2021 Hangover Cup Regatta

First sailed in 2012, the Hangover Cup has always been a little different. This year marked the 10th annual Hangover, having been sailed in 11 different locations. How’s that you say?

The 2021 Hangover Cup for RC Lasers was completed on January 16, after abandoning January 2 after two races and no wind. Maintaining the tradition of sailing in a different location every year, the Hangover was originally planned for Silver Lake in Raleigh, but events conspired to preclude sailing there on January 1, so the Hangover was moved to Lake Crabtree’s boat rental docks on January 2. We did hold the Hangover on Lake Crabtree once (2017) at the cartop boat launch area where the club usually sails.

13 boats started at Lake Crabtree. Conditions were bright, clear and warm (for January) with a little breeze at the start, but the wind faded after two races and never came back; after watching motionless boats for an hour, we decided to take it up again on another day. That day was January 16, when 10 boats continued the Hangover Cup at Silver Lake. Silver Lake is a great venue for model yachts, big enough for good racing with the ability to set a good windward- leeward course to accommodate a range of wind directions. The water can be accessed via low docks or beach, and sailors can easily follow their boats for the length of the course.

The weather was 40 degrees, cloudy and breezy with dramatic gusts and shifts every few seconds; the sailing was challenging. The sailors went from A rigs to B and back again, sometimes with a mix of both on the course, and a C sail was seen in one race. Occasionally the clouds would part and reveal a blue sky, but as the last race was wrapping up the fleet was treated to some light freezing rain. Good timing!

We completed 9 long two-lap races on Jan 16 and continued scoring to include the two races sailed at Lake Crabtree. Because of the gusty, shifty conditions, the fleet was more spread out than usual. There were 14 different sailors in all, but a few of them missed either the first or second day so they are scored DNS on the day were absent (this explains high points for some).

Thanks are owed to Silver Lake resident David Sinodis for making it possible to sail at the private lake, and to Skip Allen for scoring and keeping RD Rick Ferguson honest – and not least to everyone who came out to race on a winter day. It couldn’t be done without you all.

SUMMARY OF THE HANGOVER CUP 2021
Class: RC Laser
Date: January 2 and January 16, 2021
Location: Lake Crabtree and Silver Lake, Raleigh, NC
Number of entries: 14 total
Winds: Light to calm SSW on day one; 13mph WSW, shifty and gusty on day two
Races completed: 11
Scoring system: Low point – no throwouts
Regatta Committee & Valuable Assistants: RD Rick Ferguson; scoring Skip Allen; everyone else.

RESULTS
Place Skipper Points
1 Tom Rummage 28
2 Michael Roberson 37
3 Chris Bock 55
4 Neil Saunders 55
5 Chase Thomas 56
6 Gerry Cobley 63
7 Jared Greenlee 77
8 Scott Allred 92
9 Brian Bennett 93
10 Larry Nunnery 104
11 Tony Corkell 138
12 Jerry Thompson 147
13 Sam Bigelow 153
14 Herb Roy 156

Hangover Cup locations and winners, 2012-2021
2012 – Pullen Park, Raleigh; Bob Szczepanski
2013 – Meridian Business Center, Durham; Nick Mortgu
2014 – Lake Raleigh, Raleigh; Bob Szczepanski
2015 – Carolina Lake, Carolina Beach; Tom Rummage
2016 – Carolina Yacht Club, Wrightsville Beach; Tom Rummage
2017 – Lake Crabtree, Raleigh; Michael Roberson
2018 – Bass Lake Park, Holly Springs; Gerry Cobley
2019 – Edenton Harbor, Edenton; Michael Roberson
2020 – Lake Wheeler, Raleigh; Rick Ferguson
2021 – Lake Crabtree and Silver Lake, Raleigh; Tom Rummage