2005 Cottonwood Regatta
April 23-24, 2005
Catawba Yacht Club   
Lake Wylie, NC
Lightning Report by Ron Wright

Report

[Picture legend:  1.  Richard Waldkirch wide open on Lake Wylie.   2.  Al Schonborn and Pete Marriott head out to race.]

Well, we just had a heck of a good time. 

There was no doubt it was gonna blow.  It was already blowin' when folks started arriving Friday night for burgers and suds at the club.  By the Saturday skipper's meeting it was one of those "should we or shouldn't we" days.  Local weather had everything from 12-20 steady with 15-30 gusts.  Our sailing pros, Eric and Jo Rasmussen were getting readings in the 10-15 range.  The local rule of thumb says if the white caps are consistent, it's better to stay in.  And so we sat staring at the lake.  Well, the white caps were there, but not consistently there.  So out we went, all 7 Lightnings.  (To set the stage, it should be noted that five of 12 Wayfarers stayed in!)

The wind was blowing out of the southwest with a predicted shift to the west.     On Lake Wylie, that unfortunately means short courses as we are forced to race back and forth across the lake instead of up and down the lake.  To make things tougher, when it blows on a long narrow lake, the gusts can come from anywhere and often will hit 20-35 degrees off the normal breeze.

Suffice to say it was not letting up.  The white caps were hanging around a little too much, but we were on the course and everyone wanted to go, so Erik and Jo dialed it in and we took off for race one.  Tyner and Marriott took the early lead at the first mark.  The rest of us were watching to get an answer to the dreaded question - do we fly the chute or not.  We do.   We would fly to the leeward mark on starboard, drop the chute, jibe, and round.  Pam Barron was casualty one.  A death roll took her over and out with a broken spreader.  Marriott and Tyner rounded the last mark in a solid 1-2.  Pelosi and Wright were in a hot battle for third - at least until Harold hiked out to find that his "hand held hiking line" had been elongated over the winter and added his name to the "casualty list".  It wasn't pretty but Tina and John did manage to pull Harold back on board.  Ron sailed on to third place.

By race two it was blowing even more and gusting even worse.  Schonborn became casualty three, but not by capsize.  The Wayfarer National Champ turned Lightning sailor for a weekend (yes, we loaned him Bridgers old boat) broke a spreader tip and wisely retired for repairs before his mast was gone.  Pete became casualty number four as he tried to jibe and a gust knocked him down.  (Incidentally, by now we were down to four Wayfarers.)  Erik and Jo had kicked race two up to a three lapper prompting Tyner to dub the whole thing a "rodeo".  (It did kind of remind one of barrel racing!)    Terry finished in first, with Pelosi and Waldkirch running in at second and third.

Bring on race three - another three lap barrel race.  Weren't nobody flying a chute by now!  Pete got back from running his boat halfway to the bridge to clear the water out.  Ron got called over early and not having much experience on the front row of a starting line, got distracted enough watching Jo wave the X flag that he tried to spear Lauren right off Pete's boat making her casualty five!  She swore all night she had a bruise but refused to show us!  Can't imagine why.  Ron retired to the rear and Tyner, Pelosi, Marriott, and Waldkirch finished one through four.  On the way back to the club, Pelosi became casualty number six when a nasty jibe snapped his mainsheet so tight around two fingers, he feared they were broke!  A doctor on the scene downgraded it to possible sprain or ligament damage.  John didn't consider that a downgrade at all and spent the whole evening holding an ice pack in one hand and his wine in the other.

At days end, the results read Tyner, Marriott, and Pelosi. 

John Holmes and Tom Martin had just what the doctor ordered.  Martin had booked southern BBQ for dinner.  John booked a southern belle for entertainment.  Robin Rogers was absolutely incredible.  With a voice that was part Bonnie Raitt, part Joplin, and part Etta James, she and her guitar virtuoso hubby played and sang the night away.  By the second set, the Wayfarer crowd had turned in.  John turned the clubhouse lights down low and Robin serenaded us for another hour.

Sunday brought more of the same.  We had hoped for a little less wind, but it wasn't to be - still blowin' off the chain and still out of the west.  We gathered up enough parts to get Pam back in business and Ron repaired Schonborn's spreader tip.  All seven of us headed out.  (To set the stage again, there were only three Wayfarers who went back out.)

Jo and Eric called it up again and we were off.  It was blowin', but not so much we couldn't fly our chutes.  All seven of us put on a pretty good display of sailing and boat handling.  Tyner pretty much wrapped things up with an ace in race one.  (Now, there were NO Wayfarers left on the course!)

Pete took a bullet in race two.  It was only ten thirty, but it was pretty evident where we were headed - to the club!  The wind was blowin', we were all still floatin', and there weren't no point tempting mother nature any more.  Ron informed the RC we were done and we headed back to CYC.  The final order stayed the same - Tyner, Marriott, and Pelosi.  Congratulations gentlemen. 

Thanks to all for a great time.  If I got any of this wrong, just e-mail me.    Ron