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Angie Liebert has been sailing with the Express 27 and Motorcycle Irene with cohort Will Paxton for some 20 years and in that time has accrued 4 National Titles,
last year for the 1st time she ventured into the Express 37' fleet for the 1st time, sailing the Nationals aboard Limitless, but they came up just short, , winning the e-37 Nationals but 2nd in the E-27's.
2019 would prove to be a more successful venture on both, with back to back weekends of National Championships at stake for the E-37's on the
the Berkeley Circle followed by the E-27 Nationals in the general vicinity this past weekend. Both regattas had their share of light air and a day of medium air, but the competition
in both classes is, as always extremely daunting. To pull away with a victory in either is a statement by itself, but to win both, in come from behind fashion, is an Expressly Impressive
Undertaking. Angie gives us some insight on the teams and the clutch racing that produced such a successful 2 weekend romp!
The Full Limitless Express 37 2019 Nationals Crew
"October 4-6th Express 37 Nationals Limitless Crew: Shawn Ivie owner, Bow team: Aiden Mobley (aka: Dammit Aiden) and Collette Myer. Mid boat: Jenny Thompson and Aisling Power. Trimmers: myself, Bill Blazer, Duke Urch and Tim Anto. Tactics Will Paxton. Jenny put most of the crew together last year – she purchased Shawn’s J-30 a few years ago and brought up most of her team from Sequoia Yacht Club. Shawn brought the boat up early for BBS this year and most of the crew were able to sail on Limitless, except a few of us who were already racing on Velvet Hammer. The whole team only had one day of practice before Nationals. We did manage to get out on the course early each day for tune up."
The 4 Lady Power Squadron of Limitless, Jenny Thompson, Collette Myer, Aisling Power and Angie Liebert
"The forecast was for a light air regatta and it was spot on. The only time we put up the #3 jib was as a staysail on the downwind from Blossom to the finish in the Berkeley Circle on the long-distance race."
"It was down to the wire for the last race tied with Golden Moon. Our upwind mark was one-mile NE up near Brooks Island, and the wind was dying. The course was just upwind then downwind finish, no room to make any mistakes. Our start was ok, and we managed to round the mark in 3rd just in front of Kame. Locomotion and Stewball stayed right and Golden Moon went left. Will agonized about jibing to cover and finally we did. At this point there was hardly any wind with just a few baby puffs that would get one of us moving at a time. The final jibe to finish we were still in front of Golden Moon and it looked like the other boats would finish ahead of us. A magic puff came down and pushed us over the line 23 seconds in front of Stewball for the win and the regatta."
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Kelsey Tostenson, Jeane Rodgers and Angie Liebert the Femme Fatales Du Motorcycle Irene
"The Express 27 Nationals were the next weekend also had the same light air forecast. Our crew was Kelsey Tostenson, Jeane Rodgers, Andy Dippel, myself and Will Paxton. We made some mistakes early on, but we really had the boat moving in the light air by putting "dogs in the house". Andy stayed below for the first 4 races helping to roll tack the boat. At times 3 crew were below, forward and leeward - Kelsey was our Tank Commander standing in the bow hatch calling the fleet behind."
"After 6 races the score came down to a 3-way tie for first place and 4th place only 2 points back (Magic Bus, Get Happy! Motorcycle Irene and Light N Up.) The last race was a double windward leeward and Get Happy! got an early lead, we were able to stay close and had a fast downwind run. We both rounded opposite leeward gate marks at the same time and we got the current favored left side to round the top mark just a few boat lengths in the lead. It was a pretty tense final downwind to finish for the win! Then just after finishing and putting the jib back up for the reach back to Richmond the carbon headstay foil shattered and blew up – perfect timing! I’ve been racing in the Express 27 fleet for over 25 years and it’s my absolute favorite boat on the bay, Will and I have raced together for just about 20 years."
last year for the 1st time she ventured into the Express 37' fleet for the 1st time, sailing the Nationals aboard Limitless, but they came up just short, , winning the e-37 Nationals but 2nd in the E-27's.
2019 would prove to be a more successful venture on both, with back to back weekends of National Championships at stake for the E-37's on the
the Berkeley Circle followed by the E-27 Nationals in the general vicinity this past weekend. Both regattas had their share of light air and a day of medium air, but the competition
in both classes is, as always extremely daunting. To pull away with a victory in either is a statement by itself, but to win both, in come from behind fashion, is an Expressly Impressive
Undertaking. Angie gives us some insight on the teams and the clutch racing that produced such a successful 2 weekend romp!
The Full Limitless Express 37 2019 Nationals Crew
"October 4-6th Express 37 Nationals Limitless Crew: Shawn Ivie owner, Bow team: Aiden Mobley (aka: Dammit Aiden) and Collette Myer. Mid boat: Jenny Thompson and Aisling Power. Trimmers: myself, Bill Blazer, Duke Urch and Tim Anto. Tactics Will Paxton. Jenny put most of the crew together last year – she purchased Shawn’s J-30 a few years ago and brought up most of her team from Sequoia Yacht Club. Shawn brought the boat up early for BBS this year and most of the crew were able to sail on Limitless, except a few of us who were already racing on Velvet Hammer. The whole team only had one day of practice before Nationals. We did manage to get out on the course early each day for tune up."
The 4 Lady Power Squadron of Limitless, Jenny Thompson, Collette Myer, Aisling Power and Angie Liebert
"The forecast was for a light air regatta and it was spot on. The only time we put up the #3 jib was as a staysail on the downwind from Blossom to the finish in the Berkeley Circle on the long-distance race."
"It was down to the wire for the last race tied with Golden Moon. Our upwind mark was one-mile NE up near Brooks Island, and the wind was dying. The course was just upwind then downwind finish, no room to make any mistakes. Our start was ok, and we managed to round the mark in 3rd just in front of Kame. Locomotion and Stewball stayed right and Golden Moon went left. Will agonized about jibing to cover and finally we did. At this point there was hardly any wind with just a few baby puffs that would get one of us moving at a time. The final jibe to finish we were still in front of Golden Moon and it looked like the other boats would finish ahead of us. A magic puff came down and pushed us over the line 23 seconds in front of Stewball for the win and the regatta."
************************************************** ***
Kelsey Tostenson, Jeane Rodgers and Angie Liebert the Femme Fatales Du Motorcycle Irene
"The Express 27 Nationals were the next weekend also had the same light air forecast. Our crew was Kelsey Tostenson, Jeane Rodgers, Andy Dippel, myself and Will Paxton. We made some mistakes early on, but we really had the boat moving in the light air by putting "dogs in the house". Andy stayed below for the first 4 races helping to roll tack the boat. At times 3 crew were below, forward and leeward - Kelsey was our Tank Commander standing in the bow hatch calling the fleet behind."
"After 6 races the score came down to a 3-way tie for first place and 4th place only 2 points back (Magic Bus, Get Happy! Motorcycle Irene and Light N Up.) The last race was a double windward leeward and Get Happy! got an early lead, we were able to stay close and had a fast downwind run. We both rounded opposite leeward gate marks at the same time and we got the current favored left side to round the top mark just a few boat lengths in the lead. It was a pretty tense final downwind to finish for the win! Then just after finishing and putting the jib back up for the reach back to Richmond the carbon headstay foil shattered and blew up – perfect timing! I’ve been racing in the Express 27 fleet for over 25 years and it’s my absolute favorite boat on the bay, Will and I have raced together for just about 20 years."
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