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2011 MC SCOW MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP
CONGRATULATIONS JOHN POTTER
Report by Eric Hood

 

 

THE FINAL DAY OF RACING

      Going into the last day of racing we had two days of ties going on between local Laser Ace and new class member John Potter going up against Charleston hot shot Tommy Harken.   Another great regional sailor who loved the home cookin’ on and off the water this weekend was Bill Rembold from Charleston who seemingly had his own regatta going on for third place with New York sailor and MC class officer Bob Cole.  Then there were the rest of us who had some serious math lessons given to us on hydro-dynamics and currents. 
      
       The sailing was great though and no complaints about what Mother Nature had for us all weekend.  On occasion you sail at venues that simply put are very challenging and this was one of those.  Serious physical workout on day two with the big winds but it was fun with the big speeds and short-tacking up to the beach edges on that day.  The final day we had a great light-medium wind out of the WNW and we sailed in front of the club instead of down river three miles.  Everyone was pumped up this one.  Sun, nice breeze and a long 4&1/2 course.

      The start happens and quickly John Potter weaved his way out of the confusing start of current to wind direction and Tommy Harken got trapped.  Did I already tell about the rest of us J, well we were all still doing our math lessons from the days before.  John went on to win this race.  Tommy fought back from being down and trapped at the start behind some other boats over the line to finish 7th.  I tell you who had a great race was Richard Blake who finished second in this race.  Jeff Grinnan had a rock solid 3rd this race which moved him up in the standings and Bill Rembold and Bob Cole went at it hard though with Bill coming out on top for 4th place in this race and Bob finishing 6th.
     
So final results are as follows and they are posted in full at www.mcscow.org

  1. John Potter – Beaufort YSC – 8pts (3 race wins)
  2. Tommy Harken –Carolina Y.C., Charleston –14 pts. (2 race wins and Top Grand Master)
  3. Bill Rembold – Charleston Yacht Club – 25 pts.
  4. Bob Cole – Keuka YC , NY – 27 pts.
  5. Jeff Grinnan – Rush Creek Yacht Club, TX – 38 pts
  6. Byron Beasley – Clear Lake YC, Iowa – 40 pts
  7. Tim Fredman – Pine Lake, WI – 41 pts
  8. Eric Hood – Lake Eustis, FL – 43 pts
  9. Jeff Annis – Augusta SC – 49
  10. Bob Miller – Diamond Lake, MI – 61 pts (Top Mega Master)
  11. Guy McSweeney – TOP OLD SALT

 

THE REGATTA TEAM 
As we mentioned in our Day 1 and 2 report the incredible team of volunteers was incredible.  I think we had either a 1:1 ratio of volunteer to skipper or even possibly higher than that.  There was a logbook that Frank Pontious and team put together.  I would encourage you to ask any MC sailor that you know and who attended this event to share that with you.   All the volunteers wore color-coded shirts for every level of volunteering they had from launching, to meals, to medical and more.  If you need help organizing a great MC regatta lean into Frank for what they did to make this year's Masters Nationals so much fun for the competitors.
Check this email report out from Jeff Annis below.  He sent this to me during the regatta.

Good lunch.
GREAT team work for launching and recovering.
GREAT access to the trot line.
GREAT dinner—Oysters and BBQ?  How can that be better!
GREAT weather.
Organized parking.
The Event Booklet (Log-Book)
Nice bar scene.
Great porch seating.
Lots of hoses to wash off our boats.
4 showers to wash up after the racing and get ready for cocktail hour.
Lots and lots of support boats on the water.
Fantastic spectator boat for our friends and family.

This event shows how great the local fleet and Frank can plan an event.  This is an event to be used as the example of how to put on a regatta.

REGATTA PHOTOS – follow the link below for all the photos you want of the event from the Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club
http://photogallery.byscnet.com/v/2011_pics/2011mcmasters

In closing I just want to say again it was one of the most organized events I have been to in a long, long time.  Worthy of nomination to U.S. Sailing for the “St. Petersburg Trophy” to clubs who run outstanding events.  Feel free to nominate folks J

Also just a closing note.  This event was dedicated to Rich Williams who recently passed away at the end of a day of MC sailing.  Rich was a key part of this MC team from Beaufort YSC who hosted the regatta.  He was a dear friend to many.  It seems fitting that our new Champ John Potter sailed Rich William’s MC Scow to win this championship.

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2011 MC SCOW NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
INTERVIEW WITH NATIONAL CHAMPION JOE ROTONDA
Interview by Eric Hood | Photos www.bonniegustinphotogaphy.com 

   

We are visiting with Joe Rotonda from Spring Lake, Michigan who won the 2011 MC Scow National Championship held on Lake Keuka in New York.  So Joe last year in 2010 you finished great with a 2nd place finish down at the Georgia MC Nationals.  You must have felt going into this year’s championship like you could just taste winning and now you have accomplished winning your first national sailing championship.  Tell us a little bit about the year in between the two events and what you were thinking about with regards to your sailing program.  Share some of your planning and preparation throughout the year to get the 2011 Nationals at Keuka.

Joe -  Thanks.  First, I just want to extend a huge thanks to the Lake Keuka Yacht Club, the regatta  co-chairs Bob Cole and Steve Anderson, the PRO and his team, Dan and Marianne Fink and all of the other countless volunteers that work so hard to put on such a great event on the beautiful Lake Keuka!  Also, I want to thank Jamie Kimball for letting me charter his boat, the Verplanks for the use of their triple trailer and Connor’s dad Brad for ponying up his vehicle for us for the second straight year and you E for always looking out for our Nickelodeon crew and making sure we have everything we need.  Brad don’t worry I think we only killed the battery twice this year as the vehicle also doubled as our campground stereo.  Anyways it is all of these people together that make these regattas and our ability to go to them possible.  Thanks!

So as you said 2010 was an awesome year for me in terms of sailing in the MC Class.  The 2010 Nationals in Georgia were definitely the highlight.  I will take 2nd place to Cameron McNeil any day as I know how great of a sailor and competitor he is.  There is no doubt 2nd is not what I went there for, but when it’s your friend and the 1st place, 2nd place and Top Junior trophies are all coming home in the same car it’s all good!

So the biggest thing I took away from 2010 was confidence.  If there is one thing you have to have going into any one race or especially a major regatta it is confidence and every race and regatta you sail builds that confidence. 
Currently I do not have an MC as the past couple years I have been taking a break from the MC circuit to focus on other things.  Because of this I didn’t get much tiller time in.  I finished 8th at the Spencer Wiersing regatta in June and then subbed in for Jamie Kimball in August for one race at the WMYA Championship so to say the least I was not on the roll I was in 2010.  So as I said before I had to draw on my confidence I have built throughout my whole sailing career and of course the 2010 Nationals and carry that into this year’s Nationals. 

My goal going into any major regatta is always to try to eliminate all of the variables you can control.  To me these are….

  1. Regatta logistics  – include an extra practice/preparation full day into your schedule.  This allows for you to get comfortable with the lake, make sure the boat is in order and everything is ready to go for the next morning.  Last second concerns the day of a regatta will quickly destroy your focus and take you mentally out of the race.
  2. Equipment – check and double check everything on the boat.  If there is even an outside chance of something breaking or something looks worn replace it.  You don’t want to be worried.  Measure your mast even if you know it was good the last time you sailed.  When you leave your boat the day before the regatta you should walk away with everything ready to go and a confidence that you’re going to be fast.
  3. Study the lake - Understand where the races are going to be sailed and typical wind directions the lake delivers.  I always go to the locals for this knowledge especially if I am at a new lake.  Then take a look at any points, hills, etc and understand how they may affect the wind.  Are they going to create lifts, knocks, dead spots, etc.  Know the forecast and have a general idea of your race plan before you even hit the water.
  4. Don’t be the last boat to launch before the race.
  5. Relax and have fun!

One of the biggest things I have to touch on and what brings us Midwesterners and I think everyone else to these regattas is meeting new people and socializing with your fellow competitors off of the water.  The MC Fleet truly has such a special tradition of camaraderie among its sailors.  Cam, Connor and I have started a tradition in traveling to the Nationals and each of the past two years we have such a good experience we are always talking about next year’s plan.  This year we were able recruit a few more people Todd Bosgraaf, Jake Erdman and Chris Lopez to make the trip and with Chris and Jake being youth sailors that is awesome for the fleet!  Way to go Jake on being the Top Junior! 

I would encourage everyone to try to travel in groups and convince a friend to come along.  This was our second year camping and the chalk talk conversations and the reminiscing on past regatta stories make for priceless memories.   Thanks Scott for being the camp chaperone for the second straight year and Todd for keeping Scott in line.

 

So there was a crazy finish to this year’s championship.  We had three great medium to medium-heavy air races to kick off the event and then the weather system got strange and we finished with a "Crazy Ivan" nutty race.  What was going through your mind?  I know the answer because I was right alongside you the last leg of the race going into the finish but I want you to share some thoughts about how you mentally approached and handled the crazy wind and course that came from the big wind changes.

