Harbor 20s at Hilton Head
Brian Wiersema
Great wind and good friends will always make the annual Harbor 20 East-West Challenge Regatta an unqualified success for Harbor 20 racers. On the weekend of October 25 through 27 this year, sailors from the two West Coast fleets (Newport Beach and Santa Barbara) ventured to the South Carolina Yacht Club on Hilton Head Island to compete against East Coast racers from Punta Gorda (Florida), Smith Mountain Lake (Virginia), Hilton Head, and Annapolis. The host fleet for the East-West Challenge is charged with supplying boats and a race committee as well as a full slate of social activities and Fleet 3 as usual did not disappoint. While the West Coast prevailed against the East this year, with strong current and short-legged courses being major factors, the social interactions and reunions of friends, new and old, from both coasts helped the medicine go down a bit easier.
AYC was represented by racing teams of Garth Hichens/Patrick Shannon, John Heintz/Brian Wiersema, and Walter Laird/Margaret Podlich, but the Annapolis delegation also included Sue Hichens, Mark Kiefaber, Heather Laird, Anne Lamoureux, and Lynn Ohman. Special thanks go to Garth Hichens and Harbor Fleet 5 member Robert Kehoe for towing their boats down to the regatta and allowing them to be used by others in order to have a full 8 vs. 8 boat competition.
Harbor 20 Class President and AYC member Patrick Shannon addressing East-West Competitors at the awards party held at the home of Domenico De Sole, chairman of Tom Ford International and Sotheby's and Fleet 3 Harbor 20 racer. AYC member John Heintz stands to the right of Shannon.
See more photos from the weekend on our Racing Photos page. |