Submitted by Jim Graham
It looked as though the weather gods were against us. At the time of the Skipper's meeting (10 a.m., Saturday), it was gray, rainy and hardly breezy, with possible thunderstorms in the prediction. Postponement for one hour, then we'll see. About 11:30 the committee left the docks tooting its horn and the real, gung-ho, stalwart sailing competitors, clad in foul weather gear raised their sails to follow. Once out on the river, there was a steady 8-14 knot wind blowing from the east-south-east, so getting to the start line was easy. The racing started off with a T-O course with Lightnings, Interlakes and Albacores participating. The second race was longer and the third race shortened in process as the wind was dying down. It didn't stop raining until halfway through the last race. Meanwhile, for those of us competing, it was very good sailing. Several Albacores thoroughly confused the race committee by trying to finish without completing the course (which drew a flurry of protests, ultimately sorted out).
By the end of racing, it looked as though we would get a break from the rain long enough to hold our outdoor barbecue. In fact it was a lively meal with plenty of beer, hamburgers and hotdogs. A nice postlude to a wet but enjoyable day of sailing.
Sunday morning dawned with rain, but by the 10:30 start, the sky was starting to clear and the wind was slightly stronger than the day before but out of the south, limiting the course choices to O's only. This time every one kept better count of the number of times required to complete the race! After three good races, we headed back to the docks. the sun had been shining much of the time and the racing conditions were ideal. Once on shore, we had the Awards ceremony with one eye on an ugly black cloud to the northwest (which proved to be a tornado in Olney), but never received a drop or rain.
Racing in all classes was lively. The Interlakes had four competitors from Ohio (who walked off with the first 3 places) so had more fun than usually possible with their limited numbers. The Lightnings commented that it was the closest racing that they had had in years, with every mark and tack requiring strategic maneuvering to achieve the best result. Among the Albacores, five different boats won first place in a race and boats 2, 3 and 4 all ended up with the same point total. (The point difference between 2nd and 8th place was 5 points!) Clearly, keen competition was the theme of the regatta for all fleets.
The ominous weather at the start almost certainly discouraged wider participation (2 Penguins showed up but did not race as 8 of their colleagues who had promised to race stayed away). Nevertheless, for those who did sail it really was one of the liveliest and hotly competed Spring Regattas in recent memory.
Lightning Class Series Summary
| Pl | Sail # | Crew | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14019 | Frank Gallagher & Cathy Feig | 1 | (5) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 10814 | Drew Hudson, Beau, Sousan Arafeh & Dave Barrett | (9\DNS) | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| 3 | 14096 | Nabeel Alsalam, Scott Bradford & Russ Roberts | 2 | 2 | (4) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| 4 | 14187 | Pat McGee, Jill Williamson & Lori Duncan | 3 | 3 | 3 | (4) | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| 5 | 13306 | Jeff Storck, Steve Gregg, Craig Huzway & Emilie Pavilon | 4 | 1 | (6) | 6 | 5 | 6 | 22 |
| 6 | 11792 | Paul Maher, Ben Kuykendall & Mark Hergan | 5 | 6 | 5 | 2 | (7) | 5 | 23 |
| 7 | 14037 | Joe Warren, John Hart & Susan Nickbarg | (9\DNS) | 7 | 9\DNS | 9\DNS | 6 | 7 | 38 |
| 8 | 13460 | Rick Welch, GiGi | (9\DNC) | 9\DNC | 9\DNC | 7 | 8 | 8 | 41 |
Albacore Class Series Summary
| Pl | Sail | Crew | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8026 | Joanna Byron & Gretchen Wilkinson | 1 | (4) | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
| 2 | 7377 | Lloyd Leonard, Doug Foord, Max Leonard & Eliz Weiner | 2 | (14\RAF) | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 21 |
| 3 | 8021 | Jim Graham & Susan Graham | (8) | 2 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 21 |
| 4 | 7979 | Lars Rathjen & Janice Rathjen | 3 | (6) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 21 |
| 5 | 7962 | Bill Swanson & Maureen Mueller | 7 | (14\DNF) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 22 |
| 6 | 7499 | Dave Huber & Erin Machlin | 5 | 1 | 7 | (9) | 8 | 4 | 25 |
| 7 | 7456 | Bob Bear & Charles Bracewell | 6 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 3 | (9) | 26 |
| 8 | 7378 | Rolf Zeisler & Susan Zeisler | 4 | 5 | 4 | (7) | 7 | 6 | 26 |
| 9 | 8027 | Daphne Byron | (14\DNC) | 14\DNC | 14\DNC | 1 | 10 | 2 | 41 |
| 10 | 7133 | Gene Spillane & Coleen Wilfe | 10 | 8 | (14\DNS) | 11 | 12 | 11 | 52 |
| 11 | 7460 | Bill Buck & John Liang | 9 | 7 | 9 | (14\DNC) | 14\DNC | 14\DNC | 53 |
| 12 | 7380 | Saskia Mooney & Tom Skifres | 11 | 9 | (14\DNS) | 10 | 11 | 14\DNS | 55 |
| 13 | 6642 | John Liang | (14/DNC) | 14/DNC | 14/DNC | 14/DNC | 14/DNC | 14/DNC | 70 |
Interlake Class Series Summary
| Pl | Sail | Crew | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1340 | Scott Savage & Lynn | 1 | (3) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 1335 | Steve Aspery & Lisa | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | (4) | 9 |
| 3 | 1370 | Jeff Clark, Matt & Tim Cullenen | (5) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 | 1305 | Alan Freeland & Carol | 3 | 4 | (5) | 5 | 5 | 3 | 20 |
| 5 | 807 | Martin Howell & Ashley | 4 | (5) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 21 |
| 6 | 700 | Eddie Rozier & Amy Platt | (8\DNC) | 8\DNC | 8\DNC | 6 | 6 | 6 | 34 |
| 7 | 859 | Heather Spurlock & Angela Fadley | (8\DNC) | 8\DNC | 8\DNC | 7 | 7 | 7 | 37 |
Open Cat Class Series Summary
| Pl | Sail # | Crew | # 1 | # 2 | # 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5992 | Bob Etheridge | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | 104501 | Ben Ackerman & Brian Alves | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Mobjack Class Series Summary
|
Pl |
Sail # |
Crew |
#1 |
#2 |
#3 |
T |
|
1 |
430 |
Tom Ward, Rebecca Ward |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
Other Awards
The Katherine Hearst perpetual trophy is awarded to the woman who beats the most boats in her class. This year the award went to Joanna Byron who placed first among the Albacores and beat 12 boats.
The Leneord Penso perpetual trophy is awarded to the sailor over 50 years old who beats the most boats in his or her class. This year the award went to Lloyd Leonard who placed second among the Albacores and beat 11 boats in his class.