2001 Atlanta Cup

by Steve Hayden

The Lake Lanier Sailing Club held its annual Atlanta Cup regatta on October 6&7th. Eighteen boats from six southeastern states attended. Lake Lanier always brings challenging conditions and this year was no different. Saturday morning's rigging in the rain dried up for some very nice wind conditions by race time. Three races were run starting in 8-10 kts, then building to 15 by the end of the day. The Race Committee did a nice job getting in the races, given some shifty conditions

Race 1 started with the New World Champion Team starting a bit earlier than everyone else did. Probably too much Mountain Dew and Krispy Cremes for breakfast. They restarted and fought back to finish 5th. Steve Hayden's team won the race with Bill Hofmeister in second. In race 2 Jeff Linton's team got back on track and battled with the NA champs all the way around. Linton wins, Hayden 2nd, and Ed Michels finished 3rd. Race 3 brought more breeze and another real good battle between the Linton team and Hayden team. The Nas won out over the Worlds this time, and Len Krawcheck finished 3rd. Pam Barron and her team of volunteers did a great job of hosting this event. They put on a real good happy hour and then steak dinner for everyone. The Southeastern District's hospitality is always wonderful. We all enjoy making the trip to Atlanta every year.

Sunday morning brought a blast of COLD to the south. Very light air, but plenty of cold. We started in light and spotty and drifted through the final race. Jeff Linton still had that wind god looking out for him and won the race, but Steve Hayden finished second and won the regatta. Bill Hofmeister sailed consistently to finish 3rd overall, with Len Krawcheck 4th and Bill Mauk finishing 5th overall. The Atlanta Cup is always a great regatta with a good group of people and challenging lake sailing. Put in on the list for next year. As always, everyone is invited to sail in Florida this winter. Davis Island YC in Tampa has the Thanksgiving regatta Nov. 24-25 and the Orange Bowl in Miami is Dec. 26-29. Come on down.