Joe -  Well Eric as you said the 4th race was certainly crazy to say the least.  I do have to ask you, where the heck does “Crazy Ivan” come from?   Anyways I want to quick touch on my strategy for the previous 3 races and then get to the last race.  
After studying the wind from the shore and the water it was quickly apparent to me that this was not a lake where the breeze was steady and shifts were seldom.  This was the exact opposite.  The breeze was constantly up and down at the drop of a hat and the wind direction was always oscillating 15-30 degrees back and forth and not to mention the huge point where the lake splits and makes a “Y”.  You really had to be able to shift gears seamlessly and constantly on Lake Keuka.  I was really working the controls much more than I normally would. Due to the unpredictable conditions my strategy was to sail a little more conservative than I normally would.  Start middle to leeward with boat speed and then sail up the middle of the course for the 1st third of the leg focusing on boat speed and getting my bow out in the front pack and then make my move to one side of the course.  You had to be very patient in the shifts and try to really decipher a small shift from the greater prevailing shift.  This meant taking a few knocks to get to the steadier breeze and lifting tack.  Once you were able to make that decision you had to commit to it.  The most critical thing is getting around the first mark in the top ten.  I was very confident in my boat speed and I knew if I was in the lead pack I could pick off boats in the remaining legs without taking great risks and then go for the bullet.  Never did quite get that race win, but all of my finishes were in the top 10 and that proved to be the most critical thing.

Now to the “Crazy Ivan” race.  Pre-race Cam and I were discussing how this can’t be happening.  Neither of us wanted to have to lay our regattas on the line in a shifty and to say the least unpredictable race.  There is no worse feeling than knowing it is out of your control whether a race gets started our not.  The nerves were certainly flowing. 

However, reality struck when the starting gun went off.  At that point I had to put everything aside and focus on race strategy.  Although the breeze was nearly nonexistent about every 5 minutes there would be a decent pressure coming off of the yacht club shore on the left side of the course.  I think this was the same breeze that convinced the race committee they could start a race.  Because of this my strategy was to start at the pin end of the line with boat speed and get out to the left side.  It didn’t quite go that way at first.  I was at the pin but that was about it.  My boat speed was lacking and everything was pushing me to tack out to the right side, but I knew I had to stick to my plan….clean air and left side. 

I took a hit getting over there but I could see the darker water coming down so I just had to be patient as the fleet on the right side of the course had much better speed.  Then the breeze off the west shore finally came.  I was the farthest out to the left and probably somewhere in the top 5.  My angle was way above the windward mark and for about a third of a leg I refused to reach off to the layline and told myself just keeping putting it in the bank because it’s not going to last.  This cost me a couple boats in retrospect but eventually I knew it was here to stay so I eased off and reached into the mark. 
The downwind was a fairly straight forward reach, but with some nasty holes.  My goal was just to stay in the darker water but high of the fleet where the wind was a bit more consistent.  And then…the talk started coming through on the radio.  I was trying to keep my focus on the race as they discussed options and I mean they contemplated every option, but then when I heard they were going to finish the race I was stunned and in disbelief.  My main focus was still to pass boats and stay in the wind and fend off the boats coming down on me.  Eric you can certainly relate as you were one of the boats on my heels all the way to the finish.   I lost a few boats downwind, but managed to finish 7th.  

I would say if there is one thing everyone learned from that race it is that once the starting gun sounds you are racing to the finish.  You can’t control the race committee so you just have to do your best to keep yourself in a safe position.  The rest is out of your control.  The toughest thing for me was that my friend Cam and someone who I greatly respect got the tough end of the deal.  That makes it hard, but it was out of my control and sometimes you need a few things outside of your control to go your way to win a major regatta. 

Tell a little bit about the early days of your sailing career and what you think some of your defining moments have been that have now allowed you some serious success in this tough MC Class?

Joe -  Well, first and foremost I have to thank my parents for their support.  It’s your parents who make it possible to get you out on the water at a young age.  My dad is definitely my biggest fan and supporter and always made sure I had the best equipment.  Thanks Dad!  Any chance I can get back on that program?

In terms of my sailing ability everything started with joining the Spring Lake Yacht Club family.  The history of success and generosity of the families that are the foundation of SLYC and their desire to grow youth sailors is awesome.  Thank you to the Verplank, Fox, Reuterdahl, Hatton, Eggert, Bosgraaf, and Walborn  families and so many others for everything you have done for me and continue to do for the up and coming youth at SLYC.  It is unbelievable the sailors that have come out of SLYC.  On the water it is one of the most competitive groups of sailors and one of the most difficult lakes you’ll find at one club and I am just proud to be a part of that family.

I have to give a shout out and thanks to my instructors Chad Hough, Chris Eggert, Dave Fox, Nils Reuterdahl and Kyle Verplank.  You guys taught me everything and made it fun at the same time, so thanks!  I spent countless summers at SLYC as a youth enrolled in every sailing school session you could do.   With our sailing school competing against the other close by clubs WLYC, GRYC and MYC our generation was tough to say the least, but we also were and still are the best of friends.  I mean competing against Jamie Kimball, Rob Kimball, Cameron McNeil, John McNeil, Matt Cassady and my brother Josh and so many others on a regular basis sure made it tough to win.  Looking back at the teachers and group of students we had it is no question how we all have found success in the MC! 
It is all of these things I mentioned above that gave me one of the best foundations you can have to go out and be a successful sailor.  Sailing the butterfly as a youth was a great starter into the scow family.  I won my first Butterfly National Championship at age 13 and after that I just continued to progress and grow.

I then made the jump to the MC and literally found myself at the back of the pack.  That was quite humbling and at times very frustrating.  Especially with my older brother making a much quicker transition and constantly beating me it was pretty tuff.  Eventually though I worked my way up through the fleet and started competing at the regattas.  Remember the Spring Shakedown E?  That was one of the best.  I think I even logged quite a few crewing races with you there.
Anyhow I knew I had made it in the MC fleet when I qualified for my first MC Blue Chip and eventually winning top Junior honors.  That gave me the confidence to really excel.  And now an MC National Championship at 27?? Never would have thought it would have come so early and it truly is an honor to have my name on that trophy with so many sailors and friends I grew up idolizing.
Sailing is such an awesome sport and for me finding success in the MC and other fleets over the years continues to grow my passion to sail.

What do you see in your future for sailing?

Joe -  Well number one I intend to purchase an MC and get back on the circuit on a consistent basis.  The itch is definitely back and there is no way I wouldn’t be on that starting line at White Lake.  That is going to be one for the books and to see over 100 boats on the starting line at such an awesome venue as White Lake it should be the #1 regatta on every MC sailor’s 2012 schedule.
Aside from the MC I will continue to do some keel boat racing and any other racing that gets me out on the water where I can continue to progress and learn.  Long term goals for me in the MC are to win the WMYA regatta and also the MC Blue Chip.  This is a very tall task, but the best thing about the MC is you can compete up into your later years in life and so I have plenty of years ahead to give those regattas my best shot.  Outside of scows my dream sailing adventure is to crew on a boat in the Transpac race.  That would be the ultimate ride for me!  Hougher I may need your help on that one.

If you were helping a new sailor in our class and having some early training or discussions with that skipper what would you like most to share.

Joe -  The number one thing I would suggest is to get out on the water and get in the tiller time.  Whether it is club races, regattas, sailing school, sparring with friends or getting out as a crew on another scow or another class of boats it is critical to getting better.  The more situations you can put yourself in the better chance you have the next time to execute. 

To all of the youths who are thinking about getting into the MC’s or just getting their feet wet and are trying to adjust to making the jump to a new boat don’t get discouraged!  You are going to get beat up by the veteran sailors.  That is the great thing about the MC in that you can sail it throughout your whole life.  Success will come, but you have to be patient.  Before you know it you will be a veteran.  Until then seek as much wisdom as you can from those older sailors because they have seen it all.

Set yearly goals that are achievable, but challenging at the same time.   Get to every youth event there is, especially the MC Junior National Championship.  This is your chance to shine on a more even playing field with your friends and competitors you grew up competing against.  Lastly, convince your parents to support you in going to more regattas.  I know the MC scow association is thinking about building some triple trailers and placing them strategically so it is an option for everyone.  Excellent idea!  This is the best way to travel with less cost and make some memories traveling with your friends.  Cam, Connor and I have been fortunate enough to use the Verplank family’s triple the past two years and we can’t thank them enough!

For those who have been in the MC for a while and are looking to improve here is a quick hit list.  This really goes for everyone.

  1.  Focus on your starts – are you getting off the line with clean air and boat speed.  Don’t get stuck worrying about trying to start in a certain spot on the line.  Think boat speed and clean air.
  2. Map out the first leg of your race before the race starts.  If you continue to find yourself tacking a lot right after the start and get caught up in boat traffic this is especially for you.  Sometimes you have to take a knock or duck a few sterns to get out into clean air.  This is especially true in large fleets like a national championship.
  3. Try to set up your finishes so that you are either at the boat or the pin.  If you are finishing in the middle you are giving up precious boat lengths.
  4. Evaluate your equipment.  Don’t continue to deal with something not working right or broken.  This will keep your head in the boat and not on the water.  If you think you’ve hit a plateau then maybe it is time to get a new sail or upgrade to a newer or new boat.  A new boat is probably best, right E?
  5. Have fun and talk to your fellow competitors after the race so you can discuss the positives and negatives and how to learn from them.

