Crow’s Nest 06/12/25

The heavy rain and nearby storms of Saturday morning and afternoon broke up nicely early in the evening and made for a truly fantastic first party of the year; it was highlighted by plenty of wine, beer and the best food of the year combined with a stunning sunset! A special thank you to the new members, many of whom I had the privilege of meeting, for attending the event. The social calendar is full and just getting started; please join us for the remaining events of the year!

Friday, June 13th will be a special showing of “Melges – Wizard of Zenda” hosted by Stu and Julie Oltrogge at the Yacht Club.  Wine and beer plus hors devours will be available starting at 6:30, with the show starting at 7:00.

If you didn’t make it to the party on Saturday or were there but forgot to take your yearbook home, no problem.  They’re in the mail.  Look for them over the next few days to be delivered to your home.

Sunday, June 15th @ 1400… Yes that’s right folks, it’s Father’s Day Weekend and you know what that means!  The annual Russ Schurtz Memorial Dad/Mom/Lad/Lass Regatta is upon us!  I’m sure the X boat parents have been training for the past year for this event; long days under heat lamps and shower heads with a fan in the corner blowing on them… Some may have Gordon Ramsey kitchen rants playing in the background to give them the feeling of constant berating; yes, those are the truly prepared parents…

Early notice for the next major social event – Saturday, June 21st starting at 6:30 at the YC building again.

Speaking of important dates; the ILYA E Invitational is rapidly approaching!  Many have already booked their volunteer spots, however, many more volunteers are still needed for on-shore activities. Take a look at the volunteer positions open and sign up today! Volunteer Sign Up   Brandon Conway who is leading the charge of our safety crew on the water is looking for a bit of assistance.  If you’re able to help on the water, please contact Brandon via email at b_conway@hotmail.com.

The volunteers are essential to running a successful regatta…You know what else makes a successful regatta?  Registrations… You know, entering the regatta and saying you’re planning to race, supporting your home lake… 2 of 8 boats from the CLYC are registered right now…Please go out and register for your regatta.  E Scow Invite Registration

The Melges 15 fleet has a pretty exciting event coming soon.  The weekend of June 28-29, Toby Sutherland from White Bear will be in town conducting a clinic for our fleet.  If you don’t know who Toby is or why he may be qualified to run a clinic; do a quick Google search and see for yourself.  The guy’s pretty darn good…

The aforementioned disgusting weather kept all the fleets on shore Saturday; I guess one positive was being well rested for the party… Sunday morning dawned with a nice breeze; back-to-back races were at the front of the minds of everyone on the water.  That good breeze built steadily and caused the first “casualties” of the year… Well “first” if you don’t count Oz’s ooops a couple weeks ago… 4-5 capsized boats, broken equipment and one hospital visit (Brady Amble had a pretty good leg gash, but thankfully didn’t need stitches).  I think we’ve all gotten far too accustomed to the lighter winds and were caught off guard by “normal” Clear Lake conditions.  The wind was well within our limits…

The MC fleet was the first off the line with Mark and Todd Tesar leading the way with the rest of the fleet in hot pursuit. Mark Tesar led nearly to the end but Dan Allen passed Mark right before the finish. Todd Tesar made a comeback after hitting a mark to finish third, Oz was fourth, Jake Sorensen in fifth. In the second race, it was all Todd Tesar.  After a great start Todd nailed a big shift and it was all over; Todd led at every mark and took the bullet.  Mark Tesar put together a valiant effort but couldn’t get close enough, finishing second.  Oz finished third, Eric was fourth and Jake took another great fifth in tough conditions.

A Melges 15 isn’t quite as exciting as kiteboarding but the Thompson’s have taken to the boat and really excel in a heavy breeze.  Brad and Mary took race wins in both races Sunday.  Finley Nyhus with crew Matt Doane took a pair of seconds and were the only other team that didn’t tip over at least once (or so I heard). Will Finstad was third in the first race, then he fell victim to the high breeze and big waves, tipping over and not finishing the second race.  Dave Atkinson tipped over in race 1 (unverified rumor) but finished and then finished third in the big winds of Race 2.

Many of us have skippered an X boat over the years; we all remember the God awful amount of helm from that giant rudder… Young kids, a heavy boat, a huge rudder, that makes it tough in a breeze. The kids showed amazing resolve working through the ever building wind and waves. Garrett and Wes are on a tear as of late with 5 consecutive wins, 2 of them last Sunday. Griffin Harris with new crew Braxtyn Kennedy showed up in a big way taking second in the first race with Avery Tidrick in third.  In the second X race as the wind built more, stars shone through… Garrett once again took the bullet, Alida was definitely “On Pointe” with crew Oliver Thompson and took second. Sofia Allbee (fresh off an international trip visiting family) sailing with her cousin (I will get his name and include it in the next edition!), battled tough and showed their inner fortitude finishing third!  Did you notice a few new names mentioned there??? It’s fantastic!

The E and C fleets are having a tough go of it this season.  They’ve each completed just one race of a scheduled eight.  The rain and storms continued into Saturday afternoon which cancelled racing and Sunday the big winds began howling… Gusts eventually built over 30 causing yet another abandonment. Fingers crossed both fleets can get more races in soon!

The Sailing Center is off and running!  Week 1 has been successful to say the least… One word to describe it is definitely, “populated.”  A buzz is surrounding the programs and interest is soaring.  If you or your child, whomever, plan to attend any of the programs offered by the Center, I’d suggest you register soon!

I’ll see you on the water!  Until then…

Stay in the Clear Air.

Dan Allen
MC 2811 – Relentless 
dsallen@cltel.net
clyciowa.com
clearlakesailingcenter.com