D4, 2011 Holy Crap!!

Wow, the skies were certainly angry.  This was undoubtedly the most chaotic night of sailing yet this season.  What started off as a nice hot summer evening ended up in a race abandonment with the fleet desperately seeking shelter from a raging thunderstorm.   The first start for A fleet caused a general recall and things quickly got worse from there.  We dropped sails and just about headed back into the marina during the prestart but decided to stick it with the rest of the fleet.  The course was SCAXCF and would be a reaching course.  We totally missed the starting sequence and found ourselves at the back of the fleet on the line.  We had good speed and in between glances back watching for lightening we climbed up near top of the fleet in no time.  After several very close lightening strikes on the lake the RC finally abandoned the race.  Afterward I heard several stories from other boats of skippers feeling shocks through the wet tillers and even one who claimed to have seen an electrical spark when he let go of the tiller.  Everyone seemed to make it home in one piece and scramble madly to the club house to share death defying stories over a few of our favorite beverages.