We very much enjoyed the EC-12 racing clinic put on by Danny Thomas at Atlanta Yacht Club on Lake Allatoona, but the real star of the show was the wind - both days. It was from opposite directions the two days, but John Mulhausen and his helpers were able to set a good testing course all weekend long. Saturday was solid B rig coming down the lake from the left and Sunday up the lake from the right and a choice of A rig or B rig at the start, with most people staying with their original choice as the wind speed rose during the morning. It started at gusting to 6 to 8 and rising and finished with gusts at probably more than 12 or 14. So either rig worked well with the occasional out of control downwind moments for most everyone. It was great.
Due to low water in the lake (down about 5 feet) we raced off the beach over to the right, with the swimming platform towed out of the area. That worked out well.
A lot of pictures taken by John Pardus have been put up on the internet. They are a mixed bag, but they portray the craziness very well. John also helped Means Davis to put out and move the marks and to rescue boats, lots of rescued boats. Luckily they spent the whole day Saturday on the water. Chuck Millican's weekend fun was cut short by a below waterline dime or penny sized hole on Saturday and the boat was lifted out of the water just before the boat would have gone to the bottom. Electronics were fried. A lot of boats, but sadly not all, had bow bumpers. It is just so unnecessary and preventable to have anyone's boat holed and weekend ruined.
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One of the highlights of the weekend for me was AYC Snipe and EC-12 racer Don Hackbarth and his A rig scoring one 1,2,3,4,5 and one or more 6,7,8,9,10 and 11 in the 17 races he was able to compete in. I think I will try to get my wife, Susan to, make a special "first place in race 21" trophy for him. His sail number 4316 B rig mast broke at the gooseneck in the first race on Saturday. He is the happy guy who is Danny's friend in the group picture.
Results after 22 races 15 boats started the first race.
1st Danny Thomas 37 points after dropping a 5 and a 6. 11 bullets. He was a joy to race with. #1405
2nd Scott Vernon 87 points with a win in the last race. First Brewhouse Boatyard (Dave Linville) boat in a regatta. Very nice hull. #880
3rd Dave Linville 92 points with one win #2099
4th Skip Allen and the lime green rocket 99 points and 4 wins - some of them horizon jobs. New boat blues other times with a couple of 16s. #177
5th happy guy Ian Elliott 106 points #862
6 Tom Phillips #265
7 Jack Shepard. Danny was impressed with his skills. #1094
8 Chuck Ellis #2119
9 Don Hackbarth with 3 scores of 16 that he could not drop. #4316 B rig and #778 A rig.
10 Tom Evens #1053
11 Scott Davis from Charlotte #1896
12 Lew English #2380
13 Chuck Mullican who got holed in the 8th race. He was doing well with a first and second in two of those races. #2180
14 David Pulling #43 not 104. He started the first race. He was not scored DNF in that race.
Robert Mitchell #1952 did not start any of the races.
Yacht Club atmosphere and hospitality, lots of good food, great job by John and all of his many helpers, the usual camaraderie, and lots of wind and big-lake waves. I almost forgot the very tasty 3 kinds of exotic home brew beer from Boatyard Brewhouse. Big thank you to Dave. Very gracious and generous guy. Thank you to Lew English and Chuck Ellis for chipping in on the beer.
Scott