First Midwest District Event: Egyptian Cup

The Midwest District regattas got a little squished together this year in an effort to avoid conflicting with the North Americans. So this past weekend Carlyle Lake held the annual Egyptian Cup and this coming weekend will be the annual Indy Regatta at Eagle Creek just outside of Indianapolis.

The Egyptian Cup boasted close to 30 boats this year and it was a real point of pride that, for the second year in a row, Clinton Lake Sailing Association (Fleet 135) brought 10 boats. We would have had 11, except we didn't have enough available crew so Jamie Rimovsky crewed for Bryan Hunt.

Between races. There was more wind than this, really!

In addition, we had the Kitchens from the Ohio district, the Brusses from Chattanooga, the Bolins from Seattle by way of Kansas City (welcome back to the Midwest!) and Geoff Endris and Tom Moore from Indianapolis.  So that brought us to 26 boats. Not too shabby!!

More than a dozen tents. Very picturesque!

It was cool enough to hang out outside...though why we were right by the bathrooms I do not know

The last few years the Egyptian Cup has had higher than usual temperatures (remember the misting tent from a few years ago?) and lighter than usual winds. This year it was a pleasant change that the temperatures were gorgeous; perfect sleeping weather. Here is the little tent city to prove it! It has been marvelous the last few years to be able to camp right on site. Thank you, Army Corp of Engineers!!


The other non-sailing-related excitement, a killdeer laid her eggs on the parking lot right by where we had all parked. Granted she was there first. I think she was pretty annoyed by us, but happily no one squashed her eggs. I could not get over how much they blended with the pavement. I do wish these birds would find a better system for egg laying. Years ago a killdeer laid three eggs right by the bathroom. They are always on the ground and often in high-traffic areas, it seems to me. Still gotta love 'em!

If you look between the white tie down hook and the green weeds you'll see three speckled kildeer eggs. They look just like the gravel pavement!!

Meanwhile, the wind Saturday was not ... terrible! It was certainly flukey and it felt like sometimes one side of the course had pressure the other side did not, but it was definitely sailable and PRO Ted Beier fit three races in. He had announced his goal to get four races; two before lunch and two after because Sunday was predicted to have a max wind speed of about 2 mph.

We did get one race in the morning. The wind was predicted to start in the southwest and then back to the south, though we never saw that, exactly. We saw lots of 20-30 wind shifts, but I would have called it oscillating rather than backing ... or veering for that matter. Ted had to shorten the five-leg WL course to three legs, which was lucky for Ben and me because we had not read the SI's very closely and were thinking it was a three-leg race anyway. Ooops!  Some of the large fleet struggled to finish as the wind petered out quite completely at several points and so Ted had the safety boats offer tows and we came in for an early lunch.  After lunch the wind came back up a little bit. The second race - first after lunch - we even used the vang a little bit.  Once again, for reasons I don't completely understand, the left side seemed to pay off. We had a lot of great pressure and were able to stay in phase. We managed a full 5-leg WL race. Happily Ben and I were now with the program!

The third race the left most emphatically did NOT pay off. Ben and I and Geoff and Tom (from Indy) trailed the entire fleet at the windward mark. Ben and I held it together (and I did not hear any yelling from Geoff's boat either) and we were determined to catch a few boats going downwind. We had four more legs, after all to try to dig out from our unenviable position! Ben saw some pressure out in the middle of the lake and so we headed there, away from the entire fleet. I do not know what wind gods were on duty during this race, but they blessed us with almost constant, private breeze, enabling us to practically march around almost the entire fleet. I have only had this experience maybe once before in my entire sailing life. I think, when I reflect back on all the adventures Ben and I have had sailing, I will always remember this leg!

Meanwhile, the wind was dying and once again the course was shortened. We managed to finish fifth, which was pretty darn amazing, considering our position one leg earlier! As soon as we got off the water I drank a beer and was feeling happy and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Linda blessing the boat in the course of renaming it Eye of the Storm. It was a lovely ceremony and a great way to remember Greg Vitt.

