Crow’s Nest 06/27/24
While we don’t have the issues our friends to the West are having, we’re getting awfully waterlogged in the farm fields and the lake has more than enough water! I’m sure you’ve seen some pictures from Spirit Lake and Okoboji; they’ve been hammered with rain and storms even worse than we have. In fact, a 5 mph speed limit, basically a no wake lake AND adding insult to injury, due to multiple involuntary sewage releases from the treatment plant, a swim advisory has been posted by the DNR in Okoboji…Ugh…that makes for a crappy summer…
If you missed the last edition of the Crows Nest, you also missed the opening of the latest Merchandise Store! The Sailing Center Board has partnered with ASB (a sponsor and advertiser with the CLYC) to bring a new gambit of swag to the membership; don’t wait long though, the store is only active until Monday, July 1st!! If you order, you will have your new merch in time for the ILYA Championship in August!!!! You can find that shop here: CLYC Merch Shop
Due to a scheduling conflict with the ILYA Champs, a new need has arisen…Photography… Do we have any budding photogs, recreational picture taking lovers or pros that would like to snap during the MC, E and/or C racing??? Multiple people could do this and the job would be flexible… We would put you on a boat with a capable driver and your job is to hit the shutter! For more details or any questions please contact Dan Allen – dsallen@cltel.net
T-minus 45 days until the ILYA Championship Regatta! Sailors please go to ILYA Champs Registration and get signed up for the Inland Champs! If you know you’re going to race, why not go out and make it official?!?!
REMINDER – E and C Fleets: You have extra racing on Sunday, June 30th. Plan on back-to-back races!
Meanwhile in sailing news, we’ve had excitement beyond the shores of our small North Iowa gem:
Past Commodore Brad Price raced last weekend in the Annual Newport to Bermuda Race, his second time having completed the harrowing race…636 nautical miles aboard a Maxi 86, finishing second in line honors. The picture included is the finish at dawn in Bermuda. This is also the second time Brad has crewed on this ocean giant this season; the first being during the Block Island Race earlier this Spring. The boat itself is a previous Trans-Pac winner, now owned by Oakcliff Sailing and Dawn Riley. Congratulations Brad on successfully completing such an amazing adventure yet again!
On to the racing from last weekend – The Saturday morning fleets made a brief showing on the water, under partly to mostly cloudy skies and little to no wind. What little bit of wind there was at times was extremely variable. A far cry from the forecast of storms and 15 mph winds with gusts over 20… Eventually, Charlie MacNider and team abandoned the morning races and sent the boats to shore.
The E and C fleets were once again skunked as the lake was flat at race time Saturday afternoon! Of course, the session was abandoned and the wind came up; they were storm driven winds so it would have been all for nought waiting longer than he did. Nice call Tommy!
Sunday morning brought a great deal of promise with a nice breeze out of the NW (if a NW breeze can be nice?)… Everyone knows the NW breeze is a bit funky and typically very shifty. Those shifts though were inconsistent shifts; even more than that, the velocity was up and down, playing havoc with the fleets and wearing patience levels thin.
The MC’s started first in the light air; in the middle of the first sequence…a postponement due to a 40 degree shift to the North; the first test of patience. After ten minutes or less, the breeze had come back to the original heading and another sequence was started. Brad Oz jumped out to a BIG early lead and never looked back. While Emily Haugerud gave it her all, she wasn’t able to catch Oz before the finish taking second. Quite a distance behind the leaders was Dan Allen in third, Stu Oltrogge in Fourth, with Randy Kotz in fifth.
M15’s, at least our fleet, don’t seem to be fans of light air; like every sailor though, they fight through the conditions and make the most of their time on the water! The first race saw the heavy air specialists, Brad and Mary Thompson break through for a light air bullet ahead of Dave Atkinson who excels in the light breeze. Third went Elle and Georgia Ebeling and Fourth to Finley Nyhus; both these teams are sailing very well in their first year in the fleet!
The X fleet is certainly having a ton of fun! During the time before and between races, friendly banter and laughter can be heard across the lake! Once the races start…It’s all business!
