Sunday’s 10:00am regatta at Starboards Yacht Club is the one of the longstanding highlights of the SL Sailing. Each week as many as a dozen Takos collect in Hollywood to compete on the Short and Long Olympic Courses, under the bright lights of the SLCN camera crews. Being added to Nber Medici’s list of of Regatta Champions is the ultimate achievement, the Holy Grail, for any Tako skipper.

Yesterday, however, marked a turning point for the Sunday Regatta, as a fleet of Flying Fizz descended on the SYC start line and took control.

The Fizz is the creation of Mothgirl Dibou, and it incorporates a host of features that could bring SL Racing a big step closer to the real thing. There are many, many things to say about this boat, but after the excitement of yesterday’s regatta, I couldn’t wait to rush back here and post a few quick images. The pictures below give just a tiny taste of how racing technique and strategy may fundamentally change with the Fizz. Let’s take a look.

In the first frame below, YumYum Divesadero, Chaos Mandelbrot, and Kentrock Messmer are shown making the sharp turn around the Olympic Top Mark. It’s frequently a bit tricky there, as most boats go from a close haul on port to a starboard tack beam reach with spinnaker. A skipper often has a lot to think about, but it gets a lot trickier when three boats reach the mark together as happened yesterday.

As you can see, Yumyum had the lead and executed a razor sharp turn toward the next buoy. Kentrock was right behind her and took a gamble, diving for the inside slot on the turn, hoping to gain ground. Chaos took a more cautious approach, going wide at the mark in an attempt to gain the windward position on the next leg.

What happened next is the stuff of real racing. You won’t see it in a Tako race.

If you look closely at the above picture, Yumyum careened around the green marker with a little too much enthusiasm; when the spin deployed, however, the wind hit square broadside and knocked the cute, purple Divesadero boat flat in the water (see below). If you’re feeling sorry for Yumyum… don’t! The person in the tough  spot there is Kentrock. Remember, he was cutting inside with barely enough room to pass when suddenly Yumyum’s boat collapsed like a house of cards in his path. The picture below shows Kentrock desperately trying to avoid a disastrous pileup on Yumyum’s mast and mainsail.

But now look what happens in the picture below! As Kentrock bears down on the capsized boat in front of him, Yumyum’s boat “turtles.” It does a complete capsize, with mast down in the water. Kentrock’s way is clear again, but the maneuver has put both boats considerably astern of Chaos, who assumed a commanding windward position relative to the other boats through the reach leg of the course.

 The above pictures detail just a few seconds of the regatta, and involved only a small part of the race fleet from yesterday. However, the practical skills and strategic issues coming around the green buoy proved remarkably similar to what happens in RL sail racing.

With the introduction of the Fizz, SL Sailing moves way beyond “just another Tako race,” and moves another step closer to the real thing. It raises a host of issues and ideas we’ll be talking about for some time to come.

Don’t take my word for it… ask the RL/ SL sailracer below when you see him on the start line at next Sunday’s  SYC Regatta: