The Fourth Annual Lake Hopatcong A-Class Catamaran Fall Regatta was held this past weekend, out of the Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club with 33 boats in attendance, a record number for the Fall Classic.  Competitors began to show up on Friday September 11, as the first sailors pulled into the Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club parking lot at 9 a.m. with the hopes of getting some practice racing on New Jersey’s largest lake before the main event.   With very windy and rainy conditions this day, the sailors were deterred from pushing off the ramp, and instead settled to enjoy the Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club’s warmth and shelter as well as their adult beverages.a-cat_lhyc_2009003.jpg

  a-cat_lhyc_2009002.jpgThere was certainly a wide range of distances participants travelled to attend this regatta.  John and Ian Lindahl and Bruce Williams came from Michigan, the Canadians from Ontario made their annual trek again, as well as Tracy Oliver from Virginia Beach and Tony Arends and Sterling Mehring from Maryland.  Joe Sparks from Tennessee was a newcomer to the event, as well as some young blood from Bristol.  Ben Moon from Florida flew up for the event and borrowed a local boat to compete.

  Friday evening, nearly 60 people enjoyed a catered dinner and cocktails hosted by one of the LHYC A-Cat Fleet members while catching up and discussing the seasons sailing stories and watching pictures from various regattas on a projector screen.

  The next morning the weather was beginning to break with winds out of the NNE at 5-10 knots.  The rain was letting up and the first of 4 races for the day was off with 33 sailors on the line.  Oliver Moore from Rhode Island took first on the first two races after pulling off fantastic starts to break away from the crowd.  Tony Arends from Maryland took the third race, and Danny Goritski from LHYC placed first in the fourth and final race of the day.a-cat_lhyc_2009005.jpg

  After a return to the Club for debriefing and beers the sailors were treated to the club’s annual beefsteak dinner with 215 members and sailors attending.  Some of the out of town sailors even went home with prizes from the annual auction and all seemed to have their fill of food and drink.

  a-cat_lhyc_2009004.jpgSunday brought a big change in the weather.  The Low Pressure that had been stuck over the New York/ New Jersey area for nearly a week had finally passed up the coast.  A beautiful, sunny morning on the lake had developed with crisp, cool air and plenty of wind.

  By the time the sailors were on the starting line the North West wind was in full form with average speeds of 10knots with some heavier gusts in the high teens.  So a sunny windy day provided spectacular sailing as well as fantastic entertainment for the many spectators on the lake.  Lake Hopatcong’s many coves provided the usual challenging wind shifts and fluky gusts, however the usual gang of experienced sailors figured them out and proceeded to rip up the lake.

  Three races were sailed on Sunday after a well planned “Fake General Recall” on the first start.  Mark Skeels (who turned 50 that morning) was treated to the entire fleet and race committee singing Happy Birthday as he drifted across the line in total surprise and confusion.

  a-cat_lhyc_2009639.jpg a-cat_lhyc_2009542.jpgOnce the real racing started, Phil Kinder took control and received two first places showing that Bristol sailors are not afraid of the gusty winds of Lake Hopatcong.  In the last race Oliver Moore got a hint from local Mike Gruber on the first tack after the start and reluctantly made a move that provided him a “Horizon Job” on the rest of the fleet for the remainder of the race for his third first place finish of the regatta. 

  At the end of the day, there were many smiles, and a great regatta came to its conclusion.  The competitors made it to shore, de-rigged with beers in hand, and were supplied a superb grilled lunch by Peter Block of LHYC.  At the awards ceremony, A-Cat icons Cal Fuller (4 times North American Champion and The Father of Modern A-Cat sailing) and Merrill “Doc” Stern (Former North American Champion, 89 years old and still sailing A-Cats) were introduced, and an amazing A-Cat Birthday Cake made by some of the yacht club ladies was given to Mark Skeels.  Trophies were given to the top five finishers.

1.  Phil Kindera-cat_lhyc_2009644.jpg

2.  Tony Arends

3.  Danny Goritski

4.  Ben Moon

5.  Scott Callahan

  Full scores posted below. Photos courtesy of Mike Gruber and Shelli Skeels.

