2005 Chapel Thrill Regatta

There's nothing like racing in 80-degree weather and shorts in November! Again, the Carolina Sailing Club, Barry and Suzanne Saunders and friends did a magnificent job hosting their second Chapel Thrill Regatta on Jordan Lake, NC, November 5-6. What a fantastic way to wind down another great year of Jet sailing. Plus the Chapel Thrill kicked off the first of the 2005-06 Traveler's Series events.

The Chapel Thrill was part two of the South Atlantic Yacht Racing Assn. Jet 14 Championship. Part one was the Spring Thaw at Lake Norman last May. Besides sailing at such a friendly venue as Jordan Lake it was personally rewarding to support Jet 14 racing in North Carolina. Barry and his club are doing great things talking up Jet 14s. There has even been talk of using the Jet to frostbite.

Saturday's racing included winds along the length of the lake at 5-12 knots. The CSC race committee did a great job setting nice true courses. The race results were pretty mixed up as no team/boat dominated. Kate Erklauer and Max won the last race and sat in first overall. But the Michoses were only one point back and three teams were two points back: #1140 McKenna/Lamb, #1134 Ireland/Hennon and #1145 MacMurray/Barnes. It was refreshing to see the competition so tight. The entire fleet showed flashes of brilliance and most everyone had their moments in the lead.

On a personal level the 2005 Chapel Thrill was a milestone. I and my wife Sue would race our third boat of the season: an old woodie I'd been secretly restoring for a couple of years. The boat could have been completed long ago but I was always busy working on other's boats or building masts. So it was with little surprise that #443, an old Kenyon(?) hull was still being varnished a week beforehand and the mast built only a few days before departing for its first big splash in thirty years. Was it was a recipe for disaster? For starters, the boat hadn't touched water and only been tuned up in my driveway. Who knows if my "class break-through" jib leads would work or if the boat would leak like a sieve.

It was something of a miracle old #443 didn't take long to find its stride the first race. She led much of the first race and had decent speed. All the rigging worked. The rest of the day, however, she had a tendency to sail the wrong way. She leaked (do all wood boats leak?) but not badly as Sue fixed with a piece of duct tape. Things were actually looking good!

Sunday, I hoped, would be a truer test. The breeze kicked in to 10-15 knots and wasn't quite as shifty as on Saturday. At the start -- the standings being so close -- just about everyone was itchy and it's a wonder there wasn't a general recall or even a Z flag or two. The fleet showed great speed including Kate and Max on #1130. They really had the boat kicking downwind. Luckily the Michoses in old #443 were able to hang on to their heels coming around the leeward mark and then won the ensuing tacking duel to win the race.

In the final and deciding race, old #443 found itself in a mess. I've now fittingly named the boat "Cyclops" for it's myopic tendencies (not the skipper/crew!). At the start she was stuck under #1145 MacMurray/Barnes and #1130 was storming along at the pin end. Fortunately, the old woodie, which must have taken a shot of "Geritol Improved" was able to tack free and played the right side of the course. A few minutes later and for the rest of the race the right side was the place to be. The Michoses went on to win the race (and regatta) followed by #1140 McKenna/Lamb and #1130.

For records sake, somewhere in the McJet Book of World Records there may be a new entry: "Most Regattas Won By a Team in Different Jet 14s in One Year:" The Michos team has won five regattas in 2005 in three different boats (#217, #443 and #1136). So who says you can't jump into a new boat and compete?

				Race
Place	Sail	Skipper	Crew	1	2	3	4	5	Total
1	443	D. Michos	S. Michos	2	3	4	1	1	11
2	1130	K. Erklauer	M. Scharrenbroich	3	4	1	2	3	13
3	1140	J. McKenna	E. Lamb	7	1	2	4	2	16
4	1134	N. Ireland	C. Hennon	4	2	6	3	4	19
5	1145	C. MacMurray	G. Barnes	1	6	3	5	5	20
6	932	B. Saunders	H. Sayre-McCord	6	5	5	6	6	28
7	196	C. Hale	E. Rasmussen	5	7	7	7	7	33
8	722	D. Albert	A. Hitlin	8	8	8	8	8	40