Tempting the Wind Gods...

Ben and I traveled to the Privateer Yacht Club in Chattanooga last weekend to participate in their District Championships. Two boats from that club came to our districts/Glow this year and this was an opportunity to reciprocate. Plus, it's just a really friendly club and one we get to every year, though usually in the spring. Anyway, the wind was strong both days. Probably about 18 mph, but the race committee did say one gust on Saturday measured 23.5. So, it was hard work.

We got a good start the first race and, to our utter amazement, were leading by almost a full leg by the second or third leg. Then about 10 boat lengths from the finish, Ben blurted out "I can't believe we're doing a horizon job on those guys!" Can you believe he did that?! Talk about tempting the wind gods.

And, sure enough, it couldn't have been more than three seconds later when a puff from an entirely different direction auto tacked our boat and Plop! Ben fell in the water!! I also got a nasty rope burn by my eye from the vang, but never mind that, we had to get Ben back in the boat. Luckily he managed to scramble back in the boat with a little help from me and, after some futzing around, trying to get out of irons and calm ourselves down a bit, we finished the race, still in first place. Phew!!

We had another first-place finish the second race, but we had been in third place the whole race and only with some crafty strategizing we were able to nip the other two boats by just a nose. Usually the shoe is on the other foot and we're being overtaken right at the finish, so we really enjoyed that! A third place finish in the third race and then two fourth-place finishes on Sunday dropped us to third place overall but we felt great about our performance. We very very rarely beat Rob Fowler and Scot Cline, the first place boat, or Ed Craig, the second place boat, so that was a real accomplishment.

The drive home was long, but worth it after a weekend of such great sailing!

Midwest District edition of Scots N Water...

Well, we don't have a longer post on the Glow to offer you; things got a little crazy right after that even, what with one child going to France for the semester and another starting college in California. Sorry about that! Still, you can read all about the Glow and the Whale/Egyptian/Leukemia Cup held at Carlyle Lake in the next edition of Scots N Water. We tried to submit a ton of stories so everyone will know what an active, friendly district we have!

Glow II and Midwest District Championships

A longer post will follow with some of the exciting details.  Suffice it to say, the conditions were perfect, the racing was very competitive, the parties were fun.  I'm pretty sure that everyone had a wonderful time.  Deb and I certainly did!

Pictures are worth 1000's of words - 

Line up at one of the starts on Saturday...

Glow II 2011 Winners, Rob Fowler and Scot Cline, who traveled all the way from Chattanooga, TN...

2011 Midwest District Champions, Ryan Malmgren and Amy Novak...

Photos above by Doug Williams.  Here is a link to all of Doug's photos from the regatta posted on Flickr:  CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PHOTOS

I am posting below the results for Glow and the Districts which were combined this year.  The results differ because we had some sailors from other districts competing in the Glow regatta.

2011 Glow II Regatta

Pos	Sail	Skipper	Crew 1 / Crew 2	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Total
1	5152	Rob Fowler	Scot Cline	1	1	1	3	3	9
2	5622	Ryan Malmgren	Amy Novak	2	2	5	5	1	15
3	5897	Ben Williams	Deb Aronson	5	4	4	2	4	19
4	5015	Frank Gerry	Marianne Gerry	6	5	6	1	2	20
5	5150	Larry Klick	James Williams	7	6	2	6	6	27
6	2512	Randy Adolphs	Kasi Rekoske	3	8	12	4	8	35
7	4788	Charles Howting	Luthor Torgerson	4	7	10	8	9	38
8	5892	Bill Vogler	Deb Torgerson	8	9	3	9	10	39
9	5551	Christopher Wright	Jon Wright	9	3	7	18 OCS	5	42
10	5404	Jack McClurkin	Dan Lopionski	12	13	15	7	7	54
11	3204	Stephen Grossman	Eric Grossman	11	15	8	11	11	56
12	5631	Eric Bussell	Rod Bussell	18	14	11	12	13	68
13	5356	Bill Humphries	Linda Lind	10	10	9	21	21	71
14	5927	Dave Sherwood	Emory Luth	16	12	14	16	15	73
15	4278	Geoff Endris	Patrick Endris	15	18	16	14	12	75
16	5638	Felicia Bamer	Linda Tatum / Adam Benson	13	17	13	15	18	76
17	2695	Walter Barniskis	Michael Barniskis	19	16	20	10	14	79
18	3683	Hugh Roberstson	Christina	14	11	17	21	21	84
19	2981	Ken Johnson	Teri Keeler / George Keeler	20	20	19	13	16	88
20	5681	Chistopher Tesdale	Bryce Davis	17	19	18	17	17	88

