Sunday we were expecting wispy, light wind, even lighter than Saturday, so we were pleasantly surprised when, about 30 minutes before the first race started the wind filled in quite nicely. Not heavy, mind you, but enough to prevent a real shake and bake experience.
The high point of my day was the very first start, which was VERY fun! We duked it out at the pin end with a bunch of really good sailors and just squeaked by the pin, missing it by a whisker, and had good speed. Alas, after half a leg the fleet was called back — general recall.
Even with the decent wind, the water was choppy. Ben did a good job driving the boat through the waves and I did okay on weight management, but we were not at the top of our game. Despite a couple decent starts and good upwind legs — or at least parts that were good — we could not find our groove. Still, we didn’t make any glaring errors and ended up 12th out of 31 boats. Not too shabby. That Ephraim is a tough, tough fleet!
Meanwhile, shortly after we got off the water, Ben came down with a massive caffeine withdrawal headache .. maybe it was that weak coffee at our breakfast restaurant? Hmmm, perhaps we should carry our cappuccino maker on board!!
Ryan and Evan were really going fast on Sunday, scoring two bullets, which gave them the series win. Congrats Ryan and Evan! Local Ephraim sailors Mike Faugust, Jay Lott, and Cain Goettleman filled out the rest of the top four places. In fifth, from Medicine Lake, was Larry Klick. Just out of the trophies in sixth was Harry Carpenter, who sailed in a borrowed boat with Carrie. Harry and Carrie had a strong second day with two third place finishes.
Ryan Malmgren and Harry Carpenter also very generously gave a great seminar after the races Saturday, which was greatly appreciated.
Meanwhile, our fellow Clinton sailors John Heizer and Jen Liu looked great out there, finishing 21st and Eric and Rod Bussell, at their first Scot regatta ever, came away with a 25th place and — I think — a lot of good experiences!
Photos by Doug Williams
The rest of Doug's photos from the regatta and Jay's party can be found on Flickr: Ephraim Regatta Photos by Doug Williams
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