Another excellent job by race committee. It was like this RC had psychic powers. Tommy Sawchuk, John Guy, Pete Winham, Tony Stanley, Rachel Green, and Marten Kendrich obviously rubbed their crystal ball just right so they could see the gentle wind that was going to appear just in time for us to sail a 3 mile course before sunset. While we are all out on Wed enjoying ourselves, some of us are starting to battle with their fleet mates for the top spot in our fleet. Somebody is going to need to put a hole in Greg Cash’s boat to push him off the top spot of Low Cruiser while Jim Chambers is making some serious moves on Kurt in Beau Gust in High Cruiser. The shining star in Melges 24 is Barkley/Krantz but Tony Stanley is only one race away from taking the top spot, while McCarthy, Freeman and Guy/Stewart are pushing each other to outperform their competitors in the Low PHRF fleet. Kingery and Thran are battling for the 2nd spot in Mid PHRF, while the newly refurbished GT J-24 “Balance Point” is taking the lead in the one-design fleet, but the big surprise is the battle of the “22’s” for the top spots in the High PHRF fleet. The next couple of race may tell a different story. Women sailors/skipper; you should be out there practicing for the Joan Holcomb Women’s race on Sunday, May 22. Registration will be at BarefootSailingClub.org on May 1. For those of you who love a night race, the first Moonlight race will be Sat, May 14 skipper’s meeting at 6 pm Aqualand and the first Friday night race will be Friday, May 27 with starting gun at 7pm (see Randy Phillips for more info). The Moonlight races are free to all participants that are a member of BFSC, UYC or LLSC and the Friday night series is included in both Wed Keelboat and Keelboat weekend race registration. Last but not least, the menu for next week’s Wednesday night dinner will be taco night. We are celebrating Cuatro de Mayo, Wednesday night style. I am including some of the photos I have seen on facebook and they are great reminders of the what a joy it is to have a sailing break in the middle of the work week. Thank you Julie Stuart and SV La Luna for the great shots. See you on the race course, Dana ____________________________________________________________________
What’s shorter than Tommy Sawchuck and Mike Blanchard? Oh I know that one, last night’s race. That course was so short that by the time the J-24’s started, we met head on with the Melges 24 as they rounded the leeward gate. What do you call a boat that is half Melges 24 and half J-24? Two boats that unexpectantly meet at a mark rounding.
I want to thank race committee of Mike Stewart, Randy Baker, Mike Blanchard, Will Brown and Ted Sheldon for providing an excellent course that didn’t include “E” mark. It was a tough call and an even tougher course to set with the wind direction on this fine Wednesday night. Not only was this a fine spring evening with comfortable temperatures and enough wind to make easy sailing, but we also had the fine epicurean meal of southern style Beef Stroganoff provided by our master chef, Will Brown. The volunteers of Linda Cellamare, Ted Sheldon and Marie Umberger made feeding the 47 boats this evening much more enjoyable. I have included the overall scores and if you continue to the end, you will find the specific times and results from race 1-3. We had some interesting results this week: Jim Chambers won the High Cruiser fleet, Tony Stanley moved to the top with his 4th place finish in the Melges 24, John McCarthy made it to the top spot with his 4th place finish in the Low PHRF fleet, Joey Duran won this race in the Mid PHRF fleet, while Tom Graham and Mark Turner won the J-24 fleet by a very close margin. See you on the race course, Dana _____________________________________________________________ Oh, those nasty Southerly winds. Race committee for the last 2 weeks have had to deal with this unusual wind direction and what a challenge. RC were excellent in managing a difficult job of setting the best course or longest course possible for the winds we had this evening, but what a gorgeous evening it was. A great night to be sailing as I believe the other 43 boats that were out there with me would agree. To quote Mr. Rogers “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…” and that would definitely describe race #2.
A big thanks to our race committee of Warren Collier, David Jackson, Elizabeth Jackson, Harry Huff, Karen Huff, Christian Koerner, Mary Lyons, and Will Brown. When you have 44 of the 55 boats registered in 7 fleets (can you believe how we have grown!!), the starts and finishes can be quite exciting. I know 3 of the J-24’s finished within 1 second of each other and the mid-PHRF fleet has some excitement at the starting line. RC is doing a wonderful job of announcing the course, changes and most important. boats that are over early. So it is very important to have a radio on your boat and turned on (my idiosyncrasy) to receive important information and communicate with RC if you are retiring or in trouble during the race. Btw, I apologize for not complimenting our Culinary Specialist, Will Brown, for the delicious chicken and broccoli casserole that he cooked in week #1. Can’t wait to find out what he has planned for us this upcoming week #3!! If anyone would like to volunteer to do a meal on one of the odd # Wednesday night races, please contact me and we will gladly accept your help. For all you lovers of sailing under the full moon, the next Keelboat event will be Saturday, May 14; LARC after Dark Moonlight race #1. More information will be sent at the beginning of May. And speaking of May, the Joan Holcomb Women’s Race will be Sunday, May 22. So let’s put some women at the helm and teach them the thrill of driving a boat. Look forward to seeing you next Wednesday, Dana _________________________________________________________________ The first race of a 10 week series is always fraught with changes and questions. This year we had 50 boats registered for this series and this causes some changes in fleet splits and starting order. There was excitement in the J-24 fleet with 6 boats registered and their own start. Now let’s stir in some weather. There were storms that threatened the peace of our first night and you have a recipe for taught nerves and lots of foul weather gear. Fortunately for us, the storms delayed until after the High PHRF fleet made the windward mark of E. It started to fill in with little puffs making the spinnaker finish a lot more exciting. Most of you have seen the scores or corrections of the scores. I think I have all the issues ironed out. Please see attached for the latest and greatest of scores for Race #1. I have heard many compliments for the race committee for their broadcasts and getting a race completed. Race committee of Tom Graham, Warren Collier, Glen Schmudde, Mark Turner, Will Brown and Kevin Kennedy did an excellent job with the unpredictable conditions we had this night. Time is not always on the side of race committee, and they often do the best job in the amount of time given. Thank you for volunteering for this important job. Photos from Will Brown on facebook at LLSC Keelboat page.
_________________________________________________________________ by Warren Collier
The LLSC 2022 Dogwood Regatta was a wonderful way for the LLSC Keelboat Fleet and Georgia Tech Sailing Clubs to kick off their racing seasons. Saturday, the conditions were challenging with a 180-degree wind shift during the first race which meant the start was upwind and the finish was downwind – all in the same direction! Georgia Tech did a wonderful job with the dinner Saturday evening and everyone enjoyed the camaraderie watching the stunning sunset. On Sunday, the conditions were very sporty in the first race with 18 knots gusts. Things settled down in the 2nd race with 11-14 knots and then in the 3rd race the wind moderated to around 7-9 knots. The racing was very competitive with 1st place decided by 1 point or a tie breaker in several fleets. The trophies were handmade by Georgia Tech and everyone loved receiving them. Wednesday night sailing starts up April 6 with first warning at 6:40 pm for the cruiser fleet. Make sure you’re registered and come have fun! __________________________________________________________________ |
Results by Month
September 2024
Results by YearScorekeeperDana Stewart | She Devil |