The USA SCIRA District 4 Championships were held June 15 & 14 at the Atlanta Yacht Club on Lake Allatoona. Five teams participated in the Junior D-4 Championship and 28 teams battled it out in the Senior Championships.
JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTA: To increase participation and interest a separate Junior Regatta was held on Saturday morning. This allowed the juniors to also participate as a crew in the Senior event. Three races were scheduled. Juniors were allowed to sail with Seniors as crews. The Adjustments resulted in one of the District's larger junior turnouts in many years. The winds for the event were very light and variable/puffy, placing a premium on looking for and staying in the breeze. Andrew Cason & Clay Burnup convincingly won the first race. Chris Stang and Peter Wells won the second and final junior race of the day. The Cason/Burnup team sailed the most consistent and took first place for the event, winning the Duffy Memorial Trophy emblematic of the Top Junior in the District. Stang & Wells finished 2nd and Dustin Kays/Nee Cee Hodges third.
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTA: By the time the seniors got on the water Saturday afternoon the conditions had deteriorated even further. More heat and less wind. After several vain attempts to lock in on the wind, which was shifting from 160' to 340', a "race" was completed in the late afternoon. At the start the fleet crowded at the committee boat end only to see the wind shift back to the left just before the start. A few boats at the pin end were optimistic, only to have any hopes of doing well in the race dashed about 1/2 way to the weather mark by the explosion of a thunderstorm cell on the far right side of the course. The remainder of the race was sailed in a gusty, unstable breeze which produced several capsizes and misc. mishaps. Brent McKenzie and his son Stephen, led most of the race, only to relinquish it to Steve Burke/Nancy Gilreath and the Commettes as the result of a few last Minute shifts at the finish. Steve was so excited several heard him ask Brent "Dad are we still in the lead?", with Brent responding "no son". The conclusion at that time was that we couldn't take any more of such a good thing so we all retired to the Clubhouse for Margaritas, snacks and a great Low Country Boil. Tomorrow would be better -- it couldn't be worse!
The early morning showed some promise with a light breeze out of the east. Could it be real and sustainable? No way! By the time 10:00 am came the wind had diminished to nearly nothing and a 2 hour drifter with occasional bands of breeze to move on your neighboring boat was in the works. One could and did go from near the top to the back of the fleet with minimal effort. Shawn Burke and his new crew, LLSC junior William Morang, after placing 9th in race 1, won the race with Steve and Nancy in second. The McKinzies and Commettes fell far back in the fleet on the first and only downwind leg of the shortened windward leeward windward race when an erratic puff filled in on the other side of the course allowing nearly all of the fleet which was previously behind them to pass by. The next and final race of the regatta turned out to have more breeze, but the fleet separation demonstrated that it was very erratic and spotty. Those that managed to get into the bands of breeze and remain in them, enjoyed the sail. Shawn managed to also win this race, but that was not enough to offset his 9th in race 1. His twin brother Steve pulled out a 4th to win the D-4 Championship for the first time. Charlie and Michele Bustamante were able to sail a quiet and fairly consistent regatta (5,4,8) and place 3rd overall. The father and son team of Jeff and Gary Beck (dad crewed) sailed very well and held on to 4th. Brent and son Stephen, racing on a Snipe for the first time placed 5th (3,15,12). Stephen was so enthusiastic about sailing he had his dad up at the club at least 2 hours before the start on Sunday! The Commettes, sailing a new Person right out of the box returned to the D-4 sailing circuit with a 6th, like Brent, that one shift and puff downwind in race 2 cost them dearly (2,13,6).
The trophies this year were embroidered SCIRA merchandise and sweatshirts with the SCIRA logo on them. The competitors seemed to appreciate an item that had some utility and served to promote the Class. After a hot and trying weekend all the participants quickly departed dreaming of 8-15 knot sea breezes at the National.
Don Hackbarth
AYC Fleet 330
JUNIOR REGATTA RESULTS:
Club Finishes Place
Andrew Cason?Clay Burnup AYC 1,2 1
Chris Stang/Peter Wells AYC 3,1 2
Dustin Kays/Nee Cee Hodges AYC 2,3 3
Jonathan & Stefanie Carroll AYC 5,4 4
Clayton Dixon/Frank Pontious AYC 4,5 5
SENIOR REGATTA RESULTS:
Steve Burke/Nancy Gilreath LLSC 1,2,4 1
Shawn Burke/William Morang LLSC 9,1,1 2
Charlie & Michele Bustamante Releigh 5,4,8 3
Jeff & Gary Beck LLSC 4,3,11 4
Brent & Stephen McKenzie LLSC 3,15,2 5
Peter & Connie Commette Ft Laud 2,13,6 6
Hal Gilreath/Robert Burke LLSC 10,5,7 7
Frank Pontious/Clayton AYC 8,6,10 8
Tom & Jack Smith LLSC 6,12,9 9
Craig & Mimi Beardsley LLSC 7,7,DNC 10
Blaine & Adrienne McCleskey Charleston 17,19,3 11
Andrew Cason/Lee Burnup AYC 14,9,17 12
Marc & Steve Duvoisin LLSC DNF,11,14 13
Bill Moss/Clay Burnup AYC 15,20,12 14
Chris Stang/Peter Welles AYC 21,14,13 15
David Muhlhausen/Jason Harris AYC 12,8,DNC 16
John Muhlhausen/Kay Redmond AYC 11,18,DNF 17
Titu & Rucsandra Doctor AYC DNF,11,14 18
Lee & Katie King Charleston 18,16,18 19
Jerry Kimble/Courtney Bradley AYC 16,21,16 20
Don Hackbarth/Dustin/Jessica Kays AYC 13,17,DNC 21
Dave & Jonathan Carroll AYC 19,DNC,15 22
Gavin Glen-Harris/Brooks Grant Birmingham DNF,22,19 23
John Hill/Steffanie Carroll AYC 20,25,28 24
Scott Cline/Cindy Hackett AYC 22,DSQ,DSQ 25
Watt & Priscilla Dully New Orleans 23,DNC,DNC 26
Sonny Meyers/Jason Snyder Charleston DNC,DNF,DNC 27
John & Leslie Irvine AYC DNC,DNC,DNC 28
95-96 HIGH POINT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Place Name # Events Points
1 Hal Gilreath 12 468.5
2 Steve Burke 8 320.25
3 Shawn Burke 10 300
4 Don Hackbarth 10 274.25
5 Craig Beardsley 8 231
6 Brent McKenzie 5 229.25
7 John Irvine 5 216
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