 

Well thank you very much Joe for your time and thoughts.  We know you will be one of the top skippers to watch for sure at White Lake, MI and the MC Nationals there next year.  Some folks are saying 120 boats.   Best of luck in the coming year and Congratulations from all of us in the MC Scow class.  Way to go Joe!!!

Joe - Thanks E, it is certainly a pleasure.  I just want to say that you are one of the best longtime ambassadors for the MC fleet and on behalf of myself and I think it is safe to safe everyone else in the MC fleet I want to thank you and the whole Melges team for all of the hardwork you guys put into keeping the MC fleet thriving!  I will see you and hopefully another 120 others on the starting line at White Lake, MI.  It’s going to be historical.




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2011 MC SCOW BLUE CHIP CHAMPIONSHIP
Congratilations Justin Hood
Report by Eric Hood | Photo Chris Eggert    

 

Justin Hood Wins The 2011 MC Scow Blue Chip Championship

The Event
The annual Blue Chip Championship had 24 different qualifying champions attending  from all of the 2011 class regattas this year around the United States.   It is a rare regatta in that you have to earn your way into the event by sailing well at previously held events during the course of the year.  A traditional regatta with a long history of great racing on a crazy tight , fun and fast lake called Spring Lake located near Grand Haven, Michigan.   

Highlights
Oh boy  here we go!  Does that sound like the beginning of the National Championship highlights from two weeks ago.  Well it was pretty close to same thing weather wise.   It was predicted to be raining and in the high 50s for the whole weekend.  However we got lucky and had three great races with some sun on Saturday.  PRO Steve Schiller along with Nancy and Pete Price made a great call ending Saturday before race 4 started and before the ice cold rain started late in the day.   Winds for these for three races were varied.   Race 1 light/medium, Race 2 Crazy Ivan light, Race 3 strong medium.  For Sunday three races with a gray overcast sky and occasional drizzle.  Winds were good though out of the east and we had two light mediums and one medium air race to finish up races 4-6.   So we got them all in and I think everyone would agree that 5 of the 6 were great races.
Saturday night highlights were our traditional dinner at the Arboreal .  Rick Trester the current commodore of the Inland Yachting Association gave a great update on all the current happenings within the I.L.Y.A.    Eric Hood brought everyone up to speed on current news from Melges Performance Sailboats and also some new things happening with the MC  Scow both boat and sails.   Also, updates and early promotion of the 2012 MC Scow National Championship at White Lake , Michigan was discussed.

The Racing and Learnings From The Event
There is a lot to talk about here.   PRO Steve Schiller gave us great lines but you have to realize when you are on lake where locals say welcome to Spring Lake where "Nature Smiles For Seven Miles" and the lake is only a couple of hundred yards wide at the most – guess what .   The breeze can be a little shifty.   However, even though this is a tricky lake it is a lake where on this particular weekend the breeze was down on the water and showing.  So you just had to pay attention big time in the last 60-90 seconds pre start and be ready to move quickly to another spot if possible.  The line was set up for 24 boats to start and some small change left over.    Starting was fun, was challenging but it also was very serious because all of there quickly discovered that the first 90-120 seconds of these races much was put in place for the rest of that race.  Not the end of the world but it was a big piece of doing well at this regatta.  So key learning – flexibility with not much time left before the start.  Sort of like approaching a gate.    I loved sailing on Melges 32s because not so much on starts but for sure at gates the trigger many times was pulled in the last 10-15 seconds on which way were going.  Very fast, very exciting , great boat handling is key to being successful.  Same with starting be nimble and ready to change.   Other key learnings for Spring Lake sort fell back on three things we talk about a lot.  Staying in the dark water, great boat handling through your tacks and clean air.  I can tell you twice during this event I got camped on a couple of times which all of us did during the tight racing but it really sets you back quickly in the tight skinny races courses we had.   So paying attention to best available pressure, anticipating what the nearest boats next to you are doing and really working hard on great quick tacking.   The new board system is really fantastic as it is two steps instead of three when tacking.  No way to convert old boats sorry .   So back to dark water .  Please know and learn this when sailing.  All lakes are different.  If you do not go out and pre-sail the course before racing you are setting yourself up for some "misses".   You need to know if the air is showing early , on-time, late and/or if it is up and off the water or down on the water.

The Results
Great racing throughout the fleet.  Everyone was focused on not winning the famous "Gutter Ball" which goes to the last competitor who sails in every race.  All skippers finished all races this year by the way.  We have had some wimps over the years try to back out of this qualifier for the "Gutter Ball"  but everyone "was in it to not win it " this year.   Seriously though the racing was tight , tough and at the end of the day only three sailors stayed in the top ten every race .  Justin Hood won with  a 1,1,4,5,1,7 and a 9 point lead over second place Cam McNeil with who had 28pts.   Other race winners were Chris Hawk of Keuka , N.Y. Who won a close battle with Ehood during race 3.   Then Andy Molesta came charging out of the box with a solid victory on Sunday morning for race 4 narrowing the gap with Justin Hood down to 1 point going into race 5.  Last race was won by Dan "Squad Car" Fink our class commodore who put in a solid strong performance this regatta and finished third overall.
So here are the top 10 and Division Winners 
Justin Hood 19, Cam McNeil 28, Dan Fink 32, Andy Molesta 33, Jamie Kimball 34, Brett Hatton 50, Ehood 51, Ted Keller 55, Richard Blake 57 and Chris Hawk 74
Top Youth and Top Woman was Allison Price, Top Grand Master was Rick Trester , Top Master was Eric Hood and Gutter Ball with big smiles and actually the first Blue Chip invite for 2012 was Mark Hardenbergh.

Too see all the race scores go to www.mcscow.org and they should be there shortly.   Chris Eggert has 60 great photos at his Facebook Page.

Some great racing still available but like the Geese we need to start going south.    MC Masters at Beaufort, SC and Halloween at Augusta during October and then the S.E. Champs at Lake Eustis, Florida in November.

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2011 MC SCOW NATIONALS
North 1,2,3,4,5,6,7! Congrats Joe Rotonda!

Report by Eric Hood | Photos Bonnie Gusting bonniegustinphotography.com 


WHAT A LOCATION
This year’s National Championship found its way out to the Northeast and was held at Lake Keuka, one of the gorgeous Finger Lakes in Western New York.   45 teams made it our annual championship despite the gloomy weather reports of cold weather and rain (which did happen).  4 races held which included 2 medium air races, 1 barn burner and 1 crazy Ivan light air spinner.  For those who got to enjoy the sites, beautiful wine country and vineyards, visits to local museums and artisan shops were highlights.  

We will dive into some race results right away, then some race highlights, key learnings, upcoming events and photos.

Race Results
All complete race results can be found on the class home page at www.mcscow.org

  • Top 7 boats powered by North Sails! Top Master and Top Youth powered by North as well!
  • Joe Rotunda from Spring Lake, Michigan won his first national championship coming off last year’s 2nd place at the National Championship.  Joe sails with the tough West Michigan crowd and hails from Spring Lake, MI. 
  • 2nd place went to Jeff Surles from Pine Lake, WI who won race 1.
  • Last year’s champ and the class’s newest board member Cam McNeil from White Lake, MI. finished third.  
  • Zack Clayton from Lake Eustis, FL finished fourth.
  • Class Commodore Dan Fink finished fifth sailing from Pine Lake, WI.
  • EHood sailing out of Lake Eustis, Florida’s club finished sixth and was top Master.  Thanks to crew Elise Anis from Augusta Sailing Club for sailing in the big breeze.
  • Local favorite and E Scow sailor Chris Hawk sailed a strong regatta finishing seventh plus won the last race. 
  • Noel Neuman from Upper Minnetonka won the second race and sailed very well finishing 8th.
  • Scott Tillema won race #3 in big breeze despite a broken outhaul on the last leg of that race win.  Scott sailed out of Missouri Yacht Club finishing 9th. 
  • Tenth went to Richard “Flat Tire” Blake sailing out of Hoover Yacht Club in Columbus, OH.  Hope you got home safely.
  • Top Grand Master and 13th overall was Tim Fredman from Pine Lake in Wisconsin. 
  • Top Mega Master was Dr. Jack Kern from Rush Creek Yacht Club near Dallas who finished 17th overall. 
  • Our top Youth sailor (under 21) went to Jake Erdman from White Lake, MI who finished 21st overall.

 

Regatta Highlights
Oh boy we have some serious highlights from this regatta.  First of all if you have not been to the Finger Lakes and/or Lake Keuka you need to put it on your bucket list, a definite spot to visit in your lifetime with spectacular hills, deep clean water and massive lakes in western New York. 

Co-chairs Steve Anderson and Robert Cole with a great team of volunteers took great care of the crew.  Believe me, we were needy.  All four days the temps ranged from a low at night of 35 to high of 59 degrees during the sailing times.  Also, day 1 first two races we had rain and it was seriously cold.  Great (hot) food, great parties and great drinks from “up the hill” as they say at Keuka greeted the sailors each evening.