2011 Midwest District Championships

Pos	Sail	Skipper	Crew 1 / Crew 2	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Total
1	5622	Ryan Malmgren	Amy Novak	2	2	5	5	1	15
2	5897	Ben Williams	Deb Aronson	5	4	4	2	4	19
3	5015	Frank Gerry	Marianne Gerry	6	5	6	1	2	20
4	5150	Larry Klick	James Williams	7	6	2	6	6	27
5	2512	Randy Adolphs	Kasi Rekoske	3	8	12	4	8	35
6	4788	Charles Howting	Luthor Torgerson	4	7	10	8	9	38
7	5892	Bill Vogler	Deb Torgerson	8	9	3	9	10	39
8	5551	Christopher Wright	Jon Wright	9	3	7	18 OCS	5	42
9	5404	Jack McClurkin	Dan Lopionski	12	13	15	7	7	54
10	3204	Stephen Grossman	Eric Grossman	11	15	8	11	11	56
11	5631	Eric Bussell	Rod Bussell	18	14	11	12	13	68
12	5927	Dave Sherwood	Emory Luth	16	12	14	16	15	73
13	4278	Geoff Endris	Patrick Endris	15	18	16	14	12	75
14	5638	Felicia Bamer	Linda Tatum / Adam Benson	13	17	13	15	18	76
15	2695	Walter Barniskis	Michael Barniskis	19	16	20	10	14	79
16	2981	Ken Johnson	Teri Keeler / George Keeler	20	20	19	13	16	88

A Post from Marianne Gerry....

Reflections on 2011 NAC’s

Many of you don;t know me, but I am sure you all know Frank. When I go to a regatta, I am all about the sailing, the time outside in the sun and the physical and mental challenge of sailing in different places and different conditions. I don’t hang around and socialize too long so it takes longer to get to know me. Both Frank and I continue to strive to improve our sailing and do our best, no matter what place that gives us.

Anyway, on to the NACs. Two days of driving, first night a stop at Berlin Yacht Club in Ohio to pick up our boat and spend the night, see a few friends who were in the middle of overnight Junior Sailing Camp; 50 + kids; we didn’t hang around too long; afraid we’d get put to work.

I hadn’t even looked at any of the NAC promotion material until I began reading it on our second day of travel. WOW, I was impressed by the clear and concise instructions and the attention to every detail on paper. I asked Frank who wrote the instruction packet and he said either Hank or Melanie. When I met them both, I complimented the author; Melanie by the way. I tend to be a very organized person (some say OCD) and recognize and appreciate that trait in others.

As we pulled into Cedar Point Yacht Club, were greeted, directed, boat unhitched,etc. I realized the organization on paper had been transferred to reality. I have never attended a National Championship (17 years in the Highlander class and 6 NACs in the Flying Scot) where measuring was done so efficiently and stress free. I remember at other times, baking in the sun, waiting in line, tempers around me growing short and I won’t even tell you about my temper!! Ephram was pretty awesome but the addition of a full service yacht club at Cedar Point made the NACs that much better. I quickly found the upstairs balcony with shade and a breeze and not many people and it became my yoga studio every morning before racing.

We pulled into the Cedar Point Yacht Club parking lot at 4:15 pm on Saturday and were measured and registered by 5 pm. WHAT SERVICE

For the first time ever, we had time to sail on Sunday at a leisurely pace, try out our new spinnaker,( Ryan finally got there with spinnaker in bag) and get acquainted with the big water of Long Island Sound.

Day One, Monday July 11. Got there early so Frank could have time to play with the boat, socialize, and generally take his time. Not a problem for me, I used the time to go for a walk, check out the real estate, and do a nice yoga practice up on the balcony. An hour or hour and a half of exercise is my normal morning routine.

The first glitch in the NAC organization happened just when Scots began lining up at the hoist, and all of the dock space was taken up by Junior sailors in Optis for an hour. No wind and a hot day so we delayed for an hour and I am glad those Optis did us the favor of getting in the way. We still bobbed around until 2 pm waiting for the sea breeze to come in. The best favor the Optis did was to delay our race starts until noon for the rest of the week. The heat took it’s toll on me that day and I was glad I hadn’t planned on attending the Jimmy Buffet themed dinner that evening. I did throw my Jimmy Buffet Parrot T-Shirt and earrings and a lei into my suitcase, but never wore them; stayed in my room at the DoubleTree. AIR CONDITIONING and some chicken fajitas were much better than a social event.

Day Two July 12

We still haven’t figured out the wind on this BIG LAKE. Is there a favored side? Do we play the compass? Does the tide really make a difference? At least there was better wind today and we did finish respectably enough to make the Championship division.

Used the afternoon to hang around the yacht club. I headed for the beach where I took a dip on Monday after the races; glorious cool clean water,(never seen a midwest lake this clean). I was planning to do some serious lap swimming, invited Ben and Deb, Ryan and Carrie, Sarah and Charles, but no one was up for it. Just as well. It was low tide and there was no water for me to swim in. I walked out to the dock and dangled my feet in the 4 inches that had been over my head on Monday.

Day Three July 13

Yay, the wind is blowing nicely and the forecast is to build. Our Lake Erie years got us used to some pretty wild conditions, and taught us to respect the water but not fear those high winds. Contrary to most women, I actually love “balls to the wall” sailing. I remember some windy crazy rides being mad at Frank for not putting the chute up. Although I am a Master’s swimmer and swim 2000 yards or more three times a week, I do put my lifejacket on if it is blowing enough that I could get hurt. Doesn’t matter how good a swimmer you are, if you are unconscious. So when you see me with a lifejacket on, it’s definitely time to put on yours.

