Sailing the 2003 Augusta Invitational

Team CYC (Ron Wright, Tom Martin, and John Holmes) traveled to Augusta for the 2003 installment of the Augusta Invitational Lightning Regatta.  Steve Milsap joined us for the trip down and crewed for Terry Tyner.

We left CYC at a brisk 6 AM!  We kept ourselves awake discussing CYC politics and telling sailing stories.  By 9 AM we arrived.  The wind did not look promising.  Racing was delayed until 1 PM so we hung out in the parking lot and yakked for two hours.  The wind was building and by 12:15 we all just started launching.  Winds were light, but there was consistent wind.  The RC called for a 2.5 lap WL course.  We got a great start off the line.  Tom had the shifts dialed in and by the mark rounding we found ourselves in mid-fleet.  Our boat handling and chute work went great.  We rounded the last leeward mark, ducked Terry Tyner and headed left.  What a disaster.  To make a long story short, a persistent wind shift lifted us and lifted us - around the mark.  We finally had to give in and tack.  We finished a disappointing 11th.  It was Lake Norman DeJa Vu.. 

The race committee waited for more wind to build.  The temperatures were perfect.  Thirty minutes later the RC started the race.  I jibed for the line with too much time and found myself squeezed out at the committee.  We did a quick 360, squeezed Dave Pyle out a second time, and crossed the starting line.  Out motto is never give up so we squeezed every ounce out of every tack and by the last leeward mark had climbed out of the cellar.  We rounded the lee mark behind three boats and tried to duck Bill Sloger.  He closed us off and we were stuck outside with nowhere to go.  The wind dropped and we sat for minutes while the fleet went left. 

Lo and behold a gentle breeze filled in behind us and we noticed we were moving while the competition sat!  Slowly we pulled away and closed on the leaders.  Tom milked every ounce he could out of chute.  We called one last gybe and were again rewarded with a burst of speed toward the finish line.  We finished in fifth!

When the results were posted we were in a respectable eighth place.  Steve Milsap did even better as he and Terry Tyner were in fifth.

I have always said that Lightning sailors like diversity.  Throw a regatta with a hundred boats, multiple fleets, and a throw down party - we'll be there.  Get us off by ourselves, throw on a few steaks, break our the brew, and we can be just as happy.  That was the case at Augusta as we sat on the porch and enjoyed a beautiful Augusta evening talking among ourselves or watching football in the clubhouse.

Steve, John, and I stayed up late so we could crash in the clubhouse - they on the sofas, me on my cot.  Sunday morning came, but the wind did not.  We gathered at the boats, waited until 11:30 and called it a day.  By 12:30 we were packed and on our way home.  Another great trip in the books.