The 12-meter class of the 70s and 80s had Dennis Conner; the current ACC class has Russell Coutts; and now the EC-12 class has Reichard Kahle. The 2004 Champions Regatta in Charleston, SC was to be a test of the best skippers in the class on the East Coast. What it turned out to be was an in-your-face romp by one man. Kahle dominated the fleet like few have ever done. He scored 14 firsts out of 22 heats sailed. Actually, he scored 15 bullets if you count the heat that was voided due to a race committee error. Except for a last place finish when his rig broke, Kahle never finished below fourth. And starting with the seventh heat, he posted 12 firsts and 3 seconds. His nearest competitor finished almost 60 points astern of him, and that was the defending champ, Danny Thomas.

Saturday morning winds were out of the northeast and blowing between 5 and 10 knots. This favored the southeast shore of the lake at James Island County Park. Mark Rinehart set up a perfect windward/leeward course with offset marks to keep some separation between the boats as they rounded the course. The course was very long and followed close to the shore. Three windward and two leeward legs were sailed for each heat. All sixteen boats sailed together and three heats were run followed by a short break before racing would continue.

As the cool of the morning gave way to the sun's warmth, the wind began to clock around to the East. Rinehart made an adjustment to the course, which made the course look like a chevron. This allowed for more tacking to windward and kept the heats from becoming a drag race to the mark. After six heats, Kahle and Thomas were separated by just one point and the regatta was shaping up to be a battle between these two talented skippers.

There were 14 other very talented skippers on the water as well and some very close racing was going on all over the course. David Brawner posted the first bullet and sailed consistently for most of the day. Rick Gerry was in the hunt as were John Bottensek, Jarl Wathne, and Al Sellers. Some others struggled a bit in the shifty conditions at the upper part of the course, but there was still a lot of sailing to be done and it was anybody's race.

Dick Gerry was in charge of feeding the troops and came through with KFC boxed lunches for everyone. As the skippers and race committee ate their fried chicken under the shade of the palms that circled the lake, the wind continued to clock around until it had settled in from the southeast. Mark Rinehart moved the marks to the northeast shore of the lake and sailing continued with a very steady wind blowing straight down the course.

The steady winds took a lot of the luck out of the equation and skippers could now focus on tactics and skill. Rick West, Carter Cain, Bill Gale, and Gerry Cobley rebounded from their earlier struggles and posted some good finishes in the second half of the day. Newcomers Harry Strunk and Rick Hawley also demonstrated some quality sailing and gave us a peek at whom we will need to keep an eye on this season. But the real story was Reichard Kahle. If Wheaties is the breakfast of champions, I guess KFC is the lunch of superstars (or maybe it was the baked beans). Kahle began his romp with bullet after bullet and never looked back. At the end of 14 heats sailed on Saturday, you could double his score and he still was in the lead.

Peter Kremlick volunteered his services as the regatta rules official. It was hoped that his services would not be needed, but as the day wore on, Pete was called on to settle 5 redress issues and two protests which unfortunately resulted in DSQs for two skippers. Still, most of the sailing was clean and those involved with the protests accepted their fate with professionalism and tact. Much thanks is owed Pete for the thorough and professional manner in which he handled each case.

Our Charleston liaison, Dick Gerry, was once again in charge of the dinner plans. Reservations were made at one of Charleston's finest seafood eateries and unlike last year, everyone who attended had a seat in the private room. Hats off to Dick for a job well done. After dinner I invited all for coffee and dessert at my cabin. Next year I will be sure to bring more keylime pie.

Sunday's forecast called for high winds, rain, and lightning, so we were happy that 14 heats were sailed in case we had to call off the rest of the regatta. The wind was definitely present on Sunday morning, blowing steady above 10 knots with higher gusts out of the southwest, thankfully the rain was far away and the sky was clear. This meant we were back on the southeast side of the lake. Once again we sailed a straight windward/leeward course. There would be no delays between heats on Sunday so that we could complete as many races as possible before the 12:30 cut off. Nine heats were sailed, but due to confusion on the part of this RD, one of the heats had to be discarded. It seemed that an extra lap had been sailed by some of the skippers while others sailed to the finish line. A review of a video tape proved that the extra lap did occur and the heat was voided. By the way, Reichard Kahle won that one too.

Kahle started up where he left off the day before, posting 6 firsts out of 8 heats. Brawner, Thomas, Gerry, and Gale came to the front to challenge Kahle, but despite a bullet each from Thomas and Gale and several seconds for Brawner and Gerry, Kahle was simply too hot to be touched. Only Thomas and Gerry managed to stay in double digits and they were 58 and 62 points respectively behind Kahle's 33 points. The complete results are below.

I want to thank all the volunteers for the excellent jobs they did. I already mentioned Mark Rinehart, Peter Kremlick, and Dick Gerry, but equal praise and thanks go to Chuck Buzek and Tony DiMarzio for the great job as mark judges; to John Garver for running the starting line; and to Frank Angel for keeping score. These events are made so much better with the help of volunteers and I benefited from having the best group around.

David Brawner is on deck to RD next year's Champions Regatta and I for one can't wait to attend. Competitor, volunteer, or spectator, I will be there in 2005.

1 Reichard Kahle 33

2 Danny Thomas 91

3 Rick Gerry 95

4 David Brawner 112

5 Jarl Wathne 138

6 Al Sellers 147 tie

7 Rick West 147 tie

8 John Bottensek 148

9 Carter Cain 197

10 Rick Hawley 198

11 Bill Gale 207

12 Harry Strunk 213

13 Gerry Cobley 216

14 Bob Kjellberg 223

15 Tony Bollers 281

16 Tim Hopkins 292

Webmaster/Participants note: We all owe Joe a great big thank you.  Even though he qualified to participate in the racing, he ran the regatta instead.  You did a great job! Thanks!!