2025 Race Archive
2025 Mercury Class Championship
Los Angeles Yacht Club
The 2025 Championship will go in the books as one to remember. The conditions saw abnormally light wind on Saturday, while still light and building on Sunday.
Saturday racing had a long postponement and only two races were completed in the light conditions. On Sunday the sky cleared, while still light, there was a solid breeze, which continued to build to maybe 10 mph and three races were completed.
Congratulations to Chris Messano and Chris Vilicich for their decisive win with 10 points, never finishing below third in any race.
Second place went to Erik Lidecus and Greg Dair with 14 points. This was Erik’s first Mercury Regatta, and finishing very strong winning race 4 and 5. Welcome back to Greg Dair who has been absent from Mercury sailing for a while.
Tied at 17points were Mike Burch and Chris Raab, with Mike taking 3rd on the tie breaker.
The highlight of the series saw Andy Goodman and Elijah Sanford winning the Silver Fleet and finishing 5th in the gold fleet. After a long absence sailing Mercury’s Andy and Elijah came to Huntington Lake and had so much fun they decided to come to the Championship.
In looking at the scores after the top 5, you can see the conditions were challenging and the scores were mixed. The boats were battling in the middle of the fleet, and it was easy slide back in the light conditions.
A big thanks to LAYC, Sean McMillen, and his team for their hard work in setting and moving courses as required this weekend. Also thanks to LAYC Commodore Marjorie Irwin and the club’s hospitality. Commodore Irwin was on the race committee boat each and at the club every night!
The first Mid-Winter on 1/5 encountered very light winds and only two races were run. The second and third Mid-Winters were cancelled due to extreme weather, the forth on 4/6 saw 4 races run, the results for the entire regatta are below.
95th SCYA Midwinter Report
Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club - February 15-16
The 95th Midwinter Regatta had full cooperation from the weatherman. Storms moved through LA in time to deliver 2 almost perfect days of sailing in February. Both days saw light wind in the morning with 6mph by 1pm to start and 8-10mph by late afternoon, and beside that it was sunny. Racing was as usual close and with crowded mark rounding’s all day long, with some penalty turns from time to time.
The 2025 Hart Nunes regatta turned out to be a fun and exciting event. The SFYC provided a great venue in Richardson Bay and did a great job running the event. The wind proved a little fickle, light at first, which delayed the first start on Saturday. It eventually filled in, but mid-day it died and then reversed direction, requiring the PRO to flip the course almost 180 degrees. Part of what made the racing interesting is left side worked for some legs and the right side for others.
The Race Committee ran 4 races on Saturday. The first race of the day had an interesting result, Shaum Sinawi hasn't raced Mercurys lately, but showed he wasn't rusty as he finished 1st. Randy Smith showed his experience and topped the field in race 2. Randy Hecht, always a top contender, captured race 3. David West, a perennial top contender, won race 4.
Sunday provided great racing, and the weather/wind cooperated. The first race of the day had some interesting lead changes, Scott Jenson led at the first mark with David West in hot pursuit, David prevailed at the end. As you can see by the results, Randy Smith, our eventual winner, had an up and down day! David West was Mr. Consistent, with a bullet and a 2nd. Congratulations Randy and Kurt Hemmingsen on winning the regatta!
It was great to see 10 boats out on the water and with great weather. The SFYC provided snacks and cold drinks after the racing Saturday. After all the boats were put away on Sunday, most competitors gathered on the SFYC deck for some food and cold drinks. One of the best parts of Mercury racing!
Thanks again to the SFYC, the PRO, Anne Scully, support people; Bryan Moore, Susie Moore, EJ Rowland and Aaron Lee. As usual, Randy Smith organized another great regatta!
