Southeastern Lightning District
2001 Year in Review
Bob Harkrider won five of the ten Southeastern District Regattas to win the 2001 SELD sailing series. Bob also won the 2001 SELD Championship.
The season began with the Catawba Regatta on Lake Wylie in April. SELD Commodore John Sawyer put up two bullets and two deuces on the first day to take a lead he would not relinquish. Bob Harkrider won the first of his five regattas on his home lake at the Augusta Sailing Club on May 12-13 while Bill Sloger came in second.
After years of sailing on High Rock Lake, Fleet 415 moved to Lake Norman in 2001 and hosted the Lightning District Championships. Harkrider won the championships with two aces followed by Lenny Krawcheck.
Pete Marriott returned to the SELD series in 2001 and moved into contention with a regatta victory at Wilmington. Wilmington provides the only ocean racing of the SELD series.
In two races at Beaufort, Harkrider won for the third time, while at Oriental, John Pelosi became the fourth skipper to win a series regatta as he edged out Marriott.
It was famine and feast at Charleston. Day one found us sitting in the pouring rain with only one race recorded. But Sunday brought sunshine and sea breeze and two great races in the historic harbor. Harkrider ran the table with three bullets.
Marriott won for the second time at Waccamaw where the phrase "one race shall constitute a regatta" had to be enforced as Pete won the sole race with Bob placing second.
Lake Lanier welcomed the national crews to Atlanta and the Southeastern District. The World and National Champions were in attendance as Jeff Linton and Steve Hayden drove up from Florida to race. Jeff and Steve cleaned us out in two days of racing. Bob Harkrider was the highest finishing SELD boat and by now had a lock on the series championship with only the Borderline to go, where he also posted the highest SELD finish. A convincing series championship for a great sailor.
It wasn't all district sailing for the SELD crews this year. Bob Harkrider, Lenny Krawcheck, and Carter Utizig sailed the NAs in Vermont. Lenny posted a SELD high 22nd in the Championship Fleet. John Pelosi, Ed Michels, Richard Waldkirch, Bill Sloger, Pete Mariott, Lenny Krawcheck and their crews all raced some portion of the Southern Circuit. Ed and John took a very respectable 6th in the St. Pete Master's. Bob, Pete Marriott, and Pam Barron went to the Bluenose in Nashville, the Thanksgiving Regatta in Tampa, and then Pete and Pam ventured south to Miami for the Orange Bowl Regatta. Pete took second at the Thanksgiving Regatta. Carter is doing national service as the Chief Measurer for ILCA. Undoubtedly there are others in SELD who sailed here and there and we just didn't catch their names in time for this report.
It wasn't all competition this year in our district. There was great camaraderie at every regatta. At some regattas we prefer to close the doors and treat ourselves to steak, brew, and fellowship. Other times we join the greater sailing community-at-large for huge parties that last half the night. If you are looking for a sailing home in the Southeast, check us out at www.catawbayc.org/SELD.htm.