2023 DF95 Region 6 Championship Regatta (R6CR)
By Chris Collins

29 DF95 sailors from four states converged on William Mason Park in Irvine, CA for the 2023 DF95 Region 6 Championships. The fleet was stacked with many of the top RC sailors in the country battling it out for the title of Regional Champion. The sailors were greeted with beautiful Southern California sunshine on Saturday morning and although a little on the light side, the wind filled in enough to get Race 1, the seeding race off at the scheduled 11:00am start time. From Race 1 the fleet was divided into A and B fleets for Race 2 on using the HMS scoring system. With 16 boats in the B Fleet and 17 boats in the A Fleet, racing was tight and competitive. The breeze filled in ranging from 4-9 knots throughout the day. PRO Don Frakes did a great job calling the start line and the sailors kept the starts clean and only one General Recall was called the entire weekend. Don also kept the action moving getting off 16 heats on Saturday for 8 races scored with seven different sailors tallying 1st place finishes. Gary Boell (13pts) and Jim Sears (19pts) showed consistency throughout the day finishing the day at the top of the leaderboard with Mark Golison (24pts), Jess Atkinson (25pts) and Chris Rabb (31pts).

Day 2 was another beautiful sunny day. The wind was not quite filled in enough to get off the first race of the day at the scheduled 10:30am time. After a short postponement, Race 9 Heat B was started. The breeze petered out as the heat went on, but the fleet was able to finish within the cut-off time. Heat A was postponed for a short time until the wind filled back in. The morning breeze was a little fickle and shifty for the first couple of races, but the racing was still tight and competitive. With racing ending earlier in the day to allow out of town skippers to hit the road, Don Frakes once again kept things moving, getting in 5 races (10 heats) for the day. Once again the racing was very competitive with 5 different race winners. Gary Boell and Jim Sears continued their consistent sailing with Gary taking the title of Regional Champion, edging out Jim by 3 points, 30 to 33. Jess Atkinson sailed to a 4th place finish with 51 pts, with Dennis Rogers reaching the podium in 4th with 60 pts, edging out Mark Golison by 4 pts.

Trophies were awarded to the top 5 finishers as well as to the top Grand Master, the highest placing sailor over 75. We had to card him to be sure, but it was verified and Mike Schachter took the Grand Master award finishing an impressive 7th overall.

Thank you again to the Orange County MSC for hosting the regatta, out PRO Don Frakes and to all of the sailors that travelled great distances to compete.

Summary of the 2023 DF95 R6CR, Red Chevrons
Date: August 5-6, 2023
Location: Wm. Mason Park, Irvine, CA
Host Club: Orange County MSC
# of Entries: 29
Winds: 4-10 knots
Races completed: 13
Scoring System: HMS
Regatta Committee & Valuable Assistants: Regatta Chairman: Chris Collins; PRO: Don Frakes; Measurer: Gene Elliott; Mark Setting: Len Bose & Bob Schumacher; Club Liaison: Bob Schumacher

2023 DF95 R6CR Result
Place Skipper Sail# Score
1. Gary Boell 71 30
2. Jim Sears 54 33
3. Jess Atkinson 56 51
4. Dennis Rogers 43 60
5. Mark Golison 155 64
6. Jon Rogers 44 81
7. Mike Schachter 88 82
8. Ross Nemeroff 24 85
9. Chris Raab 58 86
10. Larry Grant 85 95
Also sailing: Keith Ives, Barry Donaher, Nick Allen, Mike Fujita, Mike Shaw, Dan Shier, Gene Elliott, Len Bose, Bob Schumacher, Joe Legg, Angelo Greco, Don Shirley, Bruce Raush, Dennis Sharp, Peter LaRue, Minoo Cowasjee, Henry Johnson, Jeff Nicholson, Eric Conn.