2006 Report

The Tennessean HIYC Nashville, TN April, 8 & 9, 2006 Things were a bit bumpy on the afternoon before the regatta. There was a severe outbreak of tornadoes in Middle Tennessee. Our thoughts go out to the families that lost so much from the storms. The most affected area was about 2 miles from the race area. So needless to say, it was close to home. Our turn out was a bit down from what was expected but the folks that made it to this regatta got a chance to experience all extremes and fantastic race management. Saturday the temperature was in the mid 50's and the wind was blowing from the north at 15 to 20 mph with gust to 30. Needless to say the rides were amazing. We managed to get in 3 loooong races. Among the casualties from the breeze was a brand new spinnaker on the Morang boat that went to shreds, the entire sea-hood ripping out on the Trotter-Borquin-Harrison boat, and the amazing pirouette on the Clare boat just to see how many flips Kyle Meyhoefer could do down below. Once we came in, the beer flowed and the fish stories grew. Sunday showed us the opposite conditions. The temperature raised and the wind velocity fell. Old Hickory Lake is famous for the term "Jackson's Revenge", It will Givith and it will Taketh away! The conditions were very shifty and you had to commit to a side. The middle was dead. The Freeman-Robertson boat did a great job working the shifts throughout the day. When the racing was over the results with a throw-out for the top 3 stood as 1-Clare, 2-Freeman-Roberson and 3--Carson

Ironman Regatta, BSC, Birmingham, Ala. May 20-21, 2006 The second stop on the J/22 South East Circuit kicked-off with a cookout on Friday night organized by BSC J/22 Fleet Captain, Trent Richardson. Early arrivals from Atlanta, Jim Morang and Bill Harshman, together with assorted family and crew, joined local J/22 sailors for grilled hamburgers, chicken and potato salad. On Saturday, it was blowing 15 with very shifty and sudden gusts, which made for exciting sailing. Ten J/22s battled the shifty breeze and each other around the race course during four races. Mark roundings were crowded and the shifty breeze put additional pressure on the crews when jibe-sets were called for. There was little room for error on the downwind runs and several broaches were the result. After racing, tired sailors enjoyed cold beer and a BBQ dinner. Following dinner there was live entertainment. Here is an eye witness account from a non J/22 sailor: “Some combination of J/22 and/or Buc sailors - accompanied by electric and acoustic guitars, an improvised PA, and a well-lubricated audience - treated us to rousing renditions of "Tom Dooley," "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor," and the classic "Banana Song" ("Day-O, Day-ay-O, Daylight come and me wanna go home ..."), to name a few. It actually sounded quite good.” Unfortunately, there were no “American Idol” scouts on the scene. The breeze moderated on Sunday and the sailing was more routine. The final results found Sean Clare in first, Sarah Morang in second, and Rob Bourquin in third.

HOSPITALITY REGATTA, JACKSON, MS October 8, 2006, Jackson, MS - Thirteen J/22's participated in Jackson's annual Hospitality Regatta this year. We welcomed several road warriors from Birmingham Sailing Club, Singing River Yacht Club, Lake Lanier Sailing Club, Lake Canyon Yacht Club, and Kentucky Lake Sailing Club. I knew there would be some folks showing up on our little lake but I had no idea it would be this good of a turnout. My only regrets were that the water level had dropped to a point that made the boats tough to get in and out and the breeze made it here one day too early then shut down on the last day. Most of the teams arrive in Jackson without much incident except for Bill Harshman who by shear luck happened to notice he had lost all of the tread from one tire on the way down. Then realized he needed to replace the other shortly after that, so two tires later, 40 gallons of gas Team Harshman made it to JYC. The last team to arrive drove in from Pascagoula, MS about an hour and a half before the start of the first race. Sam Vasquez hollered at me, "Joe, got a c-clamp?" I had no idea what he needed it for but found one and left him on the ramp to jury rig whatever it was. They made the start! The JYC RC led by PRO Dr. Ed Thompson did all they could in their power to get races off and try to keep the sequences running. With Lightnings, Catalinas, PHRFs, and multihull zipping around it was getting chaotic at times. A front had pushed through on Friday which made sailing nice in the beginning of Saturday then the shifting started. Big shifts! Some were very lucky and some were not. Personally, I think I used all of my luck for the year in this event. (I should have been in a casino this weekend.) The bigger highlight of the weekend was the great jambalaya and band we had for Saturday evening. The free kegs floated pretty quickly which led to aching heads the next day. I remember seeing people dancing or stumbling but I don't know who they were. Or maybe they weren't dancing and I was just stumbling. Anyway, Sunday's races fizzled pretty badly with one getting tossed based on time limit expiration and the second race only had two legs.. However, we got all of the boats out quickly and back on the trailers for the trek home. We really appreciate having the participation in Jackson this weekend and look forward to seeing more folks on the SE circuit next year. See results at http://www.jacksonyachtclub.com under Hospitality Regatta results.