I think one of the highlights was that we had a shot of having a real shoot out at the end of this regatta with the first six boats only be separated by eight points.  The difference between 2nd and 6th was only two points.  There was an unheard of three-way tie for 2nd when it was all over.  We never got a race off the last day so we sat on that point spread for a day with everyone considering all the possibilities.  The regatta was up for grabs. 

Basically as mentioned earlier we had three great races and one silly race I think everyone but probably our new champ Joe would like back. The serious part though of the silly race is you better race as hard as you can like Joe and everyone else did because it may count just like this one did.  The great news on the silly race was everyone afterwards discussed how we got there, the outcome and ways to avoid getting ourselves in a bind in the future. 

Our PRO and his teams did a great job on the first three races and just simply got caught in tough conditions (go or no-go) for the last one.  One thing we all walked away with was -don’t blame the PRO or volunteers when they give us things we ask for.  So back to highlights.

Race winners – Surles, Neuman, Tillema, Hawk.

Cam McNeil, EHood and maybe one or two others with rooster tails flying off their transoms in race 3 going from windward mark to offset in the biggest puff of the day.  Crazy fast MC speeds.  Great rides all day long on the first day and first three races.

Learning that if you don’t like the breeze you have with the Keuka mountain style sailing then just wait a minute for another big shift.  You could read them though so it was not like they were unknowns like you might see in Colorado or other high altitude lakes.

Great class meeting held by Dan Fink and Bob Cole.  Lots of discussion about our future building into young sailors and new sailors.  Investing our money in technology for the future and other creative ideas to build the class were discussed.  Check the next magazine and web for the minutes.
 

Big Thanks and Appreciation to:

  • Marianne Fink who did a ton of support work for the class before, after and during this event.
  • A big class thank you and shout out to Ron Stryker outgoing Executive Class Secretary whose offer to serve a couple of years turned into about 6 real fast.  Ron and Herman Van Beek before him has given hundreds, probably into the thousands of hours to our class doing things nobody ever sees.  Ron will continue on helping the class with treasury duties and hopefully we find some time to sail with us soon.  Many thanks for your tireless servant hood Ron from all!!

Meeting new class members like Devon Howe and others from the newest fleet Saratoga, New York. A product of John Kimball’s hard work over the years.

Watching the Coral Reef Sailing Apparel group sell lots of cold weather clothing (including me).  Love those tights, or should I say hydro under gear!

See the Keuka Lake Yacht Club grow their fleet with 2 skippers added to the fleet with Anders Hudson and Steve Mixon joining.   Anders and his dad William bought my very cool new MC with the rubber floor that everyone wants now and the crazy I-45 graphics.  So cool to see young sailors when they get their first boat. Steve Mixon a local sailor just joined the scow world for the first time buying a good used MC at the regatta.

Key Learnings
Like any long series regatta there are always things we learned.  This regatta was “Don’t Panic” as change is around the corner.  With velocities changing, big giant (but foreseeable) shifts coming through, there were always opportunities to make gains or get back into any given race.  Also, with the big shifts in the windy races you had to be aware of sailing into the waves on Port tack when the big left shifts came through.  Downwind more than ever though I think we saw folks lose big and gain big by either not sailing hard or really sailing hard and focusing on the always new fresh breeze coming from behind.  

Starts while extremely important did not necessarily kill you if you were not in the right spot.  What did hurt you though was not getting off the line with speed.  That was huge because you had to check back in with quick tacking usually right after the start somewhere in the first 1-3 minutes with the shifty breezes.  The three good races we did have a steady direction but the shifts would go up to 20-30 degrees either way off the basic WNW direction. 

Focused sailing was a big deal this week and you could see it in the top group of sailors. Basically, the top boats were steering well, tacking well, gibing well, and starting well.

Future Events, Photos and More
Several other regattas still in play include next week’s Blue Chip Championship at Spring Lake, MI.  Check the class website for details.

OCTOBER
October has two big events down south for those commuting down to the southern winter circuit. First is the Halloween Regatta in Augusta and then the week after is the Masters Championship at Beaufort, SC. 

NOVEMBER
November you have the Southeast Championship at Lake Eustis FL.

PHOTOS
I reviewed about 400 great images shot at the Nationals by Bonnie Gustin a local photographer.  She also had a big Wine Country event this weekend so we are a couple of days off before seeing her images that you can purchase. 

I think the group shots upwind, downwind are spectacular with the big hills and colors in the background.  Every sailor can be seen in all these images. 

Here is a first step to connecting with Bonnie about her images.   Go to her website at  http://bonniegustinphotography.com  and you should be able to see her galleries on her blog there.

 

In Closing
It was great seeing everyone this past weekend and hope you all made it back safely and quickly to your homes. 

Check in with the crew at Melges for new boats for the upcoming 2012 season.  Many of you saw some new features on my boat 2548 at the Nationals.  The rubber floor is a game changer for comfort, safety and grip.  I love the new Harken traveler system that made sailing in the big breeze much easier.  2012 should be a big MC year as we already know of many Michigan orders lining up because of the Nationals being held there next August at White Lake.

Sail ahead and make your plans now for your favorite upcoming regattas.  See you there!

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2011 WMYA
North powered boats dominated!
Report by Eric Hood


The Event
200 plus teams sailing in seven different classes made it to one of the nicest lakes in the world for the 82nd Western Michigan Yachting Association Championships. Just Google Crystal lake, Michigan and check it out.  9 miles long almost 2 miles wide and " Hurt Your Eyes Blue Water".  62 MC Scows, 66 Butterfly's , 24 E Scows, 17 Melges 17s, 18 Lasers and 15 Optimists attended this year.   Making this the2nd  largest WMYA event in history just barely behind of the old record at Torch Lake last time we were there for the Westerns.

Highlights
Four beautiful days of racing mostly in the light medium range with temps in the low 80s.  Crystal Lake Yacht Club and the massive volunteer network really put together a very well organized regatta.  great launching and retrieving teams, huge parking lots crews.  3 styles of lunches for the folks on shore and the sailors in between races.  Just being at such a beautiful "bucket list" lake is great enough but then you add the huge hospitality factor and you can quickly understand why this is the event of the year in the Michigan Scow world.  The regatta banquet dinner was off the charts with great food, company and singing legend Johnny "Magambo" Linder.   Magambo had the house rockin' including his mom and dad Commodore Lindner dancing the night away. It was cool!!!

Race committee teams led by Steve Schiller, Midge Verplank, Stu Soule and a cast of about 50 others from CLYC really gave us some great courses and starting lines.  Nancy Price using the "Regatta Network Scoring System" had results finished and  on-line before most teams had their boats put away.  For final race details in all classes check out www.WMYA.org .  There will be some great images posted there in the very near future.  Kudos to Joan Manny for continued great organization at our WMYA events.

The awards ceremony was really cool because the youth group awards was a highlight for sure.  They had so much fun.  Seeing young sailors thanking parents, coaches, showing some early signs of great sportsmanship with their comments really was a highlight of the regatta for sure. Charlie Knape going up with a heartfelt thank you for his first regatta E Scow trophy for winning race 2 was a highlight.  Rob Terry sailing in three fleets thanking his bride Jules on every trip up for launching his boats to keep him going was a fun moment.  Connor Davis top Junior in the MCs with his rock solid performance against a very deep tough MC field was another award highlight moment.  Tom Munroe had quite a week with a hard fought victory in the M17 class and then a spectacular crash in his E Scow (no injuries) when they were mounted by a port tack E Scow at the start – see images soon at www.wmya.org   We had a bunch of ladies skippering and crewing which was great to see.  Amy Todd finished 2nd in the 18 boat Laser fleet. Elizabeth Bald was second in the Butterfly Open.  Libby Reeg from Spring Lake  finished 5th in the 57 boat Butterfly Junior Division.  Allison Price was top woman finishing 27th overall in the tough 62 boat MC Class.  Deb Gluek won 2 of 5 races finishing 3rd overall in the very tough M17 class with 17 boats.

Hospitality is through the roof at this club.  Teams were hosted at dozens of homes as local sailors housed many teams who came to this event.  Thank you Crystal Lake for making it so comfortable for so many sailors.

The Racing And Learning’s From This Event
The breeze was a little unsettled throughout this event with regards to velocity.  Lots of up and down conditions.  That put a huge premium on clear lanes so you could shift gears and put your bow down when needed.  It was almost a case of velocity ruling over best course to the mark sometimes .  Boat speed was a big deal .  Living in dirty air for anything more than 5 seconds when going upwind or downwind really hurt you.  Another key learning was being fast at the corners (marks) this week.  Quick moves and acceleration out of the windward offset mark proved to be another important focus point with the large fleets this week.  Probably one of the areas that teams need the most improvement on would be leeward gates.  We saw throughout the week in all scow fleets a tendency of folks to down speed sail their boats because they were fighting for buoy room. Folks, coming into a leeward mark or gates with a exit strategy containing boatspeed as a main ingredient is a lot more important that proving a point that you have room and in the process parking your boat.  For sure big losses for many in this department.  Sailing ahead coming into the gates and having a plan is critical. Don’t get wound up trying to prove a point you have room and then in the process giving up 1-10 boats.   Also the last thing to consider in a no-throw out race event is to keep plugging away every minute of every leg.  Every boat counts.  Sometimes it is easy to get discouraged.  Twice this week I found myself in the forties early in a race because of starting mistakes but I just kept racing the next boat next to me and doing that from beginning to end . Both of those times I crawled back into the top ten.  Fight for every boat.  One last thought is understanding water conditions with so many boats and a large spectator fleet.  The water was very choppy at times even though we had light/medium winds and were on a very large lake.  Going out and doing a pre-race practice beat and run each day really helped you understand that power , speed was needed to deal with the chop we saw sometimes.  When in doubt let it out was a popular trimming theme for the week.

