Sailboats at Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico, before the Race to the Elephant

Fleet panorama at Elephant Butte Lake in southern New Mexico as boats wait to sail in the Race to the Elephant



Kachina in front of Elephant Race fleet

Two boats framed between Nessie (C&C29) and Free and Clear IV (Freedom 21, at right).


Nessie and Free and Clear IV



The J/24 sloop Hot Flash, and the race committee signal boat, Susie Q, before the start of the Race to the Elephant at Elephant Butte Lake in southern New Mexico. Conditions during Saturday morning were a bit frustrating with light, variable, switchy wafts of breeze for beleaguered sailors. I had a hard time reaching the starting area on Carol Anne's motorless Etchells sloop; fortunately the start was postponed until the wind started filling in about an hour after the published start time. (The A fleet started at 1:43 p.m., an hour and 38 minutes after the planned 12:05 start [12:00 noon warning signal].

Sailboats at the Race to the Elephant, Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico

Will 'o the Wind (Beneteau 285) at the Race to the Elephant. Correction: This should be Ranger Ben's O'Day 26 and has a shamrock logo.



Free and Clear IV (Freedom 21, at left, single-handed by "Cornhusker") and Nessie (C&C29, at right) circle the Elephant during the Race to the Elephant at Elephant Butte Lake, Saturday, May 30, 2009.

Frostbite Regatta, Elephant Butte Lake, Saturday, January 24, 2009

Three race boats move in light air before the first race of the Frostbite Regatta. The Hunter 28 Erebus, Etchells Caliente, and C&C 29 Nessie were among 13 boats racing in addition to the committee boat and a cruiser watching the races. The quiet conditions shown in these photos belied the winds that soon developed, with steady breezes reaching 18 knots before settling down to 14 knots for much of the racing, giving the boats plenty of power. The Etchells and J/24s did three buoy races while the cruising boats and scows set off on a long distance race that had them circling Rattlesnake Island and the central part of the lake.

MC scow and more

"Seymour" and his MC Scow.



Committee boat and five racers: Shonto, MC Scow 609, Hunter 28 Erebus, Etchells Caliente, J/24 Kachina, C&C 29 Nessie.

Two cruisers at left, probably 4774 27' Santa Cruz Warm N Fuzzy next to S2 34' Cultural Infidel. At right, MC Scow no. 609 and race committee boat (Ranger 31 Shonto).

Four boats on the water (probably Catalina 30 Salud, Etchells Caliente, C&C29 Nessie, and J/24 Kachina).

Kris Kringle Race 2008, Rio Grande Sailing Club, New Mexico

Hunter 28 Erebus, named for the Antarctic peak.

S2 7.9 (26') sloop "Delfin" serving as committee boat for the regatta


Five Planks and Nessie

Twenty-six foot S2 (S27.9, committee boat), C&C 29 Nessie, and Freedom 21 Five Planks.

Freedom 21 (sloop-rigged with staysail jib), Five Planks

Nessie in the Desert; C&C29 sailing at Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico

The C&C 29 sloop Nessie approaches the finish of the Kris Kringle race at Elephant Butte Lake. The race was a distance race from south of Rock Canyon Marina, around Rattlesnake Island and marker 13, and to the finish in the middle of the lake between Rattlesnake Island and Rock Canyon Marina. The December 6, 2008 race in southern New Mexico was the last race of the fall season for the Rio Grande Sailing Club.





Portrait of Nessie, the C&C 29 sloop



Nessie approaching the finish line

Nessie and the pin buoy for the finish line

Stern view of Nessie after she finished the Kris Kringle race


Nessie in the sun