Hospice Regatta

Western Carolina Sailing Club, in Anderson, SC

October 17- 18, 2009

Comments by Jeff Annis

The Hospice Regatta at Western Carolina Sailing Club, in Anderson, SC was held October 17,18 and it was fun event. The weather was unusually cool and on Saturday it drizzled off and on all day long. With winds from 8 to 13, and with temperatures in the low 50’s it felt more like December of February in the southeast. On Sunday we awoke to 39 degrees and sunny. Sunday’s winds were from 5 to 14, often changing within those speeds from minute to minute. Both days the wind was shifty and puffy. It was critical to get a good start and get into the clear air early so that you could tack on the right shifts and race from puff to puff. Sailing headers and getting caught in the light spots was a disaster these two days in particular due to the extreme differences in speed and heading. It is important when dealing with a few miles and hour and a few degrees. Here, with the unsettled winds, it was the difference between hiking and heading straight at the windward mark and crouching in the boat sailing a 30 degree header. Downwind was just as interesting. You had to stay in the puffs and keep pushing the bow towards the mark all the time when possible.

Only one MC turned over and he managed to right it and bail out and made the next race. So, a good show of sailing from the MC crowd in trying and tricky conditions.

We managed 11 MC’s at this event. 5 from Augusta, 1 from Charleston, 1 from North Carolina, 1 from “all – over – the - place” (Mike Baldacchino), 1 from the host club, and the rest from South Carolina. Justin Annis managed to help get loaner boats for 2 of our fellow sailors from Augusta, Marcus Moehlman and Josh White.

Overall, there were 78 boats in the regatta with Buccaneers, Force 5’s and Flying Scots on the dinghy course. There were PHRF and also long-course boats racing in the event.

The food and fun was in abundance at the regatta. There was a tremendous drawing of prizes and thousands of dollars were raised to benefit the local Hospice organization. Without a doubt, it is the best time to sail in the southeast in October and November. There are still many regattas on the schedule. Go to MCSCOW.org and sail at least one more regatta this year. The last event of the year, the SER in Eustis is the crowning event for the fall and the end of our season, so that is easily an easy choice. They have 22 signed up already, and that event usually has more than 30 boats.

See you on the water.
Jeff

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