The Results
All scores in full detail are up at www.wmya.org  now but here is a snapshot.

MC Scows (4 races - 62 boats)

  1. Rob Terry 19pts
  2. Tony Pugh 24
  3. Ted Keller 32
  4. Rick Morris Jr 33
  5. Cam McNeil 35
  6. Connor Davis 38
  7. EHood 38
  8. Andy Molesta/JHood 39
  9. Pete Comfort 40
  10. Chris Eggert 42

Melges 17s (5 races - 17 boats)

  1. Tom Munroe 12pts
  2. Rob Terry 16
  3. Deb Gluek 20
  4. Brian McMurray 25
  5. Mike Dow 26

C Scows (5 races - 9 boats)

  1. Cam McNeil 11pts
  2. Scott Helmes 17
  3. Todd Bosgraaf 21
  4. Tom Keenan 22
  5. Karl Lanka 24

E Scows ( 5 races - 24 boats)

  1. Ted Keller/Jamie Kimball/Pete Comfort 12pts
  2. Rob Terry 23
  3. Don Nelson 30 
  4. Doug McNeil 37
  5. Art Brereton 40
  6. Pete Price 48


Laser (4 races – 18 boats)
Isaac Kremers 4 pts, Amy Todd 15 , Bruce Hansen 16, Kenneth Griswold 24, Dell Todd 25

Butterfly Open ( 5 races – 9 boats)
Michael Madden 12pts, Elizabeth Bald 17, Jack Hutchinson 19

Butterfly Jr. (5 races – 57 boats)
Frank Reeg 12 pts, Mason Wolters 22, Benjamin Finkelstein 36, Wade Lorimer 43, Libby Reeg 49

Optimist (15 boats – 4 races)
Spencer Todd 7pts, Toben Johnson 12, Justin Lovell 14, Murphy Wynsma 21, Connor Goulet 23

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2011 MC INVITATIONAL
North 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10! Congrats Zack Clayton!
Report by Eric Hood

 

The 2011 I.L.Y.A. MC Invitational Regatta – Lake Beulah, WI.
 

Our youngest skipper George Kutschenreuter leading Mega Master Milt Haeger into the finish line of race 6 at the ILYA MC Invitational Regatta.
Photo Candace Porter
The Red Carpet treatment was waiting for 43 skippers and teams who made it to this year’s annual three day event.  If you ever want to learn about volunteerism and great service the Lake Beulah Yacht Club would be a great source as they do it up right all the time.  Fantastic in and out launch service.  Over the top dinners and great lunches.  Communications are crystal clear.  Even at the awards lunch a short 1 hour after the last race all race results were already posted along with dozens of great images of all the sailors racing .    Check it all out on www.lbyc.us   Great club website too if you are looking to upgrade your local sailing website.   Also, spectator boats were always available.  I know my wife Sue, Marianne Fink and several others really appreciated that nice option.
 
Lake Beulah is one of our smaller inland scow lakes and long ago native Indians actually called it Crooked Lake which is pretty darn accurate.  Just Google Lake Beulah and you will see what I mean.   We had hot weather and great water temps for the three days of sailing.  Winds were challenging and really put PRO Jeff Labonte and his great staff of leaders to the test.   With a lot of patience and persistence though we got all six races in.   On day one we waited all day for wind and then at 4:30 the breeze came .  We had two races between 4:30pm and 7:30pm in light 5-7 mph southeasterly winds.   Day two on Saturday we had 3 races from a unusual straight southerly direction in light winds ranging from 3-9 mph.  Then a good ol’ traditional southwest in 7-13 mph for our final race on Sunday.  As I said the RC work with the five boat team was fantastic.  Many thanks to Nan Norris, Candace Porter, David Porter, Jeff Lippert, Jeff Labonte and about a dozen other great RC volunteers.
 
Onto the racing.  First , I have to mention it was great seeing so many new faces jumping into our MC class.  Tough young sailors, very competitive women always up at the front, great veteran sailors and most importantly new skippers to our class.  Teams from 14 clubs and 5 states were present.  You can sense that folks are gearing up for some of the great major events coming up soon which include the Inland Championships at Minnetonka, the Western Michigan Championships at Crystal Lake and the National Championship at Lake Keuka.  Watch www.ilya.org , www.wmya.org , www.mcscow.org and www.melges.com for more information on all of these upcoming championships plus many regional and other regattas that may be of interest to you.
 
While I personally struggled with a lot of silly mistakes this past weekend at times I sailed really well.  Ended up 5th out of 43 when it was all over.  What I clearly remember though is at different points getting it handed to me by teenage skippers  Charlie and George Kutschenreuter, Women skippers like Andrea Jarecki who finished 11th overall along with the always extremely tough Kelly Hirn and some of our veteran Mega Masters like Milt Haeger.  It was fun to see skippers doing well throughout the whole age range and across genders.  The MC class truly is a great boat for anyone who has a desire to race in an extremely competitive class with a high performance boat.
 
Our regatta champ had an extraordinary week.  Actually we now call him Clark Griswold as in “Family Vacation’s” Clark Griswold.  The champ started the week on a long road trip from Connecticut with wife and child.  We think he possibly might have had a camper in tow and we still are not sure about the Aunt or dog as seen in Family Vacation.  He then comes home to Lake Beulah where he grew up and stole all the candy by winning and winning big this week in a borrowed boat, with a borrowed sail.  No more suspense – Clark Griswold a.k.a. Zack Clayton not only put on a training clinic before the event but also put on a clinic during the six races this past weekend.  In fact he had already won the regatta before Sunday’s final race.
 
Race winners – were Paul Wood from Lake Geneva, Zack Clayton officially from Lake Eustis, Paul Reilly from Cedar , Stefan Schmidt from Mendota and George Kutschenreuter from Beulah.  Top Woman was Andrea Jarecki from Beulah, Top Master was Bruce Gallagher from Pine, Grand Master was Peter Toumanoff from Pewaukee, Mega Master Milt Haeger and Top Youth George and Charlie Kutschenreuter.     Top Five  Clayton, Gallagher, Jeff Surles, John Porter (Beulah) and EHood.
 
This regatta was all tactics and boat handling.  While speed was good and solid tacking and gybing was important it was more about being in the right spot at the right time.   Breeze was up off the water a little bit so I think looking back on some mistakes I would say if you strayed from the pack you were running with that you put yourself in jeopardy.  It was racing were you wanted to be near the top 10 for 4,5,6 of the 7 leg courses then make your move on the last leg or two.  If you tried to do much in the first 2/3rds of the race more times than not it was risky at best.  Pre-race practice really was important to understand how the wind was not quite showing on the water as it appeared.  Fun stuff for sure.  If any of you have questions and want to visit more about this event I would be glad to share specific thoughts with any of you.  Just write to me at eric@melges.com
 
Again, all races results are posted at www.lbyc.us , www.ilya.org and will be up shortly at www.mcsow.org  
 
Get geared up for the big events coming soon that include the  Westerns, ILYA Champs, National Championship, Team Championship, Blue Chips and a host of other events you can find on www.mcscow.org

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2011 HORSE RACE
Report by Zack Clayton

June 3-5, 2011
MC-Scow Horse Race Regatta
Saratoga Lake Sailing Club
Saratoga Springs, NY

The inaugural MC-Scow Horse Race Regatta at lovely Saratoga Sailing Club shows exactly what can be done by one family, an enthusiastic MC-Scow sailor from Connecticut, a pile of volunteer help and the desire to promote scow sailing in the Northeast.  Fifteen MC-Scows from Saratoga, Keuka, Crystal (via Hartford, CT), Lake Eustis (via Putnam, CT), Quebec, Canada, and the travelling band known as Chris Norman from Lake Hopatcong all arrived at this new venue for MC-Scow Sailing.

Saratoga Lake, is situated about 45 minutes from Albany, NY and is known for the horseracing that comes to the town each summer season.  The sleepy town is drenched in people, pomp and circumstance and is a haven for the NYC population looking for an easy summer getaway. The lake is perfect for scow sailing, running basically north and south with a few high bluffs and a wonderful view of the mountain range off to the west.  The club is an old home that has been wonderfully maintained and updated with a great lakefrontage, slightly separated launching and storage area and a huge plus for a regional regatta, bedrooms for most of the travelling sailors to crash for the evening.

