Arizona Yacht Club’s Birthday Regatta is like the “Cochella” of sailing… There’s a festival-type of vibe with everyone staying on houseboats or camping in RVs right next to the lake.  When not racing, most sailors can be seen “campfire hopping”, hanging out at the yacht club tent, or watching NFL playoffs at the marina bar.  And, with cell signal a bit weak, it was definitely a weekend “off the grid”.  If I could freeze time to a single weekend, this might be one of them.  Great racing at a fun venue with a bunch of crazy Viper sailors…

Lake Pleasant is traditionally a light air venue… so my pre-regatta planning included the bright idea of down-sizing my spinnaker halyard/retriever to a class-minimum 4mm super-light line.  This was going to be our “secret weapon” as our current retrieval line was pretty heavy and tended to drag down the kite in light air.  “We’ll be super-fast down wind with this tiny line!” was my thought as I packed up #148 for the trip out to Zona.   Turns out, that decision would cost us the regatta!

Cactus & Vipers By Peter Howson, Photographer

Arizona Yacht Club Birthday/Leukemia Cup Regatta

See the whole gallery here.

Three years ago I was participating in the Leukemia Lymphoma Society Fantasy Sail in San Diego and I met some sailors from Arizona. Having done a large part of my sailing on a river, I was struck by the idea of sailing in the desert. This year, upon realizing that Phoenix is a mere six hour drive away, I decided that I would head out to the Arizona Yacht Club's big regatta to see what it was all about.

I arrived at the Pleasant Harbor Marina and RV Resort at Lake Pleasant which was not only where the regatta was being held, but was also where we would be staying for the duration of the event. My arrival happened to coincide with the start of the evening's festivities (funny how that worked out, almost like it was planned). I can't imagine what the RV crowd was thinking about the rowdy group of sailors carousing until all hours across the street. To say there was a serious potential for culture clash is a point that was put into specific relief when I went to use the shower and passed by the packed RV "community room" and was treated to a rousing karaoke rendition of "How Much is that Doggy in the Window".

The wind, which had been pretty amazing when I arrived, actually increased overnight and several of the boats had to be rescued as they had been blown off onto the street. Luckily, two things went right: there were still sailors up roaming around at 3am who were able to return and secure the boats, and the wind was not blowing toward the party tent or the 27' trimaran that was left without chocks to hold it in place would have become the surprise guest at breakfast.