| The
Cottonwood
Regatta & U.S. Nationals Catawba YC, Charlotte, NC April 23-24, 2005 on the water photos by Emily Johnson, Mo Metcalf, Bill Waller & Uncle Al |
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| Saturday morning: as
John Weakley prepares to guide The Nutshell
gently onto the
waters of Lake Wylie, little does he know the adventures that lie in store for him and Hans on this day! ... |
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| No lack of wind today! ... |
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| The Wonder Dog is out
sniffing shifts - and there are lots! ... |
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| The cement-laden
buckets and the white line strung between them are a great way to keep geese and their droppings off the docks. ... |
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| Note the difference
between the "protected" dock and the unprotected raft!!! ... |
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| Friday evening: It's
the maiden voyage for Tony Krauss in W4105, as he is ... ... |
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| ... joined by Jim
Heffernan, ex-W611 (yellow jacket) who has not sailed a
W since ... ... |
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| ... the early 1980's.
Ready to tack? No -
wait - here comes ... ... |
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| ... a gust! ... |
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| But out on the lake it
wasn't too bad - on Friday night! ... |
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| The next day, it was
Bill Waller joining helm, Tony, for the real racing -
and even for a
real swim later on! ... |
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| Sunday morning (I
think!): It's downright cold and winds are still gusting
well over 20 knots as John and Dolores de Boer head out in fine form. Al, Jim and Alyssa are visible in their borrowed Lightning in the background. ... |
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| Not as much breeze as
Saturday but still lots of hiking and ... ... |
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| ... wind spilling in the offing. ... |
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| Uncle Al, Alyssa
Johnson and Jim Heffernan may
not have figured out how to get their main all the way
up, but ... ... |
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| ... at least they copy
the Lightning practice of sailing under main alone in
order to ... ... |
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| ... save wear and tear on the jib until
nearer to race
time. ... |
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| Saturday morning: Not
to say it's really windy, but Hans and John are ... ... |
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| ... really struggling
in their attempt to reach the dock off the club where
they plan to
hoist their sails. In the end, they ... ... |
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... lost the battle. They did eventually
make it out
to race. They capsized but recovered and finished in
race 1, and took
3rd
in race 2. A second capsize in race 3 spelled the end
of sailing for
Hans who was taken aboard a rescue boat and spirited
in to a much
appreciated hot shower at the club while the intrepid
...
... |
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| ... John Weakley
supervised the Nutshell rescue, and returned to
... ... |
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| ... a standing ovation
from those of us admiring John's technique from shore. ... |
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| Can't you just picture
this man as the Captain going down with his ship??!! ... |
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| Actually, John made it
through in fine form - we feared he'd lost his infamous
pith helmet but
he had wisely left it ashore. ... |
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| Wayfarers were not the
only ones having trouble outpaddling the winds. ... |
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| One of our few racing
pics
of
2005: Lightnings near a windward mark. (more
on the next page) |
| 2005
Cottonwood Regatta & U.S. Nationals results report photos: shore pics - 1 shore pics - 2 more Friday ashore more Saturday & Sunday ashore sailing pics - 1 sailing pics - 2 awards de Boer pics |