Regatta Chairman, Devon Howe and most importantly, his lovely bride and children hosted the event with some prodding from Bob Wynkoop.  Wonderful food, breakfast, lunch and dinner along with the all important free beer kept the light on till late in the evening Friday and Saturday evenings.

Friday afternoon, I was lucky enough to get to blather about sailing set-up, sailing strategy, boat preparation and all the rest that goes with a pre-regatta clinic.  With most of the Saratoga Fleet in attendance, a few of the early arrivers from Keuka and Will arriving early from Canada, we had a great group.  The breeze was up on Friday 14-20mph and we took advantage with a few boats hitting the water and yet again listening to myself give some tidbits of sail controls and angle of heel both upwind and downwind in the big breeze.  As is normally the case with great Friday breeze, the forecast for the weekend was zero to zero with an occasional gust above zero.

The Howe family set everyone up with a Friday evening dinner in town at a local burger bar and the guys enjoyed a bit of the sights and sounds of Saratoga Springs.  Brent Penwarden and Steve Bender have a great local story of town life as they were the guys staying off site.  Needless to say, it is lucky that the breeze forecast was correct for Brent or he would have been scrambling to hit the starting line on time.  Just ask them about it when you come up to Keuka for the 2011 Nationals.

Now, onto the less important part, the racing!

Saturday dawned with glassy water, a leisurely skippers meeting run by our PRO:  Clark Cooper and then an on-shore AP until after lunch.  A slight breeze built and the fleet was off and running.  The courses were all windward modified of varying length.  Race 1 and 2 were short as the PRO was just hoping to get some racing in with the low side breeze that was presented the racers.  Will Hendershot showed his early form and rounded with a group of three at the top mark, sailed a great run, keeping the boat heated up just a touch more than the other leaders, squeezed out to a little lead and held on back to the finish of the WM1 course.  Unfortunately for local and regatta organizer Devon Howe, he miscalculated the course (I guess printing the SI’s didn’t help with course management) and sailed past the windward mark.  Bob Wynkoop took advantage and sneaked in for a 2nd place with Brent Gillette using the same lefty puff to squeeze past Zack for 3rd.  Chris Hawk came from being OCS and rounded out the top five.  The key to this race was get to the front early.  With an entire race of not much more than 10 minutes, the leaders got rich and those that had a rough start were stuck duking it out in the pack.

Race 2 had more of the same breeze, but another lap added to the course.  Still hard left was the key and even more important to be left in this first beat. As this skipper got held out in the middle and played the meet and greet the fleet program, I cannot give a great play-by-play of the front, but clearly the key was left on the first leg, followed by left for the leaders and actually right on the second beat for the mid-pack.  Brent took the gun with Will second and Chris Hawk third.

Race 3 had a freshening breeze (the most of the regatta 5-7mph) and a stretched out racecourse.  A nice beat with a northerly breeze made for some good sailing.  Zack was lucky enough to be consistent up the first beat and used a nice lefty at the mark to take the lead.  Zack went on to hold on in this race despite a hard charge from Chris Norman and Chris Hawk.  The second beat had Hawk hard left, Norman hard right and Zack working the middle.  Hawk closed on the run and missed stealing the win by only a couple feet at the finish line.  With three races in the books, the fleet hit the dock for a re-cap of the day and a great chicken dinner.

After day 1, it was a three boat regatta with Brent in the lead followed tightly by Will and Chris Hawk.  Zack had an 11 on the scoreboard so he needed help on Sunday.  A few of the guys regaled in watching a bolt rope being released on Zack’s 1712 sail and saw approx 8 inches of rope shrinkage go away.  This is something that everyone should check with a sail over 1 or two seasons old.  The more the luff rope shrinks, the rounder the sail will be at the luff and also harder to hoist.

A rousing game of euchre along with some late night mac and cheese and spaghetti and meatballs to soak up the free beer kept everyone entertained once the sun went down.  Sunday forecast was for more of the same but out of the south.

Sunday dawned with no good stories from Brent, so the entire fleet was anxious to get on the water in a dying southerly.  By 10:00 the breeze was fading fast, but race four was underway.  Bob Wynkoop, Chris Hawk and Zack Clayton had a nice first beat.  Bob had a great chance to lead at the top but the breeze on the left faded and Zack and Chris powered in off the right.  Chris squeezed to the lead on the run and work hard right to the freshening breeze and took the lead for good and held on for a race win to hold the lead after four races, but the scores were tight.  Chris Norman worked a big left hand shift on the half beat to the finish to push forward in the fleet and finish third in this one.  Sean Tracy had a good one finishing fourth and the two leaders from day 1 were 5 and 6, opening the door for any of the top three to win the event.

Race 5 had less pressure and a shift of the course to the right.  The key here was to get onto a port quickly after the start and you were almost on the layline. The guys being pushed further left had to reach into the mark.  The big left meant the starboard gybe on the first run was a good move and the leaders all gybed away opening the door for Devon Howe to take the lead at the bottom pin, with Zack right on his heels.   As the breeze faded it was key to stay in the breeze, look up the lake and find the new breeze early.  Chris Hawk pushed to the middle to protect from Will on the left and Zack took advantage by working into the new pressure further right to lead at the top mark.  Will Hendershot realized if he was to win the regatta he needed to make a move on the final run and split with the fleet.  This paid as he rounded right on Zack’s heels at the bottom and used some good speed, and a nice left shift to take the gun as the breeze went totally flat.  2nd was Zack with Sean Treacy having his best finish of third in this one and Brent sneaking in for fourth.  Chris Hawk got pinned in a hole and faded to 7 in this last race opening the door for Will to come in and bring the regatta championship back home with him to Canada.

Final Top Five

  1. Will Hendershot
  2. Brent Gillette
  3. Chris Hawk
  4. Zack Clayton
  5. Chris Norman

Congrats to Charlie Murphy, the newest SLSC MC-Scow owner, the proud new owner of 1712.  We expect this Thistle sailor to be at the 2011 Nationals along with the rest of the Saratoga Fleet.  What a wonderful job done by the entire club with tons of RC help, launching help from John Kimball of SLSC.

Certainly a destination event, but expect this new MC fleet to grow. Personally I have to thank Bob Wynkoop for finding me a boat to race, getting me to the regatta and making the rest of the guys think that I know what I am doing.  It was great to be back in the boat again and expect to see myself at the MC ILYA Invitational in July and a big push to attend the 2011 MC Nationals at Keuka Lake, NY this fall.

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2011 SPENCER WEERSING REGATTA

Top 16 boats powered by North!
Report by Eric Hood | Photos Ingrid Lindfors

White Lake Yacht Club hosted this annual June event with 34 MCs coming to the line despite chilly weather and big winds on day 1 for the Spencer Weersing Memorial MC Regatta.

Doug McNeil, Bob Currier, Tom Getz, Tom Munroe, Don Nelson and a host of volunteers pulled out all the stops for this first big MC regatta of the Western Michigan season this year.  Sounds like a good A Scow team or 5 more great MC sailors that could have been with us.  We certainly appreciate top notch PROs and teammates making it happen for the sailors.

For those of you who have not been to White Lake it is a great scow racing lake.   Good size about 5 miles long and up to a mile wide in the racing area.  Connected to Lake Michigan and about ½ way up the west coast.  The club has been racing scows since 1903.  One of our largest MC National Championships was held there in recent years with 107 boats attending that event.  Some high tree lines on the shores, and a cut at the northwest corner of the lake through a channel connecting White Lake to Lake Michigan.

One other note about WLYC .  Watch out this is a hot scow club of the future.  Lots of youth and young guns coming out of this club with some real potential to be a force in the future.

Six races were held with 4 on Saturday in big wind out of a very unusual direction of N.N.W instead of the usual cool front winds that come from the N.W.  So a little crazy on direction for the locals who grew up on White Lake like current National Champ Cameron McNeil, myself and some others.  It was a good equalizer for everyone having a wind direction with some unknowns.  Velocities for those first four races ranged from 15-23 m.p.h.. The two Sunday races saw light/medium winds with a really crazy mostly northerly wind direction.  Race 5 was a good race and then Race 6 was our only shaky race with a Crazy Ivan during the race.  Crazy Ivan’s as you know are the 90 degree turn at the bottom of the hour.  The series was still close after 5 races though so you had to survive the crazy 6th race to finish well in the event.

Big, big social events both Friday night and Sunday at the McNeil’s on Lake Michigan down on South Shore Drive.  The fun thing was Brett Hatton was recruited early by Doug McNeil to work on the food program and wow, he pulled out the stops.  The large grill was working overtime and everyone ate well.  The parties were an absolute blast.   So both on the water and off the water was a great time .  A lot of storytelling at McNeil’s .  The good old “there I was” type stories.  Put this event down on your 2012 MC calendar as a cannot miss event.

