It’s the beginning of August and we all know what that means – across North America Lightning Teams everywhere are dreaming of the glory that awaits when everyone at the WJM's and the NA's realizes that they are on top of the G.O.T.-Flashes Leaderboard! Across the continent teams are cramming in one last practice, furiously packing trailer bearings (for maintenance day credit, of course), and pounding the keyboard on their cell phones putting data into the new (and recently improved!) G.O.T. Flashes App.
Here We R (15615) wears it’s G.O.T. Flashes stickers with as much pride as it’s mahogany rub rails
Note [Pro Tip Here!] that it’s possible to go back through your sailing calendar in the new App and enter days you might have forgotten earlier in the year. So, if you forgot to enter your days sailing the Southern Circuit (for example), you can fix that now and get the credit you so richly deserve. There is still time to pump up your numbers before that first WJM's party – yes, Bragging Rights could be yours!
Let’s see where everyone stands. As I write, Jonette Werley tops the podium with 44 days logged, followed closely by David Werley at 43 and Ken Brown and Dean Caley tied at 37. Fleet 36 at Pymatuning Yacht Club tops the Fleet Leaderboard with a massive 305 days logged followed by Fleet 216 on Saginaw Bay at 165 days and Fleet 12 at the BCC with 148.
At the District level, the Lake Erie District leads with 460 days logged, followed by the Michigan District at 238 and the New England District with 183.
This all adds up to an amazing 1,337 Days logged this year, rapidly approaching last year’s total of 1,550 days and well on our way to our 2026 goal of 2,5400 days logged.
If this isn’t enough numbers for you (speaking as an engineer, there can never be enough numbers!), go to the ‘Stats’ page of the G.O.T.-Flashes App for an in-depth look at who, where, and when people are sailing our beloved boats. There you can discover all kinds of fascinating information about the class, everything from how many people have signed up; the ratio between regatta days, practice days, and day sailing; how many people were sailing on any particular day; whether Masters grease their trailer bearings earlier in the year than U32 sailors; and dozens of other fascinating facts about life in the Lightning universe. Want to know how many people celebrated your birthday by going sailing (only 2 on mine, come on guys, what’s with that!) and more?
All this is fun, but as you look at the Stats page you can see that through the G.O.T-Flashes challenge the Class is beginning to collect real information about where, when, and why people are sailing our boats. As we move forward in the 21st century creating initiatives to promote, improve, and grow the Class, this information builds the foundation for understanding what people are actually doing within the Class. Knowing who is sailing the boats, where they are doing it, and why they are getting on the water helps us make it more appealing across a broader base to sail our boats.
So Get Out There! And when you do, don’t forget to log your days.
Bill Cabrall
15615