Sailors try to survive fall nor'easter

You have to admire the tenacity of the dedicated souls from the Lewes Yacht Club who gave up the better part of a week to put on the 2014 Sunfish World Championship. As I write this Oct. 11, they are sitting around waiting to see if they can get out onto the Delaware Bay to get a race in on the final day of the regatta.

Mother Nature has not been kind. After one of the best fall weeks in memory, a nasty nor'easter blew in this past week and forced the cancellation of racing Oct. 9 and 10. They were able to get in five races the first two days of the regatta, even though conditions were far from ideal.

Sailors had a tough time even getting out on the water the second day as three-foot waves crashed onto Lewes beach. Race committee members and support crews in boats on the bay battled sea sickness to coordinate the races. Winds up to 30 miles per hour are not conducive to Sunfish sailing – and it's not a treat for the support teams either.

With no racing on Oct. 10, LYC chartered a bus to the Annapolis Boat Show, which was a great idea.

Early Friday morning – the last day of the event – many sailors turned up at the yacht club dressed and ready to go. They were told to hold up for a couple of hours to see if conditions improved. The race committee is keeping an eye on weather forecasts and radar.

With only three points separating the top three spots, the group of international sailors is itching to get out on the bay. Unfortunately, the fall nor'easter of 2014 has the upper hand.