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While most sailors view January as a time to put the boat away until spring, a hardy group of Oriental sailors greeted the New Year with a race on the Neuse River. Well, some of the sailors treated it as a race.

This year the “Instead of Football Regatta” welcomed one of the largest fleets since its inception 14 years ago.

A bounding “Bounty” at the Instead of Football Regatta (Ryan Honnoll photo)

Organizer Tom Lathrop explains how this year’s regatta unfolded on the Neuse:

In a stroke of brilliant planning by the race organizers and a grant from the local weather gods, New Year’s Day 2008 found the Neuse River in a receptive mood for the annual regatta.

Near-perfect conditions on the course. (RiverCam photo)

The fleet came together in bright sunshine and near 60 degrees temperature to meet the New Year. All boats sailed from Oriental #1 channel mark toward Adams Creek promptly at 12 noon in wind of about 12 to 15 knots.

Part of the fleet after the start(Tom Lathrop photo)

After rounding Adams Creek mark, the wind gradually increased on the way downwind to Garbacon Shoal marker. For the final upwind leg to the finish at Oriental entrance mark, 25 knots of wind was quite enough strength to blow sedentary cobwebs accumulated over the holidays from the minds of the intrepid crews.

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Given the brisk conditions, most boats reefed early.

This would be a good time to reef aboard John Standley’s “Bounty”(Bernie Harberts photo)

Some waited longer. Charlie Garrett started with a full mainsail set aboard his O’Day 30. As the winds rose, instead of shortening sail like other sailors, “we just dumped the main” to avoid overpowering the vessel.

“Shrimp & Grits” under full sail(Ryan Honnoll photo)

Vessels like George Benedict’s trimaran “Senior Moment” found themselves propelled to double-digit speeds.

“Senior Moment” hits 10+ knots

As with reefing preference, racing style varied. The crew aboard “Shrimp & Grits” chose an intense approach.

Alex grinds(Ryan Honnoll photo)

Circumnavigator Jesse Edwards and his family aboard John Standley’s “Bounty” took a more relaxed approach.

Jesse (L) sleeps…(Bernie Harberts photo)

A few racers were spotted with inflatable devices trailing their vessels.

Fenders and dinghy in tow -a sure sign that not all are taking this race seriously(Tom Lathrop photo)

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Following a football-free afternoon of sailing, reefing and napping, the crews returned to M&M’s restaurant to determine who won.

The final tack

Tom Lathrop describes how the regatta winners were determined:

Ed Bliss’s Sabre 362,“Out Of The Blue” with crew Mick Roberts, Tim Fowler and Tom Finta, was reported to be the first boat to finish. They claimed their reward of a round of free drinks from Dave Sargent, owner of M & M’s restaurant where the boisterous crowd gathered for the mandatory after race skipper’s meeting.

The actual official winners were then declared in a fair and equitable manner by pulling names from a large jar. M&M’s annually offers gift certificates to the three skippers whose names are drawn by Dave. Third place was claimed by Enrique
Garcia aboard his Bristol 41.1 “Pelican”, Second place by Joe Bliss and “Pure Bliss,” and first place garnered by Art Tierney on his Bristol 35.5 “Quixotic”.

After dismissing all claims of ballot stuffing or other irregularities by the race organizers, all crews returned to the serious task of adjusting attitudes in preparation for the coming year.

(TownDock.net thanks Tom Lathrop and Ryan Honnoll for their fine photos and commentary.)

Posted Wednesday January 2, 2008 by Bernie Harberts