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| view from Joe and Linda Budden's boat on Sunday |
Well, having done this event 11 years now, we’ve got a
pretty good system down. But we still haven’t figured out how to control the
wind. So this article will be more about the food than it will be about the
racing!
This year (perhaps because it was also the Midwest
Districts?) we had 31 boats registered. I always pride myself in the number of
returning participants we have; many people have never missed a Glow since we
revived it and that feels good. But this year I was also specially tickled to
have five new traveling boats: Jim Moyle, Jim and Jennifer Colegrove, Mark and
Michele Taylor, Kerry Pebbles (who had as crew Allen Shaklee, a new CLSA
member), and Mike and Connie Conrad. Mark and Michele flew up from the Tampa
area when their regularly scheduled regatta was cancelled due to Irma. With
cheap plane tickets and family in our area it was a win-win! We provided them with
a boat and sails (they brought their own spinnaker). We were only sorry we
couldn’t provide more wind.
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| Another high point was our shower!! Worked better than ever this year. This is the crew that helped set it up...from left, Eric Bussell, Trent Johnson and Bruce Kitchen |
Because it was also the districts, we held our traditional
single-hand race series on Friday. Rod Bussell and Heather Johnson served as
PRO and Dick Hanson drove the safety boat. The committee ran two races and the
competition was very tight, with Bruce Kitchen taking a 1st and a 2nd
, Eric Bussell finishing 3rd and 1st and Rick Wojnar with
a second and a fourth-place finish for the top three boats. The cool thing is
we had 11 boats for an event that typically attracts just 4-5. Perhaps the
light wind helped?
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| boats coming in after the single hand |
The potluck Friday was raucous, people brought their
appetites and we plowed through all the brats and burgers that Frank and
Marianne brought and the chicken that Ben Williams grilled. No one went away
hungry, though, with plenty of hearty side dishes, desserts and beer (plus
Tito’s Vodka courtesy of Kerry Pebbles and rum and coke courtesy of CLSA member
Rick Langlois!).
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| Dan conducting competitors' meeting |
Saturday dawned hot and still. Really hot. Very still. Heat advisory hot. We
made lots of announcements about the low lake level and how to leave the dock
without running aground but we never really left the dock Saturday. Race
committee, headed by Dan Goldberg and Dave August from Pittsburgh, PA, and
Moraine Sailing Club, tried to whistle up the wind. They kept looking for it
and even when they were on shore, the support boats captained by Dick Hanson
and Gary Magnuson spent all day out in the heat doing a wind dance. To no
avail.
On shore we went to get out our tailgate toss game, only to
realize we’d lost the bean bags. We had a volleyball game but it was too hot
for that kind of nonsense and we didn’t even bother. People mostly seemed happy
lolling in the shade. It was so hot many people moved from the pavilion to the
shade of the trees closer to the water in the hopes of a tiny bit of air
circulation. After a valiant effort, Dan called the day at about 2:30, everyone
cheered and several people headed into Clinton to explore the Pork and Apple
Festival.
Meanwhile, Luther Torgerson had gone on a quest for Mount
Gay rum in order to make something I’d never heard of, the Sailor’s Drink.
That’s Mount Gay, tonic and lime. He said the tonic was to prevent malaria
(because of the quinine) and the lime prevented scurvy, so it was a healthy
drink! I will say it was very refreshing.
Apparently it has a long proud history because when I told
Mark Taylor what I was drinking I got a hug! So now I’m a real sailor!!
Another high point alcohol-wise was Tom Yeagle's presenting a custom made, actually two custom made beers from his nephew made in honor of the Glow. One was a traditional porter and the other a honey porter. Delicious! I only was sorry I had already drunk the rum!!
Saturday dinner was grill-to-order steaks and the grill masters,
Bronson Bowling and John Cassada, really had a tough job in the heat. But
gradually the day cooled down we got out the glow sticks and the refreshments
and everyone had a grand old time. There was lots of talk of being glad we
weren’t sent out in the blazing heat to sit on the lake and wait for wind, so
Dan Goldberg really made the right call.
Next morning our breakfast crew of Rachel Bowling, Marianne
Gerry and Lynn Kitchen (you’ll notice two of the three of the team are from
other fleets … Lynn is from another DISTRICT!!) stepped up and provided
enormous breakfast casseroles, including everything from biscuits, sausage and
eggs to corned beef hash. We heated them on the grill. And by we, I mean Trent
Johnson, who earned extra wings in heaven by getting up each morning before
dawn to make coffee. Sunday, he also started the fire for the casseroles and
had them already warming when I stumbled out of my tent about 7 or so. Life is Good!
Okay, then we raced! A little bit. We started the racing 30 minutes
earlier than scheduled in the hopes of squeezing a few races in. Before we
started we tried to do a sailing tribute to Greg and Linda Vitt. We pinned ribbons on our sails with the Vitts’
sail number on it, and sailed in a sort of short parade upwind (led by Bronson
Bowling from Carlyle Sailing Association, the Vitts’ home club) and then
downwind Bronson hoisted the Vitts spinnaker (which he “borrowed” without their
knowing it) and parade back toward the committee boat. Eric Bussell had plans
to stream it all on Facebook Live. He even had a drone!! Aggravatingly, the
internet world chose Sunday morning to insist Eric perform some kind of system
upgrade just as we started our tribute. So we did it … but it didn’t get
streamed like we envisioned. Best laid plans and all that.
Anyway, after that, we raced! The wind was so light that
crossing the starting line was tough but we had moments of pressure. Everyone
had different moments. And everyone sailed into a hole or multiple holes. The
wind became so light that Dan shorted the first race to two legs. The finish
was unbelievable. I’ll have to find some photos. Luckily, Erin Bauer had video
recorded the whole finish. It then took them 20-30 minutes of replaying the
tape (back on shore) to determine how each boat finished. Tough, tough
competition.
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| this is near the finish! |
The second race had enough pressure that we sailed all three
legs. But th The rest of the fleet was spread
pretty far and wide and there was not a lot of wind coming from anywhere, so
the race committee decided that was all the racing we could get out of the day’s
wind and we headed to shore.
Where we had more food!! We cooked up 65 burgers for people
to enjoy before the travelers hit the road. Some, including both the race
committee and Mark and Maria Benner, had come from the Pittsburgh area, so that’s
a long trek home.
We had lots of trophies to give out because it was not only
the District Championship and the Glow in the Dark, but it is the last regatta
of the season for the Midwest District. For that reason, we also award the
traveling trophy (we had 16 qualifiers this year). Should have taken a picture of all those people...
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| All of Fleet 135 posing for the Fleet 135 trophy (to three highest finishing boats from a single fleet. That was Fleet 135. Confusing, I know! |
This year District Governor
Bronson Bowling also inaugurated the Whippersnapper award, which goes to the
top finishing skipper and the top finishing crew who is younger than 32 years
old. (Bronson is 32 and his wife, Rachel, didn’t want him to make a trophy he
was eligible for!). The winners were Skipper: Rick Wojnar, and Crew: Tess
Burant. Congratulations!! And let’s hear it for the Whippersnappers!!!
And then, with lots of hugs and back slapping, our visitors hooked up their boats, got in their cars and drove away. Until next year!
