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2011 Lightning Wild Oyster Regatta
Congratulations Matt Fisher!
Report by Brian Hayes
The 1st annual Lightning Wild Oyster, hosted by the Carolina Yacht Club in Charleston, was a huge success with 37 teams supporting the new fleet in South Carolina. Headed by Lenny Krawcheck and supported by many in the fleet including Greg Fisher, Chris Hamilton and others the WO set the bar high and was a promising start for a growing Lightning fleet in the southeast. Visiting sailors were greeted with beautiful fall weather with temperatures in the low 70’s but, as typically happens when folks want to show off their home waters, we also got an unusual weather pattern that gave the sailors light, patchy northerly breezes and claims from the locals that “It’s never like this here”. The light air and abundant current led to almost every team having finishes all over the scoreboard. In fact, in the 5 races, a total of 18 teams had top 5 finishes. That is nearly ½ the fleet with a top 5!
The results of the event were almost an afterthought as the fleet so thoroughly enjoyed the venue and the hospitality that few knew, or cared, where they finished. Regardless, Matt Fisher traveled from Ohio to spend time in his brothers new hometown and won the event with 28 points (that’s right. 28!). In 2nd was Charlie Wardwell who, after a few years away from the class is following his dad’s footsteps as a top contender at any Lightning event. Josh Goldman rounded out the top 3 followed by Tom Allen in 4th and Class Secretary John Faus in 5th. Top local was Patrick Hogan in 6th who is also returning to the class after a few years away from Lightning sailing.
North Notes:
- North Sails were used on 33 of the 37 boats.
- North sails were 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12
Results are at: http://www.lightningclass.org/racing/results/2011/wildoyster.asp
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2011 Lightning Frigit Digit Regatta
Congratulations David Starck!
Report by Brian Hayes
The 2011 edition of the Lightning Frigid Digit happened to be the 60th annual and the promises of great weather and a great time by regatta organizers brought 40+ boats to the Severn Sailing Association on Oct 15-17 to celebrate the occasion. Sailors began arriving early Friday afternoon and several teams took advantage of the pleasant weather to get some practice in and I was able to do some one on one coaching with many of the sailors who ventured out onto the Severn River. Friday evening brought more boats in the parking lot and we managed to do some boat tuning “by flashlight” and enjoy some light appetizers and cold beer on the Severn Sailing Associations deck.
Saturday brought a beautiful, clear, crisp, sunny day. It also brought wind. Lots’ of it. PRO Hugh Elliott gathered the sailors together and pushed the fleet off the dock in hopes that the barely manageable fresh breeze would stay low enough to get in a quick race or 2 in the lee of the Eastport shore. Unfortunately as the 11 am start time clicked on so did the breeze and a reasonable 18mph turned into an unreasonable 25-30mph and the fleet scrambled back to the SSA hoists where racing was called for the day.
Many teams ventured into downtown Annapolis to walk the Power Boat Show (no purchases as near as I can tell) and enjoy the nice (but breezy) fall day. Saturday night the SSA gang and Fleet 329 put on the party with a great dinner and band which was enjoyed by all.
Sunday brought an earlier start time so that as many races could be held as possible before the 2pm deadline. The RC did a great job getting 3 full length races run in shifty puffy conditions which led to many tired, but satisfied, sailors. The top positions were swapped about by several teams with Steve Constants winning the 1st race, David Starck winning the 2nd and Jason Werner crossing the line 1st in the 3rd (but carrying a 20% Z-flag penalty for an earlier start). Going into the 3rd race Team Constants and Team Starck were locked together with 4 points each. The final race saw both teams finish in the top 10 with David’s 6th a little better than Steve’s 10th. Ian Jones, sailing easily the most consistent series, was able to sneak past Steve in the standings with a 4 in the last race. The top 3 teams were separated by only 4 points which, considering a 40+ boat fleet and the fickle conditions, showed how well these teams sailed. Rounding out the top 5 were Tom Allen in 4th and Justin Coplan in 5th.
