High Water Mark

September 10-11, 2005

Team Catawba met at CYC at 6:45 AM on Saturday September 10, to group up and travel to the 2005 Augusta Lightning Invitational. 

This was the sixth regional regatta of the year for Ron Wright, Tom Martin, and John Holmes – aka Team Catawba.  We were happy to get back to inland lake sailing.  We had finished in the top half of a national competition at Wrightsville Beach (2005 Atlantic Coast Championships), but our strength lies in lake sailing, where mastery over shifts is essential and knowledge of current is not required!

We hoped it wasn’t a bad omen when John looked at Woodstock and commented “You come all the way from home with no tie downs?”  We quickly improvised from John’s locker.  Three hours later we were rigged in the parking lot at Augusta Sailing Club looking out at a great day of moderate temperatures and winds fluctuating between 8 and 14 knots.

There were ten boats in attendance.  The legendary Lenny Krawcheck was racing and he would have been top seeded if there was such a thing.  Lenny is a former national champion in Yinglings, the 2005 Atlantic Coast Lightning Champion, and a Master’s Champion in MC Scows.  Next would be a toss up between Bob Harkrider and Pete Marriott.  Harkrider has a longer resume including numerous district championships in Lightnings.  He was a 2005 World Lightning qualifier.  Bob is a Key West Race Week champion in Corsairs.  Seed him second and Marriott, the 2004 Borderline champion third.  Fourth would go to Raleigh’s John Pelosi.  John has years of experience and a multitude of regatta championships to his credit.  We would seed ourselves fifth.  Five other boats rounded out the field with sailors ranging from experienced regional racers like Bill Sloger, Dave Pyle, and Pam Barron to club racers like Jim Holder and Dennis Baker.

With the wind up, the race committee set long legs and called for five leg races.  Each race averaged 4 miles in length and would take over an hour to finish.  We would have the benefit of VHF radio reception.  What a convenience to have the race committee calling boats over early by radio and calling up races for you over the air waves!

Race 1.  We sought a committee boat start.  It would end up being our best start of the regatta.  We slipped in just under the fleet and got off on the front row.  We were conscious of our numbers.  The tactics mode on our digital compass is a neat tool for tracking the shifts.  We set our mean around 35 degrees and tacked accordingly.  The wind was up and as we rounded the first mark, it was obvious that boat handling and chute control would be essential.  Two thirds the way down the leg, we could feel the boat rocking side to side – the dreaded Lightning death roll. Before we could get it under control,  we began to broach.  Tom released the chute sheet and we jumped to the high side.  The boat rounded up and the main took a ferocious gybe right into Ron’s right ear. Composure was quickly regained and we held our own to the mark, feeling buoyed that our near disaster turned in to a boat handling success and we lost no places. 

Ron, however, felt blood dripping from his head and claimed “I may need stitches”.  Tom checked and assured him not.  Stiches no, an elephant ear, yes!

By the fourth leg, we were still in fifth, but hanging very close to the leaders.  We noticed that Lenny was having chute problems and as we approached the leeward mark, we were in fourth with Krawcheck approximately 40 yards behind us.  (Later we would learn Lenny had capsized sailing downwind.  He commented to John that it was the first time he had been over in a Lightning!)

As Lenny rounded the mark, he threw a viscous tacking duel at us.  It seemed to us like he tacked 25 times over the one-mile leg.  It was probably closer to 12 or 15 tacks.  We matched him - tack for tack.  Up the course we tacked, back and forth.  Lenny worked us to the right of the finish line and with just feet to go, he pulled one final tack that set us both up in clear air for the finish line.  Hike hard and sail fast.  We beat him by half a boat!  It was exhilarating!  We exchanged high fives.  Lenny didn’t so much as say “Good Race”.  We wondered if we were violating good sportsmanship for sailors.

Compared to race one, race two was the calmest of the regatta.  We sailed the same course, managed our numbers again, and came in a respectable fifth place.

