The Around Alone, our premier solo regatta, is a long, time–honored tradition. Come on out with the rest of the hardy single-handers on a race from the Chattahoochee Bay area of the Lake, to Buford Dam and back!

 

The perpetual trophy is a Barefoot burgee autographed by Robin Davie (1998/99). British sailor Davie has completed three solo circumnavigations and will be making his fourth next year in the Golden Globe Race 2022. Thanks, Past Commodore Tom Graham for acquiring this prized autograph.

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2023   June 5, 2023 - Davis MacLeod wins the race!

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We had 22 boats registered for the race - a fantastic turn-out! The forecasted wind was promising. We
were looking forward to a fun and exciting race, but just as the race was getting underway, the initial 10-
15 knot winds started to fade along with the early morning sunshine. As the winds gradually slowed a
light rain began falling and what had been an adrenaline flowing start soon turned into a wet, light air
challenge. As the lead boats rounded the halfway mark at the dam, the struggle to find any wind began.
Then as the late starters and slower boats approached the dam, wind was all but non-existent.

The racers waited, bobbing around like rubber ducks in a bathtub, hoping for enough breeze to get them
back to the start/finish line. Unfortunately, no such breeze appeared and one racer after another
cranked up the iron jenny and motored back to their home ports. Only two of the 22 registered captains
were able to finish the race.
 

A special congratulations to Davis MacLeod on winning the Barefoot 2023 Around Alone Race. He
combined patience and skill to get his Melges 24 across the finish line on a day when the wind gods
abandoned us. A second congratulations goes out to Bo Scott who came in second on his Catalina 22.
Awards were given to the two intrepid winning sailors at the dirt-up after the race while the rest of us
commiserated while enjoying some food and sodas.

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Race Captains

Fred Kempner & Chico Wojna

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2022   April 10, 2022 - Jonathan Stewart takes the win!  Results 

           April 7, 2022  - UPDATE FOR ALL YE INTREPID SAILORS
 

Regarding the Around Alone race - there is bad news and good news.

First the bad - the weather on Saturday looks particularly nasty - quite cold, maybe wet and very gusty conditions are predicted. We don’t mind any one of those three - but taken together and racing solo - well we’ve had to make a very difficult decision and postpone the race.

THE GOOD NEWS is that this Sunday (4/10) looks like perfect conditions - sunny, breezy and warmer. So we are rescheduling the race for Sunday - same time, same place. We realize that this may disappoint some, but we want to have as many racers as possible on the course and we want it to be fun. So please do come out and enjoy what promises to be a beautiful day for sailing.

 

Best regards,

Race Captains

Pete Winham & Fred Kempner
 

2021   David Pope in the Ultimate 20. One of the faster Around Alone races.
 

April 26, 2021

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Wow, what a great day to be out sailing.  It was one of the faster Around Alone races I have been involved with.  Looking at previous year results that I have, there was only one other year where the full course was sailed.  No time this year for RC to go ashore and enjoy a leisurely lunch. 

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Thanks everyone for coming out!

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-Tedd Meinersmann

BFSC Racing Captain

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April 23, 2021

​BFSC Racers,

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The 2021 Barefoot Sailing Club Around Alone race was scheduled for this Saturday.  However, the weather doesn’t look promising with strong winds, rain, and lightning.  In some way, I like to think so what!  Robin Davis had to deal with such conditions when he sail solo around the globe.  Yet, this is a one day race and it’s easy to reschedule and important to think about the safety of racers and RC crew.  Thus, going to delay for one day to Sunday, April 25,2021.  Forecasts shows sunny skies, constant winds at 8.  Should be a great day for a solo sail!

 

-Tedd Meinersmann
BFSC Racing Captain

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2020   Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

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​2019   Bruce Barton in the Crowther 33. Coarse shorten at just under 10 miles.

Took Bruce almost 4 hours to complete.

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2017 - 2018

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2016   Great day for the Around Alone Race to the Dam and back. Winds were up and good tight racing.

Congratulations to Randy Lenz for defending his title win from last year!  Thank you Bill and Ken for doing RC, plus Linda, Mary and David for the after race FEAST! I think all had fun (I did, but I'm sore now).

