Lightning Racing on August 28, 2005

Today's Race Committee of George Zimmermann and Elias Strangas did an outstanding job of setting a race course and managing the racing. The crews were well behaved at the start, so there were no individual recalls.

There was plenty of wind and several sailors noted that it would be nice to save some and use it on other days when "light and variable" has been a kind description. This picture shows how difficult it was at times to keep the boat upright. Larry Koster and Jim Fletcher had their mainsails luffing.

Larry Koster and Tom Rasmussen had "Shibumi" moving well. Here they are headed for the windward mark.

Larry Koster and Tom Rasmussen have "Shimbumi" hot on the transom of "Moody's Booty". Mike Moody sailed with Doug Carlson and Doug Crawford and went 2-3-2 for the day.

The "Moody's Booty" crew have their spinnaker going.

Merrick Hurlbutt was at the helm, Adrianne Tuttle in the front and Scott Watkins in the middle. They've got the boat flat here.

On the downwind, they flew the Spinnaker without incident. This was probably a relief after their exciting boach last Sunday.

We caught Merrick and crew after sailing as they put away their boat.

Blaine Severin had a good day of sailing, scoring second and third place finishes. Julie Pierce sailed in the front of the boat and Tom Deits in the middle. They've got "Unidentified Flying Pigasus" sailing well in this picture.

Blaine eventually crosses ahead of Merrick.

Blaine is heading downwind as Susanna Tellshow, in "Oh m" crosses Merrick Hurlbutt heading in to the mark.

Leif Alton and John LeFevre sailed "Sail Fevre" - a tough job for two on this day, but they held their own.

John and Leif even flew the spinnaker. Watch out, here comes a gust.

Jim and Maribeth Fletcher took a more conservative course, choosing not to fly their spinnaker. That doesn't stop Maribeth from going "all-out" to "wing and wing".

Afterward, Jim puts his boat away.

John LeFevre comes to the windward mark as Susanna Tellschow prepares to duck Jim Fletcher and follow him around the mark.

Susanna was sailing her first race without a veteran Lightning skipper on board. However, Gary Marx brought his experience to the middle position. Newcomer Ann Baker worked the front of the boat. Here they are setting up to tack.

Susanna, Ann and Gary pose for a picture in front of "Oh m" after racing.

"Wind Dancer" was the boat of the day, winning all three races. Here they are rounding the windward mark with spinnaker pole in place and ready to launch the chute. Chris Miller's outstanding work in the front of the boat was equaled by dad Bob Miller's handling of spinnaker trim. They made the skipper, Pat Dolan, look good.

Chute flying, "Wind Dancer" heads for the finish line.

Elias Strangas spent the day driving our Safety Boat as his Race Committee role - and taking these excellent pictures. Thanks Elias.

Here he relaxes after racing. Elias is a new member this year and sails a Laser. He and his family just returned from an extended visit to Greece.