2007 Report

Tennessee Spring Regatta Harbor Island Yacht Club Nashville, TN April 14 & 15, 2007 In The movie Caddy Shack you had the crazy Bishop who wanted to just play one more hole and Carl told him to play through because he didn't think the hard stuff was going to come down for quite some time! Right… We all see the crazy fisherman out in any kind of weather just to catch "Gus" the fabled giant fish. We call those folks insane….hmmm…lets rethink this…we actually pay a registration fee to go sit on the water in any weather to go sailing. We are the ones who are nuts! Sorry for the ramble, but, those were the primary thoughts in our heads as we were sailing the final 2 races of the Tennessee Spring Regatta. The conditions were not even fit for the postman. Sleet, Snow and 35 degree weather with a breeze at 15 to 20. Now that is sailing! I believe I should back up here. All-in all, it really was a great regatta. Boats began showing up on Friday afternoon. The competitors were busy rigging their boats and the main topic of conversation was not about the sailing. It was about the evening plans. Crews scattered to get dinner out of the way and move on to the hydration portion of the evening and camp at the club. Of course the front that moved in tried to foil those plans for the different crews. One competitor opened his house for these folks to get out of the weather. Needless to say Libations flowed with endless conversation to catch up on the things everyone did over the winter. After a few games of pool and the hour of 2am everyone found a spot at the house to sleep. Saturday Morning came in too fast for those who stayed up so late. However it looked like it would be a great day. The breeze was up in the morning and the temp was around 60. The fleet had to sail about 20 minutes north to get to the race course. Bruce Richards was the PRO and did an incredible job getting off 4 perfect races throughout the day. The racing on Saturday started out slow and the breeze continued to build throughout the day. The competition was very close. Not one boat stood out. Everyone was trading position regularly and the race committee got to view a few good tacking duals. The committee sent the competitors in after 4 races which worked out perfectly. As soon as the competitors hit the dock the breeze shut off. I guess it was saving itself for Sunday. After the day of racing, the results stood as Clare first, Carson Second, Hofmeister third. After the fleet enjoyed some dockside banter and libations they decided Mexican food sounded good. So the fleet took off and found a local Mexican restaurant. It is safe to say this establishment was completely taken over by J/22 sailors! After dinner the Fleet went back to the same competitor's house from the night before and more margaritas and cervesa's flowed. Everyone woke up to a hot breakfast on Sunday morning. It was the only thing that was hot. We look outside and it was SNOWING! We all went to the club and put on our fowlies and hit the water. Yes, we are foolish. The committee set up a very long and very square course and sent us on our way. The sailing again was very close. I think everyone was so cold that they thought it would be better to sail in a pack to see if the body heat would increase the temperature. It didn't work! After the day of racing, the results stood as Clare first, Carson Second, Meyhoffer third. __________________________________________________________ Ironman Regatta 2007 Birmingham Sailing Club May 19-20, 2007, BSC on Lake Logan Martin. 14 J-22's from Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and yes Texas battled! Thanks to Keith Zars from San Antonio - LCYC - for making the drive. Also, Thanks to Wayne Cassidy from Louisville, Kentucky - LSC - for making the trip. We had fair winds, though at times it seemed from several different directions at once on the course. Local Bob Blythe picked up on the shift just prior to the first race and banged out a bullet. Andy Carson steady and flat (as usual) put a first in the bag on the second race. The third race had Keith Zars and company out front. Sunday all racing was canceled due to a huge vacuum in the atmosphere that sucked all the life out of any thing resembling a breeze. Racing (decided on Sat.) was tight with only 4th, 5th and 6th places decided in a tie breaker. Fred Smith BSC Fleet Captain _____________________________________________________________ Leukemia Cup BSC Sept. 15 & 16, 2007 It was everything you could expect at a Sailboat Regatta. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and just some plain old simple fun and frustration. Saturday was a great day with winds around 6-12 mph. They were out of the North and shifty, adding to the excitement of each and every mark rounding, that often saw three and four boats fighting for the inside position. And some rubbin' (rubbin's racing). Twice around a windward-leeward course gave everyone enough time to win or loose any position imaginable. For myself it was a lot of fun. I have been traveling many years waiting to see the underdog surface. And it happened. In the second race, Trent Richardson and Team was first to the puff and never looked backed. They lead from wire to wire and stated that any one can get lucky. Well, I feel lucky to have seen it happen. And that wasn't the only winner this weekend. After four races, there were four different winners. With honors going to Andy Carson, Trent, Bob Blythe and Doug Meyhoefer. But that wasn't the real story. The story was consistency. Fred Smith was quietly racking up second place finishes and one third place blemish, while the rest of us were bumping and banging. Not just our boats, but our heads and crew. Fred took advantage of this and built a two point lead on Saturday Night. Sunday was dreadful, or so we thought. After one good day on the lake, there was no way Lake Logan Martin could produce another eventful day, or could it happen.The day was similar to Saturday with winds from the N-NE only a little slower around 3-8 mph. Finding a lane was a premium. There were puffs all over the lake and normal logic was thrown out the window. Instead of playing the shifts, it was more important to connect the puffs and maintain boat speed. Which Mr. Carson, yes Mr. Carson managed to do exceedingly well and win his second race before most of us even thought about rounding the marks. The only two race winner, which closed the overall gap between first and second to just one point. But the day belonged to Fred Smith and company. After finishing second four times and one third place finish, the overall winner went out in style. The course was shortened to once around, but this didn't slow Fred down. He overcame second place at the windward mark to lead by the leeward mark and cross the line in first. Making him the fifth winner of the series and overall winner. It was a great weekend and a personal achievement for myself. My oldest son, Kyle (8 years old), managed the foredeck. Until now he had just been pulling lines at the command of his father. But this weekend he handled the pole, called the laylines, overcame his younger brother, and most importantly stayed on the boat. Everyone was offering me opportunities to sail with them as the natural progression of Dad being pushed off the boat was now into phase 1. It also had me thinking..."Am I smarter than a 3rd grader". By the way, I am sowing the handle in my life jacket as we speak. Also worthy of mention was the competition for fourth place between Bob Blythe, Grant Palmer, and Trent Richardson. If I have this right, Grant had fourth place on Saturday Night with Bob and Trent close on his transom. Sunday saw Bob beat both teams and sow up fourth place. I apologize for not having complete scores from the weekend. Special thanks to Birmingham Sailing Club and the PRO for a great regatta. Also, thanks to those who traveled to enjoy the nine boat fleet and six great races. By Doug Meyhoefer