Day #3 NACs

We have wind! Not much, but enough to run two races. We woke up to a red sky, which I decided not to point out to Ben. I was feeling cautiously optimistic, and sure enough, by 8:45 there was a light, but steady breeze on the lake. They got the first race off a little late, in order for all the boats to make the start, and then we had a 90-minute, 5-leg windward-leeward race. Boats on the right definitely did better than those on the left ... we were on the left. Bummer!

The second race the conditions were about the same, with light winds between 30 and 60 degrees. Greiner Hobbs and Robert Hobbs, from Davis Island Yacht Club, took an early lead the second race and held on to it for three legs at which point the race committee shortened the course as the wind died. Jeff and Amy Linton, also of Davis Island Yacht Club were second and Rob Whittemore and John Wake of Fishing Bay Yacht Club were third.

In the challenger fleet, Frank and Marianne Gerry from Clinton Lake Sailing Association are in first after two races and Don Smith and Chris Kicinski of host club, Lake Norman Yacht Association are in second place.

We were off the water by 1 and a bunch of us headed — surprise!— back to the house where we wallowed in the water.

Later in the afternoon severe thunderstorms moved through the area. We sat on the porch and enjoyed the show.

Three more races are scheduled for the championships.

Here's a link to the results:
http://www.fssa.com/content/2013-north-american-championships-lake-norman-yacht-club-mooresville-nc

Before dinner we had Scottish games. Sailors were strongly encouraged to put on a "kilt." Frank Gerry said a woman he'd never met marched right up to him and put a kilt on him, at which point he said, "Pleased to meet you!"

 The winner of each game gets a coveted red plate, which allows them to go to the front of the dinner line. Ben and I really wanted a red plate so we picked the haggis toss, run by our pal, Dave Safirstein. Only one other person had participated so we thought our odds were good. The toss involves taking the soccer ball (in a spinnaker bag), and tossing it over a badminton net.....while standing backwards!

Here is Keith Eustis throwing ....

And Sandy "catching!"
You can see from these photos that competition was low (Sandy claims they won the senior division) and Ben and I successfully won a red plate. Dinner was yummy; marinated pork loin, a cold pea salad in a vinegary dressing that was delish, and a hashbrown casserole that was so good I do NOT want to know what was in it. It was too good to be good for you.