Day Four and Five

I confess it is now August 2 and two weeks past the NAC’s and I never finished this. I was writing in the van on the drive home to kill the time and as soon as I got home, all the minutiae of daily life took over and I never wrote again.

To sum it up, though, I had a good time at the NACs and everything went smoothly. Also as one of the locals told me, they had a “Chamber of Commerce” week for weather. The following week they and us were wallowing in the 100 degree nasty stuff.

One never knows what Mother Nature has planned so we got lucky that week. I think the weather is the number one factor in the success of any regatta. At this NACs they had everything else perfectly under control and someone must have paid the right bills to get the weather to cooperate too.

Photo from Ephraim...

Note to self; pay attention to what the local sailors are doing! We didn't keep an eye on Frank and Marianne Gerry at the Wife-Husband and on the last race they went far left and caught one of those magical lifts that put them 30 boat lengths ahead of the fleet. Yesterday (Sunday) it took us a race and a half to realize that Jay Lott knew what he was doing going hard right in the windy, wavy conditions at Ephraim.

Oh well, no one ever said we were fast learners!! Still, here we are, duking it out with the Van Egerens on Snout Dog!

2011 District Championship Registration & T-shirt order forms

I just posted links under "Favorite Links" and in this sentence for the District Championship Registration Form, T-shirt order form, and additional information, including hotels.

If you are interested in T-shirts, long or short sleeve, microfiber SPF 50, orders must be postmarked by August 8.  Early registration discount applies to registration forms postmarked by August 15.

Here's the new T-shirt image for this year:

Look forward to seeing you soon!

NAC Racing

What can I say? I didn’t know there could be five days of such perfect sailing weather, except maybe in San Diego or Shangri La. True, we bobbed around for a couple hours on Monday before the first qualifying races, but once we started, the wind came in just fine. All five days we had wind, sunshine and low humidity. Winds were moderate to strong Tuesday; hiking was involved and there were many more lumps than in our home waters. Wednesday it got windier and Thursday it blew like stink. Three boats went over that day, according to my sources, but except for Sandy Eustis’s badly squished hand (which was heavily bruised but not broken, thank goodness) there were no casualties. I witnessed Mark and Maria Benner, who also went over, get towed into the harbor wet but smiling. By Friday, when we had one race scheduled, the winds had died quite a bit and I spent more time in the boat than hiking out hard, as I had over the previous four days.

We had two races Monday. Ben and I were in the A Fleet (the boats were divided in four groups, A – D, for the round robin style qualifying races) and we felt like we were sailing in the Hall of Fame fleet, otherwise known as the hardest-fleet-ever, with Al and Katie Terhune, Kelly and Heidi Gough, Ryan Malmgren and Carrie Carpenter, and Mike and Amy Miller. And those were only the sailors we knew! There were plenty other amazing sailors in our fleet we’d never raced against. Still, that’s just me whining, because every fleet had its share of rock stars, this being the NACs.

We got off to a good start, however, and beat the rest of the fleet to the windward mark in the very first race, trading tacks with Al and Katie and holding them off until the leeward gate. We hung on to second place even though on the fourth leg, a downwind finish, we could practically hear some amazing skippers, including Kelly Gough, breathing down our necks.

After that race I told Ben I was happy, we could go home now! We came hoping to make the championship fleet, which we did not manage to do at last year NACs, so we were very happy with our first race. The next two qualifying races didn’t go quite as well for us (I’ll spare you any painful details) but we raced in moderate and fairly steady wind for both Monday and Tuesday and ended up 16^th going into the finals. In addition to us, Ryan Malmgren and Carrie Carpenter and Frank and Marianne Gerry flew the Midwest District flag in the Championship Fleet. Go Midwest!

Wednesday it was getting pretty windy, though it was certainly manageable. Ben had re-tied our vang so I could bend the boom much more than we ever could before. That really helped us keep the boat flat and made me feel much more useful since I didn’t run out of vang as soon as we started hiking. The second race Wednesday we had some more primo moments. Ben wanted the right side and he decided to try for a boat end start, something he doesn’t often do. The stars aligned and we “won” the boat end start and had speed and clear air almost immediately. The fleet split, as it so often does, to the left and the right and we ended up sailing in clean air right up the middle, so we liked our position. We liked it even more when we rounded the windward mark in the lead, in front of Andrew Eagan and Al Terhune! Not surprisingly, after half a leg, we lost the lead, but still enjoyed the company while it lasted. Instead of trying to stick with them when they tacked back to the center of the course, we kept going right. Bye Andrew! Bye Al! I think that decision to keep going lost us about 10 boats, it turned out. So we learned a good lesson; when you are that close to those kind of sailors it’s fine to just follow them around the course! We finished 18^th in that race.

Thursday was the windiest day of all. I would say it was steady 18 with gusts to 25. We handled the boat fine, though I mostly remember a lot of hiking and pulling on the vang than strategy. We had a great time, though, and we gybed well, without any close calls. We are a relatively light boat, but we did manage to keep her pretty flat. By the end of the second race I’d say the wind had moderated somewhat, but the funny thing is how much stronger the wind seemed in the approach to the harbor. Not just Thursday, but Wednesday and Tuesday too. We’d finish our races, relax a little and then have to work really hard to get to the docks.

