No one will forget the 2013 edition of Charleston Race Week any time soon.  The new Jackpot won, and hit 22.3 knots in the process?  Don't believe it?  They won [results].  And here's a photo of them approaching warp speed.  A few more miles per hour and Jackpot will have to be renamed DeLorean -- here's a photo of Lee Shuckerow and Dave Nickerson discussing new Viper rigging techniques.  But seriously, Friday was windy, getting windier, Saturday was moderate, getting...moderator? [we kid -- but there was a moderated Saturday night Viper debrief with sailmakers]  And Sunday was barely a good day to be in a water ballasted ocean racer.  But still, there were 8 races over the course of the two days that were sailable, lots of boats, nearly 30 Vipers, and countless Dark & Stormies on the beach.  In 2014, CRW will be the host once again to the Viper Atlantic Coast Championship, so make your plans now. The Class has already requested four 66 foot bays, we're first up for dockage for 2014.

Day Two found some breeze today. Our favorite PRO Judy was able to bang out 5 races in today's warm and sunny 9-12 knot breeze. The winds were shifting to the right for the majority of Fridaý, finally settling to a tactical afternoon of five and ten degree shifts causing positon changes thoughout the day.

Friday's sailing found Peter Taselaar's Bliksem two points ahead of Brad Boston sailing a Rondar worksboat. A tie and only one point behind the Canuckistan sailmaker has the British team led by Glyn Locke on "the snake boat" and Jason Carroll's Argo. Rounding out the top five going into the final day of racing is Phillip and Wendy Lotz on Arethusa.

The racing is truly a blast down here in Miami, and most of us are sure happy we are not north of Interstate 10, with the weather up north being shown on the tele down here. Lot's of new friendships are being made with crews going out to dinner together, hanging out at the bars together, getting tossed out of bars together, and even meeting up and having a good ole fashion cook out at the off-season rental houses that can be found at a reasonable cost down here.

The post card is right........wish you were here

Day 1 of Bacardi Miami Sailing Week, presented by EFG Bank, also known as Bacardi Cup (though apparently only the Star Class is legally allowed to call it that, even though everyone else does too -- we just don't get a giant trophy at the end that is taller and heavier than your average 420 sailor) is in the books.  Fun?  Sure -- 18 Vipers were racing in warm weather, and the rest of us weren't.  The weather didn't cooperate much -- great breezes on the way out to the racecourse gave way to a light air start and an even lighter run and beat, at which point the RC shortened course to allow all of the Vipers to drift across the line.  Could have been worse -- several other classes that aren't as strong in light air saw boats suffer the dreaded "TLE".  Congratulations to Andrew Weiss, Byron Lamotte and Jonathan Asch aboard USA 179 Dragon Fire (Mamaroneck, NY - Larchmont YC fleet) for taking the victory over a very tough field, banging right on the first beat to find pressure and round the first mark with a 10-boatlength lead.  The race win is Dragon Fire's first in a major Viper regatta, with perennial champions Brad Boston and Jackpot (Sarnia, Ontario) a close second in their brand new boat, with class governor Kay VanValkenburgh (Boston, Mass.) in third.  The southerly never filled and no other races were started for the day, allowing sailors to hit the rum tent early.  Hopefully the wind gods will be in a more generous spirit tomorrow, and Friday and Saturday's forecasts suggest that they will.  Dan Tucker has been posting regular updates to the Rondar Raceboats Facebook page, including 65 photos from Day 1 -- "Like" Rondar Raceboats to get regular updates.  We've been sharing some of the better ones on the Viper 640 Facebook page too if you don't already "Like" us. Results.

(Above: Race winners Dragon Fire (red, white and blue kite) lead Wild Hogs out to the racecourse in the best breeze of the day.  Right: the start of Race 1.  Photos by Dan Tucker)

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club is host to one of the largest annual small boat regattas on the West Coast, the annual Turkey Day Regatta.   I remember doing this regatta as a youth in Lasers in freezing cold weather in 30kts of breeze and knew the conditions would dictate the event.  Local Viper rep Tim Carter has been asking for a clinic for sometime and Turkey Day seemed like the perfect time to get something going.  It has been a fun and successful year racing the Viper for myself and it was now time to give something back to the fleet.

Phillip Toth, who recently started working at the Ullman Newport Loft, and I set forth a plan to host a Turkey Day Tune Up on the Friday leading up to the regatta.  I focused on tuning and technique and Phil brought his expertise from his Olympic campaign to line out some boat handling and starting technique drills.

[read more for Keith's crew roles tips at the bottom and Turkey Day Regatta results - photos courtesy Rich Roberts]