October 4 - 5

In a perfect world there would be a huge banner headline here stating:

THE GREATEST GREAT RIVER DROP REGATTA OF ALL TIMES!

FORCE 5 WINDS THROUGHOUT! ENTIRE FLEET PLEADS FOR ADDITIONAL RACES.

 COMFORTABLY NUMB SWEEPS REGATTA! SKIPPER RETIRES WITH PRIZE MONEY!

Well, maybe it IS a perfect world because...well, there it is in print above! But printing such would certainly strip me of my esteemed Sale Creek Marina Press badge and put even more heat on me since I didn't even race Comfortably Numb (or any other boat for that matter) in this regatta.  And I am still not sure if that heat I took this weekend is from not being part of the "competition" or for not being part of the "suffering" that took place out on the course. For Force 5 winds would be a great overstatement. I think for around here we need a scale of winds less than Force 1 - like Force 3/16ths or something. Yes it was indeed the horrid light and variable winds we received as beneficiary of a high pressure system parked over us.

And in a perfect world, I would have dozens of pictures to share with all our sailing friends out there in cyberland. But alas, the first day I was able to shoot off only a few pics due to dying camera batteries. I attempted several shots - including action photos (and evidence) of a record number of spinnakers hoisted but most of the time the camera just shut down when I attempted to click. But I did manage to shoot a photo of the start of Race 1, which proved there WAS a little bit of something out there filling sails up. It was also proof of Ellen and crew's excellent start on Sassafras as they grabbed an early lead and held it boat for boat for a couple minutes at least.

Sadly, this pretty much sums up the excitement for the first race.  About 30 minutes into a short 2.8 nautical mile course, it became a drifter with boats just kind of floating out there.  If you think sailing in a race like this is boring, try watching it. Sailing is not a spectator sport - well, let me be rephrase that. Sailing is, floating isn't.

But before leaving it at that, there was one other bit of excitement for Race 1 - and that would be the winner...Beatnik would correct out by 6 seconds over Maniac to take an early lead in the regatta. Who knows? If wind conditions like this persisted, we might not even get any other races in this weekend! And it was certain as all boats were finishing Race 1 - there would be no Race 2 today. Although there was some wind that had filled in by the end of Race 1, chances are that it would be short lived and we would be looking at not winding today's racing up until dusk! In other words, we know a good sucker wind when we see it!

Congrats to Mike Burrus and crew Mark Welsh for today's victory!

RACE 1 RESULTS

Sunday's racing? Well we were able to get in 2 races so a MAJOR improvement over Saturday. But they were still two short 2.8 mile courses that were completed in the same amount of time that Race 1 was completed. Call it Force 5/8th winds.

And pictures today? Well, I had a charged up camera... that I left sitting at the office desk! Doh! Yeah, I blew it there so the picture you see is from Saturday's Race 1 final leg. And sadly there would be no pictures of the 100% spinnaker clad fleet today. We assure you. it was a sight to behold!

Despite the light winds throughout the weekend, the weather really was beautiful - mild temperatures both days, sunny skies, really nice to be out on the water. And it was kind of interesting watching the races unfold from the committee boat anchorage. It was great to see the Ranger 23 back on the race course being sailed by Skipper Mike Edge and crew Chuck Alexander. Still waiting to hear the name of this boat. Banana Split had returned to the races as well after a long absence. Although not present for Sunday's races, David Freye's son Christopher, who has sailed with David for all these years was skippering Split on Saturday and did a fine job. The new spinnaker on Carol Lynn looks beautiful (and fast!). And we did miss seeing Sassafras on Sunday as well but did have Shawn sailing True Blue out there Sunday.

And who won you ask? Well, they had some competition but it would be Maniac claiming victory in Races 2 and 3 and therefore the overall regatta. Congratulations to Tim, Lynn, and crew. Congratulations to Mike Burrus for their 2nd place finish and to Mike Edge for 3rd overall in his first regatta as captain. Thanks so much to everyone for participating and it really was a beautiful weekend - just a little more wind would have made it perfect!

Finally, in a perfect world, we really  would be able to retire off our regatta winnings as mentioned in the banner headline. But for now, we will just have to enjoy those nice shiny plaques hanging on our walls. By the way, the 1st and 3rd place plaques for this year's event still have not been picked up. By rule standards if they are not picked up by the time the Shackkleton Series starts then they will be auctioned off to the highest bidders. Now we will raise that retirement money for sure!

RACE 2 RESULTS

RACE 3 RESULTS

REGATTA RESULTS

Race report written by Eric Almlie. ©Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.