Southwinds Sailing June 2004 - Southwinds Magazine

UPPER GULF COAST SAILINGPeter Freudenberg and his team on Condor enjoyedan early morning practice spinnaker runprior to the last day of the National Championship.This team had been in a 3-way tie forfirst place in their class division during the firsthalf of the championship and battled on to finishin third place in their class. Photo by KimKaminski.halfway through thecompetition the F-28R class had a verytight battle going onfor the top honors inits division. Theteams aboard BadBoys, Rockateer II andCondor engaged in athree-way tie for firstplace. On day three,their tie was brokenwith only one pointseparating the teams.When the final racewas completed, BadBoys had movedahead and capturedthe first place honors.Peter Wann, asailor from Littleton,CO, and a competitorin the Open class division,enjoyed his first experience racing on the Corsairduring the championship. He has sailed onmonohull boats previously and now in the Open classdivision on a Corsair 28 CC - R trimaran named Tri toFly. Peter said ‘Sailing on a Corsair can be compared tothe difference between driving a Chevy on the freewayand driving a race car on the Nascar Speedway…itis an unbelievable thrill.‘ Thrills could also be foundwith the team on Lei Loe in the Open class division.Not only did this El Paso, TX, team find themselvesracing on the newest boat (an F-31R1D) in the fleet butalso found they had earned the first place position ineach of the races of the Championship, finishing witha total of seven points. Besides winning the first-placeposition in the Open class division, H. L. Enloe and histeam on Lei Loe earned the title of the 2004 CorsairTrimaran National Champion.Results: 2004 Corsair - Farrier Trimaran National Championships: The top fivecompetitors overall include: First place, H.L. Enloe on Lei Loe; Second place,Randy Smythe on Rockateer II; Third place, Robert Onsgard on Priorities; Fourthplace, Bob Harkrider on Bad Boys; Fifth place, Glenn Howell on Adios!DAUPHIN ISLAND RACE, MOBILE BAY, AL, APRIL 24By Jim KransbergerThe 46th Annual Dauphin Island Race may well be the crownjewel for Mobile Bay sailing. It’s sort of a multiple-layered, progressivesailing party for anyone who wants to do a rather shortsail between parties. Well, actually, there are other feeder races:one the week before the Dauphin Race and the other the dayafter the race. The feeder before the Dauphin Island Race has areception party at the host club. Serious doubt can be cast onthe thought that there would be anyone of sound mind andbody who would entertain the idea that the return home feedershould have the need to party more, so good was the sociality.Dauphin Island Race is an annual Mobile Bay regatta. Fourclubs, within the bay, alternate hosting the event. While thefeeder races from each of the non-hosting clubs terminate at thehost club, the actual event is sailed each year on the exact samecourse. As luck may have it, the compass rose on the MobileBay chart is as close to a mid-point between the participatingclubs, and that’s where the race begins. The course is nearlysouth, and a boat may not enter or cross the Mobile Ship Channeluntil reaching Middle Bay Light. At the light, and the nextmarker south, racers can cross the Ship Channel and tack forthe finish line at Dauphin Island.Tyrant rounds the Middle Bay Lighthouse. Photo by Jim Kransberger.The hosting club this year was Fairhope Yacht Club. Thethree other clubs involved are: Mobile Yacht Club, BuccaneerYacht Club and Lake Forest Yacht Club. The hosting club hascomplete responsibility for everything for their turn, includingrace committee, social committee and whatever else isneeded.The unique factor of the event is that it allows nearly anyone,yacht club member or not, to participate. The only restrictionis that a boat be at least 16 feet long. Kon-tiki qualifies andcould enter only to find that the finish line was long gone as of1730 CDT on the day of the race. This aside, there were 228boats registered this year, and the largest single showing or fleetparticipating might be the Pearson Flyers, with five.The rest of the fleet was a polyglot. A little of this, a little of48June 2004 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindssailing.com