Tyler Garrett

A lot of you probably ask yourself daily “what ever happened to Tyler Garrett”?

A lot of you probably ask yourself daily “what ever happened to Tyler Garrett”. Well for those of you that don’t know I now live in that beautiful city by the sea, Denver. Yeah that Denver, the one ya’ll fly to go skiing at Mardi Gras. But low and behold that they do sail here and in a big way ! Shortly after moving here I went to work at the Sintes/Sea Chest of Colorado, Rocky Mountain Boatworks. I soon learned that anywhere there is money; you will find sailors, or those that fancy themselves such. Denver is no exception. There are several large reservoirs and smaller private lakes that host various fleets, supposed yacht clubs (more on that later) and shockingly, drinking sailors. My favorite place to sail is a piece of hell, or heaven on earth called…Lake Dillion.

Dillion was built as the main water supply for Denver, back when we were good at public works projects. Dillion is decent sized shaped like a glove and 300 feet deep. It is nestled between Keystone and Breckinridge. I am sure a lot of you have seen it covered in snow, looking peaceful and idyllic, never knowing what evil lies beneath. It is one of the most beautiful places to sail that I have ever been to. But to race here is insane. Shifts? Are you freaking kidding me? Puff’s? Oh my God! Squalls? Insanity confined. Every boat race restarts at each mark as the breeze direction and velocity bounce around the mountains. The chop is tiny; puffs can be in the 40’s easy, but dead the rest of the time. Weird, very freaking weird, and I’ve sailed on False River

Season starts in mid may and runs till October, that’s 5 short months of intense action. Racing is every weekend. Fleets include Ensigns, J/80, Stars, PHRF, big tri’s, and the most vicious, The Mighty J/24’s! Yes this is where old Texas race boats go to die. The best event this year by far was the Dillion Race Week, a totally fun regatta. First weekend is Leukemia cup, with all the trimmings including a 16-piece band ripping it up under a clear tent (!) Mount gay flowing like, well, Mount Gay. Awesome (okay not as good as NOYC) food and two days of partying on the grounds of Dillion Marina elevation 9,570’ (that the bathroom code as well). Nice bunch of folks, we ended up with 45 boats and raised 90k. Oh yeah we raced, It sucked really bad. I sailed a Magic 25 against a Mumm 30 and a Melges 24. Got creamed but managed to cross them both at once!

Wednesday-Friday is Regional’s! Any fleet that wants can race can, this event hosted Stars, Ensigns and J/24’s. I did not sail these days, the wind blew nice and steady, of course. Frank Keesling started to show a trend buy crushing the Ensign fleet with a walk on effort with a just purchased Yacht. He won the previous weekend on his J/24 “Dumpster”…interesting.

The final weekend…Dillion Open. 105, read it and weep. 105 boats crammed on this tiny lake. Pure Chaos. I was picked to sail on a J/80 and drive down wind, not good. However we never got hit, though we watched plenty in including a star driving smack through the chute and into the side of the J/80 on my tail. Tons of fun. Crazy weather. And any of you that have been skiing here know, the weather can change in a instant and it did multiple times. However back on land the party raged on.

The Bar

Many of the sailors have condos on the bluffs surrounding the marina, where there are multiple bars and restaurants in walking distance, but the place it all happens is the “Tiki” This is were the mountain groover’s meat the “In Town” sailors head to head for a drink off, post sailing. A fabulous facility consisting of a 20’x30’ deck with a hut for a Bar and Grill right at the waters edge. They do make the drinks flow for cash so there is nun of that stuffy YC formality. The Dillion Yacht Club is next door (in a trailer for all practical senses) and its sole purpose is to run races, what an Idea! The YC atmosphere of a deck party with a view of mountains all around, it’s a fun place to be.

The Sailors

There are a few very good sailors, mostly from down in Denver (a whole other story!), but the rest are a bunch of mountain groovier weirdo’s. You’ve never seen so many different looking clothing ensembles on the water. In ‘Nawlins’ we are all clones walking around the docks (wearing the same blue or gray Gore-Tex vests and red Mount Gay Rum Hats). Here in Colorful Colorado we have the “ski jacket” which can make the dock a colorful sight indeed. Did you know that the French still make stuff in fluorescent colors?

And the people themselves are pretty colorful too. The sailors from the mountains remind me a little of the sailors from Bucktown, you know, a little off.

Frank

Frank Keesling is a guy that fits the N.O. Mold the best. Youngest son of a boating family. Loves to sail. Likes to drink. Chicks dig him. He’s a “in town” sailor. Won 3 different regattas in 9 days in three different boats, that he actually owns! Frank finished up his rout by cleaning up in the Star class. Even was over at a start and won. Reminds me a lot of some ‘Nawlins sailors I know.

So to the answer the question of what I’m up to….not real sure. Some days I work on cars. Some days, I do remodeling. Some days I work at our (my wife Karen’s families) Ski/Windtoys shop. Some days I Ski. Some days I Sail. But I never work on Boats! (Does a ski boat count?) Howdy to all my Nawlins Friends and Tom Baker Rules!

Noyc.org note: (For those of you who don’t know Tyler Garrett, he was the “GO FAST GEAR FREAK GURU” who did the deck hardware lay outs on J-24 Gulf Coast Champion Dubious Decision, J-30 Zephyr North American Champion and SYC’s Best PHRF B boat ever TGV. Tyler crewed for Scott Tonguis and LSU on the Navy 44’s in Annapolis at the Kennedy Cup. Tyler also crewed for Dale Steinkamp at LSU in J-22’s for the SEISA district Sloops. Tyler was also heavily involved in both of the big Key West Race Week victories of Ragamuffin & TGV the years that they took home the gold. I’m sure that I have left something out here in this note that tells you a little bit about Tyler, but the truth is…that you just can’t say enough good things about this great guy)