Speaking of the rest of the evening. Shortly after we all came in, Linda Vitt and her family hosted a renaming ceremony for her cabin boat (a Ranger I believe). With Champagne all around, and some readings about renaming the boat, and pouring of libation into the water, the new name "Eye of the Storm" was revealed to much applause and hugs. Linda's husband, Greg, just died on Easter, as most of you know, and, although I can only imagine how hard it has been for her, she has continued to sail and enjoy the water. I like to think Greg appreciates that! Fleet 135 (really Angie Hunt) also made a lovely blanket printed with photos from Greg and Linda's very first regatta. I think they'd only had the boat a few weeks, in fact. They always were so gung ho as a couple and Linda is continuing that tradition. It was lovely.

Rod Bussell and Angie Hunt

Sunday dawned cool and still. A few stalwarts, including Rod Bussell, ace light wind sailor pictured here with his crew, Angie Hunt, put their boats in. A few others put their trailering covers on. And then we waited. And waited. Nothing came. Ted Beier put up the postpone and waited a little longer. Finally at 9:30 (no races could start after 10:30) he called it and the regatta was over.

We all packed up, ate lunch. Eric reminded everyone of the Carlyle/Clinton "grudge match" aka the Smackdown which takes place the end of August. Geoff reminded everyone of next week's event at Indy. Bill Vogler put in a plug for the women's NAC at Chattanooga in mid September. And Ben and I plugged the Glow. Also, although no one was there to plug it, don't forget the Ephraim regatta which is also our districts!! First weekend of August. Put it on your calendars.

And then, the regatta was over. We drove home and took a nap. I have no idea why we were so tired but we had time to take a nap and grocery shop before dinner. Ain't life grand?!

Here are the results:
http://www.fssa.com/content/2018-egyptian-cup-regatta-carlyle-lake-sailing-carlyle-il

Last Race, Now That's More Like It!

Rush Creek put on such a great regatta, but the one thing organizers (and racers) know; you can't control for wind, which is such an essential element to a good regatta. Well we had great wind all week at this event. It might have been a little too much wind some times for Ben and me to keep the boat flat, but it was never survival conditions.

Here are a few of the kids who helped us in and out of the water with our trailers every day

Yesterday for the last race of the last day of the NAC, the weather was just right! Not too much, not too little. I was sitting on the deck a lot but only hiking a little. We occasionally had the vang on but not all the time. The spinnaker was always full. Ben got a great start!! Ryan and Stacey had a great race and moved up in the standings, finishing just two points out of the trophies. Tyler and Bill took home second place. Because we shared a house with them, that was a thrill for us, too!
We've said all week what a talented field this regatta attracted, in both fleets. One indication of that is the numbers. Many different people finished in the top five places and then later had a deep finish. That means no one boat dominated. In the challenger fleet, the winner (hi Randy!) never won a race, but he was consistent, with all single digit finishes. My point is that this was some tough racing this week in a field with tons of outstanding sailors.
Ben and I, when we are encouraging other sailors to travel to regattas, tell them "we always learn something at a regatta." Often it is about how to make the boat go in certain conditions: at Rush Creek even with as much wind as we had, the water was quite flat, so we used tons of vang and even played the cunningham, which we rarely do. Note: make sure your mast track is lubed up (McLube works well) because otherwise the cunningham doesn't want to release when you uncleat it.
This week I also watched Zeke and Jay Horowitz unroll their mainsail every morning. Instead of one person unrolling it from the middle, with lots of crinkling sounds, each of them took and end and unrolled it very gently. It was a revelation! That's a big thing Ben and I learned.
Ryan and Stacey also talked a lot about the best way to roll a sail, especially considering that on Tuesday we rolled our sails three times and rolling (or unrolling) it roughly can take a toll on them. Hopefully when Ryan writes his article on sail care he'll include these tips too.
Bottom line:Ben and I came away really happy with our boat handling, his starts (especially on Wed and Thursday),

And some adult helpers. thank you everyone!

the fun we had on the boat and the fun we had visiting our friends and fellow sailors both at the club and at the house we rented. Rush Creek did a wonderful job and I'd go back there in a heartbeat. I know people were worried about the heat, but I really found it tolerable most of the time. I would argue the year we had the NAC at Carlyle it was hotter, am I right?

