Clinton Lake Sailing Association Flying Scot Fleet 135 hosted its fourth annual Glow II Regatta September 24-26. The weather cooperated nicely and we ran three races Saturday in moderate winds and two on Sunday in gusty winds of about 12-15. Fleet 135 member Nick Schneider served as PRO and did a wonderful job, as usual.
The five races were won by four different boats, an indication of the highly competitive sailing happening on the lake. With six out-of-town boats, we had participants from as far away as Medicine Lake, MN, (Larry Klick, sailing Ketchup, who is a Glow faithful!) and Deep Creek, MD, as FS builder Harry Carpenter both came to participate in the regatta and deliver a new boat to Clinton Lake. Harry’s daughter, Carrie, crewed for Harry. Carrie also brought her “mascot” Alfie, who made friends with the marina dog, Friday, and several young children.
The new boat, named Alveolus, was purchased by our newest Flying Scot sailor, John Mann. Welcome, John!
On Saturday our first start was mediocre and we were unsettled about what to do. Consequently we sailed the middle of the course, trying to stay in phase. The course was windward-leeward once around in light wind. We rounded the first mark about fifth and stayed there.
Next race there may have been a bit more wind, or at least we had more wind! On one of the downwind legs (I’ve lost track of which one) we stayed to the left of the leaders, found a private puff that drove us by the other boats like they were standing still. I felt like waving as if I were on a parade float! We went from third or fourth place to well ahead. Somehow we managed to hold Harry Carpenter and Frank Gerry off, though they almost caught us at the finish.
The third race we were third to the windward mark. The most exciting thing we saw up there was our fleet comrade, John Heizer, who bought his Flying Scot “Blown Away” less than a year ago, rounding the mark in second, hot on Harry’s tail. Go John! We rounded the final leeward mark in third place. The wind continued to clock left and the leaders headed to the left to dig into the shift. We realized we were far enough left and could lay the finish from where we were if the wind held. We sailed as high and as fast as we could go, hoping against hope to maybe catch Frank and Marianne. For some reason we had excellent boat speed and were pointing really well. We managed to not only catch Frank but also to catch Harry, crossing barely a boat length ahead of him.
That evening, before our traditional grilled steaks with sides, Harry and Carrie answered questions and shared their racing knowledge with the assembled skippers and crews. It was a lively, very informative session that everyone appreciated. Around dinner it began to drizzle, but it did not dampen our spirits as we sat snug in the pavilion.
Sunday dawned cold and misty, but we all enjoyed a wonderful hot breakfast prepared by Joe and Denise Karbarz, with help from Luther Torgerson. The wind was stronger than Saturday. I spent so much time hiking on Sunday, I barely remember any of the races, except for the time we almost capsized when I was taking the spinnaker down! That was pretty unforgettable. Ben managed to steer the boat back under the sails and we breathed a sigh of relief. That puff, or its buddy, did knock one boat over. Long story short, we finished third in both races; my legs and hands are still sore!
The trophies this year were handmade cedar wheel chocks, varnished and engraved with “Glow 2010” by Fleet 135 member Emory Luth. They were very popular, and many participants said they were too pretty to use! Crew trophies were crank handles decorated with black flame decals (handy work of Fleet 135 member Karen Hewitt); a real collector’s item!
Next year the Glow is also the Midwest Districts, so mark the regatta on your calendars. Hope to see you there!
Photos by Doug Williams. All of Doug's photos from the regatta can be found on Flickr. To see them, click on this link:
Glow 2010 Regatta Photo Set.
