The Cotton Pickin’
regatta was one of the best I can remember. Frances had passed
through East Tennessee, with all of the rain out of Middle Tennessee
by Friday morning, pushed out by a big high pressure coming in from
the west, long before we left Nashville for Memphis and Hernando
Mississippi. Our expectation was that the high would be dominant and
since there had been little change in temperature with the passage
of the front, we did not expect any wind to speak of. We were
pleasantly surprised when on Saturday the wind was from 6 to 12 all
day long.
The races were run by members of the Hobie fleet at the Hernando
Yacht Club. Each of the three fleets there helps out when the other
has a regatta. It is clear that there is a lot of mutual respect
between the members of the fleets, making those of us who were from
out of town feel all the more welcome.
With the wind from the northeast the local rule of “sail toward the
clubhouse” proved to be a valuable rule to follow. Those who got good
starts in the first race were suckered out to the right away from
the clubhouse because the Thistles that started before us (so they
could get in early to bring lunch back for the rest of us) found
really good pressure on that right. Only problem was, the shore
effect caused the wind to go left as we approached the mark and
those in the good wind to the right found themselves sailing the big
banana. We went in for lunch and back out for 3 more in wind that
built a little but remained from the same direction and the “go
left” rule paid off a lot more than it did not.
My formerly regular crew, Jan (Thompson) Mattix and her husband,
Robert agreed to sail with me. After the first day of sailing, it
was obvious that the combination of them as crew and our new Allen
boat and new sails (guess) were really fast.
Following the races we headed for Dave Dickson’s house just down the
road for barbeque, beer and conversation. The Dixon’s are very
generous with their home, their dogs, gardens and humming birds. It
seems as though we were all tired because the last guests were
leaving about 8:30 and the dearth of stories the next morning would
suggest that all went home and to bed, most of us having trouble
staying awake through half time of the U.T., Florida game.
Sunday was even more surprising with winds around 15 from the same
direction. Going into the final race, there were 5 boats virtually
tied for second place .Bill Baxter, Jr. was able to plane a couple of
times, causing him to break away from the pack to take second, but
Dave Young who sailed with two local and obviously talented female
crew Batton Kennon arranged for him, stayed close enough to finish 4th
in the race and second in the regatta. Brad Currie had his son, Nate,
on board for his first regatta, and Nate seemed to love it as did
Brad.
We always love going to lake Arkabutla in the fall. We love the
sailing, the cotton fields and the kudzu, but most of all we just
like going.
