James Howard and the crew on Classic put it all together to take first place at the Columbia Sailing Club's 29th annual Easter Regatta. This was Classic's 9th Easter Regatta and this one proved to be the magical one as the team put together a first, two seconds and a sixth to take first place silver. Comare, co-skippered by Gerard Grande and Paul Scalisi put on a great performace and was actually leading going into the last race, but a disasterous 14th gave Classic the window it needed. Graffitti, skippered by Pat Huntley finished third overall. Gray Fox, with Tom Waters at the helm, was the top Fleet 67 finisher with a fourth overall. Thirty six boats made it to the race making the Easter Regatta the largest J/24 event in the Southeast outside of the Mid Winters.

The regatta got off to a great start with the traditional Whiskey Sour Hour on Thursday night and the team from Comare won the cocktail party, regaling folks with tales from Staten Island while consuming multiple whiskey sours. The actual regatta started on Friday, which started out to be a beautiful day to sail, but which later turned out to be just a beautiful day. A healthy 10 knot breeze fizzled from the start to almost nothing at the end of the race. Comare and Classic battled it out, with Comare taking the win. After it was apparent that no further racing was forthcoming, the race committee abandoned and sent the competitors into battle with the beer wagon. The decision was hailed as one of the best of the weekend as the racers enjoyed a classic Carolina spring afternoon sipping beer and listening to the acoustic sounds of Booger and the Blowhards.

A front moved through South Carolina on Saturday bring with it the hope of steady breeze, but the first race was again a light air affair. Classic showed their mettle however, and nudged out Shockwave for first place. Comare stayed in the hunt with a third. The wind piped up to 10 knots for the second race which was won by Instant Karma with Josh Kerst at the helm. Comare again sailed magnificently to take a second followed by Tasmanian Devil, helmed by Steve Wood, a former Easter Regatta champion and long time attendee.

Sunday brought five to ten knots, but a major left shift which brought Comare to its knees. During the sequence, the wind began backing and most of the fleet opted for a pin start. Comare, dug in a bit further left than most, but the wind continued the left shift, causing them to overstand the first weather mark. Buried deep in the fleet, the Staten Islanders managed to dig their way back to 14th, but Classic showed no mercy and finished with a second to take the top honors.

If the racing was good, the party and food was better. Dinner Friday night was a traditional South Carolina favorite, Beaufort Stew, which for those not intimate with the vocabulary of Carolina cuisine, is shrimp, sausage and corn. The annual Saturday night Bar B Que dinner was again excellent as was the cold beer all week end long. The Columbia Sailing Club takes great pride in hosting the Easter Regatta and thanks all competitors for attending. Thinking ahead to next year, sailors going to the Midwinters may want to consider dropping their boats off at CSC on the return trip - it saves gas and towing through the snow!

RACE #1 1.  Gerard Grande - Comare - Staten Island, NY  (Sail #1534)
        2.  James Howard - Classic - Duluth, GA  (Sail #3004)
        3.  Pat Huntley - Graffiti - Edinboro, PA  (Sail #4198)

RACE #2 1.  James Howard - Classic - Duluth, GA  (Sail #3004)
        2.  Moise Solomon - Shockwave - Noank, CT  (Sail #4112) 
        3.  Gerard Grande - Comare - Staten Island, NY  (Sail #1534)

RACE #3 1.  Josh Kerst - Instant Karma - Ann Arbor, MI  (Sail #4909) 
        2.  Gerard Grande - Comare - Staten Island, NY  (Sail #1534) 
        3.  Steve Wood - Tasmanian Devil - West Kingstown, RI (Sail #3969) 

RACE #4 1.  Bob Silverman - Airborne - New York, NY (Sail #2113) 
        2.  James Howard - Classic - Duluth, GA  (Sail #3004) 
        3.  Moise Solomon - Shockwave - Noank, CT  (Sail #4112)

OVERALL RESULTS (top ten)
    1.  James Howard - Classic - Duluth, GA - 10.75 points 
    2.  Gerard Grande - Comare - Staten Island, NY - 19.75 points 
    3.  Pat Huntley - Graffiti - Edinboro, PA - 22.00 points 
    4.  Tom Waters - Gray Fox - Orangeburg, SC - 26.00 points 
    5.  Josh Kerst - Instant Karma - Ann Arbor, MI - 26.75  
    6.  Ken Gray - Stirred, Not Shaken - Grand Rapids, MI - 34.00 points 
    7.  Bengt Johansson - Anna - Allentown, PA - 52.00 points 
    8.  Margaret Podlich - Harold - Annapolis, MD - 54.00 
    9.  Moise Solomon - Shockwave - Noank, CT - 55.00 points 
    10. Roger Coutu - Stealth - Warwick, RI - 58.00 points