The 2023 John Bernard Invitational Regatta Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia * October 7-8

Virginia Inland Sailing Association: John Bernard Regatta AnnMarie Covington reports: On Friday, I was nervous and anxious.  The forecast for Saturday and Sunday was for heavy air, much stronger than anything I had sailed in before.  And Smith Mountain Lake is known for its flukiness.  But I also knew that I would be sailing with the best crew, Gareth, who is patient with my idiosyncrasies and always keeps an eye out for traffic, knowing that my major concern is collisions. Virginia Inland Sailing Association (VISA) is tucked away in a cove of Smith Mountain Lake.  We didn't feel much of the north wind on the deck of the clubhouse, but we could see major whitecaps out in the center of the lake on Saturday morning.  Gareth and I headed out into the windier part of the lake where the wind was blowing well over 20mph, tuned the boat and felt confident.  I was relieved that my worries earlier in the week were unfounded. The lake is so deep that the signal boat and start line can only be set in the shallower section.  This limits the ability of the PRO to set a perfect course.  The start line was heavily pin-end/port favored in all three Saturday races. Most everyone tacked over to port right before crossing or just after crossing the start line. Then we dealt with the shifts and heavy air.  The shifts were gradual on Saturday and the gusts could easily be seen on the water coming down the lake. The gusts seemed to be continual, with very little time between them. After the first race, we realized that we had forgotten to use the cunningham. With its use, the boat really settled down in the second and third races. The first four boats were very consistent on the first day, finishing in the same order in all three races. A group of the Wayfarers gathered at Marie-Lyne's house about 20 minutes from the club on Friday and Saturday evening.  We enjoyed each other's company around the fire pit and ate fantastic food. On Sunday, the first signal was at 10AM. The temperature was in the upper 40s and the wind was lighter, with a forecast of heavier air about the time of the second race.  The wind had shifted a bit to the west which put the upwind mark on the other side of a shoal and island. Tricky!  The start line was similar to Saturday's with pin end favored.  Everyone followed the same idea of tacking to port right before or right after the start.  The big difference on Sunday was that the wind was twitchy.  I found it difficult to stay on the edge of the no go zone.  And there were auto-tacks.  Auto-tacks at over 20mph are challenging! John Driver, Andy Forman and I stayed close and crossed and ducked each other several times. We released the outhaul too much with the cunningham on which caused the cotter pin to come out of the tack grommet of the mainsail.  We couldn't fix it until the downwind leg. I think that slowed us down a bit. On the last downwind leg, we were on John's starboard side and puffs were coming in from our starboard side. So we would surge ahead with the puff, then it would leave us, hit John and he would surge ahead.  At the finish, neither the Drivers nor Gareth and I knew who had won.  Later, the PRO said John had won by a foot! Wayfarer Class winners were AnnMarie and Gareth (r). There was a long lull in the wind between the first race and the second.  I began to think the forecast higher wind would not show.  But it did, even stronger than on Saturday. For the second race on Sunday, John and I crossed and ducked each other some more.  On the last downwind leg, Gareth and I were behind John and Andy.  We decided we couldn't win by following, so we went out to the big wind in the middle of the lake. We gybed into it and jumped to light speed!  We were flying down the lake! I went up in the lulls and down with the puffs.  The wind took us straight to the finish line, well ahead of John and Andy.  What a great finish to a superb weekend of racing!