Jude Sorensen shined again in Race 1 despite his near hatred of light breeze. After good starts, Jude with crew Will Price, Thea with sister Isla and the Harris boys took off, staying in the breeze and sailing very nice races respectively. Jude and Will took the race win, Thea and Isla were in second and the Harris boys with Griffin skippering sailed to an impressive third place! New racer Garrett Summerfield with Wes Gordon crewing took fourth place followed by Alida Lundberg with Oliver Thompson in fifth place.
The second trip around the buoys presented a new challenge with winds that were still the same velocity, but were streaking down the lake, Lake Harriet style; this made staying in the breeze priority #1!
The MC Fleet started out interestingly with a crowded starting line at the boat end. A bit of chaos ensued but the fleet made their way up the first beat without any collisions. Stu Oltrogge jumped out to an early lead with several boats nipping at his transom. Around the course the fleet went, following Stu, changing positions behind him very often! At the finish line though, it was Emily Haugerud, who can never be counted out of a race, making a great comeback and won by a mere half a boat length over her dad! Mark Tesar was third, Todd Tesar in fourth and Eric Protzman in fifth.
Asymmetrical spinnakers in light air and bumpy water is not easy, in fact, sometimes, extremely frustrating; the M15 group rocked it in style. Dave Atkinson remained consistent and took the bullet after a great start and staying in the breeze! Finley Nyhus this round takes the second spot with the Ebeling ladies once again in third; Brad and Mary Thompson took the fourth spot.
Our young fleet of X boaters probably had more learning experiences in these two races than they have all year. Containing their frustrations of bouncing up and down in the boat waves and the constant flap of the sails, learning shifts and staying in the breeze!
Jude and Will once again dominated despite the less than desirable conditions, winning the second race by a fairly substantial margin. The rest of the race, however, was much more closely contended as our more junior sailors duked it out throughout the entire trip around buoys. After a disappointing first race, Avery and Brynn Tidrick sailed beautifully to a second place finish. Alida and Oliver had a nice race finishing third, Thea and Isla were fourth, Garrett and Wes finished fifth.
Can you believe this weekend is the end of the First Series already???!!! It doesn’t seem possible right? Well it’s here and the standings are close in every fleet! The MC fleet is separated by just 4 points from 1st to 5th! The M15 fleet is also separated by just 4 points from 1st to 5th!
Every X boat team, especially our less experienced teams are getting better and better every week; you can see the progress in plain sight! Much credit goes to our racing coaches and volunteers for their efforts, but the true credit belongs with the teams and their commitment to progress and betterment!
It would be great if the E and C fleets got to sail more… It’s been another year of blowouts or dead air on Saturday afternoons. It happens, but fingers crossed they’ll get a bunch of racing in the rest of the year! In the E fleet after just 4 races, Team Loon and Team Mayhem are tied on points, with the tiebreaker going to Team Loon steered by the venerable Emily Haugerud. The C’s have just two races under their belts this year and Marcus is tied with new member Merritt Becker; hopefully the 4 race potential this weekend will shake them up a bit!
I can hardly believe I’ve forgotten to add bits and pieces of history to this heralded newsletter lately! Since it’s been so long, here’s a trivia question which will garner the winner a fantastic prize! – the correct answer at the next party (Zanios’ residence, July 13th) will get a prize:
In what year was this proposition made?: “Y’s guys will pay good money for a way that is guaranteed to wipe out Bill Stoyles…My son advises that the X-fleet is having much the same problem with Bill Nicholas…”
The early forecast for this weekend brings the full gambit; big wind and light wind from shifty (notice the “F” in that word) directions, which if correct, could throw a wrench in the standings of each fleet!
A piece of advice from the Old Crow – 7/1/69 WEATHER WATCH WARNING—-IN CASE OF TORNADO DURING A RACE SEEK COVER IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE BOAT
Until we see each other on the water…
Stay in the clear air,
Dan Allen
MC 2811- Relentless
dsallen@cltel.net
www.clyciowa.com
www.clycss.com