What is (are) your name(s), and where do you sail?
Charles Tomeo and Dalton Tebo. We sail out of Sarasota Sailing Squadron.
How long have you been sailing F18s?
I have been sailing F 18’s for three years. Dalton has been sailing for greater than 6 years.
What is your local F18 scene like and how often do you sail?
Dalton and I try to get on the water at least twice a week. The youth sailing program in Sarasota is second to none. Dalton and Jim Zellmer do an amazing job coaching the youth in every boat possible from Opti’s, Lasers, 420’s and high performance catamarans.
Did you do anything special to prepare for the 2017 F18 Americas Championship?
I believe we just tried to stay focused on our goal which was top 5.
What do you think was the biggest factor in your success in this event?
For us I think that Dalton and I sailed consistent.
The Americas Championship saw a wide range of conditions from 5-25 knots. How did you manage to have success over such a broad range of conditions?
By having faith in each other to do each of our jobs and faith in the boat and its set up. I cant say enough of the Job Dalton did.
Any tricks to surviving the big wind and waves? In particular how did you manage to keep the pointy end up?
The PRO of the event ( Who was excellent!!) was very aware of the wind and waves and I assure you that he would never put the fleet in harms way. At that point it was just about pushing the boat and ourselves and getting the most out of the situation.
What was the most memorable regatta moment for you?
Each and every regatta that we are part of is memorable from every one of the participants. The stories of travel, how the boats get there, daily challenges, everything.
The last downwind run was the most memorable. Dalton and I knew we just needed to keep the boat upright and we were going to pull it off. It was a lot of hard work both before and during the regatta, but it is truly unique when it all comes together in a special way.
Every event has difficult moments. What was yours, and how did you overcome that setback?
There are difficult moments even in times of success. We had a Flip in the first day but battled back and finished with a four. The light wind is always frustrating but in the end, the game plan did not change and it was our daily discussions both before and after each day that kept us even keeled.
If you could get a redo for one sailing mistake during the week, what would it be? what would you do differently?
I always say that with each regatta I want to make new friends, meet new people and learn something new. Mistakes on the water are always going to happen and I did have my share this week but my biggest mistake during the week was not getting to know each participant at the regatta a little bit better.
For new teams just getting into F18 sailing, what would be your biggest piece of advice?
Have fun and sail with someone that you are friends with both on and off of the water. Dalton and I have become like brothers. There is not a day that I do not communicate with him just to even talk about the weather:). The success will come but it will not always be numeric value it will be in the smile you see on your own face when you know you competed and completed an event that we as a class put on.
What’s your next F18 regatta?
If the people of St Barts are fortunate enough to recover from the storms that have passed over their island our next event will be Catacup in November.