Race three.  The wind was really up.  There were white caps on the water.  The starting line was short for ten boats.  We were late to the line in race two, so Ron pushed it up a little.  Streaking down the line, it was obvious we weren’t going to make the pin.  As we prepared to round the pin and restart, Pete Marriott screamed “Up!”  It was too late.  We couldn’t adjust for fear of hitting a line boat.  We had fouled Pete.  We fell behind the line to cut a 720 penalty turn.  Marriott had to re-round the pin.  The fleet was gone.

We worked hard to get our 720 in and then took off the only way there was clear air – to the right on port tack.  Marriott had to do the same and was ten boat lengths up the lake.

Well, we worked and stuck to our plan.  We had our median dialed in and we did notice that the tack we were on was lifted.  When the first shift came in we tacked back.  We had caught up by sailing the lifted tack and were in no worse than fifth.  Pelosi looked to be putting a horizon job on the fleet.

We stayed close down wind.  Tom Martin flew a mean chute and called great tactics downwind.  We closed in at the leeward mark rounding.

As we headed back up the course for leg three, we noticed Pelosi go over.  It was unusual.  Seldom to Lightnings capsize on a beat.  Later, John would say they just got hit with a wicked puff and failed to ease the jib with the main.  We also noticed that Marriott, Harkrider, and Krawcheck were unusually out of synch with our numbers.  They were working right and we were staying more in the middle.  We stuck to our plan and believed in our compass.  On the final tack to the mark we knew we were right.  Woodstock and Team Catawba streaked to the front and rounded the windward mark in first place!

One downwind leg to go for a leeward finish!!  We talked non-stop.  John called the wind and noted every move Marriott and Krawcheck made.  We powered up in the lulls and bore down on the finish line in the puffs.  When Marriott moved to attack, we covered.  Tom trimmed the chute perfectly.  And one mile later, we crossed the line in first place!

We finished day one in fourth place – just one point out of second – where Harkrider and Krawcheck were tied.

We had been here before.  In Beaufort 2004, we finished the day in first place only to fall all the way to fourth on day two.  At the 2005 ACCs we finished day one in the top ten, only to fall to 19^th on Sunday.  We did not have to win to be successful. We had to hold our ground.  No worse than fifth would be acceptable.

We partied hard with steaks off the grill and our favorite beverages.  We told stories and watched football into the night.  The lake breezes were cool.  It was a gorgeous night.  Tom elected to tent camp.  Ron opened his tailgate to the lake and climbed into his van. John opted for the clubhouse sofa.

We awoke to the same wind on Sunday – only a little stronger.  The median was still around 25 degrees.  By 10 AM we were on the starting line ready for another 5 leg race.  Our start was weak, but we held a new found confidence in our compass and by sailing the right tack, finished in fifth. 

Race 4.  The wind was up the highest it had been.  White caps prevailed.  The RC called for a six leg marathon!  We had an okay start at the committee boat, but elected to tack away.  Again our numbers were working and we rounded the windward mark in third.  Our chute work was excellent and we enjoyed some wild downwind planning runs.  We f3ell to fifth and climbed back to fourth for the final leeward run.  This time it would be John Pelosi challenging us to the finish.

We did whatever it took.  We gybed, we planed, we went up, we fell down.  And when we approached the committee boat we had held our place – a fourth.  It was a fantastic end to the best regatta we had sailed to date.  Finally, we put two days together for a great regatta finish.

The 2005 Augusta Invitational Lightning Regatta was a high water mark for Team Catawba.  After years of honing our skills and practicing our sport, we had dueled one of the countries great sailors and beat him twice.  We had finished ahead of our districts world qualifier in two of five races.  And we did all on our own game plan.  It wasn’t luck, it wasn’t fluky wind, and we didn’t have help from someone else.  We had tamed Augusta and it’s 14 knot winds.  We made our own race plans and stuck with them.  When we made mistakes as all racers do, we recovered quickly and got back in the game.  We managed our own numbers with success.  When attacked, we defended.  When behind, we attacked. We sailed our boat with confidence

We will likely step back next year from regional racing in the Lightning as John and Ron have a new found passion – the MC Scow.  Tom has indicated he will take a break regardless.

For Ron, the 2005 Augusta Regatta was a far cry from 1999 – when he traveled to his first regional regatta – the 1999 Augusta Lightning Invitational - and came in dead last.

We end this chapter of our sailing careers with great satisfaction.