WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  2  -  10  •  SEPTEMBER 12,  2018

Now this is the way to do RC, in a gorgeous, super comfortable and shady power boat.  Thanks to Russ Marshall for the great ride and to Hi and Mike Macleod. Also thanks to Lady J’s crew Mark Turner, Walter Crawford, and Brian Clark for giving up their race to help out.  Go to the AISC facebook page to see more pictures from the this and previous races.  Thank you Randy P for the pictures.
 
There was some close racing out there and the M-24 fleet is always fun to watch and this night the battle between Gary and Morang/Lenkeit was very close.  Rumrunner made a great showing and ended up correcting to 3rd place in the Low PHRF fleet.  In the Mid PHRF fleet, the Red Baron won with Bill the Cat coming in 2nd  with her new owner, Bill Quinn.  Sotally Tober had some difficulties at the mark rounding and Jim Chinik managed to get close enough to correct to 3rd place.  In the High PHRF fleet, it was a battle for first and Meine Süße was able to stay close enough to Marmotta to win the race in corrected time.  Beau Gust was able to take another bullet in the Cruiser fleet.
 
Congratulations to everyone for making 2018 one of the most competitive and popular race series this year.  And thank you to everyone that volunteered for RC duty this year, you did a great job.
 
This Wednesday will be the awards party at (drum roll) University Yacht Club.  They have graciously offered to host this event at their beach pavilion.  Make sure you thank the UYC members for their very generous offer.  More details to come, once Warren tells me.   BTW, the trophies are gorgeous.
 
In 2 weeks, on Sept. 26 we will start the Encore Wednesday night series sponsored by LLSC.  Races will start at 6:30pm and this is a 5 week series with trophies after the last race at the LLSC clubhouse.  We will have dinner at the clubhouse every night of the series after the race.   I will be sending a separate email with NOR and SI.
 
I had a great time and I hope everyone else did, see you next week.
Dana

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RACE 2 - 9 •  SEPTEMBER  5,  2018

What a tough day to do race committee!!  What a beautiful windy day we had all day and then as soon as race time approached, a big fat nothing.  Everyone concerned was aware that we have cancelled an unprecedented 4 races during this series and we all knew everything needed to be done to successfully complete a race.  Fortunately, the wind did fill in briefly before sunset to allow us to round the windward mark, but then halfway to the leeward mark it promptly died.  The efforts of the race committee to run the best race possible was proven by their moving the race committee boat to finish at the leeward mark ”C” and they also showed ingenuity by also finishing boats at “A” mark for the cruiser fleet (thank you Jim Chambers).  I applaud your determination and skill. 
This race was also interesting because we had an record number of Individual Recalls.  Was it the wind or was everybody antsy to get started because we hadn’t raced in a couple of weeks?
With one race to go, things are getting really FUN!!!  In the Cruiser fleet, the big contest is between Sails Call and Top Sheila.  They have been trading places all series and this last race will make the difference.  Joey Duran has put a wrench in the works by the winning Race #9 in the High PHRF fleet.  This now puts him in close contention with Strega.  With a surprise (ha ha) victory of the Red Baron in the Mid PHRF fleet,  he is now tied with Sotally Tober (aka “Big Bad Wolf”) and the last race should be exciting (especially if you saw our start on Wed.).  The Low PHRF fleet had some interesting stories to tell.  There is a lot of chicanery going on in that fleet.  I heard how one boat let another boat round the windward mark first so they could use the advantage of being in the driver’s seat going downwind.  Tricky, tricky!!!!  I should mention that Rumrunner was the first boat at the windward mark, way to go guys and girls.   With the win of Uncle! Uncle! In Race #9 in the Melges 24 fleet, the championship is up for grabs.  With only 2 points separating the top 3 places, Race #10 is going to be critical.
 
NOR and SI for the Encore Wednesday night series will be sent be email on Monday.
Good luck to everyone and everybody put money in the wind meter for wind next week.
Happy Sailing,
Dana

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  2  -  7  •  AUGUST 22,  2018

What a great race, though we have suffered with almost daily storms and a record number of races cancelled because of the weather, RC provided us with a truly delightful evening.  Thanks to Robin Terrell, Tom Graham and their crew for their excellent job as RC.  We have had superior volunteers for RC this year and though the weather hasn’t always cooperated they have done the best job that can be done under often difficult weather conditions.