Friday we had just one race and, although some were worried we’d have no wind, the northerly having blown itself out on Thursday, the conditions were really lovely. Steady wind at maybe 8 knots or so. Very few gusts. The water was lumpier than I’m used to but nothing terrible. We had a great first leg and were in the front group approaching the windward mark but we ended up trying to squeeze in where we had no rights and hit the mark.

We learned a good lesson that, unfortunately, we’ve learned before. Hopefully this time it will stick. When approaching the mark on port tack, every boat below us, even if they are currently on port tack, is a boat to be concerned with since they’ll all be at the mark around the same time as we will. That seems so self evident I’m embarrassed to say it, but I just did not talk to Ben about those boats and when we got to the mark we faced this wall of boats and no hole, no gap at all. We couldn’t bring ourselves to duck this mass of boats though that is what we should have done. Instead, having hit the mark we did circles and took a big mental hit as well. We worked hard to recover but soon realized we were both physically and mentally exhausted and, try and we might, the rest of the race was probably our weakest. We were happy and relieved to finish 25^th in that race. When all the scores were added up, we ended up 21^st in the championship fleet, better than we expected. We learned a lot and look forward to next years NACs in the familiar waters of Carlyle Lake.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Things that have been sighted floating on the water this NACs: big, red jellyfish; boom crutch; horseshoe crab hanging “prow” out of the water; paddle; cormorant; spinnaker pole, only for a moment and not ours. Oh, and a huge mass of seaweed wrapped around our centerboard after rounding the leeward gate in Wednesday's second race.

Cedarpoint Yacht Club NACs

We’re at the fourth day of the NACs and I haven’t blogged yet! I’m going to make a quick installment. Let’s call this the food chapter. We’ll talk about yesterday’s racing tonight.

So let’s talk about the food! The first night of the NACs, before we’d even sailed a single race, there was a spread of hors d’oeuvres that most would have called dinner, but no, Cedarpoint Yacht Club was not satisfied with that offering, which included things like cream cheese topped with jam and jalapeno peppers and spread on bread, chicken wings, great TexMex dips, good mix of cheeses and more.

Then came dinner. For dinner, we had a pasta bar, with the chefs standing by to serve up a choice of four kinds of pasta, and marinara sauce, pesto or a vodka/cream sauce. I’m telling you, we ate like kings!

Last night, which was Wednesday, we had a clambake on Sprite Island Yacht Club, the co-hosts of the regatta. Sprite Island is just what it sounds like, an island. To get there we were picked up by one of a fleet of little flat-bottomed motorboats driven by a team of handsome young men. It was a gorgeous evening with enough wind to keep most of the bugs away and they had a great band playing music we recognized, like Van Morrison and Creedence Clearwater Revival and Jimmy Buffett. Forrest Rogers’ wife, Betty, told us about the lovely view on the backside of the island, so we walked around and found ourselves on a bluff overlooking the Sound. There was a club race going on over at Cedarpoint Yacht Club, which we could see easily. Shortly after we returned, the lobster/steak dinner was served. Sandy Eustis announced at our table that, of the last 15 NACs he attended, this was the best ever. It was hard to disagree.

Packin' for the NACs

So here it is Tuesday and we're packin' for the NACs! Heading out early to visit my family in Bethesda, MD. The boat is all set, but I'm struggling with the clothes. Sadly, we have no clothes with our club logo on it and I have nothing for parrothead night!! Woe is me!! Who knew sailing could be so stressful?!

Ah well, we've paid our money, we've packed our measurement certificate and our trailer is road legal, so the rest is just details.

Hit the road!!

106th Annual Ephraim Regatta, August 5-7

Below is an announcement from Jay Lott about the upcoming Ephraim Regatta.  If you've not been to this event before, you really should plan to attend this year.  The sailing is always great, the location is stunningly beautiful, and the hospitality can't be beat and includes two great parties.  If you are a regular at this regatta, you already know all of this, so make your plans to attend now!

From Jay:
The Ephraim Yacht Club, Door County, Wisconsin, invites you to the 106th annual Ephraim Regatta, August 5-6-7, 2011.  The Ephraim Regatta is one of the largest and best-known Flying Scot regattas, typically attracting over 30 Flying Scots.  There will be two parties, and great sailing on the clear clean waters of Eagle Harbor.  For more information, the NOR, and a registration form, go to www.eyc.org/racing. Questions?  Contact regatta chair Jay Lott jaylott01@gmail.com

Annual Pig Roast Regatta Held at Cowan Lake

You know that old saw about "for want of a nail, a shoe was lost .." etc? Well, we almost had something like that happen this past weekend at Cowan Lake. This morning (Sunday) as we headed to the racecourse for our second day of racing, Ben found that he had a screw loose ... in his glasses, I mean! He was on the verge of losing the lense. Thankfully, the screwdriver on my Leatherman was just the right size and he was able to fix his glasses.

