An interview with Pat Phelan on the Dixie District Championship

It's fair to say that yacht designer Olin Stephens, of the acclaimed offices of Sparkman & Stephens, did many, many things right. One of these things was penning a linesplan for a 19-foot centerboard dinghy, which he drew in 1938. The Lightning was launched soon thereafter, and it quickly became one of the greatest, and most enduring, One Design classes of all time. A number of builders have crafted the boat since its creation—first out of wood, then, years later, fiberglass—and more than 15,500 boats have been built to Mr. Stephens' design.

If this sounds like a recipe for great racing, you're on the right tack.

Take, for example, this year's Dixie District Championship, which is being organized by Lightning Fleet 192 and hosted by Havre de Grace Yacht Club, in Havre De Grace, Maryland from June 24 to 25.

I checked in with Pat Phelan, regatta chair, via email, to learn more about this exciting Lightning class regatta.

Can you please tell us a bit about the Dixie District Championship and its history and culture?

I put the history question to an elder sailing stateman, one who's name shows up many times on District trophies in the past. This was his response (unedited):

A Selected History of the Dixie District Championship Regatta

[By] Joe Friebele, Lightning 15425

The first mention of the Dixie District in the International Lightning Class Association yearbooks is in 1949, and the first District Championship was held that [same] year. At the time, the District encompassed Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Delaware, although there were only fleets in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. Fleet 50 is the only surviving fleet from that time.

The four-race 1951 Championship is the first one fully described in the yearbooks, and it showed that Potomac River sailing has changed little in 72 years since there were lengthy postponements because of lack of wind, a 180 degrees wind shift, and a thunderstorm delay. Nevertheless, the championship was always hotly contested since it was a qualifier for the North American Championship.

The format for the District Championship regatta in 1973, which was the first one in which I sailed, was two long, seven-leg races each on Saturday and Sunday and one race on Monday; the course was twice around an equilateral triangle with a weather finish. Needless to say, there was always excitement at the gybe mark, especially in heavy air.

The regatta traveled among fleets, with the prior year's champion earning the right to host the next year's regatta. The District was quite active with a large number of fleets: Washington (50); Indiana River (72); North East River (192, now Havre de Grace); Susquehanna (253); Sassafras River (314); Rehoboth (325); Severn River (329); Marine Corps D & E Command (Quantico, 354); Smith Mountain Lake (377); Hampton Roads (426). However, the Championships were dominated by Dr. Don Delorme, Bill Buckley, Jim Crane and [myself] (Fleet 329), and Jeff Hastings and Fred Mertes (325), so most of the Championship regattas were sailed either out of Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay or on Rehobeth Bay. At the time, the afternoon sea breeze was predictable in both venues; the first race would be sailed in a dying northerly followed by 30-60-minute lull and a southerly sea breeze building to 15-18 knots.

On occasion, the shift from northerly to southerly would occur during the first race, causing an inversion of the fleet. There's nothing quite like sailing on a beat up a weather leg in light air and seeing the fleet roaring up behind you in new wind with their spinnakers up.

The District Championship now travels among all the clubs in the District, providing a wide range of sailing conditions. One of the most memorable [regattas] was hosted by Susquehanna about 20 years ago. The fleet sailed the first weather leg in good fashion, but the wind died when we started on the second, downwind leg. As we sat in the doldrums, several boats went screaming by us. We soon figured out that they had anchored and we were being swept down river because of a release from the Conowingo Dam.

The wind was too light to sail against the current on any of the three days, but the parties were excellent. [And,] because no races were sailed, those who wanted were allowed to go to the NAs without having to qualify!

What kind of entry numbers are you seeing this year?

I generally expect we will be seeing 12-15 boats participating this year.

Weather-wise, what kind conditions can sailors expect to encounter off on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Susquehanna River in late June? What are the best-case and worst-case weather scenarios?

The weather for mid-late June can generally be 6-12 knots with our predominant breeze coming from the south/southeast, particularly as the day progresses. We will occasionally have a breeze from the west and northwest, which can produce some interesting shifts and fluctuations in velocity.

Do you see local knowledge playing a big or small role in the regatta's outcome? Can you please explain?

Local knowledge has only minimal advantage mainly since the course is situated such that there are fewer shifts due to geography.

We can have stiff current when there has been rains in New York and Pennsylvania, and this can be significant for racers when the winds are light.

If you could offer one piece of advice to visiting (and local) sailors, what would it be?

My advice for sailors is to make room reservations early since Havre de Grace can be busy on weekends since it's a quaint, touristy town.

Do you have any entries that you're eyeing for podium finishes? What about any dark horses who you think could prove to be fast, once the starting guns begin sounding?

Every District Championship, there seems to be a dark horse [who] sails well but we often don't know them since they haven't sailed in the District much.

An example is when boats from the Central Atlantic District show up. They are good sailors and generally unknown to many in our District. This year that won't likely happen since their District Championships are on the same weekend.

Can you tell us about any efforts that you and the other regatta organizers have made to try to lower the regatta's environmental footprint or otherwise green-up the regatta?

We as Lightning sailors have been pretty good stewards on the water in my experience. I would like to see single-use plastics be banned from competitions, and I no longer buy cases of water for participants but rather provide a large container of water folks can use to fill up their water bottle.

Our course is a short way from our marina [where] we launch from so our fuel usage doesn't tend to be much.

Is there anything else that you'd like to add, for the record?

I think our venue has lots to offer for sailors and their families for the weekend. There are nice restaurants and lots of shops for families, and our race committee does a professional job on the water.