Great Conditions Saturday at the Choo Choo

 The Privateer Yacht Club hosts the Chattanooga Choo Choo regatta every year on the last weekend of April. We have been coming to this event for the last seven years. The first year we got T-boned and capsized and the next year we finished at the back of the fleet, but we have slowly worked our way up as we sail more and more. We always have a great time!

Given how early in the season it is, we also always have wind ... sometimes too much wind! This year the conditions, wind out of the south/southwest at about 10, gusts to 14, were perfect for a mid-weight boat like Ben and me. The race committee, headed by Steve Sherman, president of McLaughlin Boatworks, decided to run four races Saturday because Sunday morning conditions looked quite light. That was a good call. The wind was good but we saw huge shifts, with wind from 170-270 throughout the course of the day. Sometimes those shifts benefited us, sometimes, not so much!

We tried mostly to get starts in the middle of the line and play the middle of the course, which generally worked well. Twice, though, boats that played the left really made out. In the first race Bill Robertson, of Privateer, was probably in about fifth or sixth place on the last leg, which was upwind. He caught a shift on the left and blew by tons of boats, placing second. In the third race, at the last leg we were leading by 10 boat lengths and had finally learned to cover other boats. Nevertheless, Corky and Molly Hadden, who sail out of Bay Waveland in Louisiana, got just a whisker to the left of us and that was enough. They nosed us out by less than a boat length at the finish by riding a huge left shift right to the line. Boy! Did we gnash our teeth! Fun race!!

We were on the water until 5:30; the day was gorgeous, many of the races were an hour long, and we all came off the course feeling exhausted but satisfied. Sandy Eustis, Dixie Lakes District Governor, organized a short debrief with the top three leaders. Each skipper, and their crew, talked about what they did on the water and what they were thinking. Other sailors also asked questions. After that, we had a great hamburger cookout and plenty of beer.

The next morning, as predicted, there was no wind. The races were abandoned at about 10:30 and we packed up our boats.

Finishes:
First: Ben Williams and Deb Aronson 6 points
Second: Corky and Molly Hadden  11 points
Third: Ed and Tom Craig 18 points

Notice of Race, Midwest District Championships

The Notice of Race has been posted for the 2012 Ephraim Regatta and Flying Scot Midwest District Championships, August 3-5 at the Ephraim Yacht Club, Ephraim, Wisconsin.  Discounted pre-registration is available online.  To view the NOR and to register, go to www.eyc.org/racing  In-person registration also will be available August 3 and 4 at the EYC.

The regatta should be one of the largest in the country in 2012.  In 2005, the last time the EYC hosted the Districts, 55 boats competed!  Please be the EYC’s guest at what promises to be another fun and exciting Ephraim Regatta!  Questions?  E-mail regatta@eyc.org

Voodoo curse is broken; we get to sail!!

Some sailors started joking that the Flying Scots were the victims of a voodoo spell when three of the four days of scheduled sailing at the New Orleans Midwinters were cancelled — Tuesday and Wednesday had winds in the 20s with gusts in the mid 30s and Thursday was pouring rain and zero wind.

But others countered with the fact that we had made the appropriate sacrifice, referring to the Flying Scot that was totaled when a drunk driver side-swiped it on the drive to the regatta (the owners were uninjured and were able to borrow a Scot).

Friday morning we were woken at 6 a.m. by the loudest thunderstorms and rain yet. We groaned, rolled over and turned off our alarm. Except, when we did get up about 8 a.m., the skies had cleared and there were moderate breezes. Hallelujah!

By Friday morning more than half a dozen sailors had packed up and gone home, but we stuck with it and I'm happy we did. The sailing Saturday was in about 7-10 out of the west, northwest for most of the day. I thought I had been optimistic that we'd get to race, but I must have not been as optimistic as I thought because I neglected to bring anything on the boat but one bottle of Gatorade. We had four excellent races. Ben and I were parched and had to request water from the committee boat after every race, but we were happy. We had two great races (for us): a fifth- and a third-place finish. But then we had two not-so-great finishes. Oh well, that's sailing!

In addition to our boat, Eric and Rod Bussell and Chris Tesdal from Clinton Lake came and sailed the Challenger Division in the Bussell's boat, Windtalker. After a strong and consistent performance (one 2nd and three 3rds) they got second in the regatta. Congratulations to Eric, Rod and Chris!!

We learned a lot at this regatta, as usual. We learned a new technique for hoisting the spinnaker where we pull the jib in very tight right before the hoist and don't put up the pole until the spin is up. That worked really well for us. No more hourglasses and a much faster hoist. We also learned to launch our boat over the bulkhead, which was carpeted. That worked fine because the water was so high from the rain and strong winds that caused water to pile up on the southern shore of the lake. We also learned from the Carpenters that some sailors keep all the zippers and velcro tabs closed on their top cover and just slide it off through the hole where the mast goes. I'm excited to try that next regatta trip!