Two More Races in Peppy Wind

Okay, two more races and I'm ecstatic to report we sailed them back to back!!! We had winds between 10-15 and two hour-long, five-leg races. Can't ask for more than that, though if I WERE going to complain I would say in the second race the pressure was much more up and down, which can be a pain in the keister, especially for crew who has to manage her weight. Up and down and up and down, but it was fun, really!!

It was impressive (or demoralizing, depending on your perspective) to watch the leaders (the Lintons, the Horowitzes and Tyler Andrews and Bill Bruss (our housemates!!!) just walk away today. The real highlight of the day was at 4:12 when Bill Bruss made everyone in our house painkillers. The bad tacks go away quickly after a sip or two. We all feel Caribbean-ized now! We are almost all showered (looking at you, John Kreidler) and looking forward to tonight's annual meeting. Now we are drinking ... the painkillers are taking effect .... cheers!

Tomorrow? one more race, Tyler and Bill are just one point out of the lead. Go Team!!

Results are here:  http://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=15921&show_crew=1

First Day: Long Day

Yesterday (Tuesday) the racing "really" began. We qualified last in the challenger fleet and so finishing anywhere above that felt like a win. At the morning briefing it was announced that we would come in for lunch, which was a surprise since everyone who was polled had made it clear they preferred to sail two races back to back and then come in for the day. Still, we all headed out in about the same amount of breeze as Monday.
Remember where I bragged about how well behaved we were and had no recalls on Monday? Ha! On Tuesday the first fleet had one general recall and then one start where they tried to make it an individual recall but there were so many (or maybe wrong numbers called?) that they had to abandon the race. The PRO tried to be reasonable but we left him no alternative, and after that we had an "I" flag start. The five-leg race took 1:10, with one-mile long legs. If I'm remembering the race correctly, we liked the pressure on the right side and got a lovely lift near the top of the course. But, of course, other people found a lovely lift elsewhere on the course, including the middle, which seems to happen only very rarely...
Ryan and Stacey, the other Midwest boat in the fleet, had a pretty good finish and Ryan (also Bryan Hunt in the challenger fleet) was the one who got a lift in the middle. I'm not sure how the other Midwest sailors did, we had no time to check in with them!
Then, although the breeze was lovely, we came in for lunch. Hamburger and french fries, for those who ate it. Many people talked of not eating lunch because it made them drowsy. Then just as it was time to go out, the breeze completely died. We bobbed around in the heat and the sun for about an hour and then the PRO sent us in to wait for the wind to come back. We weren't on shore more than 15-20 minutes before the wind came back, and so we headed out to the course for the third time of the day.
At the start we had some small white caps but the water was flat and the wind moderated as the race went on. It was a five-leg race but the wind came down so much they shortened it to four legs, downwind finish, and sent us in from there. It was 6 pm by then. And the challenger fleet was probably another 30minutes behind us. THat's a very long day. 8-9 hours of sailing to get in two races. Brutal because it leaves very little recovery time before we get up and do it again. Remember, we do this for fun?

