by Joe Spencer

HUNTERSVILLE – Lake Norman was full of some of the country’s best amateur sailors helming Ultimate 20’s and Flying Scots taking part last week in the prestigious Mallory Cup and Adams Cup National Sailing Championships.

The three-person teams – 11 men’s groups in the Ultimate 20’s boats and 10 women’s teams in Flying Scout – were determined by elimination events leading up to Oct. 6-9 championships hosted by the Lake Norman Yacht Club.

The club even loaned its Ultimate 20’s for the event, while the Flying Scot boat builder supplied 10 new boats to the regatta for the events, boosting the fleet to more than 50 boats.

Competitors came in from as far away as Hawaii, while six teams hailed from locally in the southeastern division of the sailing competition. And though fickle winds looked like they might have put a damper on the week’s events, steady 5 to 10 knot breezes rushed in Friday afternoon to help get all 11 races wrapped up by Sunday afternoon. It was pleasant news for the event’s host, which was picked over big-name venues like Miami or San Francisco.

Lake Norman Yacht Club was picked “because of its reputation for excellent race management,” said Don Smith, co-chair of the regatta. It’s a management Smith said was demonstrated all weekend on the lake.

“About 50 volunteers … helped with the regatta,” Smith said. That’s out of a 200-person membership. Meanwhile, the race committee consisted of 22 club members manning the race committee boat, safety boat, press boat and switch boats that rotated racers between boats after each race to eliminate any boat’s advantage.

“This talented group of sailors from all over the U. S. will take back fond memories of this event,” Smith said. “Lake Norman and the surrounding area will become better known among sailors across the country.”

The club celebrated its 50th anniversary in April, having been created prior to the lake even existing. The club’s new Parker 25, named after its first commodore, J.S. Livingstone, was race committee boat.

Regatta results for Men’s

and Women’s Teams were as follows:

First place went to David M. Hyer, David A. Hyer and Gregory Schneller sailing out of Babylon Yacht Club (N.Y.); Second place to Pat Toole, Dale Turley and George Witter sailing out of Santa Barbara Yacht Club (Calif.). and third place to Charles Quigley, Jason Maher and Deidra Colcord sailing out of Boston Yacht Club (Mass.).

First place went to Amy Kleinschrodt, Sara Hall and Kara Kimbrell sailing out of Buccaneer Yacht Club (Ala.); second place to Clematis Everett, Carolyn Russell and Susan Doyle sailing out of American Yacht Club (N.Y.) and third place to Heather Rowe-Ambrose, Christina Bronger and Susy Coburn sailing out of Malletts Bay Boat Club (Vt.).

The team of Edie Sullivan / Carol Claypool / Chris Kicinski representing Lake Norman Yacht Club finished sixth.

About the races

The Mallory Cup and Adams Cup events featured Ultimate 20’s and Flying Scots, but if you don’t fancy yourself a sailing aficionado, those words might be foreign to you. A Flying Scot is the most active fleet on Lake Norman. Meanwhile, the Ultimate 20 is a very fast, modern, open transom boat with a retractable, ballasted centerboard.

The Mallory Cup, the men’s championship, was established in 1952 and has produced such world sailing notables as Buddy Melges, John Kolius and Dave Ullman. The Adams Cup has been held every year except 1942 to 1945 during World War II.