That was lucky because, as of this morning we were in contention for first place (quite a rare occurance for us). Rob Tikoft, a Cowan Lake sailor who we have met at many other regattas as well, was just ahead of us in the standings. After us there were several other sailors, including two other traveling boats, Sandy and Keith Eustis (formerly of Cowan, now of Lake Koewee in S.C.) and Tom Hohler and Chris Czapleski that we had to worry about. I was relieved that Ben was going to be able to see what he was doing.

This was my first time at Cowan Lake, though Ben had been a couple times with other crew. It is a lovely lake and the people are incredibly friendly.They are Flying Scot Fleet One, so they have a long history of Flying Scots and still have a large and strong fleet (as well as an active fleet of Snipes, Highlanders, Y Flyers and Lightnings). I'm going to try to post a photograph of the club, which sits at the top of a very high, grassy hill overlooking the lake, which only allows 9 horsepower motors on it, I might add. As an aside, Saturday evening there was a really interesting and lively presentation by Steve Tsuchiya, a club member, Flyiing Scot sailor and America's Cup historian. I thought I was too beat to listen, but I really really enjoyed it! Steve was an engaging and entertaining speaker.

The race committee ran Olympic Modified courses the whole weekend, which is rare for Flying Scots, at least in my experience. My main concern was we might forget about the reaching mark, but no worries. Saturday the winds were light and shifty. There were about 12 boats in the Championship (aka Hogs) fleet and 7 in the Challenger (aka Oinkers) fleet. We got two good races in, with the lead changing frequently, what with those shifty conditions, etc. In the end, Rob Tikoft won a race and Tom Hohler won a race. Ben and I finished a consistent 2nd and 3rd.

Today there was more breeze and slightly steadier winds. Ben and I got to the first windward mark in the lead after an awesome start and led the rest of the way around. All we had to do to win this regatta was finish about mid fleet, assuming our closest competition was only a few boats ahead of us. So what happened? Well, we were over early on the last start! Ack! Okay, that's okay, we re-started, got the all clear and put our heads down to try to recover from that mistake. We found some wind, we liked the right side of the course, we worked on good boat balance and sail trim; it was, in the words of Ryan Malmgren, hard work conditions. As we approached the windward mark, I was hoping we'd be maybe mid-fleet if we were lucky. I looked up from whatever I was doing to see that we were going to be first around the mark because two boats to leeward of us could not fetch the mark!

We continued around the course and successfully finished first, again. That is not something we do often, so two bullets in a day was really special. Happy Father's Day, Ben! The traveling trophy is a concrete pig that has got to weight 30 pounds. We get to write our names on it and bring it back next year.

I also want to mention that, in the final standings, every boat that trophied had Mad Sails, so that's a great plug for our very own Ryan Malmgren's sailmaking prowess!

Steve Hartman, co-founder of Glow Regatta, Dies

Hello All
I am saddened to have to report that longtime Flying Scot sailor Steve Hartman died this week from an infection. He was 64. Steve was a legend at the Clinton Lake Sailing Association, especially for establishing the Glow-in-the-Dark regatta, which drew sailors from as far as Texas and Florida. The regatta was as well known for its fabulous food, courtesy of Steve, as its great racing, complete with wacky trophies, even including a toilet seat!

Several years ago Steve stopped sailing his Scot and he, his brother, Mike, and his cousin, Jerry, stopped hosting the Glow. But more recently Steve had become enthusiastic about sailing again and about supporting the revived Glow. Steve and his son-in-law, Eric Bussell, sailed together in the Flying Scot Midwinters in Sarasota last March.

Steve helped and encouraged Eric and Eric's father, Rod, to become active in the Flying Scot fleet at Clinton Lake. Ben and I had the honor and pleasure of meeting Steve in Sarasota this past March and enjoyed his ideas, enthusiasm and support for the upcoming Glow regatta.

He will be sorely missed by the Flying Scot community.

2011 Wife-Husband is at Delevan: Be there or be square!

A fleet in the Midwest District is hosting the prestigious FS 2011 Wife-Husband Regatta, July 30 -31.  Delevan Lake Yacht Club is hosting the event this year, and it promises to be great fun.  Delevan is a beautiful lake, and the Delevan Lake Yacht Club is top notch venue with superb race management and on-shore hospitality.

Deb and I attended our second Wife-Husband last season at Lake Norman.  Challenging sailing conditions, but still a great time. Our first Wife-Husband, the year before, was at Oklahoma City, but was blown out.  The wind never dropped below 35 mph --- but the important point is that we still had a wonderful time on shore.  The Wife-Husband is one of those very special FS events that make the class unique.  If you've never been to one of these, you really owe it to yourself to put it on your calendar.  If we give this regatta the strong support it deserves, perhaps one our Midwest teams will be crowned Wife-Husband National Champions for 2011.  So, start planning ahead now, and consider marrying your crew (or skipper) if necessary....there's still time....it's been done before, as I learned over dinner at the Lake Norman event last year.

Link to NOR:  NOR 2011 Wife-Husband Regatta

Notice of Race for 2011 Midwest District Championship

DATE:  August 26 - 28, 2011
LOCATION:  Clinton Lake Sailing Association, Clinton Lake, IL

Here's a link to the NOR for the combined 2011 District Championship and Glow II regatta.  Please note that this is ONE MONTH EARLIER than the regular Glow II date. 