North customers finished: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10
Full results can be found at: http://www.lightningclass.org/racing/results/2011/frigiddigit.asp
Next up: The 1st ever Charleston Wild Oyster Regatta on Oct. 21-23. Greg Fisher and I will be doing an on-water training session on Friday afternoon that is open to all. http://charlestonlightning.com/
On deck: Nashville and the annual Bluenose Regatta on Nov 4-6. http://www.hiyc.org/Regatta/BlueNoseNew/
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2011 Lightning Long John Regatta
Congratulations Dave Watts!
Report by Brian Hayes
This past weekend we joined 45 other Lightning teams at the 50th annual Long John Regatta in lovely Red Bank, NJ. Started as the season kickoff regatta for the Northeast the event has had many famous winners and participants. Sailed on the Navesink River the race course is typically less than ½ mile long which created many interesting situations with 46 Lightnings all vying for the same small space of water. Participants were greeted with very pleasant weather though the northerly breezes made it a challenge for PRO Denis Farley to set up a race course on the narrow part of the river. While the racing was an important part of the event the Long John is known for the social aspect. Great food, copious amounts of adult beverages and a relaxing atmosphere is what draws folks back year after year. There were some winners at the Saturday evening party but we will keep those unannounced for their own protection.
On the river, 5 races were sailed with 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Conditions varied from 12 knots down to 1 knot and shifts were as large as 180 on Saturday. Hometown hero, and immediate past commodore, David Watts, with his brother Robert and longtime teammate Dan Vought sailed brilliantly, never finishing out of the top 6 to earn his 1st Long John title. With 1 race to go Dave was in a virtual tie with Brian Taboada, with Megan Crann and Cortney O’Connor but Dave’s 5th bested Brian’s 12th to earn the title. In 3rd was Justin Coplan with Dannielle Prior and Bjarki Gunnerson followed by Mitch Hnatt/Ryan Staagard/Tara Schon and Will Brown/John Faus/Tyler Menninger. The top 5 all used North Sails.
NOTABLE FUN QUOTES FROM THE EVENT!
- “It is like watching a monkey wash a cat”- describing how one skipper puts on sunscreen
- “That’s no way to treat the talent”- an abandoned skipper on Saturday night
- “I’m all aloooone”- same skipper
NORTH NOTES:
- North 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10*,11,12,13,14
- 34 of 44 boats used North Sails
Top 5:
1st Dave Watts  M5, 5A+, R2
2nd Brian Taboada M5, 5A+, R2
3rd Justin Coplan M5, 5A+, R2
4th Mitch Hnatt M5, 5A+, R2
5th Will Brown MF2, JF2, R2
NEW RADIAL DESIGNS
Brad Read sailed his 1st Lightning Regatta in over a decade with his son Brendon and Will Jeffers. An OCS took them out of the top 5 but they sailed well and were fast using the new radial test jib from North. Keep tuned for more on the new Radial designs in works from North!
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2010 Lightning South Americans
Report by Brian Hayes
Congrats Tito Gonzales!
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 powered by North!
Photo courtesy Salinas Yacht Club
As 2011 approaches the Lightning Class is beginning to direct their attention to the south as the class prepares for the 2011 World Championship in Brazil in July and the 2011 PanAm Games in Mexico in October. This past week, in Salinas, ECU, the 2010 South American Championships were held at the beautiful Salinas Yacht Club. 25 teams from Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil participated in ideal conditions and after some very close racing Tito Gonzalez (CHI, using North Sails, captured yet another South American title. The runner-up was many time champion Juan Santos (ECU) followed closely by the up and coming young team led by Jonathan Marti Etti (ECU). Christobal Perez (CHI) finished just off the podium in 4th followed in 5th by past World Youth Champion Tommy Sumner (BRA). All the top 10 teams used North Sails inventories. Alejandro Cloos (ARG) finished in 6th and secured the last country qualifying spot for the 2011 PanAm games for Argentina.
