Crow’s Nest 06/05/25
What a great start to Summer 2025…A cool Memorial Day Weekend with activities abound, then an incredible change in weather. Overcast and chilly turned to sunshine shrouded in a smoky haze with warmer temps in week two! What’s most important for us sailors, the breeze, and while it has been frustrating at times, it’s mostly shown up and given us good racing.
The Opening Party of 2025 is happening this weekend at the CLYC Headquarters. For you new members, it’s right at the end of Main Ave at the lake… 103 Main Ave to be exact. We start at 6:30pm on Saturday and typically go until 9:30 or so; basically when folks leave is when we’re done. Social Members, please remember to bring your amazing goodies! You’ve set the bar pretty high with your past delights!
This first party is a special one and could be quite crowded! In addition to our members, we’ve sent special invitations to all those people who helped us in hosting the 2024 ILYA Championship. Our goal, of course, is more members! More members = more fun = more members and the cycle perpetuates… I’ll be greeting folks as they come in, please be sure and grab a name tag and say hello!
This year’s yearbooks are done and will available at Saturday night’s party. But don’t fret. If you can’t make the party or forget to grab yours at the CLYC, they’ll be mailed to you. Thanks to Emily Haugerud and Meg Casey for another stellar yearbook!
Since we’re talking about parties and gatherings: Don’t forget about the showing of “Melges – Wizard of Zenda” on Friday, June 13th. Wizard of Zenda Social time begins at 6:30pm with the Show starting at 7:00. Stu and Julie Oltrogge are graciously hosting this event at the Yacht Club; beer, wine, sodas, water and hors d’oeuvres will be provided.
In the “Events Coming Soon” section of the Crows Nest is the ILYA E Invitational here in beautiful Clear Lake, July 10-13. 40+ E Scows from across the ILYA will be in town to compete for the hardware with the aim of being crowned Champion. We’ll need all the volunteers we can muster for this event. The organization of the regatta will be very similar to last year, just on a slightly smaller scale. Liska Johnson, who is heading up the corralling of volunteers, has created an electronic sign up for the various positions needed throughout the event; the link can be found on clyciowa.com or go directly to the form HERE.
CLYC E Scow sailors, please register for the event now… ILYA E Invite
Melges 15 sailors: have you talked to Finley Nyhus about the upcoming clinic with M15 extraordinaire Toby Sutherland? Please make sure to reach out to Finley and get all the details!
Before I go into the results from the Memorial Day Regatta and last weekend, I would like to take a moment and put out a note/memo to the X Fleet:
X Boaters: you have just as much right to be on the lake and have fun as the adults do. Please don’t feel like you’re in the way, please don’t be nervous about being around the bigger boats. Just because we’re older and the boats are bigger doesn’t mean we own the racing space! Concentrate on your racing and have fun, don’t move out of the way just because we’re near you, remember the rules, they apply to everyone equally. And to the young man who prompted this note; thank you for being so polite and courteous while we were chatting, I was very impressed!
The Memorial Day Regatta was hotly contested in all fleets. Here are some highlights: The Melges 15’s saw a battle of family boats; the Thompson Couple, the Cooney siblings and the Finstad siblings each took race wins. Jude Sorensen became the first sailor with multiple wins; he won both races on Saturday. The ladies showed up big with huge wins; Emily Haugerud winning the lone E boat race by ten minutes and Avery Tidrick won decisively on Sunday in the X boats! The MC fleet came out in droves, having mid season numbers with 15 boats on the line! Merrit Becker came out with line honors in the first race of his title defense.
The overall results are as follows:
| X Boat: | MC: |
| 1st – Z-7 Jude Sorensen and Wil Price | 1st – 2811 Dan Allen (T1) |
| 2nd – Z-12 Garrett Summerfield and Wes Gordon | 2nd – 2842 Stu Oltrogge (T1) |
| 3rd – Z-4 Avery and Brynn Tidrick | 3rd – 2818 – Brad Osmundson (T3) |
| 4th – Z-15 Thea and Isla Sorensen | 4th – 2340 – Emily Haugerud (T3) |
| 5th – Z-5 Alida Lundberg and Oliver Thompson | 5th – 2878 – Mark Tesar |
| Melges 15: | C: | E: |
| 1st – USA 385 Riley Cooney | 1st – T-34 – Merritt Becker | 1st – Z-23 Emily Haugerud |
| 2nd – USA 383 Thompson’s | 2nd – Z-5 Marcus Lundberg | 2nd – Z-9 Brad Price |
| 3rd – USA 619 Will Finstad | 3rd – Z-100 Steve Swift | 3rd – Z-13 Mark Tesar |
| 4th – USA 618 Finley Nyhus | 4th – Z-2 Tom Birdsall | 4th – Z-94 Eric Protzman |
| 5th – Z-7 Wil Cooney |
An early Blooper candidate was made during the MC race in Brad Oz… It seems that in his meticulous preseason inspection Brad forgot to check the bungee holding up his hiking straps. When it broke and his straps were not where they were supposed to be, he performed a competition worthy back pike into the chilly water and the boat tipped over. To his credit; Oz was in and out of the water in less than 60 seconds, very impressive from a self proclaimed “old guy.” Even more impressive is that he managed to finish 7th in that race and 3rd in the Memorial Day Regatta!
Week 2 brought us breeze on the light side but still plenty of fun to be had… Sort of. The E and C race was abandoned half way through due to an unstable wind. The morning fleets managed to get two more races in on Saturday, but Sunday was a total drifter, resulting in no racing. The complete season scores are available on our revamped website; CLYC Results
Classes begin at the Sailing Center Monday, June 9th; here’s a report from Sailing Center President Jake Sorensen:
“Brady Amble, Elle Ebeling, Finley Nyhus and Jude Sorensen attended the US sailing level one certification course in Okoboji, which was led by US Sailing instructor Brandon Kass. The onsite portion of the course took place Monday through Wednesday. The course consisted of extensive pre-course work, CPR certification, Safe Sport Certification, along with other prerequisites. These instructors spent three full days training alongside Okoboji instructors. They gained experience in lesson planning, boat safety and knowledge, powerboat skills, and all aspects of sailing. Candidates for Level One certification had to present lesson plans as well as test their swimming abilities in full clothes with shoes. In other news, Mike and Billy Starbeck have been fixing up our beat up X boat fleet with their gelcoat handy work. The boats are looking great so please give them a thank you if you see them. Classes start next week so please spread the word and register online at Clearlakesailingcenter.com”
Lastly, a reminder to the E and C fleets; you have Sunday racing this coming weekend! All fleets should be ready for back-to-back races each day if the weather is favorable; we’re already on the water, why not make the most of it!
Until next time folks…
Stay in the Clear Air.
Dan Allen
MC 2811 – Relentless
dsallen@cltel.net
clyciowa.com
clearlakesailingcenter.com