2009 Lake Hopatcong A-Cat Regatta

Overall

Rank SailNo Club HelmName LHYC Regatta 9/12/09 LHYC Regatta 9/12/09 LHYC Regatta 9/12/09 LHYC Regatta 9/12/09 LHYC Regatta 9/13/09 LHYC Regatta 9/13/09 LHYC Regatta 9/13/09 Total Nett
1st 10 Bristol, RI Phil Kinder 8.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 (34.0 DNS) 51.0 17.0
2nd 267 West River, MD Tony Arends 3.0 (10.0) 1.0 5.0 2.0 3.0 5.0 29.0 19.0
3rd 211 LHYC, NJ Danny Goritski 2.0 (12.0) 7.0 1.0 11.0 4.0 2.0 39.0 27.0
4th 2051 Florida Ben Moon (15.0) 2.0 5.0 3.0 10.0 5.0 9.0 49.0 34.0
5th 273 LHYC, NJ Scott Callahan 7.0 6.0 4.0 (13.0) 6.0 10.0 3.0 49.0 36.0
6th 282 Bristol, RI Oliver Moore 1.0 1.0 15.0 15.0 (34.0 DNF) 6.0 1.0 73.0 39.0
7th 205 LHYC, NJ Mike Gruber 6.0 9.0 8.0 10.0 5.0 2.0 (34.0 DNF) 74.0 40.0
8th 9 Michigan Ian Lindahl 9.0 5.0 (11.0) 9.0 4.0 7.0 6.0 51.0 40.0
9th 135 Virginia Beach, VA Tracy Oliver 4.0 8.0 (16.0) 4.0 13.0 14.0 4.0 63.0 47.0
10th 175 LHYC, NJ Dean Lennox 10.0 7.0 3.0 7.0 12.0 11.0 (13.0) 63.0 50.0
11th 119 Bristol, RI Max Kramers 13.0 4.0 6.0 11.0 (17.0) 9.0 8.0 68.0 51.0
12th 200 Bristol, RI Jim Godbey 5.0 16.0 13.0 8.0 3.0 (22.0) 10.0 77.0 55.0
13th 268 LHYC, NJ Andy Burdett 12.0 11.0 (22.0) 6.0 9.0 8.0 11.0 79.0 57.0
14th 218 LHYC, NJ Peter Hefele 11.0 17.0 (24.0) 14.0 8.0 12.0 12.0 98.0 74.0
15th 225 LHYC, NJ Bernd Hefele 14.0 15.0 (21.0) 16.0 14.0 18.0 14.0 112.0 91.0
16th 3065 LHYC, NJ Peter Block 18.0 18.0 12.0 24.0 7.0 13.0 (34.0 DNS) 126.0 92.0
17th 224 LHYC, NJ Greg Comito (22.0) 20.0 14.0 12.0 16.0 16.0 17.0 117.0 95.0
18th 44 LHYC, NJ Mark Skeels 21.0 (22.0) 19.0 18.0 20.0 15.0 7.0 122.0 100.0
19th 8065 Michigan Bruce Williams 23.0 14.0 10.0 19.0 (27.0) 21.0 16.0 130.0 103.0
20th 235 Tennessee Joe Sparks 16.0 13.0 (23.0) 17.0 18.0 20.0 19.0 126.0 103.0
21st 274 LHYC, NJ John Seitz 20.0 21.0 9.0 22.0 (26.0) 23.0 18.0 139.0 113.0
22nd 147 LHYC, NJ Ken Kirkland (27.0) 25.0 17.0 20.0 23.0 17.0 24.0 153.0 126.0
23rd 208 LHYC, NJ Charlie Oberman 19.0 23.0 20.0 26.0 21.0 (27.0) 22.0 158.0 131.0
24th 147 LHYC, NJ Fred Steinbaum 17.0 28.0 (34.0 DNF) 34.0 DNS 15.0 19.0 20.0 167.0 133.0
25th 200X LHYC, NJ Lloyd Kitchin (26.0) 26.0 26.0 25.0 19.0 24.0 15.0 161.0 135.0
26th Can 31 Canada Fred Smith 25.0 19.0 18.0 27.0 (28.0) 25.0 25.0 167.0 139.0
27th 223 LHYC, NJ Steve Levine 28.0 24.0 25.0 23.0 25.0 (34.0 DNF) 23.0 182.0 148.0
28th 179 West River, MD Sterling Mehring 24.0 (29.0) 29.0 21.0 29.0 28.0 26.0 186.0 157.0
29th 30 LHYC, NJ Todd Walter 29.0 27.0 28.0 28.0 22.0 (34.0 DNF) 34.0 DNS 202.0 168.0
30th 173 LHYC, NJ Robert Gruber (34.0 DNF) 34.0 DNS 34.0 DNS 34.0 DNS 24.0 26.0 21.0 207.0 173.0
31st 278 LHYC, NJ Peter Karpiak (31.0) 31.0 27.0 29.0 31.0 29.0 28.0 206.0 175.0
32nd 349 LHYC, NJ Jack Lennox (30.0) 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 27.0 207.0 177.0
33rd 3865 LHYC, NJ Ralph Preiss (34.0 DNF) 34.0 DNF 34.0 DNF 34.0 DNF 34.0 DNF 34.0 DNF 34.0 DNF 238.0 204.0

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