Barefoot Around Alone had almost no wind for sailing during last year’s race.
Lake Lanier’s Barefoot Sailing Club supports traditions on the water, and for the past 27 or so years, it has replicated a grueling single-handed race. The solo regatta, called Around (Lake Lanier) Alone, takes place on Saturday, April 18.
Local sailors will leave their crews on shore to race from Chattahoochee Bay north of Aqualand to Buford Dam and back. They will be challenged to be at the helm of their boats and perform all the activities on board – from trimming their sails to making decisions about ideal conditions to finish the race first.
The Lake Lanier race came about in 1999, when two local clubs – Barefoot and Southern Sailing Club – worked together to create a fun way to compete on the water. Southern created and managed a long-distance relay race involving baton exchanges between team boats over a timed sailing course.
Barefoot staged the inaugural Around (Lake Lanier) Alone in spring 1999. According to club records, nearly 30 racers competed. The Southern Sailing Club relay race only lasted one or two seasons, but the popularity of the Around Alone has withstood the test of time.
The original global race was established in 1982 as the BOC Challenge. Early rules specified that the race start and end in the United States in Newport Rhode Island. From 1998-2002 the name was changed to the Around Alone Race, and although the name only lasted for five years, it stuck as a descriptive and clever way to celebrate the skills of solo sailors.
The Barefoot Around Alone has proved popular since its inception. Last year’s Lake Lanier race drew 14 skippers on a day that the biggest challenge was the lack of wind. The 12.6-mile race was called early because of the lack of wind.
For this year’s event, which begins near Aqualand, organizers are hoping for better winds.
The Around Alone on Lake Lanier is open to all sailors. For complete details and the Notice of Race, visit barefootsailingclub.org.
Photo: by Matt Geiger
