November 2008 Update
All that is Halloween, plus wind!!!!! The dates October 24 - 26, 2008 will be fondly remembered for a long time. I can not remember a more enjoyable regatta.
Although we ended up with only 47 snipes sailing, the quality of the participants was amazing! There were participants from 14 different fleets, from 11 states, plus Sweden! Represented were 2 members of the present Snipe World Team, 3 former members of national Olympic sailing teams, a former Snipe Junior National Champion and in various classes, former national champions, a North American champion, and a former world champion. There were 9 former and the present Snipe District Governors, 3 former SCIRA International or US Commodores, the present Secretary General for the Western Hemisphere and Orient, the past and future US National Secretary for SCIRA, the USSA Chairman of the Judges Training and Testing Committee, 3 members of SCIRA Board of Directors, the SCIRA representative to ISAF, the Chairman and Vice chairman of the International Rules Committee ... not bad for a lake our size!!
We had two of the top sailors in the world sharing their racing knowledge with us on Friday. Greg Fisher of Annapolis, who grew up in snipes and won 4 Halloween regattas, has gone on to become a top sailmaker, first with his own loft and now with North Sails. Among his other achievements, he is the present J22 World Champion as well as the Thistle National Champion. He was second this year in the Interlake Nationals and the Thistle Midwinters West. He is a past winner in the Lightening North Americans, the Flying Scott North Americans, the Highlander Nationals, the Johnson 18 Nationals, the Y-Flyer Midwinters, the Snipe Don Q. He was Chair of the One Design Council for US Sailing and the Championship of Champions Committee and a member of the Van Allen Clark Sportsmanship Committee. In addition, he is a great teacher and a role model for us all in the qualities we want in a winner.
Pete Commette, also a former Halloween winner, is from Ft. Lauderdale. He is a present member of next year's Snipe World Team; he was 3rd in the 2008 Snipe Worlds. He is a past winner of the Snipe North Americans, the Laser Worlds, the Finn North Americans and the O'Day Nationals. He has represented the US in the Pan American Games and the Olympics.
It all started early Friday. Originally, an on-the-water clinic was scheduled during the afternoon with Greg producing a video, but a cool drizzle made a nice cozy chat in the adult lounge seem preferable. Greg and Peter both led part of the discussions, with Peter awing our sailors with technical knowledge and a string of numbers that left us realizing that snipe sailing had a level we had never considered. No wonder he won the regatta!
After an excellent dinner headed by Gayle McLean, Dawn Shipp hosted the Halloween party for the kids. A magician and costume contest left them quite satisfied, even though the trick or treating at the cabins was also cancelled by the rain. After that Greg led a racing clinic that could be used by all class sailboats. Many people told me afterwards that it was more helpful than anything they had ever heard or read. We were ready to go sailing!
The next morning we awoke to find that the rain was gone, the sun was shining, and it was blowing!! The three junior races in the morning were run by Robert Mitchell and his helpers. Three of the smallest skippers decided that there was just a little too much wind for them, but 6 snipe juniors sailed.
Sally Williams and Caroline Schmidt won the overall award as the top finishing boat with junior skipper and crew, followed by Arseniy Avery with Taylor Hickey crewing. (As Taylor had never been in a sailboat before, they had quite an expected struggle with the high winds in both the morning and afternoon races. Hats off to them for their effort!!!).
Max Irvine with John crewing won the mixed team trophy, followed by Lauren McLean with Clayton Dixon crewing, Andrew White, Jr., with his dad crewing, and Woody McLean with Bruno Mello crewing. Good job, all of you!!!!
Rarely is watching a sailboat race exciting, but the races Saturday afternoon were certainly an exception. Boats over, skippers abandoning ship, equipment failing - the race committee and volunteer rescue boats did not have the nice relaxing afternoon they were expecting. I am so pleased that we had adequate rescue personnel so that not only was no one hurt or lost, but none had such a traumatic experience that they will give up. THANKS!
Before supper the traditional hot buttered rum was served in great mugs designed by Rucsandra Doctor, along with home made hors d'oeuvres. Next was the District 4 meeting where we made plans to host the 2009 Snipe National Championship in Pensacola, FL. Richard Trice outdid himself with a dinner many said was the best ever. Certainly producing 182 dinners, 40 more than anticipated, was nothing short of magic!! After that? ... sharing ideas from other fleets, renewing old friendships, admiring original costumes (how many Joe the Plumber are there really?), dancing despite exhaustion ... in short, the part of Halloween that you can count on year after year.
