Late breaking news..... With very pleasant breezes on a typical foggy day in Monterey, Montgomery 15 boats placed First and Second in the small boat division at the Cruiser Challenge X hosted by the Potter Yachters and MPYC. That dirty, rotten braggart, Blake Reimer and IOTA took First Place with two seconds and a first for the 3 race series in a very tough tussle with 'Midget' an M15 owned and deftly handled by defending champion Bob Truman, who took two bullets and a fourth for Second Place honors. Finishing out 7th were M15 owners George and Debbie Morrison who improved considerably between Challenge IX and X. Given that a well sailed M15 will be faster than a well sailed Potter 14, the finish line was a 3-way tussle between IOTA, MIDGET and the JEAN ALDEN, a beautiful, black, 15ft catboat built and skippered by Mike Higgins, who took 3rd for the day. Based on the first two races, Bob clearly had the quicker boat and better handling but faltered in the final race when he chose to start the race with a reefed main in the quickening afternoon breezes. Reimer took note and quickly hanked on his new EP 'storm jib', keeping his main full and that seemed to make the big difference as Mr. Truman dropped back several places to fourth. There was at least one M-17 in the 'big' boat class. 'Six', owned by - and I am embarassed to say how age affects my memory - Whats-his-name. Trading his older M15 for the new red striped beauty, racing for the first time in the new boat he held on for 5th place. What a good time we all had! And Montgomery boats are FUN to race against each other! They are remarkably quick and responsive to tiller and trim adjustments. When I got IOTA upwind in the breeze and dialed in, you could feel her accelerate like a horse turning for home. It's a shame we can't find a way to get a bunch of us together for a shoot out every now and then... It was a really good weekend with the Potters and I really appreciate the effort they made to put it on. Blake Reimer M-15 IOTA