I think everyone was ready to put the RC through their paces because we had 31 boats that came out to play this week.  The starts were as competitive as usual, but at the start of the 11 boat Mid PHRF fleet there was a lot of jockeying for a place by the RC.    I heard the most funniest comment about the start afterword by the Red Baron and his crew  “we were in the turd row at the start”.  The best descriptor of a most unenviable place on the starting line.

With 4 races sailed and 3 more to go, here are the outstanding highlights.  In the Cruiser fleet and High PHRF,  the battle for second place is tight with only 1 point separating David Wright & Ron Spiers and Joey Duran and Mike Iuvone.  The next couple of races will be crucial.  In the Mid PHRF fleet, Mike Stewart has made a strong showing in the last couple of races and has moved up the ladder while Jim Kingery still has that pesky J-24 nipping at his heels.  Jeff Freeman and John McCarthy are dominating the Low PHRF fleet while there is a tie for second place in the Small Sport fleet between Mike Krantz and Morang/Lenkeit. 
​
Good luck to everyone and a reminder that the Encore Wed night series sponsored by LLSC will begin Sept. 26. 
Happy Sailing,
Dana

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RACE 2 - 4 •  AUGUST  1,  2018

They say you must play to win, you can tell from the list of participants who was willing to pay a very WET price to play the game of sailboat racing.  Or you can say that some of us are nuttier than the rest.  (I see lots of nodding heads)
Even though we were sailing in the rain  I think there were a lot of people looking to the skies and hoping for a flash of lightning in hope that RC would abandon the race.  But none was forthcoming.  I thought it was a pleasant race, we had light winds and just enough to go to E and back and thank you RC for shortening the race. 
              I talk all the time about the competiveness of the fleets, but I have to say the Low PHRF fleet wins the prize. While fleet ONE had 2 boats and fleets 3,4 & 6 had only 1 participant each, Fleet TWO had 3 boats sailing on this wet and wonderful evening. 
              Obviously everybody was motoring to the start with their mainsails still covered and then about halfway to the RC  you see the mind games coming into play.   Iniki puts up their main and that starts the chain reaction and then you see Renegade put up their main and so the race posturing begins. 
              Race committee was determined to run a race and there was wind, so off we went around E mark. 
Thank you Jim Kingery, Gary Umberger and crews for the excruciatingly difficult job of doing Race Committee in the rain.  
              Happy sailing, Dana

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  2  -  3  •  JULY  25,  2018

We had a difficult start to this series (weather wise), but we are hoping that our evening breezes continue for the rest of the series.  It was a beautiful evening on Wednesday and I always love sailing to the starting area.  Everybody seemed laid back and I heard very little shouting during the starts.  It was a great course, the wind cooperated and did not veer off course as soon as the RC went into a sequence.  The wind did a merry dance on the downwind leg and definitely kept me on my toes trying to keep up.  And the BEST thing, there was actually some wind at “E” mark.
              Race committee was led by John McCarthy and his band of merry men of Randy Phillips, Tim Thompson, Will Brown, Ken Blakenship and Warren Collier.  The shortened course was appreciated as the wind started to weaken about 30 minutes into the race. 
              We have a couple of race committee spots still available, please contact John McCarthy if you are interested in earning your RC credit.
              A reminder that the Moonlight Scramble/Firefly regatta will be this Saturday, July 28 and the second race will be Saturday, August 25.  There will be a full moon on both dates and probably skipper’s meeting at Aqualand.  
              See you on the race course (by the way, did you see my new paint job),  Dana

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RACE 2 - 2 •  JULY  18,  2018

TRIPLE HORNS 
RACE CANCELLED

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  2  -  1  •  JULY  11,  2018

This first race was the reason we sail Wednesday night races, there was a lot of speculation about whether we were going to have a race this evening. But just like clockwork, the wind filled in just in time to start and finish a race.  Now of course, once we had a course posted, the wind shifted and once we set a new course, it shifted back again.  Oh well!
             The racing has already started to heat up and competition has already started to bloom within each fleet. We had a couple of exciting finishes last night.  The finish we watched with anticipation was the Cruiser finish between Starcatcher and Caribbean Soul,  they were neck and neck all the way to the finish line.  It was a tight finish in the Mid PHRF fleet, the first 6 boats finished within 3 minutes. 
              Thanks to Mike Iuvone, Paul Stouffer, Mark Turner, and Walter Crawford for the excellent job on race committee and yes it was me that screwed up the time of the first fleet.  Oh well!!
See you next week,
Happy sailing, Dana   

AWARDS NIGHT  •  JUNE  27,  2018

LARC Fall 2017 and Winter 2018
AISC Wed Night Series 1 2018
I would like to congratulate everybody that raced in this AISC Wed night series 1.  We had all kinds of weather conditions and many challenges throughout this series but we had great leadership and a bunch of awesome sailors that make this some of the best sailing in the southeast.
I also want to congratulate everyone that participated in the LARC Fall 2017 and Winter 2018 series.  We had come weather challenges this series, but we had great participation in the Winter series and I particular want to thank the Southern Sailing Club participants for making such a great showing. 

