LABOR DAY 2005 AT SARASOTA SAILING SQUADRON
SEPTEMBER 2-4, 2005
Till We Meet Again
By Mindy S. Strauley
Labor Day, a tradition to head to Sarasota Sailing Squadron where sailors feel at home.  The bar is always open, the grill is hot, the parking lot is filled, kids running wild, the Squadron mascotes (little kitty cats) christen your boat overnight, and the people are always smiling.  Something we always look forward to.
Twenty-two sunfish sailors rounded out the fleet with several racing sunfish for the first time.  Saturday proved to be a nice day with winds out of the Northeast at 5-8mph.  After the first three races it was apparent the females were outsailing the males, with Charlotte Sims, Mindy Strauley, and Jackie Sims each winning one of the first three races.  Of course, I couldn't help but to broadcast this.  I sailed over to Paul Strauley and said, "you know all races are being won by the women, what is wrong with you guys?"  Not sure what Paul mumbled as I sailed away but I am thinking it went something like.... hmmm we will have to take care of that.
Last (4th) race of the day and we are off..…Only Sharon Del Bianco had the best opportunity to make it a clean sweep for the women today.  But, there went Paul, sailing by Sharon, tipping his hat like the gentleman he is, only to say "not today ladies" as he went on to win the race.
Sunday, the winds were a little stronger out of the Northeast at 13-18mph.  Suffice it to say, the men dominated on Sunday with Joe Blouin winning all four races and Paul, Freddie Sambolin, and John Kremski each close behind Joe for the second.
As it goes with each summer day regatta, the sailing is fun but the packing up of boats in the hot humid sun is unbearable.  Why can't they make a remote control where we can just touch a button and the boats are up and tied and off we go?  But that not being a reality, the fun (so I thought) ends and the hard work begins.
What happened next is one of the highlights of the regatta which certainly provided that added momentum to proceed with the "packing up."  Paul sent me to get the truck to bring it closer to where our trailer was.  I really didn't want to----I just wanted to sit in the shade and cool down.  But, there I went.  As I pulled the truck around the corner, there it was---one of the Squadron mascotes (little kitty cat).  Let me preface this by saying I am extremely scared of cats (and dogs).  The fear probably came from the teasing I did as a kid and never won.  Competitive as I am, I always tried to outsmart them but always got bitten or scratched.....hence the fear.
Face to face, my truck and this kitty cat.  Protected by a hemi I had no fear.  I stepped on the gas, the cat stopped, I stopped, the cat went.  Okay this could be fun.  On and on we went----I would go, the cat would stop…the cat would go and I would stop.  After awhile I started to think Paul would be wondering where I am while he was doing all the work.  I needed to bring this to an end.  The cat and I both stepped on the gas at the same time.  I stopped the truck to look back to see what happened.  In my rear view mirror I can see the cat back in the middle of the road.  It was smirking at me as if to say, bye-bye for now, until we meet again.
Not bitten or scratched, I smiled, thinking that was exhilarating.  I waved and said "till we meet again."
SUNFISH Class Series Summary
Pl	Sail #	Skipper	From	Tot	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	71	Joe Blouin	DIYC	21	3	5	3	6	1	1	1	1
2	76685	Paul Strauley	Casselberry	25	6	2	2	1	2	3	2	7
3	88866	Freddie Saubolin	Sarasota	39	4	4	10	4	5	2	5	5
4	84800	Mindy Strauley	Casselberry, Fl	44	8	1	4	9	7	8	4	3
5	T	Danny Escobar	Ft. Lauderdale	47	2	6	7	3	13	4	3	9
6	78970	Charlotte Sims	VYBA	52	1	7	8	8	4	10	8	6
7	78654	John Kremski	Edison Sailing Ctr.	52	12	9	5	10	3	5	6	2
8	79026	Jackie Sims	VYBA	54	5	10	1	7	8	6	9	8
9	78163	John Fletcher	Loxahatchee, Fl	59	7	3	9	5	11	9	11	4
10	22527	Erik Erickson	Sarasota	79	13	8	6	12	10	7	12	11
11	52021	Dave Kaighin	SSS	96	10	16	14	15	6	11	10	14
12	95483	Alexis Humphrey	VYBA	102	11	11	15	13	12	12	16	12
13	79105	Sharon Del Bianco	Edison Sailing Ctr	103	15	17	16	2	14	13	13	13
14	26898	Charlie Rahn	Coconut Grove Sailing Ctr	103	20	13	11	19	9	14	7	10
15	79380	Phil Mewhinney	Edison Sailing Ctr.	115	9	15	12	14	17	16	15	17
16	3528	Kyle D'Arangelis	VYBA	129	14	12	19	17	18	17	17	15
17	88450	Carol McDowell	SSS	131	19	20	13	16	16	15	14	18
18	3511	Loretta Garber	SSS	143	17	19	20	20	15	18	18	16
19	85694	Cindy Kaighin	SSS	150	16	14	17	11	23\DNS	23\DNS	23\DNS	23\DNS
20	79110	Adi Chesley	SSS	164	18	18	18	18	23\DNS	23\DNS	23\DNS	23\DNS
21	1	Clark Holden	Edison Sailing Ctr	176	21	21	23\DNS	23\DNS	19	23\DNS	23\DNS	23\DNS
22	84888	Carolyn Rahn	Coconut Grove Sailing Ctr	180	22	22	23\OCS	21	23\DNS	23\DNS	23\DNS	23\DNS