Sam Rogers, last years Champion, is still on top after two more races on Day two of the regatta. Just one point back is Tom Burton and then there is a gap of over 30 points with Augie Barkow in third and Russ Lucas in fourth.
On the water, the day went to Erik Johnson who won the first race of the day and followed that up with a second place finish. Andy Burdick won the second race. Andy was over the line in the first race and managed quite a comeback to finis 12th. This was particularly difficult because the course was skewed so that passing opportunities were hard to come by as boats were nearly fetching the windward mark on port tack.
The breeze was up and the rides were fantastic. It wasn't a steady strong wind but there were some great puffs going down the lake to give everyone a thrill, veterans and rookies alike. While the winds were mostly in the teens, there were puffs in the twenties for the leaders and less for those behind - at least that is the way it always seems!
The day wouldn't be compete as this regatta with out some bru hah about race committee, and this time judges. I only hope the exciting downwinds are what people remember. There was a protest against the committee for not flying the individual recall flag in a timely manner and the judges decision was the talk of the evening. I don't know the details but can generally say that some boats received redress and some were treated differently. Needless to say there was lots of discussion at the party and most agreed that things didn't seem right. Last I heard, they were going to reopen the hearing this morning and review the facts.
Now the good part - what an evening at the Club. Despite a deluge of rain for much of the night, the event was an all out affair. The rain made the club a cozy place for what must have been the largest crowd that club has ever seen. With the E-Scow bar upstairs and the bar down stairs things were running smoothly in the club. They had a good bad weather contingency and the dinner went off with out a hitch at least from my vantage point. The two large tents had been set up to handle the dinning crowd.
The rain stopped during diner and the sun peeked out to give a rather spectacular sunset. It was a sign of more good things. The first event after diner was the drawing of raffle tickets. Bob Donat won a new Quantum asymmetrical spinnaker, white with a red diamond in the middle. The second drawing was a gift certificate for a Melges asymmetrical spinnaker and that was won by MarcusTurner.
Next there was an introduction of John Cook (I may have the first name wrong and I apologize if I do). Mr. Cook was a member of Mike Meyers crew that won the first NCESA National Championship regatta 50 years ago. His speech was very George Carlin like and it had the crowd in stitches. He highlighted a few differences and noticed we aren't using hemp ropes and cotton sails any more. The impression was left that they partied at least as hard if not more so.
Dick Turner received a special tribute as he sailed in the first National regatta and this 50th Anniversary National regatta. Dick is 83 years old -- and he is in 54th place out of 71 boats! The sailing has not been a cake walk either - three back-to-back races the first day and two windy back-to-back races the second day.
Top 10 after 3 races:
Place Sail# Skipper R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Total
1 I-17 Sam Rogers 3 16 3 4 4 30
2 M-9 Tom Burton 6 4 13 5 3 31
3 V-37 August Barkow 8 22 2 2 30 64
4 BH-8 Russ Lucas 11 10 33 7 8 69
5 LE-2 Richard Ryon 31 5 9 6 27 78
6 T-17 Chad Hillyer 12 14 6 9 39 80
7 I-49 Vincent Porter 39 18 1 18 7 83
8 TO-101 Art Brereton 5 24 15 34 6 84
9 I-45 Andy Burdick 2 1 72/BFD 12 1 88T
10 T-1 Will Demand 26 6 22 8 26 88T
