Conditions have been perfect for both days of qualifying. Wind has been 8-14 mph from the west. Cloud layer burns off by 9:30 am and the cooling breeze starts to build. By the 12:00 noon starting time (no early mornings!) the breeze has been on the race course for at least one hour. The 45 minute sail to the race course is easy.
For the qualifiers, the entire fleet is typically split into 9 separate groups. The way the groups are decided is based on past finishes in large events. So top sailors are split into the different groups, then remaining blue fleeters are also split, and so on down to first timers to the NA's. The 9 groups are then put into three different fleets, Say groups A, B and C in the first (blue) start, C, D and E, in the second (Green) start and F, G and H in the third (Gold) start. For the rest of the qualifiers, the groups then race against different groups as much as possible. The group letters for the sailors are in the results on the Lightning website (www.lightningclass.org)
First qualifying race was 2.5 laps W-L. No General Recalls as the line was sufficiently long and well set. Race was about 1.5 hours for the middle of the fleet.
Second qualifier was 3.5 laps W-L. Good starting line (a trend that continued).
Seas are lumpy with some chop and longer swells. Surfing is possible downwind at times. The lumpy seas make it hard to see the windward mark, but there has always been an RC boat up there for guidance.
3rd qualifier was 2 laps, W-L finishing to leeward. 4th qualfier was 2.5 laps, W-L.
We sailed with (not much) Matt Burridge and Jeff Linton. They were having their own duels that the rest of us could only watch from an increasing distance. Larry MacDonald and Allen Terhune also had excellent qualifiers.
The fleet has been split, with 37 boats in the top fleet, including the defending champion and three boats from South America (Mario, Pablo and Juan). There will only be a green fleet this year, but it will be a large fleet with over 30 boats.
Bob Bush
