'Big boats' take to Lake Norman this weekend during Soverel 33 Nationals
By Bill Kiser, LAKE NORMAN TIMES

For years, Lake Norman has been the site of a number of small-boat sailboat races, including several national championship-level events.

But this weekend the lake will play host to the "big boats" when the Soverel 33 Class Association holds its 24th-annual national championships on Lake Norman.

The three-day regatta - scheduled for July 11-13 out of the Lake Norman Yacht Club - was originally scheduled to be held on one of the Great Lakes, but was moved to Lake Norman because of rising gas prices.^{note 1}

But that means lake residents and area sailors will get a chance to see a dozen of the nation's top sailboat captains at the helm of some of the fastest racers ever to take to Lake Norman.

One of those is Cornelius resident Chuck Lineberry, whose Pearl of Great Price is a year-in, year-out contender in Lake Norman's major keelboat-class races.^{note 2}

And with Lineberry sailing on his home waters, he believes that will give him an advantage over the competition.

"Absolutely, absolutely," said Lineberry, who finished fourth in last year's Nationals, held in New Rochelle, N.Y. "I'm planning on winning this thing."

The Soverel 33 is a 33-foot long, nearly three-ton sailboat developed in the early 1980s by noted sailor and boat designer Mark Soverel. His intent was to make a boat that could compete and win in one-design competitions, as well as be a weekend pleasure cruiser for couples and families.

But a Soverel 33 isn't a sailboat that you can hook to the back of the family car and haul around, nor is it one that can be crewed single-handedly. The boats entered in this weekend's Nationals will have anywhere from eight- to 10-person crews.

"It's a pretty big job," said four-time and defending Nationals winner Iris Vogel. "It's not a cheap undertaking - it takes a lot to get it all together. We're loading it up now, and we'll be driving it down Wednesday."

But Vogel admits that getting championship No. 5 may be a tough go this year.

For starters, while Lake Norman is the biggest lake in North Carolina, it is decidedly smaller than the waters used in past Soverel 33 Nationals.

"It'll be a whole new experience," Vogel said. "It'll be interesting because we haven't done much lake sailing, so it'll be a whole new game for us."

Then there will be the weather conditions, which have been shifting the last two weeks as afternoon and evening thunderstorms have come through the lake area almost daily.

All that will prove to be a challenge for the Soverel 33 captains - but it's a challenge that Vogel and Lineberry, among others, are looking forward to.

"I'm looking forward to seeing it finally," Vogel said of Lake Norman. "We've got to look to what the local boats are doing and see which way they're going, and hopefully they show us the way to go.

"We have never sailed on Lake Norman - but in every regatta you go into, anyone can win. It's always goes to whom everything comes together."

Bill Kiser is the editor of the Lake Norman Times. He can be reached at (704) 664-2882 Ext. 13 or by e-mail at

5 O'Clock Somewhere' takes lead after first day of Soverel 33 Nationals
By Bill Kiser, LAKE NORMAN TIMES

Mike MacLeod piloted 5 O'Clock Somewhere to the early lead Friday after the first day of competition in the Soverel 33 National Championships, being held on Lake Norman this weekend.

MacLeod - who normally sails on Lake Lanier near Atlanta, Ga. - won twice and added a third place in the day's third and final race to finish with five points, one point ahead of Huntersville resident Chuck Lineberry. ^{note 2}

"We have never sailed on Lake Norman - but in every regatta you go into, anyone can win. It's always goes to whom everything comes together."

Lineberry, whose Pearl of Great Price is a fixture in keelboat races on Lake Norman, had runner-up finishes in all three races held Friday under shifting wind conditions.

Warren Doyle, whose Shaka is also out of Lake Lanier, is third with 10 points. He struggled in the first two races, finishing fifth and fourth, respectively, but won the third race of the day.

Four-time and defending Soverel 33 Nationals champion Iris Vogel, out of Rochester, N.Y., and Mark McCarthy, out of Westbrook, Conn., are tied for fourth with 13 points each. Andrew Postell of Atlanta is sixth with 16 points. ^{note 4}

SOVEREL 33 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Friday's Races

Preliminary Results ^{note 8}

Race No. 1:
1. Mike MacLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere;
2. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price;
3. Iris Vogel, Deviation;
4. Andrew Postell, Speedster;
5. Warren Doyle, Shaka;
6. Mark McCarthy, Slainte.

Race No. 2:
1. Mike MacLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere;
2. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price;
3. Mark McCarthy, Slainte;
4. Warren Doyle, Shaka;
5. Iris Vogel, Deviation;
6. Andrew Postell, Speedster.

Race No. 3:
1. Warren Doyle, Shaka;
2. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price;
3. Mike MacLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere;
4. Mark McCarthy, Slainte;
5. Iris Vogel, Deviation;
6. Andrew Postell, Speedster.

Total Points (through three races):
1. Mike MacLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere, 5;
2. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price, 6;
3. Warren Doyle, Shaka, 10;
4. (tie) Iris Vogel, Deviation, and Mark McCarthy, Slainte, 13;
6. Andrew Postell, Speedster, 16.

