Good times, fluky winds and crazy courses. Just another
weekend in Atlanta.
Nineteen skippers from four states came to Atlanta to
compete in the first regatta of the 2005 Dixie Cup
Series, The 2005 Gone With the Wind Regatta.
It all began Friday night when Skip and Linda Allen
hosted a “get together” at their home for the competing
skippers. Munching on snacks, hamburgers and hotdogs,
everyone had a great time talking about their lives over
the winter months and expressing opinions on current
class issues. Cameron Hunt and Baron Bremer spent hours
trying to swing a “ring on a string” across the Allen’s
back porch onto a wall-mounted hook. Cheers rang out
when Baron finally met the challenge. After 500+
attempts, Cameron walked over and placed the ring on the
hook. Of particular interest was the knowledge
displayed by Rick Gerry regarding marine reef tanks and
its inhabitants. Skip has a reef tank in his home and
Rick gave Skip a few pointers on some problems he is
having. For the remainder of the evening, Rick was
personal guide to anyone who had questions about the
underwater environment. Rick you belong at Sea World!
Saturday morning brought stiff breezes and cold
temperatures to the lake. While skippers prepared their
boats, Skip and Mo Metcalf hastily modified the sailing
course to match the direction of the wind.
Unfortunately, like most days in Atlanta, the wind would
blow from one direction and then move to another as soon
as the course was laid out. The skippers had come to
race. There was nothing else we could do so the course
remained as set. The skipper’s meeting brought out a
few local rules that were new or out of the norm to the
out of towners. No mark judges in Atlanta. Skippers
are on their honor to accept hitting a mark or not.
Also, the upwind downwind course included a gate at the
downwind leg. The skipper could choose whatever mark he
wanted to round. Finally, we planned to sail one large
fleet, 19 boats, for the entire regatta. After racing
one heat, it was determined that one side of the gate
was exclusively preferred and the logjam of boats
required a course change. The gate became the bottom
end of a racing triangle and the jam disappeared the
following race. Throughout the day, wind changes in
direction and speed required the skippers to use all of
their sailing knowledge and patience. Starts included
the normal beats, sometimes beam reaches and
occasionally a downwind run. However, because of the
length of the legs, the fleet was spread out fairly wide
by the end of each race. At the end of the day, Chris
Stater made the comment, “It was really challenging out
there today, but, it was also really exciting.” (I
think that made the RD feel a little better about the
all of the changing conditions.) As the sailors left
for a group dinner at a local sports bar, Reichard Kahle
and Chris Stater were dueling for top honors with John
Bottensek, Rick Gerry and Carter Cain battling for the
next three spots.
Sunday morning was a bit warmer but with little to no
wind. Once again wind changes resulted in course
changes and entire relocations. Finally after the
racing resumed, tactics, patience and a good bit of luck
resulted in a few different leaders on the course.
Reichard continued to lead the pack while Scott Vernon
improved on his Saturday performance with top two or
three finishes all morning long. John Rowley had a much
better day on Sunday, as did Gerry Cobley and Dick
Gerry. However, by late morning, racing had become
drifting and the idea of heading home was an apparent
thought in most of the sailors’ minds. It was time to
pack it up.
After each skipper had competed in twenty-one heats,
here are the final results and scores.
POSITION
SKIPPER POINTS
1 Reichard
Kahle 37
2 Chris Stater
69
3 John Bottensek
97
4 Rick
Gerry 104
5 Scott
Vernon 113
6 Carter
Cain 116
7 Gerry Cobley
119
8 John
Rowley 136
9 Dennis McInerney
181
10 Dick
Gerry 184
11 Cameron
Hunt 190
12 Baron
Bremer 202
13 Pete Kremlick
211
14 Doug
Hale 216
15 Frank
Angel 219
16 Jim Donohoe
248
17 Jack
Shepard 302
18 John Unterreiner
302
19 Frank Schuester
311
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