Friday dawned rainy and WINDY. The lake had come up five inches and the traveling J80's and J24's arrived throughout the day. Most were happy to arrive after trailering in 40mph winds. The boats were in and rafted up by dark which came early in the lingering clouds and rain.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny and WINDY. Northwest in the high 20's. Marc and Rob set out from Wolfeboro in Blues Power for the eight mile trip, you guessed it, northwest up to Gilford. The waves in Wolfeboro were three feet high and less than a boatlength apart. That's why we have a six horsepower outboard. Up in Gilford the waves were smaller, one to two feet. The good news is that the broads belongs to the sailboats in that kind of weather. No powerboats blasting through the race course today.

The race commitee set it's unique "box" course which allows the two fleets (24's and 80's) to start and finish at random without interfering with each other. I don't think we had more than two or three meeting situations with J24's all day.

The breeze held strong all day and the fleet completed six races on Saturday. The action was close and in the heavy breeze there was a lot of opportunity to gain and lose big time. The downwind legs were really fast. Some chose to drive almost dead downwind while others took the high road for some exciting high speed planes. Results were mixed. At times a boat would run deep wing on wing w/o the spinnaker and hold it's place. Other times the same tactic would lose four or five boats.

After racing everyone retired to the Winnipesaukee Yacht Club to work on lightening the Budweiser Beer Wagon and eat a great meal prepared by WYC members. After six races in big breeze there were more than a few stories to be told.

Sunday started out with the traditional hoisting of the AP penant. After about a half hour of that the RC took us out on the water for a little more waiting. There was a very light breeze blowing from the Northeast and it was not expected to last. Excess Bandwidth and Ever the Edge engaged in a spectacular water fight that envolved some pretty technical outboard manuevering. They're both ready for the match racing circuit.

Finally the RC started a race. As the breeze went from little to less we finished the race. Greg got a great start and just extended his lead easily win. A second race was started but abandoned as Pinocchio ghosted around the windward mark in his own private breeze.

The last keg was empty and the boats were out by five o'clock. Thanks to all the J-80 fleet 1 and J24 fleet 140 members who helped with the registration, launch, haul-out, accomodation, and hospitality.

All boats were in the water and ready to go by Friday evening. Saturday morning arrived with a light breeze from the east with enough velocity to run two light air races, the second of which produced close to a 180 degree wind shift around toward the west. The race committee did a great job resetting the course and got off three additional races that afternoon in a southwest breeze of about 10 knots. Four different yachts enjoyed "bullets" over Saturday's five races proving to many that shifty lake breezes can humble anyone.

Sunday saw a typical summer lake condition set in even though it was almost the first day of autumn. There was little breeze. After a rather lengthy float out on the course, the race committee moved the fleet to a small pocket of wind, started a race, and then justifiably canceled racing when conditions again went calm.

Local sailor, Mike Weisberg on Zero Charisma (#205), showing consistency with no worse than a fourth over the five race Regatta, took first place followed by second place Gregg Morash's Adrenaline (#99) and third place finisher Martin Kald with Monster Lady (#63). These two boats missed creating a real dog fight for first place by each having one "back in the pack" finish to add into their otherwise top finishes.

In addition to five of the Lake Winnipesaukee's J/80 fleet being on the starting line for the J-Jamboree, six visiting yachts from Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, and Quebec, Canada rounded out a record showing of J/80's. The enthusiasm shown by all skippers and their crews bodes well for an even bigger and better J/80 participation next year.

This fall regatta's reputation for producing excellent winds did not materialize but great race administration, a full day of quick racing, the famous Beer Truck, and an outstanding barbecue earned rave reviews from most of the visiting road warriors.

Bob Knowles
USA #52 - Pinocchio