LAKE GEORGE OPEN J/22
REGATTA
Hurricane
Isabel decimated the east coast and forced cancellation of the J/22 East Coast
Championship at Annapolis, but fortunately she dissipated by late Friday,
September 19th, so that the J/22 Northeast District Championship and Lake
George Open J/22 Regatta could be held as scheduled. Fleet #61 and
the Lake George Club, Diamond Point, NY were pleased to welcome ten visiting
boats and crews along with 11 local boats and to host the 21 entrants for a
very successful five race regatta on September 20-21, 2003.
The
visitors took the top honors, with Jim Barnash and crew Scott Kinsilla and Flip
Wehrheim from Rochester in first with 13 points, being crowned "2003
Northeast District Champions." They were closely followed by Adam
Burns (14) and Chris Dole (17) from Youngstown. Dick
"Lightning" Hallagan (26) from Rochester and Peter Doyle (36) from
Youngstown rounded out the top five prize-winning places. Co-helmsmen Ed
Gardner and Alfie Merchant (36) of Lake George won the Top Local Boat trophy,
finishing in sixth. The only other local boat placing in the top ten was
Tom Linville (40) of Lake George, in seventh.
Four races were held on Saturday as scheduled. The first race started in
a 6-knot southerly which held through the race. Tom Linville led until
the last leeward mark where Dick Hallagan rounded ahead and held on for the
short beat to the finish on the "I2" course. The second race
was started in a light and shifty wind, which ultimately shifted enough that
the final legs were reach-parades that the race committee could not change with
the spread-out fleet. Adam Burns had the lead early in the race and held
on to win. The participants retreated to the clubhouse for a sumptuous
lunch buffet while the race committee waited for the wind to settle in.
An 8 to 10-knot southwest wind with lots of shifts and higher gusts did
finally arrive, and two races were held in the afternoon. Peter Doyle won
the first, and Jim Barnash the second.
At
the end of the day Saturday, the top of
the fleet was knotted with Barnash (3-2-5-1) and Burns (4-1-4-2) tied at 11
points for first, Peter Doyle (6-3-1-4) in third with 14 points, and Chris
Doyle (5-6-2-3) and Dick Hallagan (1-7-3-5) tied for fourth with 16 points.
The "best local boat" competition was also close. Ed
Gardner/Alfie Merchant (8-10-6-8) were only one point ahead of Tom Linville
(2-14-7-10), 32 to 33 points.
Sunday morning arrived with the predicted and dreaded "no-wind."
Some visitors began to crowd the hoist area anticipating an early
haulout. The host fleet members, taking advantage of the lull, held a
fleet meeting. Leftover breakfast food and coffee was consumed, because
the bar was not yet open. But slight cats-paws did appear on the lake
surface, and the RC started making noises, disturbing the resting competitors.
The RC was determined to get in a race to break the scoring ties, so
sails were heard rustling and crackling as the fleet followed the RC boat out to
the race course.
An
"I2" course was set in the 0-3 knot northerly (easterly?, westerly?)
and the fleet was off. Those on the left looked "golden," but
the right side got the zephyrs first and Ed Gardner in "Blur" (!!)
rounded the "weather" mark first. The RC was already signaling
"shorten course," much to the dismay of those following. Some
of the leaders, and later some of the followers, attempted to fly chutes to the
finish, but this was largely unsuccessful until after those in front had
finished. Chris Doyle was the best at floating his chute and finding the
"puffs," and drifted across ahead of Barnash, Burns, and Gardner.
The wind filled in nicely from the north at around 8 knots as the tail
end of the fleet finished, but it was too late in the day to hold another race.
As usual, Lake George was magnificent for this early-fall regatta, as were the
facilities and service provided by the host Lake George Club and its members.
We
were pleased to welcome back many of the same skippers from Youngstown and
Rochester who have sailed with us in the past, as well as some new faces. We hope all our visitors enjoyed our
hospitality, and the fine dining and dancing as well as the highly competitive
sailing on the queen of America’s lakes.
If you haven't attended this regatta, you are truly missing something. Plan to come next year, when the regatta will be held on September 25-26, 2004. For information, contact Sam Hoopes at 518-644-7955, or check out the USA J/22 website.