| The
Cottonwood
Regatta & U.S. Nationals Catawba YC, Charlotte, NC April 24-25, 2004 Saturday: race 2, part 1 photos by Alan Hallwood |
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| Our kind-hearted
RC
even offered tows to the new starting area ... ... |
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|
But in a wind
that
appeared
to be filling in nicely, many of us chose to sail
over. And one
of us, your Uncle Al, even went so far as to try to
replenish fleet
beer supplies with a quick stop at the club on the
way. This proved to
be tempting the fates too much. While a nice breeze
took Al into
the
club with no problems, the wind left the club side of
the lake while
Marc was in getting the beer. Some frantic
paddling was done
until the first prep signal could be heard from across
the lake. Marc
showed admirable restraint as he never once said: "I
told you so!" We
had hopes that Wayfarers would again start as the
second fleet ...
... |
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| ... but no such
luck.
Here they are, on their way ... ... |
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| ... in very light
winds. ... |
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| The change in
start
sequence seems to have surprised a few of the Wayfarers
as several
boats are starting rather late. Not as late as Uncle Al
will, of
course, since the latter is just starting to hit a puff
or two half-way
across the lake. ... |
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| The wind seems to
be
filling in just a bit. Nick (864) won't be pleased with
his start,
either! ... |
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| Near the half-way
point of the first beat, the wind continues to fill in,
as Mike Murto (l)
comes across on starboard to challenge (l to r) Richard
Johnson,
Roderick Anderson and Morris Metcalf. ... |
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| Hans Gottschling
(starboard) crosses Mike Anspach and will now challenge
Joe DeBrincat. ... |
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| Peter and Alex
Rahn
have sailed a fine first beat, and Shadow is about to round onto the run with a comfortable lead over ... ... |
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| ... Joe Spencer
and
John Weakley in the white 938, aka El Pollito Rapido. ... |
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| Peter (286) has
starboard over Rod (3568) and Morris (10245) who must
keep clear. Peter
will have to watch for Mike Anspach emerging from the
near-shore
doldrums, however, since Mike will be leeward boat if
the two should
meet. ... |
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| Wind puffs were
well
visible on the water and it is worth sailing for those
rather than
worry about lifts or headers, i.e. if in doubt in light airs, go for the stronger winds! ... |
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| A fine first leg
for
Roderick Anderson and Phil Harbin in 3568 who start the
run in 3rd
place. Less amused will be Nick Seraphinoff (visible in
the distance,
just off Rod's bow), who has studied dead spots near the
South Carolina
shore of Lake Wylie. ... |
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| While Peter and
Alex
continue to gurgle along in the nicely balanced W286,
John Weakley
prepares to add the spinnaker to El Pollito Rapido's
arsenal (l).
Mike Anspach (second from left) continues to
come across on
starboard but is too late to do any damage to Mike Murto
(2959), Hans
Gottschling (938) or Richard Johnson (10139). On the far
right, Uncle
Al makes his first appearance after starting about 10
minutes late just
after the Vanguard start. ... |
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| Morris Metcalf
and
Bill Waller complete a nice first beat just ahead of Joe
DeBrincat
(US1115) while Jim Higgins and Joanne Kumpf cross behind
Joe on their
way to the starboard layline. ... |
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| A port layline
approach to the windward mark for Mike Murto and Gale
Shoemaker in
W2959 gets them to the mark just before Joe DeBrincat
and Paul McVey. ... |
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| Tacking right at
the
mark can be risky since it leaves you with very few
rights, but here
there was no threatening traffic, so that Mike and Gale
are OK. ... |
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| Joe and Paul get
to
the mark just before Richard (10139) and Hans (938).
Peter must be
smiling right about now: he is in a comfortable lead
while the other
three who finished in the top four in a race 1 -
Richard, Hans and Al -
are all nicely buried. ... |
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| Richard and
Michele
waste no time getting set to pop the chute as they
prepare to start the
run. Mike Anspach and Sean Ring (r) meanwhile, approach the mark on port. ... |
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| Jim and Joanne
may
have found happiness on the South Carolina side - but
not much wind!! ... |
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| As 4271 gets set
to
round onto the run, Mike Anspach gives Sean Ring a crash
course in
Spinnaker 101. Meantime, the fight to avoid last heats up as Uncle Al (3854) has almost caught Nick (864). |
| 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) |