Report by AnnMarie Covington
Seven Wayfarer skippers and their crew made the trip to Lake Waccamaw North Carolina, for the third annual Alligator Run Regatta on April 14 through 16, 2023. On Friday night, Waccamaw Sailing Club hosted a delicious barbecue and taco welcome dinner for the sailors and volunteers.
Early Saturday morning the wind was light with a forecast of more to come later. A group of Wayfarer sailors went out to breakfast before the competitors’ meeting. Around noon, the Wayfarers joined the F18s, Tanzers, Holder 20s and various other multihulls and monohulls on the lake in typical lake wind; shifty and gusty, but with plenty of wind all over the lake.
The Wayfarers paid tribute to Jim Cook by luffing the line before the first race. Jim Cook, an amazing Wayfarer sailor and awesome human being, died in a tragic accident while rowing on Lake Wylie March 28. After setting the starting line, the signal boat raised the Wayfarer flag and sounded the horn 8 times while the Wayfarers luffed their boats near the start line.
After completing one race, we waited for a capsized Tanzer to be towed. By the second race, the skippers and crew had their sea legs back after a late winter and early spring of very little sailing due to poor weather. The second and third races were hard fought, both up wind and down, with many place changes and close finishes.
We were treated to fantastic fried chicken and fixins for dinner. While several Wayfarer sailors asked the retired pharmacist for naproxen, others were spry and nimble.
Sunday morning brought quiet air. The race committee was skeptical that races would be held. But around 11AM, the wind filled in and we were off the dock, ready for more racing. The Wayfarers battled it out in 10-15 knot winds, similar to Saturday, with several calls of “starboard” but no collisions. After numerous place changes during the races and very close finishes, the final standings revealed AnnMarie Covington and Gareth Ferguson as the solid winners ahead of Ali Kishbaugh and John MacAdam.