At least two races are scheduled for Saturday, with the first race scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Lake Norman. The final day's races will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Bill Kiser is the editor of the Lake Norman Times. He can be reached at (704) 664-2882 Ext. 13 or by e-mail at

Lack of wind hampers second day of racing on Lake Norman during Soverel 33 Nationals
By Bill Kiser, LAKE NORMAN TIMES

No races were held Saturday, as little to no wind kept the boats off Lake Norman during the second day of the Soverel 33 National Championships.

In order to get in what organizers hope will be three races Sunday, race officials bumped up the start time for the final day of competition to 9 a.m.

Mike MacLeod, piloting 5 O'Clock Somewhere, enters the final day of racing with a one-point lead over Huntersville's Chuck Lineberry.

MacLeod - who normally sails on Lake Lanier near Atlanta, Ga. - won twice Friday and added a third place in the day's final race.

Lineberry, whose Pearl of Great Price is a fixture in keelboat races on Lake Norman, had runner-up finishes in all three races held Friday under shifting wind conditions.

In other news from the Soverel 33 Nationals:

* Mark McCarthy, piloting Slaince, picked up a position in the third race after winning his appeal over the course instructions. ^{note 5}

McCarthy had originally finished fourth in the third race, but was credited with a tie for third with MacLeod after the appeal.

That moved McCarthy into sole possession of fourth in the overall event standings with 12 points. Before the appeal, he was tied with four-time and defending national champion Iris Vogel with 13 points each.

* Vogel, meanwhile, had her appeal denied by the race committee over a tacking maneuver made by McCarthy during the third race. ^{note 6}

SOVEREL 33 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Friday's Races

Revised Preliminary Results

Race No. 1:
1. Mike MacLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere;
2. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price;
3. Iris Vogel, Deviation;
4. Andrew Postell, Speedster;
5. Warren Doyle, Shaka;
6. Mark McCarthy, Slaince.

Race No. 2:
1. Mike MacLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere;
2. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price;
3. Mark McCarthy, Slaince;
4. Warren Doyle, Shaka;
5. Iris Vogel, Deviation;
6. Andrew Postell, Speedster.

Race No. 3:
1. Warren Doyle, Shaka;
2. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price;
3. (tie) Mike MacLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere, and Mark McCarthy, Slainte;
5. Iris Vogel, Deviation;
6. Andrew Postell, Speedster.

Total Points (through three races):
1. Mike MacLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere, 5;
2. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price, 6;
3. Warren Doyle, Shaka, 10;
4. Mark McCarthy, Slainte, 12;
5. Iris Vogel, Deviation, 13;
6. Andrew Postell, Speedster, 16.

Bill Kiser is the editor of the Lake Norman Times. He can be reached at (704) 664-2882 Ext. 13 or by e-mail at

"Shaka" edges out two other boats to win Soverel 33 National Championship
By Bill Kiser, LAKE NORMAN TIMES

Georgia's Warren Doyle rallied with a pair of top-two finishes Sunday on Lake Norman, then beat out two other sailors in a tiebreaker to win his first Soverel 33 National Championship title.

Doyle, piloting Shaka, finished second to four-time Soverel 33 champ Iris Vogel's Deviation in Sunday's first race, then edged Vogel by less than two seconds to win the second race.

That left Doyle tied with first-day leader Mike McLeod in 5 O'Clock Somewhere and Huntersville's Chuck Lineberry in Pearl of Great Price with 13 points each after five races.

Doyle and McLeod each finished with two race wins, with the number of runner-up finishes settling the tie. Doyle took the title with his lone second-place finish.

Lineberry, whose best finish during the three-day regatta was a trio of second-place runs on Friday, wound up third overall.

Vogel, who had won the last two Soverel 33 national titles, was fourth overall, followed by Mark McCarthy in Slainte and Andrew Postell in Speedster.

SOVEREL 33 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sunday's Races

Preliminary Results ^{note 9}

Race No. 1:
1. Iris Vogel, Deviation;
2. Warren Doyle, Shaka;
3. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price;
4. Mark McCarthy, Slainte;
5. Mike McLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere;
6. Andrew Postell, Speedster.

Race No. 2:
1. Warren Doyle, Shaka;
2. Iris Vogel, Deviation;
3. Mike McLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere;
4. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price;
5. Andrew Postell, Speedster;
6. Mark McCarthy, Slainte.

Total Points (through five races, total wins in parentheses):
1. Warren Doyle, Shaka, 13 (2);
2. Mike MacLeod, 5 O'Clock Somewhere, 13 (2);
3. Chuck Lineberry, Pearl of Great Price, 13;
4. Iris Vogel, Deviation, 16 (1);
5. 4. Mark McCarthy, Slainte, 22;
6. Andrew Postell, Speedster, 27.

Bill Kiser is the editor of the Lake Norman Times. He can be reached at (704) 664-2882 Ext. 13 or by e-mail at