by Sandy Eustis, Regatta Chair

21 teams, including 17 road warriors, converged on Lake Keowee for the 2025 Grits ‘n Haggis Regatta on May 17-18, 2025.  The wind did not disappoint, as a consistently strong southwest flow provided 13-16 mph winds, with gusts to 20, on Saturday, and 8-10 mph winds with gusts nearing 15 on Sunday.  Strong wind with lots of gusts made for tired muscles on the racecourse, but relatively easy work for the KSC Race Committee team, which was able to run 7 races over the 2 day event.

On the racecourse, a trio of visitors dominated the competition, with the team of John Kreidler and Dan Tegel from nearby Lake Hartwell winning out over two teams from Lake Norman.  Dave and Kathy Rink finished second overall, and Tim Porter and Robbie Lowrance were 3rd.  Those three teams were the only ones who looked comfortable in Saturday’s gusty conditions; over half of the competitors did not set spinnakers on multiple downwind legs that afternoon!   The top three boats all finished over 20 points ahead of everyone else.  Rounding out the trophies, Pat Finnick and Tony Cellamare from Lake Lanier edged out locals Sandy and Keith Eustis for 4^th and 5^th places, while Chattanooga’s Rob Fowler with local pickup crew Doug French took 6th.  The top 11 finishers represented 8 different Flying Scot fleets.

On land, Friday night’s pizza party was followed by Saturday evening’s chicken and pork barbeque dinner, capped with complimentary dark and stormies, rum cake, and of course a round of Keowee’s semi-famous “pin the blame on the PRO” game.  The event’s signature grits and haggis breakfast was served with mimosas on Sunday morning. 

Everyone went home tired from this one! 

Full results are at https://fssa.com/content/2025-grits-n-haggis-regatta-keowee-sailing-club-0