So Much News....

Boy oh Boy have I been bad about posting on this blog! There’s the women’s event, of course, which was fully documented on Facebook, etc, but that I’d like to talk about. And then there is this weekend’s event, the Glow in the Dark Regatta. This year we have 33 boats. I’m quaking in my shoes because the most we’ve ever hosted is about 28. Doesn’t sound like a big difference does it? We shall see…And then, also at the Glow, we give out the traveling trophies. This year we have 20 boats that qualified, up from 17 last year, so that is great!

So I guess first thing is the Women’s event, held September 14-16 at Chattanooga’s Privateer Yacht Club. I know a few people (looking at you, Bill Vogler!) were worried that no one would come to a stand-alone event. Well, this was more a case of, “if you build it they will come.” With 15 boats, three times the number we used to get (if we were lucky) for the event tacked on to the front of the standard NAC, the event was a success before it even got started.

Here is my crew, from left, me, Ben, Angie, Bryan and Susan

From the Midwest District perspective I was so happy we had six boats representing. Granted, Jennifer Ikeda was kind of railroaded into skippering when her skipper had a family emergency, but still, it counts! So there was Jennifer skippering, also Nancy Claypool, who calls Ephraim home (as well as New Orleans) and her crew Stacey Rieu, also of Ephraim. A true diplomat, Nancy’s other crew, Debbie Huntsman was from Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, I think. Then we had two boats from Carlyle: Shirley Bild with crew Christine Beutler and Judy Allen; and Linda Vitt with crew Rachel Bowling. From Clinton we had Jamie Rimovsky with crew Erin Bauer and Christina Nordholm and then there was my boat, with crew, Angie Hunt and Susan McIntyre.

We don't look too bad here! I know there are other photos of Midwest boats, just haven't found 'em yet....

The winds were more than I’d ever sailed in; 15-17 with plenty of whitecaps. Just going around the course was a big accomplishment — for me, at least! I think the best thing about those conditions was that it showed the men spectators (and there were lots of them!) what good sailors there were out there. I heard there was some side betting about how many boats would capsize, with the general consensus being three. I am happy to report that Bryan Hunt, ground support/spouse of my crew, bet zero and won the bet! There was real money. I think the men were humbled, happy and inspired to see such good sailing out there.

I heard several men talk about how very much fun they had. A big shout out to Barry Hambrick, who trailered his motorboat up from Birmingham to serve as a rescue/spectator boat. His wife, Tracy, crewed for our very own Jennifer Ikeda, so she is an honorary Midwest District sailor! Organizer Rob Fowler was saying it was his favorite regatta ever! Of course he was sitting on the top deck of a house boat, drinking something with rum in it…. But seriously, I was impressed at the level of enthusiasm and support the men exhibited, not just my husband/skipper, Ben Williams, and Bryan Hunt, but every single man who came to support his spouse and there were many of them: I can think of Robert Cummings, Tom Miller, Bill Draheim and Ryan Malmgren, just off the top of my head.

Another very cool thing is the amount of coverage. Several guys took photos, posted here. thank to Diane Kampf. Then someone had a drone, at least on Saturday and the entire event was livestreamed on Facebook from the clubhouse! You can find that footage at Privateer's facebook page, I think.

The racing was fierce at the top, though Marianne Hopper, with crew Jennifer Draheim and Melissa Miller won every race, the rest of the fleet was not far behind.  Kate Gomes, who traveled to Chattanooga with a new boat almost caught Marianne in the last race of the day.

See this? We are 6144!! yay us!

For myself? I learned a TON! I not only sailed in those conditions but got good starts, we had good mark roundings, great spinnaker legs. I could not get the boat to go well upwind and had so much weather helm I sometimes had to hold the tiller with two hands. That was frustrating, but I have an idea about what to do (less vang, per Bill Draheim). Considering I had never in my life skippered in those conditions, much less at a major event, I took great pride in our performance. I was sorry to retire on Sunday, but it seemed to me the wind was building and I had the will but not the physical stamina. Too much fun on Saturday!

Our team is already planning for Massapoag next August. From my perspective one of the absolute best things about the event was the bonding on Jamie’s boat. Those three women were smart and worked together like an amazing team. They continued to race even after the outhaul on their boat broke. They refused offers of help, fixed it on the water and were ready for the next race. Kudos to them! They have already sailed together since the Women’s event and I expect we’ll see a lot more of them in the near future.

Now that is the sign of a wildly successful event!

i promise next chance I get to post more photos of other boats. But if you don't feel like waiting, you can see the thousands of photos

Four and One-Half Teams from the Midwest Heading to the Women's NAC

This weekend marks an historic event; the first official stand-alone Flying Scot Women's North American Championships. Up until last year the event was a one-day regatta tacked on the front of the five-day long North American Championships.I used to complain it was putting women sailors in the position of Ginger Rogers, who did everything Fred Astaire did but backward and in high heels (if you are too young to get this reference, don't tell me).

