Southwinds Sailing June 2004 - Southwinds Magazine

that. There were three divisions: PHRFclasses, Portsmouth classes and One-Designand Multihull. In order for the divisionsto have some sense of balance within,they were broken into subdivisions of nomore than eight, somewhat alike boats.That’s quite a table full of racing trophies!There were boats that qualified as offshoreracers, boats that were small day sailers.There were boats that were world classcruisers and boats that were not. The unifyingthread that pulled this dissimilar flotillatogether was that it was an open event.It was a fun event. It was great because itbrought together all these different peopleinto a three-day activity.Ashore, Friday night before the race, theAnnual Pre-Race Party had an island theme. The décor was pureisland, complete with Tiki huts and a customs money exchangewhere foreign dollars were changed for the local currency. Thedifferent huts served the normal sailing beverages, straw hats,T-shirts and a tattoo or two for children. The music was pureKey West and should have been because the band was rumoredto be the warm-up band for Jimmy Buffett.A unique award was presented during the evening. RearAdmiral Jeremiah Denton, retired USN, was in attendanceand surprised to be named honorary race chairman. Denton,a former POW, gave a brief acceptance, only to be immedi-DeCompressor II sails in the Dauphin Island Race. Photo by Jim Kransbergerately given a plaque from President Bush. The plaque waspresented to Denton by Joe Bonner, Republican congressmanfrom Mobile.In very light air, the race began Saturday morning. Onefleet after another piled up just over the line in a very lightbreeze. Some went east against the shore; others sought out thecenter of the bay, close to the ship channel. The air died and thedrive began. White Trash, a Olsen 40 owned by Greg Smith, wenttowards the center and was slowly eking out a small lead overSee UPPER GULF continued on page 61NEWS & VIEWS FOR SOUTHERN SAILORS SOUTHWINDS June 2004 49