a selfie while we wait for Wake and Kreidler to show up

Speaking of fun, after we got off the water, tied our boats down and showered we began to feel human. Ben, Ryan, Stacey, John Kreidler and John Wake and I went to a BBQ place called Sideways. The food was delicious, we could sit outside near the water, and that meant the live music wasn't so loud that we couldn't chat. Here are some funny things that happened though. The restaurant essentially served three things: brisket, chicken and pulled pork. When it came time to order, we were told they were out of brisket. So some of us ordered chicken some pulled pork. Five minutes later the poor server came back to tell us they were out of chicken, at the same time some of our plates arrived ... with chicken! But the other half of the table ordered loaded baked potatoes and for some reason those came out so much later that we'd already finished our meal! Plus, the menu was written so that you could order one meat, two meats or three meats. It was clear to us that each type of meat was 1/2 pound. That's a lot of food, so Ben and I shared a two meat, thinking we'd get one lb of meat, which was a lot but we could have a little of two types. When what I thought was 1/2 chicken came, all I had was a leg, which was delicious but not a 1/2 chicken. That was when the server explained that three meats, for example, would TOTAL 1/2 pound, not 1/2 pound each, despite what the menu said!! Anyway, a funny interlude. We were home at 10 pm. Straight to bed.

Here are the things I love about this event:
So many helpful people. At the hoists and at the ramp there are multiple hands. They've got a couple of wonderfully enthusiastic and adorable kids helping get the empty trailers to and from the hoist.
It's very close to the sailing area. After Newport and then Sandusky, both of which took about an hour to get to the sailing area, I love that we can hop on our boat and be at the sailing area in 10 minutes max.
We can even see the sailing from our house, as I mentioned in an earlier post. Sometimes yesterday I wondered if it wouldn't be very cool to just be sitting in that living room and admiring everyone else sailing!! (joke)
Which brings me to the one thing I don't like:
Both days have been so long, with the postponement (completely understandable) on Monday and then yesterday's activities, that we literally are at the club and/or on the water from 9 am until 7 pm. That leaves zero time for getting more groceries, including food that might sustain us on the water, recovering from hiking and baking the sun, and even doing laundry! I don't know why I didn't pack more sailing clothes but I ended up having to do laundry last night at 10 pm. in order to have some sailing shorts to wear that didn't stink. That's a rule on our boat: you can't stink out the other person. So between my shorts and Ben's shoes, we're close to violating that rule!

Hopefully today will be back to back races so we can come in, soak our sore muscles, trade stories, and visit with our friends, which is the part of the event I really love!!!

Qualifiers: We Squeezed inTwo Races

Monday's qualifiers' wind was honking when the racing was supposed to start. The PRO reported to us that the wind was above the class guidelines. We gathered at 8:45 for the daily briefing and he asked the assembly if they minded postponing until 11 to see if the wind might come down. No one minded.

At 11 the wind was still blowing at 20 knots or more, and so he said to check back at 1 pm. At 1 pm the Race Committee decided to give it one more hour and then, at 2, the wind had moderated and ta da!! We headed out to race!

I heard a lot of groaning; it's very hard to wait five hours or more and then still feel energized to race, but we knew the race committee was right, the wind had come down and if we wanted a qualifying series we needed to head out. A handful of boats who wanted to be in the challenger fleet stayed on shore (including our own Bryan Hunt, since his wife/crew couldn't get here until Monday evening!!), but the rest of us headed to the water to duke it out.

Racing started at 3 pm. We got in two races before our steak dinner. The wind was shifty and strong. There were tons and tons of good racers on the line. We had no general recalls. I don't think there was even an individual recall. It was a good day.

To listen to the top sailors who gave us some tips at the end of the day, it was a matter of staying in the pressure, sailing on the lifted tack — even downwind — and getting a good start. Simple, right? Ben and I had the vang on almost the whole day, though the second race the wind came down a bit. We hiked hard, carved up when we could and found a few lifts on the far right side, especially the second race. This is the most wind we've sailed in all season, and I could really tell. I need more upper body strength!!

NACs tend to bring out the top sailors anyway, but this is a particularly top-heavy event, with so many tough, talented. Texas sailors. Two of the Midwest District boats (ADHD, Catitude) made it to the championship fleet. Catitude made it by a whisker (ha ha, see what I did there?). There are 51 boats, which means the top 26 boats go into the championship. Guess what number Catitude finished yesterday?

