Georgia Sailing:
Second annual Lanier Cup is top-notch -- AISC takes home bragging rights

By Susan Mason

If the Lanier Cup is "Atlanta's battle of the sailing clubs," then the Atlanta Inland Sailing Club (AISC) is 1998's king of the skirmish. The November 21 event was marked by blue skies but light winds, which allowed only one race to be squeezed in.
        The AISC team--composed of skippers Scott Tylor, Doug Meyhoefer, Greg Cash, and Phil Lindsey (and crews, of course)--grabbed a first and a third in the spinnaker division and a third and fifth place in the non-spinnaker division to take top club honors overall.
        "Everyone wishes we had gotten in another race," explained Cash, "but the one race was long enough. We got a little bit of everything, with 360-degree wind shifts. It was the kind of race where a lot of luck and some local knowledge helped us win."
        Team member Tylor echoes the sentiment. "We wished there was more wind so the whole thing wouldn't have rested on one race with light and fluky air. But our team was hot, and we did everything well."
        The format of the invitation-only Lanier Cup pits two spinnaker and two non-spinnaker boats from each sailing club against the rival clubs on the north Georgia lake. Each club offers up their best crew, and the winners have bragging rights on the lake for the year. To make things more interesting, a number of racers have dual club affiliations. Greg Cash, who raced this year for AISC, competed in last year's Lanier Cup for the Southern Sailing Club.
        Hosted by the University Yacht Club and spearheaded by regatta chairman and founder O.J. Reiss, the Lanier Cup had some added excitement this year. Phil Eastman of Southern Yachtsman gave the top spinnaker and non-spinnaker division skippers a chance to win a $150,000 credit

towards the purchase of a new C & C or Tartan yacht. Winning non-spinnaker skipper Rob Whitley and spinnaker winner Scott Tylor got to test their luck in the special drawing at the awards ceremony. A sailbag was stuffed with 200 envelopes, 199 of which contained a token for a free GPS, and one of which contained the winning $150,000 credit.
        "We dipped our hands in the bag and hoped for the best," Tylor said, but neither skipper managed to snag the winning envelope.
        The parties before and after the race were simply top drawer...upscale...first class--however you choose to say it. "It's all very civilized, very grown-up," explained Reiss with a smile. "We want the Lanier Cup to be both a very big regatta and a great social event." A Friday night cocktail party was held for skippers and club commodores, while the Saturday party hosted some 220 people. In startling contrast to the usual post-regatta keg party, the Lanier Cup dinner featured a delightful full dinner complete with champagne toasts
        Thanks to the fine reputation the event gained in its first year, the Lanier Cup almost doubled in size in one year. Twenty boats and five clubs participated in 1997 while this year 36 boats from nine clubs took to the starting line. Participating clubs included the Atlanta Athletic Club, the Atlanta Inland Sailing Club, the Barefoot Sailing Club, Catalina 22 Fleet 58, J/24 Fleet 115, the Hunter Sailing Association, the Lake Lanier Sailing Club, the Southern Sailing Club, and the University Yacht Club. In addition to its major sponsor Southern Yachtsman, the Lanier Cup benefited from the patronage of Doyle Sailmakers, Henri-Lloyd, and Ocean Navigator.

Lanier Cup Lake Lanier, GA Nov. 21 (4 NM)

Spinnaker
1. AISC/S Tylor 1:06:36;
2. BFSC/J Collins 1:08:03;
3. AISC/D Meyhoefer 1:08:35;
4. J-24/J McCullough 1:08:53;
5. LLSC/S Reddaway 1:10:05;
6. J-24/D Jackson 1:10:20;
7. SSC/S Sohn 1:11:24;
8. SSC/R Davis 1:13:42;
9. AAC/G Berlin 1:18:28;
10. BFSC/A Shedd 1:21:01;
11. LLSC/H Gilreath 1:21:37;
12. Cat 22/G Sapp 1:24:20;
13. Cat 22/K Dasher 1:24:51;
14. HSA/G Mariande 1:29:16;
15. UYC/T Ellis 1:31:46;
16. HSA/D Kingery 1:35:15

Non-Spinnaker
1. J-24/R Whitley 1:09:59;
2. BFSC/C Webster 1:19:20;
3. AISC/G Cash 1:22:28;
4. SSC/H Sohn 1:24:02;
5. AISC/P Lindsey 1:25:14;
6. BFSC/K Schurenberg 1:25:21;
7. J-24/D Fesenmeyer 1:26:07;
8. LLSC/S Henderson 1:28:56;
9. UYC/D Cooper 1:29:18;
10. SSC/S Twite 1:30:56;
11. LLSC/C Zeman 1:32:10;
12. Cat 22/D Slaton 1:32:10;
13. Cat 22/T McGee 1:36:03;
14. HSA/C Seely 1:43:38

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