2 = 9
3.) Hernandez High Voltage (533); 3-5-1-3 = 12
4.) Wyman Hot Seat (291); 4-3-4-10 = 21
5.) Bernstein/Paoli Vindicator (522) 8-4-5-5 = 22
6.) Sagan USA 175 (175); 7-10-2-4 = 23
7.) Simms Chaos 24/7 (518); 5-8-8-6 = 27
8.) Spiegel Blind Squirrel (275); 9-7-9-9 = 34
9.) Huhn Katana USA 737 (737); 11-6-10-8 = 35
10.) Leonard Moving Target (155); 10-9-7-11 = 37
11.) Zerban AoxoMoxoA (147); 6-11-11-12 = 40
12.) Roesler Shockwave (312); 12-12-12-7 = 43