Link to NOR:   NOR 2011 Districts & Glow II

Egyptian Cup Rescheduled Due to Flooding at CSA

We got the following email from Bill Clark of FS Fleet 83 at Lake Carlyle:

Flying Scot Sailors,

Due to near record flooding on Carlyle Lake, it has become necessary for
Flying Scot Fleet #83, at the Carlyle Sailing Association (CSA), to
reschedule the 2011 Annual Flying Scot Egyptian Cup Regatta (ECR).  The
current lake water level and the clean up that follows a flood of this
magnitude does not allow us to have the Egyptian Cup Regatta as scheduled on
4-5 June 2011.

We have rescheduled the 2011 Flying Scot Egyptian Cup Regatta by combining
it with our annual CSA Whale of a Sail Regatta being held this fall at the
Carlyle Sailing Association on 17-18 September 2011.  Hopefully everyone who
was planning on attending the ECR in June will be able to adjust their
schedules and will attend the Whale of a Sail/Flying Scot Egyptian Cup
Regatta this fall.

Please continue to check our CSA web site for the latest information on club
activities and regatta schedules.

http://csa-sailing.org/Welcome_to_CSA.html

Note:  CSA has cancelled all activities and sailing events for May including
the Leukemia Cup Regatta scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend.  The Leukemia
Cup Regatta has been rescheduled for 29-31 July 2011.

Please forward this email to anyone you know who may be planning on
attending the ECR or Leukemia Cup Regatta.

For any questions regarding the new date and registration for the ECR, see
or web site or contact Mike Pitzer (see below).

Bill Clark
FS #5270

Deb's Sunday report, Great 48

Yesterday when we headed out to the race course the wind was alternately light, wispy or non existent, and the chance of getting any races off seemed low. But the wind came in after an hour and we had three great races. Today as we headed out to the race course the wind looked perfect; maybe 4 or 5 knots and steady. But the wind quickly came down and by the time we were about halfway up the first leg it was looking light, wispy and non-existent. Just goes to show, you never can tell!

Happily, the race committee shortened the race as the wind died, and we sailed just two legs. Taking down the spinnaker half way down the "downwind" leg as the wind came in from the opposite direction and we sailing upwind ... again! I will say, even with these goofy conditions, Ben and I had our best finish ever at Lake Norman. We were second across the line behind Lake Norman skipper Chuck Gise. We were very pleased with that, since there are always really great sailors at Lake Norman.

Top Five Finishers:
First place, John Aras and John Wake
Second place, Paul Abdullah and Alex Krumdieck
Third place, Ben Williams and Deb Aronson
Fourth place, Harry Carpenter and Adam Keen
Fifth place, Steve Shaw and Mark Lally

Link to full results:   Full Results, 2011 Great 48

Deb's Saturday report from Great 48

Ben and I were going through sailing withdrawal. Since the Midwinters in March (Sarasota) we hadn't been on the water. The Great 48 is hosted by Lake Norman Yacht Club in Mooresville, NC, just outside of Charlotte. That's a long drive for us (no duh, I can hear you saying!) but it's always worth it. This is just such a friendly and generous club that, no matter the sailing conditions, we have a good time. This year 33 boats registered and we sailed all in one fleet.

Yesterday (it's Sunday morning right now) things look dubious. We all got to the race course a bit before 1 pm and then bobbed around like corks for more than an hour. The race committee's patience paid off when the breeze filled in very nicely from the southwest. They ran three great races. This is such a tough fleet that, at the end of the day six boats are within three points of each other, with four boats (including us and Harry Carpenter) tied for fourth!

At the top are John Aras and John Wake with four points, Paul Abdullah and Alex Krumdieck with five points. Next is Steve Shaw with crew Mark Lally.

The social part of the regatta is all things Scottish! In addition to a bagpipe player that performed even as we were sailing into the harbor at the end of the day and then throughout the evening's festivities. We were all required to wear "kilts," which we made with a length of plaid cloth and a rough rope belt and there were competitions in the "boom toss" (hold a boom at the end and try to throw it as far as you can), bocce ball throw and barrel toss. I'll post pictures when we get home...forgot the darn camera cable! Winners in both the men's and women's division won, what else, a small bottle of Scotch! At dinner the tablecloths also were plaid and plaid bunting was hung around the room. I'm only relieved we didn't have to eat haggis!

Link to Nice Midwinters Photos

Some great photos from the midwinters are posted on the Florida District blog:
click here for photos

All of the photos on Picassa.

Deb's Midwinters Wrap Up

Banyan Tree at Ringling Museum



Ben and SSS cat - very friendly (the cat, that is)


Jeff Linton and Amy Smith "King
and Queen of the Flyweights"
wearing their crowns

Well, the wind gods were not interested in letting us get a last day of racing in. Friday dawned quiet and sunny and Ben and I were psyched for a day of light-wind racing. We had visions of everyone being able to participate and maybe even squeezing three races in. We were about the third boat in the water, energized by our optimism. But, sadly, as soon as our boat got to the end of the dock, WHAM!, the wind came in. It seemed like the wind went from about 3 to 18 knots in the blink of an eye and never let up. Big, fat bummer.



