2008 U20 East Coast Championships - Lake Norman, North Carolina!

Well, another great regatta at Lake Norman Yacht Club has come and gone. 24 Ultimate 20's from as far as Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, Canada as well as a charter boat filled with Californian's.

Friday was a setup and practice day, as U20's flocked in all day long. Winds were light in the morning and temperatures were a pleasant 78 degrees. At least 15 U20's got to go out and practice a little in the afternoon prior to the evenings annual tailgate party. Steve Rose brought his Goombay Smash custom mixing machine to make 5 gallons of Goombay Smash's at a shot. Gregg Henning and Steve served up the tasty beverage as a spread of wonderful food was put out to enjoy as well. All present were well served!

Saturday brought beautiful winds slowly building through the day. The first race showed that the standard past champions were all back in the hunt with Brad Boston's, Honour, Eric Vigrass's,Turetz and Marriott/McGrath's Zulu, rounding out the top three finishes.

The winds continued to build and in the second race, Eric and Brad continued to battle it out for the first two top spots Jerry Lane's, Fast Lane found the third place position.

For the third and final race of the day Mark Dobie's, Zipper entered the top three finishing third behind none other than Eric and Brad.

After the first day of racing, Eric Vigrass and crew stood in first with 4 points, Brad Boston and crew with 5 and Mark Dobie and crew with 11.

The evenings festivities consisted of a gathering at a local restaurant named Fat Boys.... plenty of food, drink and stories were enjoyed by all as a sailing slide show of was displayed in the background.

Sunday brought for a chilly start to the day with light winds and temperatures in the upper 30's. The fourth race in the series went off without a hitch. Brad and crew came from behind to pull out another first place with the Marriott/McGrath team in second, and Peter Juryn's, Tactic in third.

The final race was a little more difficult to get started as the winds were constanly shifting and were light, variable and spotty. The race committee did everyting to get a race started and managed to squeek in on 2 leg race to finish up with 5 races overall.

Brad Boston and crew finished off in style with another first, followed by Eric Vigrass and Don Corey's, Fore rounding out the top three.

Final results are below! Click here for a Photogallery! Or Ride along with Goombay Smash!

Story and Photos by Gregg Henning