Lightning 50th Annual No Gas Regatta
Annapolis, MD | May 25-26, 2024
This past weekend Fleet 329 hosted the 50th Anniversary of the No Gas Regatta. There were 15 teams, which included 9 local boats and 6 out-of-town boats from 4 sister fleets: Riverton, NJ, Alexandria, VA, Harve DeGrace, MD & Susquehanna, PA. Regattas are only as good as the people who participate, and we are thankful for all our out-of-town friends who made the time & effort to travel to Annapolis over the holiday weekend who attended. Special thanks to our PRO Barbara Vosbury and her team of RC volunteers who gave up their Memorial Day Weekend to make sure we had a great event.
One of the best parts of the Lightning class is the family and friends, both new and old. Some highlights included:
There were multiple family members sailing: Gary & Joan Hurban, Marco & Rick Welch, (competing on different teams), Craig Cobbum sailed with his daughter Mary Hayes, (first time racing together in a Lightning), and Jim and Lisa-Marie Lane had their 2nd Lightning on the line for the first regatta in direct competition “As You Wish… v. Storming The Castle” (Jim was very happy to report Lisa-Marie lost the tie breaker on this one!!!)
Many teams relied on both old and new Lightning friends: Bill Cabrall had the honor to sail with ILCA past president Hugh Hutchinson (Riverton YC) and LeAnn Myhre. Nell Codner, skipper her first Lightning regatta with Becky Larion & Will Crane (both 1st time Lightning crew). Bryan Burke, 3rd Gen Lightning sailor and part of the U32 Program sailed with George Nagy & girlfriend Amanda Dame (1st Lightning regatta). Jonathan Lange sailed with Ken Appleton and John Heintz (both Ken and John sailed Lightnings over 60 years ago this was the first time they had sailed on a Lightning without jumpers on the mast!)
Saturday was very light, but we all headed to our racing area in the Bay to wait for the breeze. After a slight delay on the water, RC started the first race in light breeze which made racing long and challenging (ie: light breeze and beautiful day = motorboats and lots of chop). The southerly breeze of 8-12 knots filled in nicely for race 2 and race 3 which provided Goldilocks conditions and competitive racing. The teams were tightly grouped throughout the races and even the folks on race committee were enjoying the photo finishes. The scores also reflected the competitive finishes; this is the first time I remembered 4 ties on total points for less than 15 boats (2nd/3rd, 4th/5th, 7th/8th, 10th/11th). On Sunday, although it was sunny and beautiful, the only breeze to be found was in the harbor. After two postponements on shore, racing was abandoned so everyone could enjoy the rest of their weekend.
Congratulations to winners:
1st Place: 15276, “Sundog” Clint Neuman Jeremy Wenig & Karl Allen
2nd Place: 15257, “His”, Gary Hurban, Joan Hurban & Rachel Blake
3rd Place: 15615, “Here We R” Bill Cabrall, LeAnn Myhre and Hugh Hutchinson / Ross Carlson
