| East Port Yacht club was the perfect place to keep our boats. The staff was helpful as some of us had not hoisted the wayfarers before and even though they had 16+ vipers as well as the J22 fleet, they accommodated those of us who had to travel. 6 boats went; One from Michigan, One from Maryland and Four from North Carolina. Three days of racing in light wind, strong currents and lumpy water. There were 4 fleets in our division. J 22, J 24 Alberg 30 and Wayfarer. A few of the Wayfarer fleet had not sailed on the same racecourse as larger boats but by the 2nd day everyone was comfortable and zipping around the start area. On the first day the Drivers from Galesville MD jumped into the lead and stayed there for the whole regatta. Peggy Menzies had to pick up her crew from the Airport that morning and still made it to the racecourse. Most of us had good races and then not so good races. If you chose the wrong side of the course, you were on the treadmill trying not to go backwards and hoping to make the mark. From Richard Johnson. “Friday was our introduction to strong current and light and lumpy sailing. The power boats churned the river so that the wave patterns were completely confused, and they seemed to build on each other. The winds were very light. There was enough to power you upwind, but down wind was frustrating. It is important to understand that the wind was out of the northeast and the current out of the north. So, the only way to get to the windward mark was to sail on starboard until you felt you had sailed too far, then sail a bit further. Tack onto port and hope the current did not push you to far past the mark.” “Saturday was truly light and lumpy. We had one race which we lost to AnnMarie and then the next race was abandoned, thank goodness.” “Sunday was much of the same”  In the end 1st place John/Mary Driver 2nd place Peggy Menzies/ Will (son) 3rd place Annemarie Covington/Gareth Ferguson When asked at work today if I had fun, I replied “that the sailing was challenging but I had the best time with my fellow sailing friends in a great venue.” Ali K We were able to honour Jim Cook with a perpetual trophy which made it that much better. Thank you to all the sailors who took a chance and came on this journey with me.- Ali K |
