Oklahoma, Kansas or Arkansas Fleets????

[capnron209]

I have just purchased my 1985 14.2 #701, and would like to see if there are any sailors in the OK, KS or AR area interested in forming a fleet. If so, please contact me.

Ron Carter
Broken Arrow, OK
[email protected]
(918) 258-6681 office

 

[MajorH]

Is 424 miles too far? There is a sailing club currently of a dozen or so small boats - 12 to 16 feet - reforming at Lake Sweetwater (700 acres), Sweetwater, Texas. The club used to be larger but it went idle for three or four years due to a nine year drought that almost totally dried the lake up. The lake refilled in August 2007 thanks to Tropical Storm Erin. This summer (2008) we had informal monthly regattas and expect to do the same in the summer of 2009. The club races as a mixed fleet with handicaps but there are two mid 80s Capri 14.2s in the group - one was rescued from a chicken coup and the other from a mesquite thicket .

This is a "mostly for fun and a great lunch" group. Wives and kids are usually present. The lunch is important as it is not unusual for there to be too little or more often way too much wind on the lake on race day.

There is no clubhouse. The regattas are hosted by members who have cabins or houses on the lake. Sweetwater is a small town but there are national chain motels five miles from the Lake and an underutilized public campground at the lake with water and electricity RV/camping sites in a modest park just below the dam. There are also a dozen or so RV/camping spots with water and electricity adjacent to the lake bait store that are right on the water. This is a folksy, hard scrabble, small town environment so don't expect big city frills beyond what the local 24 hour Wal-Mart can provide. This is also a case of a lake where there ought not be any water at all so you won't find the lush greenery of Oklahoma. We don't have forests, we have patches of mesquite and cedar.

We will be building a web site over the winter to publicize the group and other lake activities. If interested, you might check www.lakesweetwater.com every month or so until the web site appears.

The 4th of July holiday is a hoot in Sweetwater, especially when it falls on a weekend.

 

[capnron209]

Summer Regattas

Major H, keep me on your distribution list. I might be interested in drving down for one of your regattas. Like you, I am not a serious racer, but I would like to see how my sailing skills are against other 14.2's. Thanks.