Anyway, today it starts fresh. The wind appears to have moderated. More soon.
Here are the results:
http://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=15921&show_crew=1

Settled in at the NAC

We arrived!! It turns out that driving from Urbana to Dallas only takes 12 hours. And, with no major cities to drive through (I'm looking at you, Atlanta!), and very little in the way of hills, the drive was easy. Of course, if you are Bryan Hunt you are disagreeing with me, since you had trouble with your trailer bearings ... and Eric might have had trailer trouble too....But we had a fine time!  ;-)

Here is the parking lot at the club. Across the water is the house Ben and I are staying in.

Plus, our friend John Kreidler found a house to rent that is on the water and just across a tiny bay from the club. If you look at the photo below, our house is in those trees!! Amazing!!! Stacey and Ryan also are in the house, together with John Wake, Tyler Andrews and Bill Bruss.





This morning Bill made eggs and bacon for us all and tomorrow morning I imagine Ben will fire up his cappuccino maker to the delight of all the coffee drinkers in the house.

Meanwhile, Ben and I headed over to the club on the early side so we could rig the boat and get it measured before it got too hot. We had to weight the boat and get the centerboard checked, so that took a while. Between a steady breeze and a nice cloud cover the temperature was downright pleasant. 

Most years Ben has to rig the boat on his own since I'm at the executive board meeting and the board of governors meeting. This year, although I retired from being the magazine editor, and so was available, I also spent a lot of time visiting with people and catching up on Flying Scot news. "Swanning around" as Amy Linton so accurately put it.

In the afternoon, although there was a practice race, some of us went back to the house and discovered that we had a perfect vantage point to watch the racing. I was very happy I had brought my binoculars! Looked to me that Eric Bussell and Perry Cameron were on fire out there. It was magical to watch the Flying Scots, not just those in the practice race but also the Junior Nationals, from the comfort of our living room.

I can tell it's going to be an awesome week. Next is the competitors' meeting and then qualifiers start tomorrow at 10 am.

PS. To Cowan Lake post

A quick update to the Cowan Lake post. For those of you who might not remember, it's been exactly a year since Frank and Marianne Gerry's car and Flying Scot were totaled in a traffic accident on the north side of Indianapolis.

Well,  returning home from Cowan Lake last weekend, not three miles from their accident, they had another accident! This time the car, boat and people were fine, but the axel on their brand new trailer broke!! It could have been an absolute disaster, but happily they were in the right lane and were able to pull over before the tire came flying off and causing all kinds of mayhem. Also, Frank resisted what I think is everyone's instinct to step on the brakes. By just taking his foot off the gas and coasting to a stop he also avoided jackknifing the boat and car. Thank goodness.

Happily Frank was able to convince Trailex to honor their warranty and the trailer is being repaired as we speak. Scary, though..

So, on the eve of our 800+ mile trip to Dallas, I wish everyone safe travels...

At Least Six Midwest Boats Traveling to the North Americans This Weekend

The 2018 North Americans, with 54 boats currently registered, will be held beginning Monday at Rush Creek Yacht Club in Heath, TX, just outside Dallas. We (Ben and I) have rented a house with several other sailors, John Kreidler, John Wake, Stacey and Ryan, Bill Bruss and Tyler Andrews, but I know of other midwest sailors staying on big, fancy boats generously lent by the host club.

There will be so many amazing sailors that Ben and I are going mostly for the parties! We'll have fun on the water, of course, and try hard, but we have every expectation of having our behinds handed to us in a gracious, friendly and sportsmanlike way!

See the pool? I imagine we'll spend a lot of time there this coming week

We're bringing our cappuccino maker and I'm bringing binoculars (bird watching) and my swimsuit. I'll be trying to post updates as the days go along, but if I'm having too much fun there may be some radio silence scattered between the posts!