Final results are at: http://www.lightningclass.org/racing/results/2010/southamericans/finalresults.pdf
A write up on the event can be found at: http://www.lightningclass.org/racing/results/2010/southamericans/finalreport.pdf
Photos are at: http://www.salinasyachtclub.org/fotos.aspx
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2010 Lightning Blue Nose Regatta
1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10 powered by North!
Report by Brian Hayes
The official/un-official end of every Lightning season here in the US is the annual Bluenose Regatta held on Old Hickory Lake in Nashville, TN on November 5-7. While recently attendance has dwindled a bit the Harbor Island Yacht Club and its’ members continue to host a terrific event complete with welcome party, clinic, fireplace, steak dinners and great hospitality. This year saw 25 teams brave cold, but beautiful weather to take their shot at winning the Bluenose or, at least, the fine bottle of “amber fluid” raffled each year by Bob Cotton!
Friday afternoon the annual “Hayes/Fisher” tune-up session was held on the lake with several practice starts and 2 4 leg races for the ½ dozen teams that came in early for some coaching. I videotaped each team and spent a few minutes with whoever asked for help and suggestions on trim and setup. Thanks to Bill Hofmeister for helping me on the water and to the sailors who spent Friday afternoon sailing. The Friday welcome party followed and teams that rolled in throughout the evening were greeted with a beverage, a warm fire and a table full of food organized by the HIYC members.
3 races were held on Saturday in a dying, shifty northerly breeze that featured large shifts, large holes and huge gains and losses by everyone in the fleet. Robert Linden and his team, in their final event using a Boat Grant Boat, won the 1st 2 races and promptly followed them up with a 22nd! The most consistent teams were Team Hayes, Team Hallagan and Team Allen. These were the only 3 teams to keep all 3 races in the top 10. With the wind all but gone the fleet headed for the docks and a great steak dinner.
Saturday evening saw a large contingent of sailors head downtown to listen to some live country music at Roberts, swap stories and just generally have a good time. I’m not sure if there was any boot-kickin’ dancing going on but the younger crowd was down near the front row chatting up some of the locals. It’s always great fun to go into downtown Nashville for Saturday evening with the whole gang and is one of the highlights of the Bluenose.
Sunday morning came later (thanks to the clocks “falling back”) and, when the gang all arrived at the club we were greeted with 0 mph of wind with puffs to 0! After a short delay PRO Bill Hofmeister raised the “checkerboard” and Saturdays results stood as final. I was lucky to have a great team in Laura Jeffers and Steve Davis for this event and our experience of sailing together for many years really helped us win the event. The 2nd place team of Dick Hallagan, John Steiner and Tom Schroeder were not lacking in experience either and finished on 4 points behind in 2nd. In 3rd was Tom Allen with Mark Grinder and Tim Naeser.
Highlights of the racing:
- No lead is safe on Hickory Lake. Team Linden won race 1 by 3 feet. They were at least ½ leg ahead at one point!!
- Cully Ward was winning a race and in 2nd in another .. They were both abandoned! They just choose the wrong races to do well in!
- Robert Mattix with his wife Jan and John Coolidge were the top HIYC boat and won fleet bragging rights (and a beautiful bowl) for a year.
- North Sails were on boats that finished 1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10 and 19 of the 25 teams used North Sails.
Top 10:
1. Brian Hayes, Sr. Laura Jeffers Steve Davis 2,5,1 8 points
2. Dick Hallagan John Steiner Tom Shroeder 4,6,2 12 points
3.
Thomas Allen Mark Grinder Tim Naeser 9,2,10 21 points
4. Brad Wagnon Brian Bahler Stewart Fossececo 6,12,4 22 points
5. Robert Linden Brian Cripe Meghan Walter 1,1,22 24 points
6. Ryan Flack Matt Morin Kevin Morin 10,7,12 29 points
7. Ian Schillebeeckx Max Schillebeeckx Titou Schillebeeckx 8,4,18 30 points
8. Mark Allen Beth Groesbeck Steve Varnum 3,9,19 31 points
9. Steve Weeber Donna Weeber Stan Cummins 5,13,14 32 points
10. Robert Mattix Jan Mattix John Coolidge 11,14,8 33 points
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2010 Lightning North Americans
Congrats David Stark!