So for sailing news.  There was a lot of discussion about sailing in the big breeze on Saturday night.   About 22 of the 34 teams had crews.  Of the 12 without crew 9 were 200 pounds plus.  A lot of folks were asking me how I had the boat going so well.  Most of the time I was in the 5th-8th range but close to the front.  Had  a few buoys I hit and some extra mileage that hurt my final results but I did sail the boat very well.  As I reflected with the other skippers it became apparent that more than anything I had a real focus on the breeze for this day.  I really did not want to fight the mainsheet, vang and tiller plus try to hike .  So I pegged the vang on block to block (great if you are not tacking), left the traveler on center or 1 card down, pegged the outhaul all the way to max on the band (pull on slowly so you do not blow up your tack slug), then slowly pulled the Cunningham onto max down (don’t jerk , just pull on slowly so you don’t rip a grommet out).  Here is the key though I focused on the breeze coming down and really worked hard on every single velocity and shift change as it touched the boat.  I focused much more on my steering  than normal it seemed like.  This kept the boat level all  the time even at my lighter weight.  So just something to think about.  Then getting bold downwind and staying in the monster puffs put you right back in the game.  A lot of folks were timid.  Go out and practice big wind downwind sailing.  Work the vang in and out on the velocity changes.  It is just like a gas pedal on a race car.  

Day 2 – for the first race which was race 5 it was a fun race for everyone as the wind was all over the place but for the most part just sitting on the high side.  So tactics, quick tacking were key items.

For both days starts were critical.  Bob Currier , Don Nelson and Tom Munroe gave us great starting lines.  You had to really work hard to try and figure it out.  They called the over early folks very well and very fair.  Just a great job of RC work.

Top 5:

  1. Jamie Kimball
  2. Cam McNeil
  3. Brett Hatton
  4. Rob Kimball
  5. Brien Fox  

Top Master – Rob Terry
Top Grand Master – Curt Miller
Top Youth – Connor Davis
Top Woman – Allison Price

Lots of great regattas coming up soon.  Big ILYA Invite early July at Lake Beulah where Al Haeger regatta co-chair will be rolling out a unique championship within the championship called Heroes and Legends.  Watch for that news.  Be thinking about the Big Inlands at Minnetonka , the big WMYA Championship at Crystal Lake and the Nationals at Lake Keuka. Tons of other great events like the new Team Racing Event at Clear Lake and more.  I know lots of info is going up on the MC website this weekend..

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2011 ORLANDO WEBB REGATTA
Report by Eric Hood

Wow, hot was the buzz word this weekend at this great annual regatta just outside Kansas City on one of our most unique Scow racing lakes . Temps were predicted in the 90s and that is what we had for the three days or sailing and training. Fortunately we had good breeze that ranged from 4-17 mph over the three days of sailing.

Lake Lotawana which is shaped like a T and the long part of the T being just short of two miles long and the top of the T being just short of a mile long. A very narrow lake averaging 200 yards wide with high hills. I have sailed there in 5 different decades. My parents first took there in the early 60s as this was one of the big Snipe venues during the 50s-60s-70s. Also known for great C Scow regattas over the years, Butterfly National Championships and fantastic MC events that always average 40-55 boats. This year we had 45 registered and 40 on the starting line each day. We are pretty sure the good ol' Weather Channel spooked a few folks off with predictions of storms and heat. The storms never came.

Andy Fox and I conducted a free training event starting with Andy having them sail Thursday afternoon and Friday morning then with both of us leading a 90 minute indoors :-) Mini Zenda U style event. Lots of give and take. Everyone put up on the white board one thing they wanted to improve on which was great . Everyone was heard and we all learned from each other.

The regatta was scheduled for 4 races with 3 on Saturday and 1 today on Sunday. Paula Martin had a great crew and pulled off four great races under some tough , shifty conditions.

It was great seeing some new fleets and new blood here at Missouri Yacht Club this weekend. Longview Lake in KC has four new MC teams sailing and they all came to the event. Not sure they have a fleet charter yet but they are excited and are looking at growth. Lake Carlisle which has a rich history of sailing just across the river from St. Louis now has 9 MCs and two of their ringleaders joined us. MC teams from Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri made it to the event making this the second largest MC event of the year so far. Gas was even cheaper in the region.

Fantastic Lotawana hospitality with their huge volunteer network made it a real joy to be at this great club for three days. Dr. Tillema and Wally Thornton gave a rich history lesson on the legacy of Orlando Webb who started the regatta 32 years ago but only sailed it once before passing away from a heart attack suffered while sailing his MC that following Memorial day. His wife just passed away a couple of months ago but she was a leader making things happen at MYC for all those years in between their deaths. It was great to hear about a true legacy left in place by the Webb family.

Onto some racing. It was tight, crazy, fast breaking and exciting. Lots of lead changes on all races. The key to this weekend was being able to tack and gybe quickly to get in the new dark water that would appear in very short order dropping down from the tall hills and trees surrounding the entire lake. It paid to clear your air every time someone tacked or gybed on you. So boathandling first but coupled with boatspeed. As Billy Allen used to tell me sometimes you make more money at the back of puffs that you do at the front by shifting gears. This was a weekend for focus and quick thinking. A ton of fun for sure.

Here are some quick results. For full results and details on all upcoming events including the big events of the rest of this season please go to www.mcscow.org

  1. Andy Fox - LESC , FL. fleet 4 1-1-4-2= 8
  2. Eric Hood - LESC , FL. fleet 4 2-4-1-3 = 10
  3. Jeff Surles - PLYC , WI. fleet 44 4-7-3-1 = 15
  4. Danny Ziegler - WSC, OK fleet 32 7-10-5-5 = 27
  5. Austin Chamberlin - MYC, MO fleet 14 5-11-8-9 = 33
  6. Drew Ziegler - WSC , OK fleet 32 8-2-20-4=34
  7. Bob Cantrell - MYC, MO fleet 14 9-6-2-17 = 34
  8. John Sepanski - CSA, IL fleet 91 16-3-10-13= 42
  9. Scott Griffiths - MYC, MO fleet 14 10-13-6-15=44
  10. Craig Eaton - LESC, FL fleet 4 3-5-22-18= 48

Great job everyone and many thanks to Team MYC for hosting a fantastic regatta.

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INTERVIEW BOB COLE
Keuka Yacht Club

Interview by Eric Hood

Today , we are talking with Bob Cole from Lake Keuka, New York. Bob is a current board member of the MC Scow Class and a member of fleet 76 at Lake Keuka. Bob is extremely active and has traveled to 40 MC regattas in the last 6 years. That being said we want to visit with Bob today and share with us all the great reasons we need to visit Lake Keuka and sail at the upcoming 2011 MC Nationals or one of the many other great events for scows there each year.

Thanks Bob for joining us today. I just realized when I looked at your regatta stats on how much you have been traveling to other venues to race your MC Scow and I know you like E Scows too. Today we want to visit with you about what I think is a “Bucket List” destination spot on the scow circuit. Can you give a brief history of scow sailing and your club at Lake Keuka?

Bob – 40 regattas? Really? Can you tell I love racing the MC Scow?

It’s a challenge to give a “brief” account of the rich history of scows on Lake Keuka in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York. The Keuka Yacht Club dates from about 1872. The first scows on Keuka were A Scows from about 1905 and A Scow sailing was strongest from the mid 20’s into the WWII years. The E’s came into the picture after the war and I had my first E ride as a young boy in the late 50’s. The Keuka E fleet has been in continuous operation for over 60 years, hosts the annual Eastern Class E Sloop Association regatta every fifth year, and has hosted two E Scow National Championships. The MC appeared on Keuka within the last decade and I credit Spring Lake scion Scott Cioe with his leadership bringing our MC fleet #76 into existence. Our MC fleet has shown steady growth and in 2009 Keuka Yacht Club hosted the MC Masters Championship regatta.

The Keuka Yacht Club has arranged to provide much more information about the club, Lake Keuka, the region, and some services of interest to visitors. On the website click on “About Us”, scroll to just below the map of the area, and click after “If you are interested in lodging”, for a listing.

Another great website with a great deal of information and images of the lake is The Keuka Lake Association

A rich club history for sure. Tell us more about the unique region of the country you are located in. I mean you have some many great things from Wine Country to Watkins Glen and more. Give us a sense of the immediate region for those on a sailing team who might want to take an extra day or two to look around.

Bob – For 2011, Fleet 76 has scheduled its annual regatta, the “N’orEasterns” for September 10-11, the weekend just after Labor Day and just before the MC Nationals at Keuka scheduled for September 14-17. This time of year offers warm water, a more open house rental market, fewer power boats, winds are picking up, and the beginning of the fall colors. We’re happy to offer our greater region for your entertainment. Chautauqua Institution, Niagara Falls, Watkins Glen auto race track, are just a day trip away. Museums as well are nearby including the Rockwell Museum of Western Art and Corning Museum of Glass in Corning; the National Soaring Museum near Elmira; and the Glenn Curtiss Museum of Local History (read aircraft restorations from 1908 and later) in Hammondsport. Not to be missed are the Keuka and Seneca Wine Trails – tours of the many boutique vineyards and wineries in the area. Lake Keuka itself is a great place to spend some time touring the lake shore by power boat and harkening back to the days of the steamboat as a major source of passenger and commercial transportation.

Now I have done the drive from a couple of different angles over the years and it certainly does not bother this road warrior . Share with us some drive times from say a couple of areas like Grand Rapids, Chicago, Kansas City, Chattanooga, Charleston, Dallas. What would be some travel tips for staying in the region and the unique layout of the lake? I know my last trip there you had me in a bed and breakfast just down the road from the club and it was great.