The wind did prompt Ben to just double check the official maximum wind guidelines, which are on the fssa.com website. They are: 20 knots with gusts to 22 or 24 miles per hour with gusts to 26. Here's the link to the word document from fssa.com: condition guidelines.





So the Sarasota Sailing Squadron put out food and handed out awards and everyone packed up their boats and hit the road. We headed north. It is 35 degrees in Illinois today. I am faced with mountains of dirty laundry, mail and work..... Sarasota, 80 degree, sunny days and Caribbean blue waters are just sweet memories.

Links to the the 2011 Midwinter Championship Results

Championship Results

Challenger Results

Thursday...Deluge

This morning a monster storm came through and we stayed snug and dry in our new tent. Ben and I made a dash for the car in a lull but when we got there, the car – all the cars — were sitting in a pond. Since my feet were already sopping wet and I had capris on, I volunteered to get the car. I figured the puddle was just a few inches deep. Instead I went in up to the edge of my capris and my shoes practically floated off my feet! Still, I hopped in, picked up Ben and we headed to town for breakfast. We found our new favorite breakfast place, the Blue Dolphin, which has awesome breakfast food. My spinach and feta omelet was the best ever and the coffee was perfect. It must be a good place because we bumped into Jay Lott, fellow Scot sailor from Ephraim, who had discovered the spot a few days earlier. Coming back to the club, bellies full, we ran into other tent campers who were headed out to find a hot breakfast and dry off. We sent them to the Blue Dolphin.

Meanwhile, the race committee consulted the oracles and decided that the front coming in would make for unpredictable winds and that we should wait and finish the regatta on Friday. We have had five races so far, so we're in good shape. Now Ben and I will go to the Ringling Museum, where you can learn about the circus and see the amazing Ringling mansion and estate.

Day Two of Midwinters

Boy Howdy! Yesterday was some fun, with winds of about 18 with gusts to mid 20s or more. It was gorgeous weather; the water was Caribbean blue, and the sun on the white caps made a lovely sight, like the cover of a travel brochure. There was a spectators’ boat with a deck that was really high above the water. It had about a dozen people on it and I imagine they had great fun watching the action.

Behind the scenes, however, my fingers were puckered and my drawers were droopy with the drenching I got as front crew. I was smiling — or occasionally grimacing — the whole time.

Ben did a good job of keeping the boat flat, considering we were pretty light (320 lb). Jeff Linton has inducted us into the “fly weights club” and we are in good company, between him and his crew/wife Amy Smith and Mike and Amy Miller, who are less than either us or the Lintons.

We sat back in the boat and Sophie seemed to like that a lot. On the spinnaker legs our light weight occasionally paid off. One time we had what seemed like a three-minute continuous plane right down the rhumb line to the gate, passing a few boat on either side.

We’ll see what today brings, but we’ve got five races in already; two on Tuesday in moderate wind (that post got lost in the ether) and three in yesterday’s blow. This morning a huge storm came through, which I’ll write about shortly.

My First Midwinters...So Far So Good

This is my first post to the Midwest District Blog. I sail FS 5631 Wind Talker and started sailing last year. I am a member of Fleet 135 (Clinton, IL). This year I want to learn how to sail fast and hope to be able to keep up with some of the faster sailors.

This year I am attending my first Midwinters Regatta in Sarasota, Florida with Steve Hartman. The host this year is the Sarasota Sailing Squadron. Wow! That was my first impression of the host club, the welcoming committee, the organization, the facilities, and all the friendly sailors from across the country.

60+ boats are competing and it has been fun to watch. Unfortunately, the windy conditions (15-20 mph) are a little too much for my experience level. Steve and I decided to hitch a ride aboard Jerry Hartman's cruising boat Charisma and watch the action.

I wanted to be racing, but how can I complain when I'm drinking a cold Miller Lite on a boat in sunny Sarasota, Florida? Here is a video of the second start of Day 2 Championship Division:



The racing was great to watch! After reading some books over the winter break, it was interesting to watch the starts from our vantage point. I think I learned a thing or two from watching the pros, but we'll find out this spring when I get back in the boat.

While on board Charisma I heard story after about about many past regattas and particularly the Glow in the Dark Regatta. Steve and Jerry were former Fleet 135 regulars in Clinton, IL and highly involved with "the Glow". The Glow in the Dark was a regatta hosted annually at Clinton Lake. From what I gather, anyone who has been around Flying Scot sailing for a while has heard of The Glow. If you are like me and new to Flying Scots, apparently we missed a hell of a good time (and great sailing).

After returning to the harbor (and towing in a broken boat), I grabbed a beer with fellow Fleet 135 sailor John Heizer. While at the bar, we heard Nautical Bob on the microphone referencing The Glow and telling those gathering for the top gun briefing how he earned his nickname at the Glow in the Dark. I thought this was very interesting because (1) I just heard several stories about The Glow and (2) The Glow regatta will be the venue for the Midwest District Championships. I tracked down Nautical Bob and he explained how he got his nickname:



I'm appreciating that regattas can provide great sailing and great company. I'm taking notes because the the Sarasota Sailing Squadron and the racing committee is doing a great job so far. The Clinton Lake Sailing Association will not be hosting The Glow until September, but I'm already looking forward to hosting these great sailors at our club. Hopefully a few of them will make the trip.

