The North American Championships began with qualifying races on Sunday and Monday, August 11 and 12. The 109 contestants competed against each other those two days, then were split into three fleets: Championship (blue), Presidents Cup (green) and Governors Cup (yellow). They ended up with 108 boats and crews, Bruce Goldsmith dropped out due to the death of his brother. The competitors came from through out the USA and Canada, with crews from South America. Brazil, Chile and Ecuador were represented.

Think about the logistics about putting on an event of this size: 108 boats with 324 crew members. How do you get 108 boats launched for the 10 am first start? They used their two hoists plus a mobile rental crane.

For scoring purposes, boats are assigned bow numbers. George and Ann Siegle’s "Fins" of the Lansing Sailing Club, with whom I sailed, is bow number 63. We also had designated parking spots for the boats. Clarence Johnson of Pontiac YC was at 62 and Jeff Schmahl of Wawasee YC was at 61. Bow number 70 was a crew from Brazil.

Races 1 & 2 took place on Tuesday, Races 3 & 4 on Wednesday. Weather permitting, Races 5 & 6 will be held today (Thursday).

These past 4 days were the most intensive days of sailing that I have experienced. However, I want to mention what happens after you are back ashore. The most enjoyable part is meeting and visiting with the people that you just sailed against. After the boats were back at their parking spots, I went for a shower. Yes, after sailing mile long legs on a 5 legged wind-leeward course on hot, humid days, one tends to be a bit grungy!

I came out of the shower area to the lavatory area, a young lad was standing there as he was tending to a wound on his shoulder. I asked if I could help apply the bandage. I said "What’s your name?" "I am Andre," he said. My next question: "Are you from Brazil?" "Yes." "What is your bow number?" "We are bow number 70."

After we get back to respective boat’s parking spots, I wander over to meet his skipper and the 3rd crew member. The skipper is Torsten Ralf Bojlesen with his 25 year old son, Wagner Niels Bojlesen. Andre’s full name is Andre P. S. Peixoto. All three are from Sao Paulo, Brazil and are sailing in the Championship Fleet (blue).

I invite them to the patio at the NCYC club house to continue our visit. We shared a pitcher of refreshments, a bag of pretzels and some pizza bits. Andre says he drinks water only, but he did sample the beer several times.

Torsten parents immigrated from Denmark to Brazil. He represents CPQD - Telecom & IT Solutions, with offices in Brazil and San Jose, California. Son Wagner wants to come to the States to continue his college education. George, Ann and I tried to convince him to consider Michigan State University. Perhaps they will come to the East Lansing area this weekend before they fly back to Brazil from Chicago.

All in all, I now have 3 more e-mail friends in Brazil in addition to one I already have. And all live in Sao Paulo! Some day Louise and I hope to make a visit to Brazil.

As stated before, going to a regatta is more than just sailing, it is the people one meets.

Now back to a bit about sailing results. The "Blue" fleet has 38 boats, the "Green" fleet has 37 boats and we are in the "Yellow" fleet with 33 boats. As mentioned, the competition was intense, the first race for the Blue Fleet began with a General Recall. I believe there was an Individual Recall for every fleet for just about every race. Our first two races were 25th place finishes, yesterday had a 23rd and our best race, a 16th, on a very windy day. Present standing is 23rd out of 33. To see results, check out www.lightningclass.net/2002nas.