(AKA: To finish in the top three, you had to have a Doyle on board!)
By Rex Moon, Fleet 61
Under beautiful sunny skies with brisk winds, 37 boats raced in the 2005 Lake George Open J/22 Regatta hosted by The Lake George Club in Diamond Point, NY. This year, the Open—sailed on September 24-25—was also the J/22 Northeast Championship.
Twenty-three boats from as far away as Rocky River, OH; Toronto, Canada; and Annapolis, MD joined the local fleet on Lake George for the largest fleet in the regatta’s 10-year history.
The winds blew out of the north on Friday as boats launched, and sailors hoped for continued strong breeze on Saturday despite predictions of light and variable winds. Fortunately and unsurprisingly the predictions were wrong, and Saturday proved to be a beautiful day with a nice 5-10 knot breeze that stayed with us until 3:00 p.m. A great day of racing right in front of the club (spectators love this venue) resulted in Adam Burns from Youngstown, NY (with Vic Snyder and Kevin Doyle) in first place with seven points, followed by Chris Doyle, (with Will Harris and Justin Hayes) also from Y’town in second place with 16 points.
Saturday night compounded the challenge with a dinner dance and party at The Lake George Club that lasted well into the early morning hours. Our visitors always like to visit all of the local “sights” when they are here, and Lake George has lots to choose from. One bleary-eyed sailor from Annapolis (no names will be mentioned) complained on Sunday morning that the bars in Lake George stayed open until 4:30 in the morning. Misunderstanding his complaint, the race chairman dressed down the club manager for closing the club’s bar too early.
Sunday dawned with a nice breeze for the fifth and final race. Adam Burns, Vic Snyder and Kevin Doyle finished first ending the regatta in first place with eight points. Rounding out the top five positions were Chris Doyle, Will Harris and Justin Hayes in second; Peter Doyle, Pat Whalen and Amy Renolds from Youngstown, NY in third; Cameron Smith, Luc D’Aoust and Brian MacLean from Toronto, Ontario in fourth; and Jim Barnash, Joe Tomassi and Jay Mueller from Rochester, NY in fifth. Best local boat honors went to Rik Alexanderson in 13th place.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served on the clubhouse terrace Saturday and Sunday, keeping the sailors well fed and in good spirits (lots of spirits on Saturday night) rounding out a great weekend enjoyed by all who attended. We hope to see everyone again next year for the 2006 Lake George Open Regatta and Northeast Championship. Mark your calendars for September 23-24, 2006!