As usual we had a great time visiting with our fellow sailors and eating awesome N'Awlins food, from gumbo to bananas foster! Next up? Chattanooga Choo Choo at Privateer Yacht Club in Chattanooga, Tenn, the last weekend of April. See you all there!

Flying Scot Midwinters, day two...

Ben and I came to New Orleans for the Flying Scot Midwinters and are enjoying the trip so far, though so far we've sailed as much as if our boat were still in storage!

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, we sailed three races Sunday in the warmup regatta in great conditions, but since the official regatta started yesterday, New Orleans has been socked in with bad weather and too much wind. You know it's windy when they ban trucks from driving across the Lake Ponchartrain bridge because they'll be blown over. That's been the case the last two days.

Still, we are optimistic that things will clear up tomorrow or Friday and meanwhile we learned some things about sailing in heavy wind from a panel of racers — Paul Abdullah, Dave Bolyard, Kelly Gough, and Ryan Malmgren — and MC'd by Al Terhune.

Ben and I have spent some of our spare time in the French Quarter and along Magazine Street. Today we went to the WWII museum in New Orleans. It turns out the landing craft with those drop down ramps were all designed and built by a guy named Andrew Higgins, whose factory was in New Orleans. Every craft like that, even those he didn't build, was known as a Higgins boat.

More tomorrow.

Spring, and Sailing, Just Around the Corner

We had several inquiries the last week about dates for the annual Glow regatta. That tells me spring, and sailing season, is around the corner and we better get crackin'. So here it is, this year's Glow will be held August 24-26 at Clinton Lake (Illinois). Other Midwest District dates that are important: June 23-29 NACs at Carlyle Lake, August 3-5 Ephraim Regatta (also Midwest Districts). We haven't heard yet the date for the Egyptian Cup or the Whale of a Sail, both at Carlyle Lake. I also have a lead on a multi-class regatta outside Indianapolis that our Flying Scot pals, Geoff and Patrick Endris, have invited their fellow Scots to. That will be some time in May, but we have not got a firm date yet on that.

That's all the news on regattas for now. We're headed to the Midwinters March 18-23 in New Orleans and I know a few other Midwesterners will be there. Keep your fingers crossed for warm weather!

107th Annual Ephraim Regatta & 2012 District Championship

The 107th annual Ephraim Regatta will also be the 2012 Flying Scot
Midwestern District Championship regatta.  Dates are August 3-5.  For more
information, keep an eye on www.eyc.org/racing.  Forty to fifty Scots are
expected (last time the EYC hosted this event, in 2005, we had fifty-four
Scots!)  The EYC is well known for quality race management and friendly
hospitality; in 2009 the EYC won U.S. Sailing's One-Design Regatta of the
Year award for hosting the Flying Scot NAC.  Our racing venue of Eagle
Harbor, Ephraim, Door County, Wisconsin is unsurpassed for clean water,
brisk winds and scenery.  Questions?  Contact regatta chairman Bjorn Hooper
bjorn@thehoopers.net  Hope to see you there!

Tempting the Wind Gods...

Ben and I traveled to the Privateer Yacht Club in Chattanooga last weekend to participate in their District Championships. Two boats from that club came to our districts/Glow this year and this was an opportunity to reciprocate. Plus, it's just a really friendly club and one we get to every year, though usually in the spring. Anyway, the wind was strong both days. Probably about 18 mph, but the race committee did say one gust on Saturday measured 23.5. So, it was hard work.

We got a good start the first race and, to our utter amazement, were leading by almost a full leg by the second or third leg. Then about 10 boat lengths from the finish, Ben blurted out "I can't believe we're doing a horizon job on those guys!" Can you believe he did that?! Talk about tempting the wind gods.

And, sure enough, it couldn't have been more than three seconds later when a puff from an entirely different direction auto tacked our boat and Plop! Ben fell in the water!! I also got a nasty rope burn by my eye from the vang, but never mind that, we had to get Ben back in the boat. Luckily he managed to scramble back in the boat with a little help from me and, after some futzing around, trying to get out of irons and calm ourselves down a bit, we finished the race, still in first place. Phew!!

We had another first-place finish the second race, but we had been in third place the whole race and only with some crafty strategizing we were able to nip the other two boats by just a nose. Usually the shoe is on the other foot and we're being overtaken right at the finish, so we really enjoyed that! A third place finish in the third race and then two fourth-place finishes on Sunday dropped us to third place overall but we felt great about our performance. We very very rarely beat Rob Fowler and Scot Cline, the first place boat, or Ed Craig, the second place boat, so that was a real accomplishment.

The drive home was long, but worth it after a weekend of such great sailing!