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!