Lightning Circuit: Tour Begins

North Sails rep Greg Fisher and his team of JoAnn Fisher and Steve Davis has kept Scuttleblog updated on this year's Lightning Southern Circuit, which began in Savannah, GA (March 11-12), and continued on to Miami, FL (March 14-15) and St. Petersburg, FL (17-19).

View all Circuit reports:
Savannah, Miami (One, Two, Three),
St Pete (One, Two, Three, Four)

(Monday, March 13) Each year the Lightning class enjoys a 3-regatta midwinter circuit, which attracts 40 plus boats. The circuit kicks off with the Deep South Regatta and this year marked the 50th anniversary hosted by Savannah Yacht Club. The Savannah Yacht Club graciously lowered the entry fee to fifty dollars and ironically fifty boats attended the event.

To say the racing in Savannah is interesting would be an understatement. The Wilmington and Skidaway rivers join together nearly in front of the yacht club, with the river current often as high as 3 knots. This makes for some challenging and exciting conditions, where trying to find a lane while short tacking along the marsh with the centerboard up half way in not unusual. On downwind legs, the crew may even sit on the foredeck to keep the rudder out of the mud. Then there is the tactical use of the mud, where dropping the board into the muck while on a screaming plane may be necessary to keep from plowing into the boat in front.

This year the sailing was spectacular, with temperatures in the mid 70s, sunny, and a sea breeze of 8-12 mph. David Starck and his team of Jared Drake and Ian Jones (photo below) mastered the challenging conditions over second place (and past world champion) Jeff Linton with wife Amy, and Mark Taylor. Jeff said his slick move of the regatta came in the last race, where he gybed around the weather mark and close reached on port through the starboard tack layline crowd to seek relief from the current. Once 5 feet from shore, he popped his spinnaker, and promptly picked up 5 boats (welcome to Savannah!). Newcomer to the class, Chris LaBorde, was third with Jay Mueller and Eduardo Cordero. Click here for complete results.

Although the sailing is exciting, what really makes the Deep South Regatta special is the combination of the southern hospitality of the Savannah Yacht Club and the Lightning class “family.” John MacIntosh Sr. with sons, John, Neff and Olin and nephew Billy, Commodore of Savannah Y C, have long been the backbone of the Deep South Regatta and this year was no exception.

There was plenty of family teams racing too. Larry Macdonald , 4th overall, sailed with his 12 yr old son Adam. The Lintons, Terhunes, Ruhlmans (also with son Ryan sailing another boat), Moriartys, Fishers all sailed with their spouses. Gary and Joan Hurban each sailed their own boat and enjoy a friendly family rivalry. On one downwind leg, we battled with 19 yr old Rob Crane, who had his dad Jim and grandmother Anne Allen as crew. Rob’s grandfather Tom Allen sailed another boat as did his uncle Tom Jr, the builder for the class. On shore, Rob’s grandfather Bob Crane watched the racing. Bob was the first winner of the first Deep South regatta 50 years ago.

The members and staff of the Savannah yacht club provided a plentiful “shuck your own” oyster roast on Saturday night, which for this Ohio boy was quite a novel experience. The bar was stocked with more than enough liquor and bartenders, and we were told that Lightning class had nearly paid for next year’s regatta with the size of Saturday night’s bar bill. At the trophy presentation Sunday afternoon, not only was the Macintosh family presented with several well deserved awards on behalf of the Lightning class, but so was the bar staff!

In all seriousness, few clubs roll out the red carpet to the extent of Savannah YC. Our cars and vans even had cleaned windshields with a note stating: “It’s clear you’re number one with us- courtesy of Savannah YC!” after the trophy presentation. For the Lightning Class, the Deep South Regatta (especially this year) is equally special. Obviously it is the kick off event for the weeklong circuit and presents THE best opportunity for everyone to catch up socially after the winter.

Now we’re all on our way down to Miami for the annual Midwinter regatta hosted by Coral Reef YC. The racing for this regatta starts tomorrow (Tuesday), so if you happen to be on I-95, be kind to the blurry-eyed Lightning sailors as they drive south for the next event. We’ll keep you posted…. Greg Fisher

View all Circuit reports:
Savannah, Miami (One, Two, Three), St Pete (One, Two, Three, Four)