The schedule is this: Saturday and Sunday is check in and measuring. Sunday also will be the juniors event, I believe. The women's event, of course, is now being held September 15-16 at Chattanooga (sign up now, Ladies!). Then Monday will be a three-race round robin to determine whether competitors are in the challenger or the championship fleet. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we'll be racing for reals, with a total of five races for the event. I bet they will be long, hard races!

So, stay tuned and we'll let you know how our stalwart Midwest sailors are doing in this elite competition!

Cowan Lake (Ohio) This Past Weekend Had Six Midwest District Sailors!

This past weekend was the annual regatta at Cowan Lake, home of Flying Scot Fleet #1. This event used to be called the pig roast, but since they don't roast a pig anymore, they call it the Flying Pig, instead. Cute, right?

The coolest part, from the district perspective, was that six of the 18 boats were from the Midwest District. We had from Carlyle: Linda Vitt and Rachel Bowling and John Cassada (with borrowed crew who I didn't meet); from Indianapolis: Geoff Endris with Tom Moore; and from Clinton Lake: Frank and Marianne Gerry, Mark and Michelle Taylor, and Ben and me. That's a great showing for our district at an out-of-district event, particularly given there were 18 boats.

Bruce with Linda Vitt (center) and crew Rachel Bowling. Third place in the Oinkers fleet. Way to go!!

Saturday the wind was frustratingly light and flukey. The wind was mostly out of the WNW, but there were shifts of 60 degrees and more. There were definitely individual puffs that went completely opposite directions. If someone has some guidelines for how to sail in those conditions, I'd love to hear them! I think the key is to not get frustrated, but I'm not sure how to do that without some pharmaceutical enhancement! Still, the race committee managed three races it the quirky stuff and the good sailors (Kitchens, Mark Taylor and his brother, Jim, who sails Lightnings and Highlanders at Cowan) were at the top at the end of the day.

from left, Mark and Michelle Taylor, with Bruce Kitchen

Cowan has a reputation, at least in my mind, for having these kinds of conditions, but we keep coming back because it's a beautiful location, the friendly sailors, and good food (I'd be lying if I said we didn't appreciate the food!). It's a wonderful place to camp. I'd say there were more than a dozen tents in a little tent town in the grassy area above the clubhouse. Dinner was a marvelous BBQ (like  pig roast!) and many yummy sides plus coooookies!! Also back from last year was  a marvelous band that played lots of oldies and goodies (Mustang Sally, etc) and once again got several sailors up on the picnic tables to dance. Because Heather Johnson (and Trent) didn't come this weekend, we, sadly, have no photos. The rest of us (meaning me) are lazy about taking photos and always regret it.

Sunday it seemed the weather broke. We had some minor sprinkles and lots of clouds and the temperature seemed to drop a bit. The wind did not look promising until we got out onto the lake and then it was just perfect! Hardly any holes, blowing steady mostly from the west: classic lake sailing.

That meant that Mark's brother, Jim, more used to lake sailing, cruised past Mark in the standings with two bullets. Mark and Michelle, for those of you who might not know, are Fleet 135/Clinton members but live in Tampa, FL. So they are more used to sailing in chop and predictable sea breeze that fills in steady and strong about 3pm daily. Despite the two bullets, the Kitchen's prevailed on a strong showing Saturday (not to mention Sunday, with two 2nds), and too home the concrete pig for the second year in a row.

I know I said at the beginning that the coolest part of the regatta was having six boats from the Midwest, but the truly coolest part was seeing Linda Vitt on the water captaining Eagle's Wings, not two months since her beloved husband, Greg, passed away. I know that was one thing  he hoped for her, to continue the sport they both discovered and loved. Her crew was Rachel Bowling, in part because Rachel's skipper, Bronson, is recovering from shoulder surgery. He was there to support them and support racing by managing the flags at the start. Thanks Bronson. And they trophied after getting a bullet on Sunday morning. Nice going Linda and Rachel! Perhaps we'll see them at the Women's NAC in Chattanooga come September!

The official results will appear shortly, but for now, here is this!