September 15th, 2015
Weta racers came from Florida, Georgia and the eastern part of North Carolina for a fun filled weekend at Lake Norman Yacht Club. Four legged companion, “Ozzie” arrived in an RV with one sailor on the beginning of their journey to final destination, Duck NC at the Outer Banks.
Saturday morning the rain lightly fell upon us as we looked across the perfectly flat lake. The conditions were more favorable for slalom water skiers than sailors. As the rigging was completed, Stephanie helped launch the Weta’s and secure them to the dock. First off was John Adams, moving so slow that a fishing boat with a 1.2hp trolling motor almost ran over him. After seeing this, Knox Rodgers decided to get a near running start, pulling his boat quickly up to the end of the dock determined to pass up John. What a race off the dock! Stephanie held onto Bob Patterson’s shroud while he was putting his boards down. With camera in one hand and doing a balancing act, she almost fell into the drink as the first puff of wind hit. Off went Bob, quickly catching up with the other guys.
The rest of the fleet including Hobie 16’s and Nacra 20’s were slow to get rigged and out to the course. Weta’s ruled the second start against the H16’s. Later in the afternoon, the wind picked up a little on the highly overcast, humid day and enabled four races to be completed. Four bullets for John Adams as he geared up for Weta Nationals in Duck NC. Day two began with a crisp, clear blue sky with much higher winds to finish up the last three races of the weekend. This was more representative of conditions that Weta’s and those aboard absolutely love! John kept the lead and his first place finish in the fleet.
Whatever the conditions may be, Knox Rodgers said, “It’s now or never! Let’s go sailing!”
By Stephalicious
