Bluster : to blow in stormy noisy gust, to be windy and boisterous, to talk or act with noisy swaggering threats, to utter with noisy self-assertiveness, to drive or force by blustering.
By definition anything called Bluster-on-the-Bay sounds cold, wet, fast and in your face. That was exactly what the 2018 regatta of the same name delivered. If we were not in a place called Florida I don’t believe any of us would have gone beachcat sailing in those conditions. But Tampa Bay in January can give you any kind of weather, hot and sunny, cold and rainy, or just blustery.
Friday afternoon a strong front pushed through with heavy rain showers and big wind. The Skyway Bridge had a “High Wind Warning” posted and the bridge all but disappeared into the storm clouds. We arrived in a downpour and sought shelter for lunch. Within hours cold clear air fills in and the wind starts to veer from SW to NNW. As the sky clears the day transforms, we rig the boat, greet friends and settle in for a 3 day weekend of F18 sailing.
The Bluster on the Bay Regatta was created as an alternate to the winter regattas held in the Florida Keys. No one could have predicted the recent events of Rick’s passing or of devastating hurricane destruction to the Keys infrastructure. When Rick left it was the end of an era, and Irma made sure everyone saw that. Tradewinds was not perfect but it sure was fun hanging out in the keys and racing in clear blue water.
With Bluster’s attendance of almost 90 boats it looks like this new regatta was a good idea at the right time. Check out Facebook for details of the organization and sponsors responsible for this year’s success. As always it was the interest, commitment and general good nature of people who volunteer their time
that make these events possible and a special thanks and salute to those who served on this unusually cold, wet and windy weekend.
Off topic… if you or someone you know is in the sailing gear business you missed a great opportunity to sell dry suites. Lots of them.
Imagine what would happen if you put Hobie 16s, Wetas, foiling A-Cats, F15s, F16s and F18s on one race course with winds gusting over 20 and steep 2-3 foot chop. Then make it cold so everyone is a little bit off, you know cold stiff hands and salty sun glasses. Chaos and carnage right? Nah, not catsailors, we did just fine. Well most people did just fine, some folks went out, flipped over and went back to the beach. Some folks went out and saw other folks flipped over and went back to the beach. Some of us went out to practice, flipped over lost our favorite prescription sunglasses, went in for the 
spare pair, went back out and broke a spin tack line… flipped over and went back to the beach. Fixed the boat, went back out to sit for 15 minutes only to be sent back to the beach because racing for the day was over. Yeah, some of us did that…
Day 1 was challenging with gusts into the low 20s and temps in the 40s. Day 2 improved and day 3 started to look like Florida again with temps in the high 60s. There was plenty of good racing each day and downtown St Petersburg provided a great place for a Pub Crawl Saturday night. The regatta arranged for us all to be trolley bussed out for the evening and picked us up upon surrender.
The F18 fleet was well represented. Our national champions were there and did not disappoint with a stellar performance. Our president was there and did his share of swimming along with some fine sailing. Our world famous jet setting sailing journalist was there in full force with rockstar crew. The deck sweeper contingency was getting to know their new rig and planning some adjustments. Of course, there were other famous sailors and everyone sailed heroically as the gentlemen they are.
What seemed to shine bright in the cold was the youth sailors from Sarasota Sailing Squadron and Red Gear Racing. There were (3) N15 sailed by skinny little teenagers and 4 of the F18s had youth sailor crews as well. I had a 15 year old sailor on my boat and this was his first F18 experience. These young people will take our sport to the next level. Get ready to be chasing a skinny teenage girl and her pimple faced boyfriend around the course. They are strong, they’re focused, they’re being trained, they’re 
practicing and they will take the lead.
Bluster is part of the “winter series” for several fleets and the next regatta is Charlotte Harbor only 2 weeks away. Many of the teams from the north have promised to return and I think we’re all hoping for warmer temps. Check it out!