Here are the winners:
AISC-   Small Sport      1st Umberger
                                        2nd McKenzie
                                        3rd Stanley
            Low PHRF         1st Freeman
                                        2nd Morang/Pritchard
                                        3rd McCarthy
            Mid PHRF         1st D.Stewart/ Turner
                                        2nd Kingery
                                        3rd Chinik
                                        4th M.Stewart
            High PHRF        1st Terrell
                                        2nd Meinersmann
                                        3rd Iuvone
            Cruiser               1st Ivanyisky
                                        2nd Wright
                                        3rd Spiers
 
LARC Fall 2017
            Sport                  1st Freeman
            PHRF                  1st Graham
            Cruiser               1st Kempner
LARC Winter 2018
            Sport                  1st McKenzie
            PHRF                  1st Terrell
                                        2nd Barton
                                        3rd Graham
            Cruiser               1st R. Smith
                                        2nd Fleming
                                        3rd Kempner
LARC fleet champions
            Sport                  Stanley
            PHRF                  Graham
            Cruiser               Kempner

Club Championship
            LLSC     29 pt
            UYC      19 pt
            SSC       12 pt
            BFSC     8 pt
            AISC      0 pt

Again, Congratulations to everyone for making these events a success.
See you in 2 weeks on July 11 for AISC Series 2 Race 1.
BTW, visit the AISC website and facebook page for Brian Clark’s drone footage of Race 10.  He got some great footage of the mark roundings at E mark.  He didn’t get all the fleets, but we look forward to some more of  this exciting aerial footage and photographs by Local Flavor Films (Brian).
​
Happy Sailing,
Dana Stewart

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  10  •  JUNE  20,  2018

What an exciting finish to this series!!  There were some unusual sounds going on before and during the race (besides all the postponements, my fault).  Two boats in the Melges 24 fleet had a learning moment about the rules of racing and I wonder if the saying “Might makes right” describes the meeting of Snowfox and Rumrunner.   This has been an exciting series and the competition has been fierce.  For several fleets, the top spot was decided by this last race. 
              In the Cruiser fleet, Kurt Schurenberg was first in his fleet for race #10, but the real battle was between Russ and Francis who finished within one second of each other.  The High PHRF fleet have had a battle the entire series to determine the top spot and this last race was the clincher. 
              The biggest fleet, Mid PHRF, had a real battle for first place in this last race.  Kingery has been tough to beat this series, but Chinik beat him this week by one (1) corrected second.  Talking about tough competition, between the first place and fourth place boat, there was less than one (1) corrected minute difference.   
              There was an upset in the Low PHRF fleet, Morang/Pritchard sailed to a first place in race #10 and scored a victory over Freeman who had dominated the fleet for the last 5 races.  The battle for first place raged on in the Melges 24 fleet all series and it took this last race to determine the winner. 
              I look forward to seeing everyone at the Twisted Oar at Holiday Marina from 7-9pm on Wed, June 27.  Please let us know how many will be attending.  We will provide beer, well cocktails and appetizers. 
              A reminder to all LARC participants, we will be presenting trophies for the Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Fleet Champion awards and the Club champion trophy at the AISC Series 1 award party.   I got some very useful and very nice awards.
              Once again I want to thank all the skippers, crews and helpers who volunteered to run race committee during this series.   They say this is a thankless job, but when I am out there doing RC I always think what enjoyment I am providing for my fellow sailors because they wouldn’t be out there racing without me and my fellow volunteers.  Thanks to Mark Turner, Walter Crawford, Karen Christy, and Bill Boettcher for their RC work,  Alex Mazurek for loaning his luxury liner, and Brian Clark who was shooting drone shots from the point (will let you know as soon as he has those posted).
              Happy sailing, Dana