Chris Webster

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2015   Randy Lenz in a Impulse 21. Coarse shorten at the bottom of the lake.

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2014   David Pope in a Ultimate 20. Winds must have been really bad. Race was short finished at 13.

Took David 47 minutes to get there.

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2013   Patrick Finnick in a J-105. Full course with a corrected time of 01:57:14. Pat finished @ 12:16:53, Slower than

Bruce and David this year. Next boat was 30 minutes later.

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The forecasts were not promising, with small craft advisories pending, winds in the very high teens, gusts predicted as high as 35, and a beautiful sunny day.  Perfect conditions for the Around Alone, and eleven hardy souls took on the challenge.  Starting conditions were perfect; all eleven boats got off down the lake with freshening breezes, with the Dam the halfway destination of the 12.68 mile course.  No one doubted it would be a quick race, everyone expected the winds to be a challenge, and they were right.  The gusts came back to back to back with little time for relaxing between.  There was at least one spinnaker set!  The first boat to finish had an elapsed time of only two hours and sixteen minutes with a speed of 5.6 knots! And for the first time in recent memory, all eleven boats finished the race, a great testimony to the skills of all the skippers.

 

The race was capped off with the “Wing Fling” held on the deck at the Sunrise Cove clubhouse where awards were presented and great stories were shared.  The Introduction to Sailing class students also received their Certificates of Completion and had a chance to meet and socialize with some of the best sailors on the lake. A perfect ending to an outstanding day!

 

Many people made the day a success. Thanks go to: Tedd Meinersmann for organizing the Around Alone; Tom Graham, Linda Webster, Glen Helton and Lee Olsen for Race Committee; Mary Fornoff, Mary Robichaux, Marie Graham, Jeff and Kathy Paes, Gordon and Phyllis Barton, and Nancy Spraker for hosting the “Wing Fling”; and Tom Graham for putting the Introduction to Sailing classes together that brought seventeen new sailors into the sport.

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David Wright

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2012   Bill Northup in a Santana 23 – Race short finished at 3 (6.34 miles) -- Corrected time 3:15:14

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2011   

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2010   Bob Scot in a Cataline 22

Race was short finished at 13 (12.2 miles) after going to the 3 and back – correct time of 2:21:50

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2007 - 2009 

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2006   From Tedd Meinersmann: 

Wow, WIND!! Whoever said Winter is when Lake Lanier has wind was not sailing the BFSC Around Alone or the Women’s Skipper Race this Spring. For the Around Alone Regatta we had twelve boats signed up to race. Only eight boats started. Of the eight, one dropped out after the first mile, another sailed to the dam using only the head sail and then dropped out. Six boats finished and all the skippers were a little wobbly when they got on shore. Fifty percent of the boat dropped out. Sounds almost like the Sydney-Hobart Race drop out percentages.

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2005   

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2004   Racin’ Past & Future Second Fleet Captain, Chris Webster: 

The BFSC Around Alone Regatta was held on Saturday April 24th. The good news was there was plenty of sun, and the bad news was there wasn't enough wind until the very end. Yes, we did race down to the Dam and back, but thank God Edith (solo RC) shortened the course at 13 (the "Three Sisters") on the way back. The motor boat chop got brutal down by Lanier Islands for those of us in the smaller vessels. When I was shuffling my aching body into the shower Sunday morning, my wife asked "Who beat you with the ball bat?!" (bruises on my torso, backside and legs). We had 23 entrants (and I'm positive there would have been several more if there would have been a more favorable wind forecast). Thirteen boats finished and the others either fell off the Lake at the Dam, got eaten by monsters, got seasick, or got swamped by the tsunami!  On the podium at the end of the day:

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1st  |  Chuck Weaver Elliot 770  |  DREAM WEAVER  |  4:50:55

2nd  |  Dave DeLorme | Catalina 22  |  BANDIT  |  4:55:29

3rd  |  Greg Cash | Olson 25  |  REBEL BELLE  |  5:05:58

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Congratulations to our BFSC members Chuck and Dave for their great finishes! Check the website for all the results. Thanks again to Edith Collins for doing a spectacular job, as always, as our solo PRO/Race Committee and providing humor/perspective in the Sailing Instructions!

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1999 - 2003