Adding it to the already taxing NACs meant many women opted out and those who participated in the women's event to support the class began the NACs already having competed intensely for a full day.

Last year the women's event was canceled due to high winds at Sandusky and the folks at Corinthian Sailing Club in Dallas hosted a make up event later that summer. That event attracted 10 boats  — more than a typical number when held the old way. This was just the experiment we were waiting for because it showed the FSSA that a separate event would attract participants. So with input from a committee of women racers, the FSSA decided to officially separate out the women's event.

That's a very long lead up to the news that the Midwest District has fielded four full teams, plus part of another team, to participate in this event. The teams — two from Carlyle and two from Clinton — are Linda Vitt and Rachel Bowling; Shirley Bild and Chris Beutler; Jamie Rimovsky with Erin Bauer and Christina Nordholm; and Deb Aronson with Angie Hunt and Susan McIntyre. Plus, Stacey Rieu, of Mad Sails, will be crewing for Nancy Claypool.

Also, the organizers have 15 boats signed up, which is a very respectable number for any weekend regatta and certainly more boats than we've fielded for the women's event in my years as  Flying Scot sailor. So we head down shortly, my team and I. My goal is to have a good time, try not to embarrass my fleet or my district too badly, and errrrr kick ass? No no, have a good time!!

I would be remiss not to give a shout out to our ground crew, Ben Williams and Bryan Hunt. Somehow I think it'll be even more fun having them there on site! Thanks guys!!

37 Boats Makes Ephraim the Biggest Midwest Regatta of the Season

 Where to begin with the Ephraim Regatta? It's always so much fun and also a little hectic. The pier, for those of you who haven't been there, is so narrow and real estate is so tight that boats are touching one another on their trailers. In order to get to your boat you have to crawl on your neighbors' boats. But the sailing area is breathtakingly gorgeous and this year the wind was good (maybe a little too good), so it's hard to feel bad about the cozy quarters.

We arrived Friday and hung out with Ryan Malmgren, Stacey Rieu, Mark and Maria Benner, Chris Tesdal, Eric Bussell, and Harry and Karen Carpenter. The Benners have a crazy long drive - 14 hours. Maria finished knitting this dog sweater for Ryan and Stacey's dog, Daisy, on the trip. Check out the Mad Sails logo, amazing, right? I started to pay attention this weekend and I only now realize how crafty Maria is. For example, she also made their mast end protector. We just have a red cloth; they have a carefully tailored sock with tassles that are not only hemmed but turned in such a way that the wind can't fray them. That Maria has many hidden talents. Pay attention!

Speaking of swag, I finally figured out how to make Fleet 135 flags to rival the Texas sailors' flags. Ours say "Rod's Navy 135"  and I'm very proud of them. However, Nina and Robert Cummings traveled up from Dallas (they won the furthest distance traveled, sorry Benners!) and flew their Texas flag I saw that ours did not measure up in size even though I ordered the biggest one I could imagine! Happily there is no photo to show the size difference!

I know you can't see the logo but that's our flag and I'm proud of it!

Ben and Ryan inadvertently wear matching Glow shirts!

 Anyway, the sailing on Saturday was hard fought. The wind was supposed to be high and several people did not put their boat in. But at first the wind didn't materialize. The first race was definitely moderate wind. In fact, a five-leg WL course took well over an hour because of the dying breeze.  I started to feel bad for those who stayed on shore. ... But Then. The wind seemed to shift right and the race committee reoriented the course and by the time everything was set there were white caps. We settled in for lots of hiking and vang. The wind was strong but manageable. The gusts were gradual and not shifty, so that was good. That second race was four legs. We (by "we" I mean me) were getting pretty tired but the race committee decided we were good for another five-leg race to end the day. Considering they polled the competitors (explicitly asking crew also to vote), the majority of which requested medium-length races and at least two of the races were more than an hour I didn't really feel like they took our vote into consideration... I guess I'm still a tiny bit annoyed by that! Why ask, if you are just going to run hour-long races anyway? And what would have happened if we'd asked for LONG races? Errrr .... sorry about that outburst. Anyway, Fleet 135 performed well, with Mark and Michele Taylor finishing the day in first and our stalwart spark plug Eric Bussell and crew Chris Tesdal put it all together to finish the day in fourth place in front of erstwhile fast sailor and Florida district champion Tom McNally and Liz Gheorghita, Texas sailors Robert and Nina Cummings, and the always-tough team of Bruce and Lynn Kitchen.
We came off the course tired and sore (again, by "we" I mean me) and had to deal with some of the toughest conditions of the day. Although there are two hoists, only one was being used and it was the one exposed to the choppy waters that got choppier and choppier. Boats banged together, the pier was so congested that a boat hanging from the hoist had to wait and wait for the trailer to arrive, keeping boats banging at the dock longer than was pleasant. But, that difficult challenge managed (we chipped the gelcoat on Catitude pretty badly and harsh words were exchanged), it was off to shower and hit the annual bratfest followed by ice cream (also an annual tradition at least within the Catitude team).
The next day was also gorgeous and the wind was about the same. Essentially out of the south with occasional forays into the southwest, though it also shifted hard left just before the start, making crossing the line on starboard challenging.
 Perhaps the race committee heard the grumbling because the first race was just three legs. Ben and I hooked the rope on the pin boat (I just learned that's called the road) with both our centerboard and our rudder, so this was one race we could have used five legs! At the bratfest, I heard Harry Carpenter's response when someone was griping about something that didn't go their way. He said, "That's sailing!" I'm going to adopt that as my motto. So when Ben apologized for our poor start, I just said, "that's sailing!" It felt good.
We just crossed the finish line when we heard someone on the radio pointing out lightning on the horizon. We heard some thunder and the race committee sent us in. They hoped to postpone and send us out for one more race, but once all the boats came in, getting drenched in the process, it was clear that there was no more time!
So we had a four race regatta, with great conditions and great racing. I'll just remind readers that this is the third of four qualifying events for the Midwest District Travel Trophy. By my calculation, if you sailed at Ephraim and are coming to the Glow, you, too, can qualify!

