| The
Cottonwood
Regatta & U.S. Nationals Catawba YC, Charlotte, NC April 24-25, 2004 Saturday: race 1 photos by Alan Hallwood |
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| Now that the
Vanguards
are off, it's Wayfarer time. Joe DeBrincat (US1115)
checks out the line
from the pin end. ... |
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| About a minute
before
our start, it looks like a crowded committee boat end
coming up. ... |
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| John de Boer
(7351)
and Hans Gottschling duel as they continue off the line
on starboard
just after the start ... ... |
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| ... as do Richard
Johnson (10139) and his Catawba clubmate, Jim Higgins.
Everyone looking
good. ... |
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| A bit later off
the
line, we have (l to r) Mike Anspach (4271),
Mike Murto (2959),
Peter Rahn (286), Jim McIntyre (1904) and Jim Lingeman
(93). ... |
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| With the course
having
to be largely across the narrow lake, the RC was forced
to put the
windward mark quite close to the shore, and we had to
navigate some
dead spots. Here the Vanguard leaders, Brian Zimmerman (l)
and
Dan Lawrence round in relatively decent breezes ... ... |
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| ... as Bill
Wiggins
sets off in pursuit. ... |
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| A healthy lead
for
Uncle Al as he and Marc complete a nice roll tack near the windward mark. Al was the
first to tack
towards a windy patch off to the right just after the
start and ... ... |
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| ... looked very
comfortable - for a while. ... |
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| Alas, the wind
died
just as Marc and Al neared the mark. What was left
backed enough to
make the spinnaker an iffy proposition - especially in
such light and
shifty conditions. Here Al is sailing high in hopes of
reaching better
winds visible on the water on the left. ... |
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| The large back in
the
wind has made the approach to the windward mark a port
tack reach for
Peter Rahn (286) and Mike Murto (2959) as well as Joe
DeBrincat (?) on
the far right. ... |
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| The
windward-leeward
is currently a reach-reach as Uncle Al (l) ghosts
along
towards the "leeward" mark while (l to r) Joe
Spencer, Mike
Anspach, Jim McIntyre (?) and Joe DeBrincat pick their
way through a
minefield of dead spots. ... |
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| As John de Boer
(7351)
and Rod Anderson (3568) prepare to end a frustrating
first leg, Jim
McIntyre with Alvin Wong (l) starts off down
what is now a
broader reach once more, closely followed by Jim Higgins
with Joanne
Kumpf, and Mike Anspach with Sean Ring. ... |
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| Mike and Sean set
off
down the reach as Rod Anderson with Phil Harbin begin to
bear away.
John and Dolores de Boer meanwhile, check to make sure
they aren't
going to hit the mark. ... |
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| A lovely
spinnaker
hoist for Jim and Joanne as the wind swing back towards
the NE. Mike and Sean appear to be thinking about it. ... |
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| Further up the
leg,
the wind remains a reach for the Wayfarer leaders. Al
(red spi, left)
is still clinging to an ever-shrinking lead as Peter
Rahn (white,
black, yellow, red spi) brings more wind from astern.
Could that be Joe
Spencer just to the right of Peter? To the left of the
Lightning still
going upwind in the middle of the picture, we have Joe
DeBrincat in a
good race with Hans Gottschling (almost hidden by the
Lightning).
Towards the right, Richard Johnson and Michele have
their yellow-hulled Free Range Chickin moving
nicely under spinnaker and
pulling away from Jim McIntyre (I think!). ... |
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| Nick Seraphinoff
and
Joe Blackmore (864) and the leading Lightnings don't get
much to sink
their teeth into as they set off downwind. Lightning
15180, Pam Barron,
will emerge from this mess to take the Lightning gun in
race 1. ... |
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| A little puff for
Terry Tyner (14825) as his crew members prepare for the
quick hoist as
soon as they pass the mark. ... |
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| Or not, as the
case
may be. Another very patchy, shifty area of wind causes
most of the
Lightning leaders to wisely wait with their spinnakers. ... |
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| At last! A bit of
breeze of Nick and Joe! Does Nick's vang look too tight
to you? It does
to me! ... |
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| The next little
puff
has already reached Bill Sloger (11771) while Avis
Bridgers' spinnaker
is still gasping for air. ... |
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| Peter Rahn (2nd
from
right) completed a massive comeback by ghosting
past Uncle Al
just after the start of the final half-beat (so to
speak) to the
finish. Here however, Uncle Al (r) has tacked
early towards
the breeze and will reach it first. This will give him
the lead that he
will hold to the finish over Peter. Both Wayfarer
leaders stayed in
this lovely puff to the finish. Hans Gottschling
meanwhile, played the
far right, and got enough wind to rescue a 3rd for the
race. ... |
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| An early move to
right
side also paid off for Richard Johnson (l) who
rolled along
nicely up the final beat until he ran into the doldrums
near the finish
and was hard pressed to be the third and final boat to
finish inside
the 15-minute window after Al's finish as specified by
the SI's. The
others basically had to struggle in little to no wind to
make it to the
finish, and their later re-instatement was a just reward
for all the
effort they had to put in. Lesser sailors might well
have quit and gone
for more free beer! ... |
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| Signs of a south
wind
cause Marc to re-pack the SHADES spinnaker in
preparation for
race 2. ... |
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| Peter and Alex
Rahn
sail towards the relocated start area while working on
their tans. ... |
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| Hans and Frank
seem to
have The Nutshell all set for the next race,
too. |
| 2004
Cottonwood Regatta & U.S. Nationals results report photos: Friday - 1 Friday - 2 Saturday morning ashore Saturday pre-race Saturday: Race 1 Saturday: Race 2.1 Saturday: Race 2.2 Saturday: Race 3 Saturday: Race 4.1 Saturday: Race 4.2 Saturday post-race - 1 Saturday post-race - 2 Sunday (incl. awards & home) |