Southeastern District Championships
June 20 - 22

June 20

We depart Charlotte at 3:00 P.M.  Tom Martin and I will pull 14620 to Raleigh.  John will meet us there.  We have one lofty goal.  For three years we have lived in the cellar of the Southeastern Lightning District competitions.  Our goal is to finish in the top 50% of the fleet. 

As we left Charlotte, we were greeted to a 2 hour traffic jam on I-85. 

 We finally got off 85 at the UNCC exit and took 49 north to Asheboro and then 64 east to Pittsboro.  We arrived at Henry and Avis Bridger's house at 7:00 PM.  Racing would be at the Vista Point State Park on Lake Jordan.

The Bridgers home was a sight to behold.  Henry is a contractor and built the place.  They live in a subdivison that features huge wooded lots.  You cannot see one home from another.  All teh Lighting sailors joined us for hamburgers.  That night, I slept on the deck with only my sleeping pad and a quilt.  I awoke Saturday morning tot he sound of birds chirping.  As I opened my eyes a fawn wandered into the yard and nibbled at the plants.  What a beautiful sight.

June 21

We arrived at Vista Point and got everything ready to race.  There were seventy boats here in 8 different classes.  The Lightning class was the largest class with 16 boats.  It was a sight to behold seeing seventy boats try to launch at the boat ramps.

We really struggled today with our race starts.  I just couldn't get off the line in a competitive position.  Race one was our best race until the last leg.  We were in the front pack - maybe as high as seventh - when the wind died.  By the time it kicked back in, we were flushed out the back and finished 14th out of 16.

Race two was even worse.  We actually rounded the first mark in 15th.  But we kept our heads in it and climbed higher into the pack and managed a 12th. 

Race three was the pits, but again we fought back hard and stayed out of the cellar with another 12.

The race committee did not post results on Saturday so it was actually Sunday morning before we knew where we stood.  We were in 13th overall but only a point behind Avis and Dave Pyle.  We set a goal to move up two places.

After a great catered meal at the park, we came back to Avis' house for more socializing and our annual district meeting.  I was re-elected secretary/treasurer. 

Sunday, June 22

Predictions for light air did not develop.  We launched at 8:30 in winds of 8-10 knots.  Race one was our best effort.  We finished 11th and more importantly beat Avis and Dave with two boats to spare.  If we could hold them off for race 5, we would move up two places.  Race 5 started in great wind, but mid-way through, the bottom fell out and we all went nuts trying to find wind.  The more difficult thing in race 4 and 5 was the race committee set a triangle course.  But it wasn't square and everyone had trouble using their chutes.  That as frustrating because flying the spinnaker is one of our strengths.  In race 5 we did not rebound well from the wind drop, and came in 14th, our worst finish of the regatta.  Luckily, Dave Pyle came in 13th, not high enough to recover.  Avis came in 16th.  We climbed over them to finish 12th overall.

That covered it for the Governor's Cup.  But, for the district championships, another race had to be run.  The wind kicked back in and the race committee called a two lap race.  We knew it was risky.  I highly doubted the wind would hold.  We sailed a great race and rounding the last mark, were neck and neck with Avis and way ahead of Dave and several other boats.  We could feel the wind dropping, and tacked to go right, thinking there would be more wind.  It was a bad mistake.  The wind died.  Half the fleet including us, couldn't finish.  We took the dreaded 17 for not finishing.  The score would be discarded so it wasn't that bad, except that Avis and Henry had opted to stay left on the last leg and it paid off big time.  They were the last boat to finish.  They moved back ahead of us in the district standings.  It was a gutsy move and they reaped the benefit and deserved the finish.

When racing was over, we went back to the Bridger's to shower.  Tom caught a ride back to Charlotte with Jim Higgins.  I had admired the pads Henry fashioned for their trailer fenders and while John got his ready to go, Henry made me a set.  Finally, I showered and we loaded up the van to hit the road for DC.

We had found new friends this trip.  Henry and Avis Bridger opened their home to us and cared for us the entire weekend.  They are first class friends and we were and are very lucky to have made their acquaintances.