2008 Catalina 22 "Chattanooga Challenge"
Region 3 Championship
Tennessee State Championship
The 2008 Chattanooga Challenge was held the weekend of April 18, 19, and 20. Fleet 95 was proud to host the Region 3 Championship in conjunction with the Challenge, which has also traditionally been the Tennessee State Championship. The regatta was open to all Catalina 22's, but the Region 3 championship was limited to boats who are members of Region 3 Fleets and the Tennessee Championship was limited to boats who are members of Tennessee Fleets. We invited Joe Waters to come in on Friday to supervise some practice starts and to conduct a seminar that evening. The wind was quite strong and puffy Friday afternoon, so most boats elected to preserve their sails and stay on shore Friday afternoon. The few boats that went out were treated to some one on one coaching from Joe. That evening Joe put on an excellent seminar that was enjoyed by everyone, beginning sailors and veterans alike. Fleet 95 sends out a sincere thanks to Joe for helping us out with this event.
We arrived Saturday morning to ideal sailing conditions. The winds were steady out of the Southwest at about 15, with some puffs approaching 20. The skies were partly cloudy with abundant sunshine. It was pleasantly cool, with highs in the upper 60's. After registration, we had a record turnout of 29 boats. Boats came in from Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, and Michigan. There were 16 boats in Gold Fleet and 13 in Silver. Our PRO Brainard Cooper set up a near perfect Windward/Leeward course. Dennis Slaton in Tar Baby led the 1st race from the start and would have won it, but got confused about the location of the finish line and ended up in 3rd behind Reid Collins in Chicken Ship and Bill Robertson in Blind Hog. Dennis had it together for the second race and won it going away, followed by Reid in 2nd and Tommy Smith in 3rd. The wind was a bit stronger for the 2nd race. Tom Clark and Rob Fowler on Duck Soup got hit with an unexpected puff and shift, backwinded the genoa and had a full knock down in their new Sport. However the strength of the boat prevailed and it came up high and dry and none the worse for the wear. Rob and Tom finished 6th in that race, but were just getting started. The 3rd race was won by Reid with Rob and Tom in 2nd and Dennis in 3rd. John Rathjen had his best finish in that race with a 4th. Saturday ended with Chicken Ship in 1st and Tar Baby in 2nd, with Duck Soup and Blind Hog tied for 3rd. In the Silver Fleet, Saturdays races were dominated by Matt Perry and Tom Prevost. Matt ended Saturday with a 1st and two 2nds, and Tom finished just behind with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Everyone was worn out and hungry after a hard day of sailing. We enjoyed a wonderful catered dinner by Events with Taste, a few malted beverages, and most people retired early to rest up for Sunday's racing.
Most people were happy to wake up Sunday to much lighter winds and more Sunshine. Brainard postponed, waiting for the wind to fill in. The wind finally showed up in time for us to complete one more race. It started out light out of the northwest. Reid and Dennis got off the line cleanly followed closely by Bill Robertson. Up at the windward mark, the wind got lighter and shifty. Dennis was able find the puffs followed by Bill and they were able to get around the windward mark cleanly. The rest of the fleet got bunched up in a group and struggled to get around the mark. The wind finally filled in a bit stronger and with a good lead already, Dennis finished the last race with a strong lead followed by Bill. Rob & Tom were in 3rd and Pete Page came in 4th. With the win in the last Race, Dennis had the Region 3 championship sewn up. With a 2nd, Bill broke the tie with Duck Soup to take 3rd in the Region and the Tennessee State Championship. In the Silver fleet, Tom wrapped up the win with a 1st in the last race, with Walt Jenison making a comeback for a 2nd. For Tom, the win was quite impressive since this was his first regatta and he had only sailed the boat a couple of times before entering the event. He will be a force to contend with in the future.
Fleet 95 would like to thank all of the out of town participants and would like to invite everyone back next year.