Much Better Wind on Sunday

Ben and I woke to a nice brisk breeze Sunday morning. We took ourselves out to breakfast at our favorite Lake Norman breakfast spot, The Daily Grind, which is less than 10 minutes from the club. By the time we got back the wind had really picked up and we layered on lots of clothes. Luckily, just before we left the dock, we noticed the wind had laid back down, so we peeled off a layer or two, and headed to the race course. 

The race committee ran two very long windward-leeward-once-around-courses and each race lasted at least an hour. We were in the hunt and hoped to do well. You can tell its a tough fleet when every race is won by a different team.

Sunday's first race was won by Bob Fields and Shawn, whose last name I don't know, but is the new executive director of the Carolina Community Sailing program on Lake Norman (someone should get them to write a Scots N Water story about that program, by the way). Ben and I finished close enough to them to see them give each other a big bear hug and have a nice chat with them on the way back to the starting line. Shawn (who also oversaw the horse shoe toss Saturday night) was telling us all about the community sailing and rowing center that Larry Vitez worked to establish. It sounds like there is some cross pollination going on between the junior sailors at Lake Norman Yacht Club and the community sailing members, so that's all good.

The second race we were duking it out with them again until Eric Aschaffenburg came out of the right side on the downwind leg, passed the leaders and marched away.  Still, Ben and I got second place both races and were pleased with our consistency.

Boats finishing the last race on Sunday

It's a long drive for us, so, as much fun as the weekend is (and always is at Lake Norman), we were happy to be packed and on the road by 2 pm. What a fun way to wrap up our sailing season!

Top Eight Finishes:
Ben Williams
Larry Vitez
Eric Aschaffenburg
Don Smith
Robert Fields
Charles Buckner
Peter Beam
Bill Ross