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  9  •  JUNE  13,  2018

TRIPLE HORNS 
RACE CANCELLED

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  8  •  JUNE  06,  2018

School is out and the race to see who drives the fastest motorboat begins.   Fortunately most seem to go home to dinner about the time we begin our Wednesday night races. 
We have enjoyed a record turn-out for our races and the competition is fierce.  Something most of us crave.  Mixing up the fleet splits has allowed us new rivalries and someone new with which to play our tactical games. 
              I would also like to warmly welcome those who have brought more competition to Wed nights.  Thanks to Rob Whitley we have a new member to fleet 3, Dangerous Curves #43 sailed by Rick and Lori Keith.  I was very excited to see Walter Addison/ J24 and Hunter Sohn/ Wv24 out again this year as well as Ron Spiers.  The cruiser fleet has new members this year, Norman Plotkin in a Catalina 28 and Russ Marshall and his cat “Chaps” with his home away from home, Morgan 38.
              A special commendation goes to the J-22 Pyg, that is being sailed by a cadre of Jr sailors that are getting ready to sail in competition at Charleston.  They have had a lot of practice starting in a big fleet, good luck to them in their endeavors.
              We have 2 races until the end of the series, awards on June 27, a break on July 4th and racing begins again on July 11th. 
              See you out on the racecourse,    Dana

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  7  •  MAY  29,  2018

First, we (AISC) want to thank all the race committees for their hard work under often unusual conditions.  I forgot to mention last week the great job by Francis Ivanyisky, his crew and Jim Kingery’s crew for the fine job as race committee for week #6.
              Second, I want to apologize that I did not pick up a mistake in the overall scoring for the Mid PHRF fleet, Jim Chinik received a 2nd in Race #1, but that was not reflected in the overall scores. 
              This week’s race committee of Jim Chambers and his merry crew and Kurt Schurenberg and crew did an excellent job and obviously put some change in the wind meter to get the great conditions that we know and love on Wednesday nights
              We have some very tight races in several fleets, the tie for first in the Melges 24 fleet has been broken and Uncle! Uncle!  is in the lead by 1 point.  Renegade continues to dominate the Low PHRF fleet but Iniki’s 2nd place finish has pushed Amigos down the ladder.  In the Mid PHRF fleet, instant Karma and Sotally Tober continue to battle it out for 3rd and 4th place.  Chinik’s 2nd in the first race moves him to 2nd overall.   The Lady continues in first. The battle for first place in High PHRF continues with Mein SuBe coming out on top this week and Top Sheila sailed to first place last night in the Cruiser fleet while Defiant continues to dominate the overall score while Jessica continues to have mechanical problems (could Evil Spawn have gotten fur in the machinery?).  BTW, did you see the Red Baron’s new sails?
 
Happy Sailing and I hope I see some of you at the Race Management Seminar.
Dana

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  6  •  MAY  23,  2018

As Sherlock Holmes says “The game is afoot”.  We have just completed Race #6 and the competition is getting fierce.  At this time the Cruiser fleet is being dominated by Francis Ivanyisky with two first place finishes, while the competition in the High PHRF fleet is at it’s peak with a 3 way tie for first.  The competitive 13 boat Mid PHRF fleet has Mark Turner in 1st but the next 3 places have only 1 point separating them, while the Low PHRF fleet has Jeff Freeman in 1st, but Morang and McCarthy are so close they can smell the winner’s circle and the Melges 24 fleet have a tie for first between Brent McKenzie and Gary Umberger. 
              It was a tough race this week, many people gambled and wound up winners, while others picked the wrong side and ended up losers.  We had some notable winners this week, Mike Krantz took the prize in Fleet 1, while Mike Stewart (and his new set of sails) sailed to victory in Fleet 3 (curse you Red Baron) and David Wright took the prize in Fleet 6. 
              By the way, did you know that we now have 37 boats registered for the Wed. night series, the most participants of any race/regatta.  Hats off to John McCarthy and Randy Phillips for their tireless efforts to make it fun and competitive.   I can hear John now “Are you having fun!!”.
             
Happy Sailing,
Dana

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  5  •  MAY  16,  2018

Lady Lake Lanier, I call her a lady because she is always changing her mind.  First the breeze comes out of Aqualand and then a few minutes later it is coming from “T” mark and so on.  I believe “crap shoot” may be as descriptive as anything.  Some people rolled the dice and found a persistent wind while others followed the will-of-the-wisp and foundered when the wind dissipated .
 
