By Magnus Liljedahl
Alex Caviglia was an ace windsurfer sailor and a business man, a husband and a father. He was a greta man, passed away a few years ago in a kiteboarding accident at Matheson Hammock Park, on Biscayne Bay. Very sad. His wife establish the Caviglia Foundation in his memory and created this annual event. The regatta is hosted by Shake-A-Leg Miami and attracts an international crowd of Board Sailors, the very cool O'Pen BIC, the Access Dinghy and this year also, the Paralympic class sailboats. The regatta makes a nice "warm-up" for the MOCR.
Team Paradise had three 2.4s and a couple of Sonars and Skud18s racing in the event. The 2.4 sailors were Bill Quesenberry, Scott Danberg and Eric Roberts from Reno, Nevada. Bill is a Team paradise volunteer who trains with us on a regular basis during the Spring. It was Scott's first regatta and he did better than expected. Eric struggled at first, but came back to finish second in one of the races, well done. The Skud sailors were John McRoberts / Brenda Hopkins (CAN) and Karen Mitchell / Bob Jones. All the races were won by Scott Whittman and Julia Dorsett. No wonder that they are #1 on the US Sailing Team The Sonar sailors were John Robertson, Hannah Stodel (GBR) and Alex Hansen (NOR) and the Green Team Sonar was sailed by the blind sailing team, skippered by Robert Rodriguez and Edward Benitez. The Brits equaled Scott and Julia's performance by winning all the races. The blind sailing team beat Shake-A-Leg's Kerry Gruson to finish second.
The awards ceremony on Sunday evening was truly memorable. No one can put on an event like Shake-A-Leg. Food, drinks, music, pictures and rewards for everyone. Even the janitor was called to the podium. Thanks you all for a great weekend.