Atlanta Fall Classic 2002

24th Annual Fall Classic

October 12-13, 2002 at the Lake Lanier Sailing Club

Race Director: Chris Voith

Open, Overall

1. Dan Burch- Open
2. Chris Voith- Ltd.
3. Steve Bogan- Ltd.
4. Gregg Cattanach- Ltd.
5. Wright Finney- Open

Sport, Overall

1. Joe Quigley
2. Mike Quigley
3. Pamela Barron
4. Pat Nugent
5. Greg Chinik
6. Richard Genet
7. Bert Eskridge
8. Tina Mazanek
9. Pat Park
10. David Durrant
11. DeeDee Park
12. Daniel Gutting
13. Martin Gutting
14. Kathryn Voigt
15. Steve Haase

=== By Class

Sport, Heavy

1. Richard Genet
2. Bert Eskridge
3. Daniel Gutting
4. Martin Gutting
5. Steve Haase

Sport, Medium

1. Joe Quigley
2. Pat Nugent
3. Greg Chinik
4. Pat Park
5. David Durrant

Sport, Light

1. Mike Quigley
2. Pamela Barron
3. Tina Mazanek
4. DeeDee Park
5. Kathryn Voigt

Race Report

from Lake Wind Advisory Nov-Dec 1996

Fall Classic- "Delicious!"

by Chris Voith

Eighteenth Annual Regatta Features Big Wind

I had an idea she was up to something pretty great when I called Cheryl Zeman on the Wednesday before our fall regatta. She said almost everything was all set with the food preparations and that she was "just doing a little baking". (That turned out to be quite an understatement). All the usual suspects had volunteered to help and I had what I thought would be a great race committee together. Thursday night the forecast was updated and it looked like good wind (albeit a little chilly) for Saturday. Things seemed to be coming together... except for one small detail.

Plans to rennovate the beach and campground area had been in the works for several months. Suddenly on Monday, bulldozers were there pushing a lot of dirt around. Thursday afternoon they were still there, no sod had been laid and the forecast was for rain on Friday (in advance of the cold front). I envisioned a giant mud-hole and fifty or so less than happy campers. I'd helped with some of the planning for the area and knew it would be great when finished, but could it be done in time? The LLSC Rear Commodore, Chuck Weaver, assured me that the landscapers would have the sod down in time. Friday at lunchtime they were still laying sod, but by late afternoon they were done, sort of. They'd run out of sod and there were big areas of bare dirt still exposed. But mostly it looked pretty good, and what an improvement! That wasn't the last we saw of Chuck and his wife Julie, for the weekend. They were instrumental in the Saturday night feast as well. (More about that later).

The forecast was right on, except not much rain on Friday night. Saturday was ideal; a little crisp in the morning and great wind all day. Cheryl had breakfast for fifty ready. Registration ran like a well oiled machine thanks to Gregg Cattanach, Pam Barron and Ginny Ferguson. Then a quick skipper's meeting and we were off to the races.

We started out with the Olympic trapezoid course for the first race then the old "M" course that works well when it's windy. It was windy. We measured a pretty steady 18-22 mph most of the day. A long lunch break,while the committee was occupied with a foundering Hobie, was welcomed by most competitors.

The competition was intense and marked by some very untimely equipment breakdowns. Kevin Osburn made an impressive return to racing in the Open Class. He was ahead by more than a leg in race 1 when his mast poked through the top of his luff sleeve leaving the top of his sail half way down the mast. There was his throwout. Kevin returned in race 2 and 3 to pick up two convincing bullets, another breakdown in race 4, put him out of first place contention. Except for those equipment problems, even a casual observer would say Kevin dominated the fleet.

Dan Burch and Carl Arrigoni had there own battle in Open Class. The winner of the two would win not only the regatta, but one of them would repeat as State Champion. It came down to the wire. Carl was up on Dan by two points going into the final race. If he beat Dan, (or lost to him by no more than one place), Carl had it wrapped up. You could see they both wanted it bad . Both of them were pumping hard and making each other work for everything they got. Ultimately it might have been the pumping that did Carl in. The giant boom on his 9.5 broke under the strain giving him a DNF.

Meanwhile in the Sport Fleet, the grand master, Pat Nugent continued his domination with firsts in every race but one. Ginny "the 'P' is for Pregnant" Ferguson managed to edge out Pat in a dramatic finish for Race 5. After a great tacking duel on the final upwind, Pat looked like he had her covered on his last tack just below the finish line. But when he faltered slightly, Ginny saw her chance, pumped up under him and took First by inches.

Ginny and Jim Tafel had a great duel for second place as they alternated finishing places in Saturday's strong wind. (Ginny vows she will show Jim no mercy in the spring race, even though she will be in her 8th month!)

Laura Chambers who came up with the Shell Point contingent (14 sailors) and continues her steady improvement, finishing fourth in Sport. I believe this is just her second season of racing... she's pretty impressive (and a good sailor too). Also from Shell Point and other one of Joe Reid's minions, was Gerald Myers who sailed great but unfortunately confused the starting sequence in all of Saturday's races and left with the IMCOs. He recovered amazingly on Sunday and did well enough to take First for the heavyweight class in Sport.

Scott Spreen was livin' large in Saturday's wind. I think he was disappointed that the IMCOs were not on the same start with the Open Fleet so he could race straight up with them too. It would have been interesting. Chris Halaschek whose summer training at Beth Powell's really showed, was plagued by equipment problems on Saturday. He came back on Sunday with a vengence and posted three Firsts. It wasn't quite enough to put him the trophies, but watch out for Chris in the spring!

The Workshop Fleet didn't sail Saturday. Instead they took a boat out to get some tips on what was happening on the water and why. Steve Schmidt did a terrific job with this enthusiatsic group. Young Jamie Park made a strong showing in the Workshop Fleet, finishing Second behind yet another Shell Pointer, Sarah Kelly.

Food is always a key part of these regatta weekends in Atlanta since there's no place to eat that is convenient to the race site. The '96 Fall Classic had without doubt, the best meals ever. Saturday night's London Broil with Bernaise sauce, wonderful side dishes and a killer dessert, has to top the list of great dinners. Cheryl orchestrated her crew including Chuck and Julie Weaver, Jerry Zeman, Ginny Ferguson, Toni Dey and Roy DeVoss to feed the hungry masses of wind whipped sailors in grand style and almost made it look easy. She managed the rest of the meals for the weekend, (that's FIVE meals each for FIFTY people!) and smiled the whole way! THANK YOU, CHERYL!

Roy DeVoss also wore a race committee cap all weekend. His wife, Lana pitched in on Sunday. LLSC member, Larry Adams and Commdore Tom Wynn helped on R.C. too. Alastair Donaldson,who was nursing a back injury lent his boardsailing expertise. Gregg Cattanach and Steve Schmidt handled the scoring. Fred Dey was invaluable not only on the committee, but also as the primary sponsor. He lined up some really choice door prizes (not a single key ring or coozie in the pile) from Neil Pryde, Mistral and H2Optics. Scott Spreen provided a rum tasting bar for Saturday night as well as a keg of beer. Marthasville Brewery donated a Keg of their great Sweet Georgia Brown Ale. Jonathan Jewell again did a wonderful job with the notice-of-race, trophy and shirt designs. The very popular Henley-style fleece shirts were sold out even before registration (another small order of shirts will be ready just before Christmas­ call to reserve one).

By any measure, the Fall Classic was a big success (even if I do say so myself). Thanks to all those that so generously helped and to everyone who came to sail and party. Let's all do it again in the spring!