Qualifying Series

Sean Fidler 14969

The 2001 Lightning North American Qualification series offered the 101 boat fleet nearly perfect sailing conditions in Burlington, VT. Sunday three races were held in 10 – 18 M.P.H. and light chop. Generally there was slightly more pressure on the right, but it did oscillate enough to allow boats to work the shifts up the middle and make small gains. Over the length of the day, the wind did go right as far as 30 degrees. The RC kept the fleet on its toes by using W/L and Olympic courses. The reaches did allow for a number of passes. There were a handful of capsizes in race 2 which offered the largest puffs of the day.

Only one race was required on Monday, offering the competitors most of this afternoon for R&R. It turned out to be another perfect day with 5 – 10 m.p.h. breeze and flat water. Again, the right offered more pressure and the course was changed after the first leeward mark to reflect a 15 degree right shift. The RC again pulled another race course out of it hat and ran a REVERSE OLYMPIC (Run first, Reaches second). Again, some teams were able to survive in the middle and left, but generally the leaders were coming out of the right corner. There were large oscillations and pressure differences all day so the fleet was making a lot of changes in the middle fleets.

The preliminary results for the Qualifiers are:
Dave Peck                             4 Points
Bill Fastiggi                           5 Points
Steve Hayden                       5 Points
Phil Grotheer                         6 Points
Jack Elfman                           6 Points