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Lightning Lab
arrives in Nigeria
(by Skip Dieball)
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Steve Davis, Lightning Class
President, and I arrived to Lagos, Nigeria this morning after an
uneventful 10-hour flight from New York. Upon our arrival, we were
greeted by a friendly local that works with the local Lightning
Fleet to greet visitors. He took care of all the details on our
arrival and we quickly proceeded to Lagos Island, where Lagos Yacht
Club and our hosts are situated. The drive from the airport was
eye-opening. We saw first hand the mass population that exists and
the vast need for infrastructure. With no structured public
transit, it is full chaos on the streets during rush hour.
Fortunately for us, we were under police escort/chase. Our leader
carved out our path like Greg Fisher on a starting line! |
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Our host family made sure we
were well fed and rested for our first afternoon in Lagos. After a
quick nap, we went into town to a local market. It truly was an
experience. With vendors of every conceivable good vying for your
business, it was hard to stay focused.
The Lagos Yacht Club is great.
It is situated directly on the Lagos Harbor and overlooks the
shipping ports, downtown and the immediate racing area. Truly a
prize spot.
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| Steve and I started the
Lightning Lab with a brief outline of what we'll cover in the coming
days, which for today included a rig tune session. We wanted
participants to hit the water so we could quantify our settings and
video our handy work. The session gained more and more participants
as the day wore on. It is truly an inspired group and we are very
happy to help them understand the Lightning and its intricacies. |
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What's interesting about the
history of the Lagos Yacht Club is a boat called the TARPON. It
is/was the first Lightning built in Nigeria about 60 years ago.
Since it was built from local materials (Rainforest Mahogany), it
was PAINFULLY heavy. That's ok, because there were about 20 more
built shortly thereafter...all pretty much the same weight. To get
these overbuilt boats through the water, the locals developed a
Genoa (about 120%) that helps power them through the varying
conditions. It also puts them on pace with the modern fiberglass
Lightnings, so they all can sail together. Interestingly, the
"Tarpons" (named after the 1st boat) have a genoa winching
assembly in the middle of the boat. I can't really speak to its
efficiency, but hope to try it out before the week is out. |
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| Our first day was great.
It was capped with our host Lightning fleet members treating us to
Lebanese dinner in downtown Lagos. They camaraderie was
spectacular and they are truly great hosts and appreciate us helping
them figure out the Lightning.....until tomorrow. |
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An e-mail note to the Class Office:
Steve and Skip arrived safe and sound. They put on a superb
clinic with tuning, on the water comments, and video recap.
We had 24 attendees take off work on a Wednesday afternoon
to hear the experts help us improve our sailing. Truly
exceeded all that we had hoped. Looking forward to two more
afternoons of training and coaching, then two days of
Nationals and we'll send them back to you!
Thanks again.
Gary Schwantz
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