Special Olympics Sailing 2006

by Joe Warren
July 30,2006

Fleet 50 again participated in the Virginia group of the Special Olympics.  Frank Gallagher and I offered our boats and skills and newcomer Norm Kruse used Drew Hudson's boat.  Five athletes sailed with us.  J.D. Tressler and Katie Ward sailed regularly with me.  J.D is a level II athlete--qualified to handle the tiller one-half of the time. Katie is level I -- jib only.  Joseth Rashid,  James Saxby and another athlete sailed with Frank and Norm on different days.  Each boat had a safety officer.  Norm just seemed to come out of nowhere to help.  But, he's no stranger to fleet 50--he was a member in the EARLY1960's and remembers Doc Gilbert well.  Back then 38 Lightnings attended the President's cup one year.

Sailing started on June 12.  It was cancelled the next two weeks due to thunderstorms and the flooding Potomac (and debris in the cove), but we sailed the next three Mondays.  Light air prevailed each day.  The end-of-season regatta on July 22 was a completely different story--winds of 11-17 kts from the SW which made for long legs.  On Mondays we usually sailed a triangular course and tried to get three races in.  Racing at times was extremely close.  On the last Monday,  Norm's team beat us by 2-3 feet in one race; we beat his team by one-half boat length in another.  The previous Monday Frank beat us at the finish by going inside of us at the leeward mark.  We had other close roundings where rules came into play.

Basic international race rules apply, so there was much to discuss on
the boats.  Long time skippers forget just how much there is to think about when racing.  I'm glad we had light air on those Mondays to try to explain the basics of rules and strategy.  On Saturday, the 22nd, my goal and Norm's too, was to avoid capsizing--safety first.  We had the strongest winds in the 3 years I've participated in the program.  Katie and J.D. were seriously challenged by winds that suddenly gusted and shifted in the cove.  At the end of morning racing  Joe's and Norm's teams were tied in points so out we went for a final race after lunch. In this race we sailed an Olympic course.

Katie screamed as we heeled over at 20-30 degrees.  But she got used to it; in fact both J.D. and Katie got to see what handling a boat in strong winds is like--and how vital it is to uncleat the jib when we tack around.  I had the backstay on, traveler off, vang on, and mainsheet out and we still had our hands full.  Norm's boat next to us was surfing!  He successfully did the gibe at the leeward mark; I did a
tack around.  Both of us got stuck in the mud briefly after rounding the
mark, but I got lucky with a wind shift and lift that carried us on starboard tack to the finish line first.  We got back to the marina just before wind gusts picked up to 20 kts.  Big white caps on the river Several athletes sailing on Hobies opted not to go out after lunch but
all the Lightning special athletes did go out.

What a way to finish the Special Olympics this year!   The best part is
watching the reaction of the athletes--their excitement was plainly visible.  They will remember the 2006 regatta.