1,2,4,6,8,10,11,12,13,14,15 powered by North!
Report by Brian Hayes
The Toms River Yacht Club hosted 75 teams at the 2010 Lightning North Americans the week of Aug 9-13, 2010 and did it in magnificent style with great race management, awesome social activities and consistent Jersey Shore breezes. The championship was determined on the final beat of the final race as 5 teams entered the penultimate race within 2 points of each other in a “winner-take-all” title match to rival even the greatest of championship showdowns. When the smoke cleared from the cannon of the victory gun the team of David Starck/Jody Starck/Ian Jones claimed their 1st Lightning North American Championship over multi-time World Champion Tito Gonzalez/Diego Gonzalez/Christian Herman. The team of Skip Dieball/Tom Starck/Sarah Paisley followed 2 points back in 3rd. 4th place was captured by Allan Terhune/Katie Terhune/Jeff Linton followed by Bill Healy/John Kempton/Leigh Kempton in 5th.
Starck, a runner-up in this event several times sailed a brilliantly consistent series with no race out of the top 6. Where starting and boat speed were the ultimate weapons for success the Starck team had their fair share of both with excellent starts and boat speed to burn, including the last beat of the championship where they sailed through several teams to claim the race and regatta win.
After qualifying the fleet was divided into 3 divisions. The consolation series were held in conjunction with the Championship series and resulted in some great sailing and learning experiences for many teams.
In the Presidents Cup series Larry Frost/Chance Miller/Cal Herman got out of the gate slow with a 6,15 in the 1st two races but, as the breeze steadied so did their results and they banged out a 2,2,2,1 to easily outdistance the fleet and take him the series. Don Brush/LeeAnn Smith/Robert Smith were the runners up followed in 3rd by Bill Cabrall/Rebecca Espinosa/Brian Blackman.
In the Governors Cup series David Spira/Randy Shore/Ty Whitman dominated the fleet and wrapped up the win before the final race. Mike Warren/Matt Carmody/Brennan Drysdale finished in 2nd followed by George Harrington/Paul Luisi/Charlie Nunn.
Complete results can be found at: http://www.lightningclass.org/racing/results/2010/nas/final.pdf
North Facts:
NA Championship - North powered boats: 1,2,4,6,8,10,11,12,13,14,15..
North Sails were used by 32 of the 38 teams in the Championship Division.
Presidents Cup - North Powered boats: 1,3,5,6,7,8,9…
North Sails were used by 16 of the 23 teams in the Presidents Cup.
Governors Cup - North Powered boats: 2,4,6,8,10…
North Sails were used by 9 of the 14 teams in the Governors Cup.
Womens, Masters and Juniors:
The Lightning North American Womens, Masters and Junior Championships were hosted by the Metedeconck River Yacht Club on August 3-6, 2010. Regatta Chair Jody Lutz, PRO Jim Carson and the entire MRYC team hosted a 1st class event for the 146 sailors with great race courses, terrific breezes and tight competition.
In the Lightning Junior North Americans Timmy Crann/Lauren Jones/Jeff Markarian won 4 of the 8 races and held off defending champions Connor Godfrey/Henry Ring/Griffin Orr to best the 17 boat fleet and win the Carson Trophy as the class Junior Champions. Will Tyner/Reese Wilkins/Conner Brady were 3rd followed by Arielle DeLisser/Danielle Prior/Mike Rabbett in 4th and Jason Lutz/Jonathan Lutz/Peter White in 5th.
The Womens Championship was also a tightly contested 6 boat event with Cortney O'Connor/Meghan Crann/Caitlin Crann squeaking out a 1 point victory over Maegan Ruhlman/Katie Werley,/Samantha Maras with a win in the 6th and final race. Debbie Probst/Jenna Probst/Jillian Lutz finished in 3rd followed by Monica Jones/Maggie Wiley/Emma Wiley in 4th and Alexandra Jones/Julianne Lutz/Jody Starck rounding out the top 5.