There are still a few days left at the Midwinters. I'm sure Deb will fill you in the details. As a newbie attending my first national regatta, I'm already looking forward to my next Midwinters.

Hopefully the wind will die down so we can get out on the racecourse...

First Day at Sarasota

Yesterday was the first day of racing at the actual Midwinters. The club, Sarasota Sailing Squadron, has two ramps with long docks, and one hoist. The organizers developed a pretty creative system to help get all the boats in the water. We have one number that goes on our bow and on our trailer and also matches our parking spot number. They have a posse of young men driving several tractors that put us in the water, then return our trailer to its designated spot. Coming in, they see our bow number, drive off and get the trailer in that spot, arrive at the ramp with our trailer, help get our boat on the trailer and then drive off to drop it in our spot before zipping off for the next boat.

At least eight boats from the Midwest district are here: Jay Lott and Cain Gottleman, Ryan Malmgren and Carrie Carpenter, (both from Ephraim) Shannon and Mark Wilfert, Chuck Howting and Luther Torgerson (Madison), Larry Klick (Medicine Lake), Eric Bussell and Steve Hartman, John Heizer and Jen Liu (both from Clinton Lake), Felicia Bamer (Carlyle Lake) and us.

We had nice light wind yesterday, which Ben and I really enjoyed. Gotta run! I see the tractor coming with our boat on it and I gotta go help put it in.

Davis Island, MidWinter WarmsUps

Well, hard to believe but it has been 80 degrees down here in Florida! Saturday and Sunday we did the Davis Island warm up regatta. We had 29 boats - our Midwest fleet was nicely represented with Jay Lott and Ryan Malmgren from Ephraim, Shannon and Mark Wilfert from Madison, and Ben and me from Clinton Lake.

Saturday night was Hawaiian shirt night, though the dress ranged beyond shirts to dresses, flip flops (mine but no one else saw them!), doo-rags and more. The organizers had almost a dozen sponsors, so there were tons of prizes, both for best Hawaiian outfits, farthest distance traveled (our own Jay Lott, who drove three days on his own from Ephraim!!) and closest, Jeff and Amy Linton, who I believe can walk to the club if they are so inclined. Carrie Carpenter won best Hawaiian outfit for women with a lovely dress in an exotic Hawaiian print. Sandy Eustis, of Keowee Sailing Club in South Carolina, won for men. Our table helped in the voting, since he was sitting with us and with Tom Hohler and his wife, Chris. Since voting was a voice vote and Tom has a really loud voice, I'm telling you, really loud!, we pushed the voting to Sandy!

The race committee was tough, "promising" us 10 races over the two days. No one I talked to was thrilled at that prospect, I can tell you! We never got that many races in, which was a relief. Still Saturday we had four races. That's a lot for those of us who haven't sailed for more than six months. The winds settled a bit and clocked right as the day went on, not counting some dramatic flip flops the last race.

Today we woke to really high winds and white caps everywhere. Jeff Linton announced he wasn't going out in those conditions and all the crew that were nearby cheered him. But an hour later the wind came down, so that we all changed our mind and headed out. We were looking at a nice, mellow day of 5-7, though there were still waves. Unfortunately, by about halfway up the first windward leg the wind built to the point where we ran one race and then race committee sent everyone in. I think there were a few breakdowns but everyone stayed upright and came off the water smiling.

The regatta committee did a great job; it was really well run and out-of-towners were made to feel really really welcome. On to Sarasota Sailing Squadron!!

Hitting the Road for the Midwinters

Running around trying to both pack up for the trip to Davis Island (for the Midwinter warm ups) and Sarasota Sailing Squadron for the Midwinters, and tie up loose ends at work. I need another 10 hours!! Ah well, once we hit the road none of that will matter, and whatever doesn't get done can be dealt with later. If we can just remember sunglasses and sails we'll be all set. The snow has just melted here in Urbana, Illinois, and it's kind of hard to get my head around packing for sunny and 70-degree weather. Sigh, life's tough, isn't it?!

Who else is headed south from the Midwest District? Will we see you on the road?

Ephraim Yacht Club, 2011 Ephraim Regatta

Please be the guest of the Ephraim Yacht Club at the 2011 Ephraim Regatta, the 106th consecutive Ephraim Regatta. Last year this was one of the largest Scot regattas in the country, with 30 boats entered. The EYC expects to host the 2012 Flying Scot Midwest District Championships, so the 2011 Ephraim Regatta will be a good way to gain some local knowledge in advance of that event.

The Ephraim Regatta takes place in a beautiful sailing venue (ask anyone who attended the award-winning 2009 NAC), and includes two excellent parties (with beer). We are an easy weekend trip for anyone in the Midwestern district.

The NOR, Welcome and Information Letter, and Registration Form are now posted at www.eyc.org/racing

Contact me with questions: jaylott01@gmail.com

Hope to see you there!

Jay Lott
FS 5698
Ephraim Regatta Chairman