All Aboard for Ephraim!

The annual Ephraim regatta is this weekend. This is number 113 and it's always been the first weekend of August, so it has quite a tradition. This year it is also our District championship. Speaking only from the Clinton Lake perspective, we have something in the range of seven boats traveling to the event, so climb on board the Ephraim train y'all!!

There is always a big crowd. This year it looks like there are more than 30 registered. The good attendance is in part because Ephraim has many many boats, along with a very strong junior sailing program. This regatta gives the young sailors an opportunity to experience a full-scale regatta.

In addition, for those of you who don't know, Ephraim is a real destination regatta! Door County is gorgeous. I know, I know I was skeptical when people raved about it but I am a believer now! It is so green, and typically cool, and the water is clear and crisp. Many sailors come up from hot spots like New Orleans and and extend their stay on either end of the event. Who wouldn't want to escape the heat of New Orleans or Tampa and enjoy summer as it was meant to be?! So those of you in the Midwest District, appreciate your relatively short drive, and come join us in Ephraim this weekend!!

You can find details here:
http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/16892

Second Midwest District Event

Well, this is embarrassingly delayed considering this event (The Indy Regatta) was the weekend immediately following the Egyptian Cup this year. We had a pretty good turn out, considering the events were back to back. Although CLSA traveled 10 boats to the Egyptian Cup, we had only three from CLSA and three boats from CSA (Carlyle). Still, with 8 travelers, including Jim Moyle from Minnesota, it was a lively crowd.

Starts were hard fought (thanks to ECSC member Sheila Smith Krout and the Eagle Creek Facebbook page for these great photos!)

Bronson and Rachel brought another couple from Carlyle who were considering getting a Scot. They took turns crewing three-up!! Way to go, Guv!!

Unlike the Egyptian Cup, the weather was quite hot at Indy. Ben and I chickened out and stayed at a hotel Friday night. But organizer Geoff Endris promised us wind and, for the most part, he delivered. The first, very long race on Saturday had to be thrown out after the wind died and we didn't successfully shorten the course. The moral of that story is to not get carried away thinking that good wind will stay!! That outcome was pretty harsh and a little frustrating, but we soldiered on! We had three short races that day in moderate wind. Personally, the heat took a lot out of me and that was a ton of sailing in very hot conditions. I tried hard to hydrate, but in the end I think my  body temperature just got too high and resulted in a head ache. Them's the breaks, but I would have been happy going in a little bit earlier...(Just my own personal opinion, this does not reflect the opinion of my skipper!).

competition was fierce

Dinner was marvelous and the temperatures moderated enough that camping was just lovely. I always love Eagle Creek for their beautiful clubhouse up high overlooking the harbor and the lake. It's one of my favorite sailing venues, though getting to the racecourse can be challenging!

Lynn Kitchen and her patented hiking technique

Sunday some storms popped up around us. They looked imminent enough I rousted Ben out of the tent so we could put it away before the deluge. In the end, we didn't get rain, but the clouds sucked away the wind. We hung out for a while, thinking we'd get no racing in. But then lo and behold, the winds filled in. For real this time and we did two more races in building winds and increasing heat. When the race committee asked did we want to do a third race, I was a bit aghast. Mainly, it's weird to ask the fleet if they want to keep racing because everyone's opinion will vary based on where they are in the standings. Also, for me, I like to know ahead of time how many races total we'll be doing. I'm kind of rigid that way! Again, my personal opinion. This post seems to be full of them!!

Frank Gerry and his local crew, Jason, (6131)were hard to catch

I was relieved to hear the entire fleet vote for going in. I was ready to dunk my head in some ice. But in the end the winds were as Geoff promised. Mostly steady and from the south, giving us the length of the lake to play in. Nice job Eagle Creek!

Here are the results:
http://www.fssa.com/content/2018-indy-regatta-eagle-creek-sailing-club-indianapolis

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?