The Masters Championship also came down to the final race with 3 teams in the running for a win. Peter Hall/Ched Proctor/Stephanie Boucher had just enough in the tank to best Steve Davis,/Jan Davis/Brian Hayes to be the 2010 Masters Champion. Richard Warren/Sue Warren/Randy Swartley sailed a great event winning 3 of the 6 races to finish 3rd. In 4th was Richard Hallagan,/Clay Murphy/John Steiner followed in 5th by “new” Master Jon Schwartz/Don Schon/Paul Krzenski.
North Facts:
Junior NAs - North powered boats: 1,2,3,4*,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16.
16 of the 17 boats used North Sails.
Womens - North powered boats: 1,2,3,5,6
5 of the 6 boats used North Sails
Masters - North powered boats: 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19
17 of 19 boats used North Sails
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2010 Lightning Spring Classic Regatta
Report by Nick Turney
This past weekend I attended the 26th annual Lightning spring classic regatta. The Members of Pymatuning yacht club host this great event year after year and everyone always leaves with a smile. Thirty nine boats attended the event this year. Friday evening the early arrivers where greeted to cold beverages, hot dogs, and stories of great times had at PYC. The great thing about Pymatuning yacht club is that everyone is hosted in trailers on site. You show up at the event and park your car till you leave on Sunday. Saturday morning was signs of a day of sailing and that is was. A great North westerly breeze greeted the 39 competitors for 2 races in the morning and 2 races after lunch. The racing was very tight all day leaving the top 6 boats within 2 points of each other going into Sundays racing. The rule of thumb at Pymatuning Yacht Club is to be leading at the cocktail party Saturday night, for the past 4 year consecutive years they have not raced on Sunday. This year was different, we got 2 races in on Sunday in some pretty crazy conditions. There were a few moments in each race where we saw 70 degree wind shifts. The race committee did a fantastic job moving the marks around and chasing the wind shifts. In the end of the event Team Stark Naked convincingly won the event. North Sails Won every race and 35 out of 39 boats where armed with North Sails. A big thank you to PYC and all the great members that put this event together. If you didn’t make it this year make sure you add it to your schedule next year.
Top 5:
- David Starck, Jody Starck, Ian Jones- North M5 Main, 5A+ jib, R2 Spin
- Larry McDonald, Robbie Robertson, Kevin Robertson- North M5 Main, 5A+ jib, R2 Spin
- Ryan Ruhlman, Nick Turney, Martha Fisher- North MF2 main, JF2 jib, R2 spin
- Dan Moriarty, Toby, Moriarty, Stu Fisher- North MF2 main, JF2 jib, R2 spin
- Jamie Allen, Jay Deakin, Chantel Leger- North M5 main, 5A+ jib, R2 spin
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2010 Lightning Long John Regatta
Report by Allan Terhune
This past weekend, the 2010 Lightning Season opened in the Northeast with the Traditional Lightning Long John Regatta at Monmouth Boat Club in Red Bank NJ. 27 boats attended, which is a great turn out for this event. 3 races were sailed on Saturday (including 11 general recalls) in some nice sailing conditions ranging from 5-15knots. Sunday the weather turned bad, with little wind, 48-50 degree temps and pooring rain, so there were no races on Sunday.
My team of Katie (in her first regatta back since Cameron was born) and Jin Millar had a good day Saturday to win the Event. Bill Fastiggi from Vermont was 2nd, with Gianni Cuccio Third, Justin Copland 4th and Jamie Allen From Montreal 5th.
It was a great event and next year is the 50th Anniversary Long John, and they are hoping to get 50 boats again like the old days!
Top 5:
- Allan Terhune (North MF2 main, JF2 jib , R2 spinnaker)
- Bill Fastiggi
- Gianni Cuccion (North M5 main, 5A+ jib , R2 spinnaker)
- Justin Copeland (North M5 main, 5A+ jib , R2 spinnaker)
- Jamie Allen (North M5 main, 5A+ jib , R2 spinnaker)
Event photos: http://web.mac.com/monmouthboatclub/MBC/Photo_Galleries.html
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