I was looking at the forecast earlier in the week and couldn’t help but notice the Halloween Regatta weekend sandwiched there between two storm systems. Certainly we could use the rain, but to my thinking two back-to-back storms were likely to bring good sailing conditions for our annual Halloween event. And indeed it did! Cool nights, warm, but not hot, clear blue skies and sunny days all coupled with nice, full, moderate breezes each day. In other words, exactly what fall sailing at OSYC is supposed to be like. Saturday came with the breeze from the NW blowing straight down the lake giving us a nice long course. Nine boats, including Bill Lewis in his new Merit 22 and Bill Shaw in his new San Juan 23, did two 2-laps WL courses, one at winds 8-12 and the other a bit more. The Bolinger family and friends pulled off a flawless race committee, and [took the photos to prove it->http://picasaweb.google.com/jharrell26/20071020OSYCHalloweenRegatta2007]. Despite the length, each race was only about an hour long and we hit the dock before 4pm so master chef Ken Griffin could light the grill. With boats put away, the clubhouse became the center of attention. Grayson was directing the decorations and set up of the sale, while Ken and the Goodie Gallery whipped up the food. By the time it was over, if anyone went away hungry, it was their own fault. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was some of the very best sailing club food you can find anywhere, and far-far better than most. After dinner there was the requisite costume contest highlighted by an awesome headless Dexter and followed by the drawing of raffle tickets on the porch. Some how this year I managed to come home without any huge items, but I did end up with a lawn alligator. Hey at least it doesn’t take up any room in the garage. (And Ken definitely owes me a favor for not donating tickets to his daughter for the sewing machine.) Sunday morning dawned cool, blue, sunny and windy again. Once again a beautiful day for sailing. Somehow overnight the wind had turned 180 degrees and was now blowing straight down the lake in the opposite direction, once again giving us a long wide-open WL course. The MacMillans gave us 3 laps for the first race in a bit over 12 mph wind and 2 laps for the second in what turned out to be a bit less wind. The races were hard fought and in the end only a few second separated 1st and 2nd for the weekend. The Harrells took 1st, the Griffins took 2nd and Calvin Smith sailing solo took 3rd. In 4th we had Bill Shaw and Bob Horan tied, followed by Michael Dortch, Bill Lewis, Greg Phillips and the Davis rounding out the fleet. As it was with the food, so it was also with the sailing. If you didn’t get enough sailing this weekend, you have only yourself to blame. As if to make up for less than decent weather for most of this year, the lake served up it’s very best and we were there to enjoy it. But wait, there’s more! Check the 2007 schedule and watch this page – we still have the rest of the Fall Series and the Fall Membership meeting before we pack things away for the holiday…