Catalina 22 Nationals - Southwinds, August 2001

Southwinds - Local News for Southern Sailors - August 2001 Next Story

Families are the heart of the Catalina 22 Nationals
By Jim Baughman

"We have a lot of husband and wife crews in Catalina 22 racing," says Pam Slaton of Gainesville, GA. "It seems to me that families are the driving force —the heart— of Catalina 22 sailing competition."
     Pam and her husband Dennis have been sailing together for 10 years. In that time they've competed in most of the annual Catalina 22 Nationals. "We've placed in the top 10 several times," Pam said, "but we're still trying to win a first place."
     That was before results of the 2001 Catalina Nationals were finalized.
     "Actually, we each have a Catalina 22," Pam added. "Mine is named Cattitudes, and I skipper it with Dennis as crew in local and regional races."
     In national races Dennis skippers his boat, Tar Baby, with Pam sailing as crew. She is enthusiastic in portraying the satisfaction of sailing and competing together as a couple.
     It's not unusual, she admits, to hear the one serving as crew mutter... "Whaaaat? You're going to tack now...?"
     Pam Slaton is commodore of the Catalina 22 national association. At the opening meeting of the 2001 regatta, held in June in Fort Walton Beach, FL, she was reelected for a second two-year term heading the 1,150-member group. "We've got members from most of the 48 mainland states," Pam said.

Hal and Sally Smith, home-ported in Easley, SC, have been a dedicated and highly active family team in Catalina 22 racing for more than 20 years. Sailing their boat Nauti Love, they won the 1981 national championship. This year Hal and Sally made the long drive from South Carolina not to race but for Hal to serve as race manager for the 2001 nationals. They responded at the behest of T.B. "Beattie" Purcell, race committee chairman for Fort Walton Beach-headquartered Catalina 22 Fleet 77, which hosted the regatta.

     Hal Smith was highly enthusiastic in describing the Fort Walton Beach waters as a mecca for boating and racing. "The Fort Walton Yacht Club has one of the greatest locations for sailing in the southern United States," Hal said. It's a blessing local sailors have long enjoyed, one that is becoming far more widely known. In fact, the Corsair national regatta was held at FWYC just a month prior to the Catalina 22 Nationals.
     Shelter and access are the two great enablers. FWYC fills Smack Point, a snug peninsula facing the western end of the 30-mile length of Choctawhatchee Bay. The club's west side is tucked to leeward, with sheltered docking facilities for more than 100 boats. It is the most delightful of waterfront settings, a mile-wide stretch of protected water on Garniers Cove-providing lavish room for setting sail, mooring, and hurricane anchorage.
     A few moments sail around the end of Smack Point put the Catalina 22 sailors in the big waters of the bay, with the closest point of the race laps an easy 1-1Ž2 miles or so from club facilities.
     The courses, covering more than four miles and designed to challenge both windward and leeward sailing skills, were laid out in a stretch of Choctawhatchee Bay between Fort Walton Beach and Destin. Ocean winds from the Gulf of Mexico rush free, unfettered, over a low, narrow stretch of barrier sand dunes called Santa Rosa Island, making the west end of the bay an area gloriously endowed for racing.
     "During the 2001 Catalina national race week, though," said Hal Smith, "we were chastened with very light to moderate breezes, three to four knots in the morning, building to eight or 10 knots in the afternoon."
     Ten knots of wind was enough to make for a more exciting race, with the nimble, swing keel Catalina 22s heeled near rail down. Even with the light air, sailors were able to squeeze in extra races earlier in the week, changing Thursday to a free day with time to rest up for the annual social hour and awards banquet held that evening in the Fort Walton Yacht Club dining room and lounge.

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