1980 US NATIONALS
    by Peter & Barbara Wells

The Rush Creek Yacht Club provided an expertly organized and run National Championship regatta. Unfortunately the turnout was only 12 boats, partly due to the Olympic fiasco and partly due to concerns about the heat wave. The heat was no problem due to the low humidity. Temperatures of over 100F felt more like 80 to 85F in more humid areas.

Frank Levinson, sailing with a local crew, was consistently fast and made few mistakes to take the regatta and become our new National Champion.

The winds ranged from about 6 to 15, with occasional gusts up to 20, and shifts enough to keep everyone on their toes. The lake was large enough for full Olympic courses and surrounded by flat land. Apparently the shiftiness was caused by thermals rising around the lake in the cloudless skies. Most of the sailors found that it payed to go to one side of the course or the other. Playing the shifts up the middle seldom payed off.. As to which side to play, well, that varied from race to race and even leg to leg. Even with the small fleet, a good start with clear air paid off. Boats were often very close at the finish, in the third race, for example, 3rd through 6th place crossed the line within 15 seconds of each other.

Tom Gates also sailing with a substitute crew, was only a little less consistent than Frank Levinson. His most spectacular feat was recovering from a long capsize in the second race, caused by one of the wind shifts, and then choosing the right side of the course on the last windward beat to take third.

Barbara and Peter Wells were just a little slower than Frank and Tom when the wind was up, but put it all together in the lighter 4th race, leading most of the way for a first and taking third overall. Chet Hight and Tim Fitzgerald in 4th showed flashes of speed, and Gene Scott and Gary Masters in 5th with their blue PlasTrend were often challenging the leaders. Dusty and Fred Oess won a hard fought battle for the Carling trophy over John Seeboth and Kevin McCarthy.

The hospitality and facilities of the host club, including a steak and champagne dinner, and some lovely trophies made by Mitch Jeffrey's father, made the regatta a pleasant and memorable occasion for all of the participants.

1980  U S F D National CHAMPIONSHIP      Boat    Skipper/crew                    RESULTS                   Points   1  US  259 Frank Levenson/Steve Calder     1   1   2   5   2   1   S   16.0              Clearwater FL   2  US  184 Tom Gates/ Jeff Grinnan         6   3   1   4   1   2   1   16.7              Palos Verdes Estates, CA   3  US 1406 Peter Wells/Barbara Wells       4   5   5   1   3   3   4   37.4              Rindge, NH   4  US 1392 Chet Hight/Tim Fitzgerald       2   4   7   2   9   7   2   43.0              Little Rock, Ark.   5  US 1110 Gene scott/Gary Masters         3   7   4   3   6   6   6   54.5              Houston, TX   6  US 1410 Alston Boyd/Hal Brown           9   2   3   8   4   8   5   54.7              Austin, TX   7  US  124 Fred Oess/Dusty Oess            5   6   9   7   5   4   Q   67.7/Cl              Rockford, IL   8  US   74 John Seeboth/Kevin McCarty      7   9   6   9   7   5   3   68.4/C2              Seal Beach, CA   9  US 1387 Doug Halbert/Cidric Willams     Q   8   8   6  10   9   7   83.7/C3              Little Rock, Ark.  10  US 1333 Cherochee Dalehite/Paul Landry 10  11  10  10   8  11   8   93.0/C4              Houston, TX  11  US 1135 Laura Hutchins/Jim Pataky       8  10  11  11  11  10   9   95.0/C5              Little Rock, Ark.  12  US  102 Bill Bernard/David Wells       11  12   S  12  12  12  10  105.0/C6              Jaffrey, NH