Russ Marshall and company dared our favorite SE wind (always fickle at best) to quit and was rewarded with an hour race in light conditions.  Going to “E” is always a challenge at the best of times and I am sure that everyone at some time or another in that leg wondered if he/she was going the right way. 
 
After 4 races, the top 2 places in the Melges 24 fleet are separated by 2 points.  In the Low PHRF fleet the spread between 1st and 3rd is separated by 3 points and in the 13 boat Mid PHRF fleet the top 4 places are separated by 3 points (very competitive).  The top 3 spots in the High PHRF fleet are separated by 2 points.  The Cruiser fleet, another competitive fleet, has only a 5 points separating the 1st place and 4th place boat.
 
Thanks Tedd Meinersmann for trying to pull off a race last week.  It is always a tough call and I admire anyone that does race committee for 30+ boats, especially considering the competitiveness of our fleets.   
 
Happy Sailing and I hope to see everyone at Reggae this weekend.
Dana​

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  4  •  MAY  09,  2018

THREE HORNS - CANCELLED, NO WIND

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  3  •  MAY  02,  2018

Somebody was looking out for us because it seemed like it could have been a dismal Wednesday night race considering the wind has been blowing hard enough that everyone needed extra crew for the the last couple of weeks.  As we were approaching the cutoff time for starting the race, like magic the wind filled in.  I believe there was a sigh of relief from all boats when the wind filled in.  
 
Thank you “Amigos”, Will Morang, Dave Pritchard, David Brooks and crew for doing RC.
Happy Sailing, 
Dana ​

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  2  •  APRIL  25,  2018

Comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb…   Well we definitely had the lion and he is definitely not letting go.  Watching the weather forecasts for the northeast makes me LUV the South.  But we have benefited from the lion’s roar up north with wind and weather we will talk about alllll summer.
And so the game continues.   The Small sportboat fleet (otherwise know as those pesky Melges 24) went and drifted by “D” and then sailed on to 11 and made it back just in time to not have to put their running lights on (where do you put running lights on a Melges 24). 
The mid PHRF fleet is really battling it out, at present there is a 3 way tie for first.  May the best woman or man win.   In the high PHRF fleet, the top position is up for grabs, everybody wants to be number 1.  The competition in the cruiser fleet has been tough between Jessica (with Chaps the cat, tactician and Hi the crew) and the DEFIANT.  They are tied and lord help the Defiant if Chaps decides to take things in hand (by the way my nickname for Chaps is Evil Spawn), so watch out Francis.
 
A special thanks to Mike Stewart, David Watson-Jones and their crews for the excellent race committee work. 
Happy Sailing,
Dana​

WEDNESDAY  NIGHT  RACE  1  -  1  •  APRIL  17,  2018

We have been waiting for the beginning of the 2018 Wednesday night series with the same enthusiasm as we have welcomed Spring and the beginning of warmer breezes and the best competition to be found anywhere on this lake.  I love Wednesday night races.
 
This year started with a whoosh and a bang.  The whoosh came when we were doing 7 knots under main only downwind.   The bang comes from the hardware snapping and breaking, the most sickening sound you can hear.  I know Mike Stewart AKA “the Red Baron” got a painful start to this new season.  I have heard you can hear a Lopez explode from a mile away (maybe it just feels like it). 
Jim Chambers looked like he was a having a blast on his trimaran, while instant Karma was doing his best to stay out in front of Bill the Cat.  Russ Marshall and his 1 man crew blew the Cruiser fleet away with his cat “Chops” calling tactics.  Where can I get one?
 
A special thanks to John McCarthy, Randy Phillips, Jonathan Stewart and the rest of the RC crew who probably worked harder than the racers trying to get an anchor (or two) to stay put.
 
Look forward to seeing everyone next Wed night.  Go wind, blow.  I love it.
Happy sailing,
Dana

DOGWOOD  REGATTA  •  MARCH  23 - 25, 2018

Picture
AISC Membership - Includes Dogwood Regatta and Wednesday Nights --> $170
AISC Membership - Wednesday Nights Only --> $150
Registration PHRF and One-Design Auxiliaries (Dogwood Only)​ --> $50
Registration Dinghies and Small Catamarans (Dogwood Only) --> $40
Regatta Shirts
Specify size and material:
Adult Small, Medium, Large, XL or XXL
Cotton Tee --> $18
Poly Tee --> $24
Poly Long Sleeve --> $27
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