By the look on everyone's face, one would have thought I handed out pop quizzes to those present at the inaugural skipper's meeting for this year's Shackleton Series. No, it wasn't a quiz but rather a summary of some basic sailing rules we should all be familiar with as well as some rules and guidelines for our winter escapades - sort of a Shackleton Series Syllabus if you will.  Rules, you say? RULES?!? Why start now? Well, as we enter our 8th season of (yes, this is still strictly voluntary) wintering on the water, we thought thought it prudent for all captains and crew to be aware that there actually is some sort of method to the madness we come up with. Participation seems to be on the upswing with 12 captains and a fairly healthy crop of crew present today- and to think just a few years ago crew was just a novel concept, a twinkle in each skipper's eye. And with some new folks present, it might be a good thing to educate them as to just how things operate around here. (If you have wiseacre tendencies about you, comments regarding the prior statement are strictly verboten!)

Why things are getting so serious here, we even had an official photographer instead of seeing lots of skippers veer off course attempting to get that action shot. ( I am still amazed that after all these years there have been no cameras lost to the depths of this river.) Actually, many of us skippers were still messing around with our cameras and veering off course, but a friend of the Beatnik crew, Tyler Menne, motored around the lake with his canine friends and snapped some very nice action shots throughout the race. This is not meant to discourage future photography from participating vessels by any means. ALL pictures are welcome as they are always very good and we do not know how long Mr. Menne will be providing this service once discovering the average starting salary of your typical Shackelton Series photographer is not very attractive. This is due to the fact that once again, even before the series has started, the treasury is already operating from a deficit.

Quickly changing subjects, it is necessary to introduce some new boats and skippers (and even some old  ones returning from extended absences) to this year's series. First, although having plenty of winter racing experience, this will be the first year that David Barrow sails his Mariner 36 Moriah. Already this classic looking ketch rigged boat has proven itself on the race course, taking 2nd Place in this year's Great River Drop Regatta.  Yes, David backed up his tough talk prior to that race and now only a few broken doohickeys and a couple busted battens are all that stands in the way of "taking down Chambers." Regardless if David would be successful in this endeavor or not, one thing for sure is the rest of the fleet now has a case of flag envy - that thing is huge! But it looks great!

Nightwind.

It certainly was no surprise seeing the all girl sailing team back in action. Ellen, Brandi, Amy, and Michelle are always competitive and exhibit the true spirit of what this winter series is all about. What was a bit of a surprise (to me anyway - perhaps others were in the loop) was that we did not see the familiar Sassafras out on the water but rather, Brandi's Seafarer 22 Athena.  This is another boat that has been moored at the Sale Creek docks for a long time that Brandi acquired earlier this year - it is great seeing her back on the race course again as well.

It was a record turnout for opening day and all of us sailed with crew with the exception of Andre and Bob who both decided to single hand in this one. Chances were though that we were not going to do much tacking with the westerly winds. And sure enough, I can't really offer a "tack by tack" report here since that there really weren't that many tacks and jibes. In fact, I think Hasta La Vista (and several other boats) made only two tacks and one jibe all race long.  To say it was a race of reaching would perhaps be an understatement. And if you recall from races past, Maniac is most vulnerable in these types of winds and we were all anxious to get our licks in! Of course right from the get go, any outsiders might make the keen observation of, "okay, if Maniac is so vulnerable, explain why they are way up there and the rest of the fleet is back here!" Well, it just goes to show you that you can't always believe what you see (plus I know how to work the numbers in the end!)

Honestly, although this was indeed a very fun race, it was rather uneventful. The water was only a fraction down to winter pool, so we have no gory (and hilarious) groundings to mention. All marks were rounded properly. No one lost their doohickeys. There WAS a brief altercation between True Blue and Beatnik - something about both wanting to stake claim to the exact same patch of water. We remind everyone that sailing is NOT a contact sport and body checking is forbidden - add this to your list of rules. Actually it was just a little side-to-side bump and no protests were filed.

There were a few ambitious spinnaker flights this day on the return from Opossum Creek. Chutes can be difficult to tame with west winds but there was a portion of the course where the winds clocked a little more from the south. Of course you know everyone who did not fly a spinnaker was screaming, "no fair!" at this point.  Not so much because the wind shifted a little but more because of envy - we can't stand to see someone fly a chute when ours is still stuffed in its bag. Unfortunately for the spinnaker clad boats, the southerlies would fade and everyone eventually sailed into a rest area - otherwise known as a dead patch of air. When the wind did return it was WNW and those spinnakers had to dump them quickly.

Making our way to the finish line, some boats had better wind then others as we tended to arrive in groups - sailors are such social creatures. Yes, indeed Maniac is very vulnerable on days that feature a lot of reaching. And indeed, battens and doohickeys would not be the answer as the Chambers took Race 1. Congrats to them again! Sailing very quietly but consistently is Carol Lynn and James and Kristen would take 2nd. Nice job by them as well. Although True Blue would cross the finish line next, it would be a couple of those pesky smaller boats that would correct out in front of the Ranger 33 - Hasta La Vista would take 3rd while Edge and Chuck would finish 4th in Smoke on the Water. Nice job by everyone today! It was a fun race but we must add one more rule, which is now the most important since we couldn't take them down in their "weakened state". And that rule is to bury Maniac at all costs! Race 2 will be here very soon!

(More pictures below!)

RACE 1 RESULTS

Sale Creek Marina Multiboating, Inc.

3900 Lee Pike

Soddy Daisy, TN 37379

E-mail: salecreekmarina@epbfi.com