Healthy Fleet 47 in Atlanta
I want to brag about the health of fleet 47 in Atlanta. We had 10 boats out for a fleet race yesterday at Atlanta Yacht Club on Lake Allatoona. I have been racing with that fleet in various locations since 1993 and do not remember ever having that many boats on the water. We usually get between 6 and 8.
When Stater moved to FL in about 2009 we were on our butts, with Jack S and myself as the only local weekly fleet racers. Ian E from AYC decided to get back into EC12 racing at the perfect time. I took a few of my boats, plus Jack to AYC for a demo day. People enjoyed the hands on experience and the idea caught on. People were able to buy a lot of good used boats from as far away as New Jersey and so the rebirth of the fleet happened. Skip (Robin Yachts) made hulls and sold 3 used boats to us over the years and now there are 2 Brewhouse Boatyard boats in the fleet. We also have 4 Tom G deck or personal boats in the fleet as well.
And good news for the no shows who would like to come back into the fold for our April GWTW regatta. We finally figured out how to walk only on sand as the swimming platform got towed out of the way this year and will be in future years. So we can sail off of the swimming beach and have a nice long course on years when the wind cooperates. Fortunately, the wind that favors that course/area is when it blows from either directly up or down the lake and we see both of those quite often.
Tom P (10th boat or I believe the winning boat) commented yesterday that the AYC people are gaining in skills and the fleet racing is very competitive. And a big thank you to our past and current fleet captains (John and Bill) who have done a great job and been vital in the efforts to build the fleet and to our enjoyment of the racing. Good times.
Scott