DIXIE REGATTA 2017 Dixie Sweeps the South Seas! By Nancy Molitor (3798) ALOHA....and another Dixie down! Once again, Atlanta Yacht Club’s Fleet 48 managed to lure sixty boats and their attendant mischief-makers to the little-known tropical paradise of Loko Allatoona over Memorial Day Weekend for this year’s *South Seas Dixie,* bribing them with promises of super sailing against the best in the Southern Hemisphere (and oh, BTW. . . a party weekend like no other)! Big Kahuna Gavin McCormack must have paid off the wind gods, as despite the uniquely Allatoona shifts, the breeze was nearly Thistle-perfect for all three races. The racing format was changed back this year to four sub-fleets of fifteen boats, rotating each race so that all competitors sailed against everyone else at least once. With its duplicate scores, this system always creates an interesting scoreboard (especially on Saturday night, when the first nine places read 2-3-4-5-7-7-10-10-10 points!), leaving much neck-and-neck competition to be resolved on Sunday morning. But there was no disputing Brad Russell’s two firsts Saturday, and even with a fourth in Sunday’s race he managed to hang on to his trophy of the last two years that some are beginning to call the “Brad Perpetual.” Extra kudos to Brad’s dad Andy Russell, who came THIS CLOSE! to chasing his son around the race course and in the process earned this year’s Fastest Over 60 trophy; and special credit to Gavin McCormack for sailing like a winner even if the numbers didn’t show it. There were a number of competitors for the coveted Potted Thistle, including Alex Padgett, who received a dashboard power hula girl for his efforts but could not trump the true winner, Dan Russell’s crew Adrianne Grand. Keep up the good work, all of you! Overall, the South Seas Dixie was a win-win for all. Photos can be viewed at https://goo.gl/photos/oN8zb4tq3b5cZdq37 and https://southseasdixie2017.shutterfly.com/4. Look for complete details in the next Bagpipe. |
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