Sunday morning there was still wind, but not the challenge we had Saturday. Happy and tired, we went to lunch and the award ceremony where items donated by our sponsors Gill, Layline, North Sails, Quantum sails, VIP Decals, and Coral Reef Sailing Apparel, were given out to special people and names drawn from the pumpkin. Recognized were the person who came to the earliest Halloween (Dan Williams of Chattanooga, who was at the very first some 55 years ago); the person sailing who came to the earliest Halloween (John Muhlhausen who came to the second Halloween); Rachel Cline of Chattanooga who at eight was the youngest sailor in the regular races; and her father Scotty Cline who was sailing in his 42nd consecutive Halloween!
Then the racing trophies were awarded. Andrew White, Jr., a very good Opti sailor from Hermitage, PA won both the perpetual trophy for top Goblin and the Pember trophy for top finishing junior. He is the son of Andrew Sr., a lost snipe sailor returning to the flock, and the grandson of long time snipe sailor Larry White who started the US high school sailing program and developed it for over 1500 schools. His achievement was all the more amazing as while he was in the lead, the jib of his chartered boat blew out totally two legs from the finish. The cover of the mainsheet also separated so he could not trim his remaining sail. Still he limped to the finish line. He did a complete re-rig between the two races using BJ's jib and a new mainsheet; even though no boats were still in sight, he went on out to the next race, which he won!
The Victoria Norwood trophy for the top finishing female went again to Tarasa Davis, who with crew Elliot Newnham finished 8th. John Muhlhausen won the trophy for top Grand Master (over 65) - and David wants to be sure you notice that his 5th beat his Dad's very impressive 9th! Don Hackbarth continued his stranglehold on the Hackbarth Trophy as his 4th place finish cinched his 3rd straight year as top Master. John and Leslie Irvine's 2nd made them easily the top finishing married couple sailing together. With 8 of the top finishes belonging either to our fleet members or to a kid who grew up here (Hal Gilreath), Fleet 330 is understandably very proud of this regatta. Thanks to the huge number of people who contributed effort and ideas to its success!
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Why Go To Regattas When Only One Person Wins?
(and it probably won't be you)
by Peggy Davis
There seem to be a million excuses not to travel, but I believe there are also many valid reasons to make the effort.
Forget the kid's soccer match, the grass over a foot high, the weekend activities you really should go to, the high price of gas, the trouble it is to take down your mast and pack up, etc, etc, etc. Your Snipe sailing experiences will be much more meaningful if you'll attend several regattas.
Attending out of town regattas strengthens your home fleet.
You get to talk to sailors from other areas and find out how they make their fleet successful. Do they have seminars? Are they during the winter or after or before races? Do they get together after races to share frustrations and insights from that day's races? (If not, all but one person drives home disgusted. It's amazing how much easier it is to lose to a close friend, and how much closer friends you become if you share that "I really didn't see the shift coming - I was just in the right place," or even better when he tells you what made him anticipate it.) Do other fleets have regular fleet dinner meetings that are fun? How do they keep the cost down? (We specialize in bring-a-meat-to-grill-and-a-dish-to share.)
Attending out of town regattas strengthens your sailing skills.
You see the newest go-fasts and learn how and why to use them. You share what sailing strategies other sailors use. You experience sailing conditions often quite different from those on your own lake.
And more importantly, regattas are fun!!!!
In the case of our Atlanta fleet, the Halloween Regatta provides a way for those who are not active sailors to know that they are important fleet members. We can not control the weather. (It's been below freezing and in the 80's.) We can not control how much water the Corps of Engineers leaves us. (There is never as much lake as we sail on the rest of the year, but some years are definitely better than others. One year when we had over 100 Snipes, the joke was that if you lined them up bow to stern you could walk across the lake on them. Besides isn't having an island to go around more challenging?)
But we can control the environment on land. Every fleet member helps plan and execute every aspect of land activities. Our goal is to provide the best regatta experience in the country.
Do you have children? Friday night there is a Trick or Treat hike where cabin owners even decorate and put on costumes. There are children's games in the clubhouse and a costume contest. Of course on Friday night we also serve a free chili dinner for you and the kids. Saturday and Sunday we provide baby sitters during the races and a children's meal Saturday night.
For the sailors, spouses, and accompanying entourage, Saturday after the races, our fleet's non-sailors serve traditional hot buttered rum (with and without alcohol.) After dinner we have a band that makes us all remember how much fun dancing was when we were young-er. Besides the latest how-to-be-healthy-and-live-forever says dancing is the best exercise. Costumes have become a tradition, but they just appeared. Visitors started this tradition! There is no set time to wear yours, no length of time to keep it on, no necessity to reveal who you are (Are any of you old enough to remember the time before costumes were common when a grizzly bear rumbled silently for the whole evening without our being able to determine who it was?)
But most important is seeing friends. Even if sailors move from your local fleet, you can still see them several times a year, at nationals, at Halloween, and other big regattas. My family's life has certainly been enriched by having Snipe friends throughout the world. Somehow, sharing the energy, frustrations, and excitement of Snipe sailing creates a bond that will last a lifetime.
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Date : April 5, 2008