It was a fabulous night, I couldn’t stop smiling all night (I was quite calm when my crew put my spinnaker up as a pennant)!!  It was a perfect night to be sailing under the moonlight with a balmy evening and very little motorboat traffic.  This is the kind of night that makes the summer moonlight race something special.    I think Pat Finnick (who decided to check out mark 11) was probably the only one that got to see the fireworks at the Margaritaville on his way back to the dock.  Congratulations to everyone for making this a great event (barring hurricanes).
 
For those of you that wanted to know what boats they passed in the dark, here is the order of the finishes.
 
Linda Webster 9:17:10
Chris Jackson 9:26:40
Francois Rivard 9:27:00
Cole Woener and the GT crew 9:28:27
She-Devil 9:36:04
Spencer Gay 9:37:17
Taka 9:38:00
Norman Plotkin 9:42:50
Jim Chambers 9:47:30
 
Overall results are attached and upcoming email will address trophies.
 
Upcoming LARC Fall series, skipper’s meeting at 11am at Aqualand for all races.
#1 Sun Sept 12 
#2 Sun Sept 26 by BFSC
#3 Sun Oct 17 by UYC
#4 Sat Nov 13 by LLSC
 
See you on the race course,     Dana
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Did you bring your bathing suit?  This was the night for all our cute bikini-wearing sailors to strut their stuff.   The most common sight this evening was all the people in the water floating behind their boats.   Life jackets have a variety of uses.
 
I brought foul weather gear but no bathing suit (ha, what was I thinking!).  Race committee of Mike Iuvone, Paul Stouffer, Pat Finnick and Daniel Postel searched diligently for the wind.   I even thought I heard some change being thrown into the water in eager hopes of appeasing the wind gods this evening.  It was fortunate that most of the bad weather associated with Hurricane Fred had quickly traveled past us Wednesday morning.  But all that it left was no wind and hot, humid temperatures.  We all gave our motors a workout this evening, waiting for something to happen.  But we were disappointed again this week.  
 
Two more races to go and next week we will have dinner.  Our culinary specialist, Will Brown, will be preparing tacos and fixings for dinner with a pan of chicken tetrazzini for those that loved the last dinner.
 
Upcoming events: 
Last Moonlight race Sat, Aug 21
Series 1 and 2 awards dinner/party at LLSC clubhouse Wed, Sept 8 at 6pm.  
LARC fall series begins on Sun, Sept 12 with skipper’s meeting at 11am at Aqualand.
Encore race #1 starts on Wed, Sept 15 with a 6:15 start for cruisers 6:30 begins fleet 1
 
See you on the race course,     Dana
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I think the boy scout motto “Be prepared!” applies to our race this week.   Many people were congregating on the point, wondering about the weather and what the race committee was going to do when we saw the RC barge leave the dock.  We then began to see a trickle of competitors following behind them.  It became obvious that we were going to have a race.  It stopped thundering about 6:20 and though there was not much wind, it is always best to “be prepared”.  So those of us who don’t mind sailing in the rain started heading for their boats.  
 
Often, after a rain the wind dwindles to nothing.  This evening began that way but in typical Lake Lanier style, the wind picked up and of course shifted dramatically after the start of the Mid PHRF fleet to give us a great ride for the remainder of the evening.
 
Thanks to the intrepid race committee of Jeff and Cathy Freeman, David Wright, David Schenck, Rob Jones, Tom Graham, Eugene O’Donald, and Mike Tataris.  They came, they saw and they conquered.  This was a tough call by RC and I thought they did an exceptional job of pulling off a race when very few thought it would happen.
 
I hope everyone enjoyed the homemade chicken tetrazzini that Will Brown cooked and served this week.    This was an exceptional meal made by our master culinary specialist.  We will have our last meal in two weeks after race #9 and then we can look forward to the scrumptious meal being planned by Greg Cash and Darryl Lanier for the awards party.
 
With 2 tropical systems bearing down on us the next week, make sure you bring your foulies and “be prepared” for anything.
 
See you on the race course,    Dana
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Happy Windsday (compliments of Strega’s crew).  I hope everyone enjoyed this incredible evening of racing, this is what we love about Wednesday nights. 
  
It was an exciting night of wind and what a pleasant surprise after the last 2 races.  Because of the dramatic wind shift and the feeling that a storm was gathering after the Low PHRF fleet started, the other fleets had totally new sailing conditions.  We all had to shift gears from our light air race tactics to this shifty, gusty and a wild ride we were experiencing.  You had to use all the tools in your box to keep the boat under control while still trying to pass your competitors.  Crew weight can often hurt you in light air, but it significantly helped in races like tonight.
 
Just a reminder that we need more volunteers for race committee, go to website LLSCKeelboat.com or contact Jonathan Stewart at (770-598-4346) or [email protected].
 
Excellent job by race committee members; Linda Webster, Brent McKenzie, Reid Collins, Sean, Lisa and Muriel     A big thanks goes to our commentator tonight, Linda Webster.  Great job on keeping everyone informed.
 
Scoring: Just a reminder that once we have completed 4 races we will get a throw-out.
 
Next week is an odd number race and we will have a home cooked meal prepared by our culinary specialist, Will Brown.   He will be making chicken tetrazzini, so I hope everyone joins us at the clubhouse after the next race for this fabulous meal.
 
Make sure you put Wed, Sept 8 on your calendar because we will have an awards banquet for Wed Series 1 & 2 races, starting at 6pm at the LLSC clubhouse.  We will have live entertainment, excellent trophies, and a meal prepared by our Cruiser fleet members of Greg Cash (Impetuous) and Darryl Lanier (Old Gator) of pulled pork and ribs.
 
Just a reminder that the last LARC Moonlight race will be on Sat, August 21.  You will get an email reminder the week before.  
 
See you on the race course,    Dana
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