In the Concurs d’Elegance judging, Chuck Carmichael’s Cape Dory Typhoon, Creampuff, won “Most Bristol”.  The “Most Authentic” was judged to be a Joel White Marsh Cat, “White Swan”, owned by Buddy Sharpton from Savannah.

The weather cooperated nicely. One day had some rain showers, but there was never any thunder or lightning. The winds were a bit lighter than ideal at times, but the fleet was at the destination every day by 5 PM.

The prevailing wind at this time of year is from the southwest, and sure enough, there it was on the day the fleet sailed from Hilton Head to Savannah. This also happened to be the day in which the tide direction was running generally in an adverse direction. The biggest challenge was in the crossing of the Savannah River. The entrance on the Georgia side north of Elba Island would require not only crossing but also working about a half mile up the Savannah River against the current. With a full moon, the tides were particularly strong. In Savannah the tides were a very unusual 11 feet from the high to the low. The river current was about 4 kts as the fleet tacked back and forth for over an hour in light winds trying to find the key to getting across. Roy Crocker found the key on the West side where the current was a bit less. Roy would take a starboard tack toward the shore until he reached a 4-foot depth and then tack to port and sail out to a 20-foot depth. Back and forth he went, gaining a little distance up-current until he finally reached the cut on the far side.

Chuck Carmichael tried a different route. Chuck tacked back and forth up the east shore until he sensed a wind increase, and he used the puff to advantage, crossing into the cut on the Georgia (west) side.

Andy Corriveau was also successful in getting across, following Crocker up the west side. Norwood, Damon, and McIntosh had to crank up their engines and therefore dropped out of that race.

The Rally had two races scheduled each day of the cruise. On the final day, sailing from Windmill Harbour on Hilton Head Island to Beaufort, there was no wind in the morning, so the fleet motored out into Port Royal Sound and waited for the sea breeze to develop. This was a cloudless day, with the temperatures warming into the high 70s. As the land heated up, the 10 kt sea breeze developed around 1:30 PM out of the South, and the last race was started. Although the tide was ebbing down the Beaufort River, the fleet charged up the river on a run. The distance of the race was 10 miles, but against the ebbing tide, the fleet actually sailed over 13 miles through the water. Woody Norwood and his crew JD Shiver seemed to be having the most fun, doing the entire 3 ½ hour race with the spinnaker flying. What a wonderful way to end the Rally.