Bob – You and I, Eric, know about some drives, don’t we?

Let’s see, a visitor to Keuka coming from Grand Rapids would spend about 9 hours on the road; Chicago about 10 hours; Kansas City about 17; Chattanooga about 14; Charleston also about 14; Dallas about 22; and Eustis about 19. Interstate highways bring visitors within about 15 miles of Keuka Yacht Club.

I know this sounds like a lot of time, well, certainly is a lot of time on the road. If folks ask around about Keuka and the 2009 Masters, I’m sure the word is positive. We know it’s a big commitment of time and folks can be sure Fleet 76 and Keuka Yacht Club will strive as always to make our visitors as comfortable as can be.

With our upcoming MC National Championships I know there were a lot of drivers on choosing the date. Fill us in on both what those drivers were and what it is like sailing on a drop dead, gorgeous, unbelievable, bucket list lake (how does EHood really feel). No seriously give our group an idea of a typical late summer sailing day on Lake Keuka.

Bob – Let’s start with the evening before. I have always loved looking into the night sky from a place with clear air and very little light pollution – Lake Keuka - one can see the edge of the universe from Lake Keuka on a late summer evening.

Lake Keuka is a bit more than 700 feet above sea level and is surrounded by hills another 300 feet higher. The lake was formed by glacial erosion. The lake is about 21 miles long, from Hammondsport to Penn Yan, and at its widest point, our sailboat racing area, is a bit over a mile wide. Vineyards dot the landscape on the hills overlooking the lake, in amongst large maple and oak forests.

Mid September might see a bit of mist on the water as the sun rises. Soon the air moves from the south. The sky is clear of clouds and is likely to remain that way. The wind changes after the early morning, according to the weather system in play, very often to the west, and if so we set our race courses on the east side of the lake, about a mile east of the club. If the system brings us north or south breeze, we can set a course in line with the north-to-south run of the lake and have some very long legs with opportunity to play one or the other shore. We rarely have air from the east, but if we do then we reverse the setup for west wind. I’d think the most typical breeze is 8 to 12 mph on these late summer days. The race course is a very short sail from the clubhouse, by the way, and very convenient to observers who can see the action from the docks at the club or venture a short distance and time in a spectator power boat.

Eric, I hope anyone reading this will look for a number of photos of the lake, many on view at the Keuka Lake Association website, and some photos of art work, paintings mostly, and many of those are on view at the website of West End Gallery in Corning. The photos and paintings offer some views of the things we love about Lake Keuka –things of beauty that keep us coming back year after year to play at our sport in a beautiful venue.

Last question. If you could bullet point and sort of review the above with “Bob Cole’s Top Ten Reasons To Attend The MC Nationals” what would they be. I can think of ten in my own mind but we would like to hear from a leader like you who lives there.

Bob – This is easy, although maybe not ten reasons, and certainly not just about Keuka.

The Nationals is our annual gathering of friends from all over the country, coast to coast and Canada (including our Canadian sailing friends) to Mexico. I have sailed in a number of classes and I have found a real home in the MC among the many friends I’ve made and will make in this class.

We have set up an entertaining time over the course of 8 days including the “N’orEaster” MC regatta, interesting nearby things to see and do, between the regattas, and of course the Nationals. I think this format offers families the opportunity to separate the drives to and from by attending these interesting opportunities over several days.

This time of year promises lesser traffic on our roads and on the lake. We think this means some savings to our visitors in locating lake shore house rentals. Sharing a house with sailing friends can help reduce costs. We will do our best to offer housing situations with hosts around the lake on a limited basis, by the way.

We are working on an arrangement with Coral Reef Sailing Apparel to offer gear on site. We know this will extend to Melges Performance Sailboats who will offer some equipment assistance to sailors in need to keep us on the water and in the hunt.

Hospitality. While we are together, Fleet 76 and Keuka Yacht Club promise to provide food, drink, entertainment, racing and more, to satisfy all and sundry.

Finally, thanks Eric, for the opportunity to tell the folks a bit about our beloved Lake Keuka. We think you’ll fall in love with it too.

Bob from all of us here at Team Melges we want to thank you so much for this great snapshot of Lake Keuka. For those wanting more information please visit the following sites and stayed tuned to the MC Scow class website for detailed information coming out late winter for the 2011 MC Scow National Championship.

 

 

 

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INTERVIEW Cam McNeil
2010 National Champion

Interview by Eric Hood

 


Congratulations Cam on your convincing win at the 2010 MC Scow Nationals.  You seemed very relaxed, cool, calm and collected all week.  Help our friends in the MC class both veterans and new sailors understand some of your pre-regatta strategy in preparing.  I guess what I am asking is what is going through your mind as you get ready the week or two going into the event.

 Thanks, E.  First off, thanks again to Amy Larkin and all the volunteers at Lake Lanier Sailing Club who put on a tremendous Nationals.  The regatta management and hospitality were second to none.  Also, thanks to PRO Lee Estes and his crew for getting in four great races in some testy conditions.  We had heard great things about Lanier but I must say our expectations were exceeded.  A big hats off to LLSC.

There is a lot of anticipation and excitement leading up to a National Championship regatta.  Joe, Connor and I hatched our plan to attend this year’s event in mid-September and once we did it was hard to concentrate on anything else.  Keeping us going were the daily e-mail chains discussing our travel and camping plans, and pondering what adventures awaited us in the Georgia hills. 

With any big event—especially a National Championship—it is important to minimize potential issues that may increase one’s anxiety heading into, or at the regatta.  This is accomplished through proper preparation and planning.  The week prior to the regatta I did some preventative maintenance on my boat by replacing a few worn lines and bent shackles.  I also scalped any part from my brother John’s boat that happened to look nicer and faster including his new tiller and rudder.  Our smooth trek south was made possible by the generosity of the Verplanks and Davises who allowed us the use of their triple trailer and SUV, respectively.  With such a solid travel package we were left to focus on sailing fast.   

In addition to equipment checks and ironing out logistics, it’s important to mentally prepare for the various scenarios likely to unfold on a crowded race course.  Pre-formulating my plan for a given situation saves me the on-the-water-deliberation that usually results in a poor decision.  A few rules of thumb for me last week were:

  1. Be flexible at the start.  If your setup isn’t looking good at 45-30 seconds bail out and re-set. 
  2. Don’t risk a close port-starboard early in the regatta.  Take the stern and get him or her on the next crossing. 
  3. Don’t bang corners or try to call long laylines.  Stay up the middle so you’re well positioned for shifts from either side. 
  4. Avoid traffic jams at the weather mark.  Approach on starboard and never tack under a pack of boats that isn’t making the mark. 
  5. Stay inside of the fleet downwind.  Sail by the lee if there’s enough pressure.  If not, sail up for the puffs then ride them down. 
  6. Be patient.  If you missed the shift don’t chase it, wait for the next one. 
  7. Never sail in dirty air for more than a few boat lengths.  Even if you’re going the right way take a quick clearing tack. 

Once at the venue, I think it is important to relax as quickly as possible.  Staying relaxed maintains confidence and confidence translates to speed on the race course.  Thanks to all who helped us unload the triple we were quickly set up and on the beach.  Kicking back at regattas is a strong point for Spring Lakers and White Lakers and this regatta was no exception.  Under the supervision of camp chaperone Scott Harestad our contingent made the most of our 4 days on the shores of Lake Lanier. 


Now let's transition to the actual race strategy and those last five minutes before the start.  We can skip the first race where you asked me for the time with 2 minutes to go and then you win the first race.  No, seriously I think I know what your answer is going to be but help the class out on what you are looking for and what you are thinking about going into each race.  If there is a particular race you have an example from at this year's National Championship please give us some details.

Yes, the first start caught a few of us off guard.  Fortunately for me I was at the right end of the line (pin) and Uncle E. was close by to give me 2 minutes.

Our camp spent a few minutes each morning tuned into our weather radios for the day’s wind forecast.  On an unfamiliar lake it is important to get your bearings straight and understand how the clocking wind will affect a given race course.  While the forecast may not dictate where you start it is something to always keep in the back of your mind during a long day of racing. 

My goals for every start are: 1). Be on the line at the favored end; 2). Have full boat speed; and 3). Have a clear lane and options.  These are obvious enough but executing them is another story.  The surest way to be right on the line in a big fleet is to start either at the pins or at the midline boat.  As you can see from the pictures there were large mid-line sags in several starts—especially the starts of the 3rd and 4th races without the mid-line boat.  My four starts were pin, mid-line boat, pin, and pin.

Deciding the favored end of the line is probably the trickiest part of starting.  My method last week was to luff in the middle of the line and watch boats sail to weather.  Not only does this save time and energy but I think it gives you a better perspective on the angles of sail and how the puffs are moving down each side the course.  Every few minutes I would test the angle of starboard tack off the starting line.  The lower the angle the more apt I was to start at the pin.  Another method is to get a buddy and have one come off the weather end on starboard and the other come off the pin end on port.  Whoever crosses ahead came from the favored end.  Joe, Connor and I were constantly sharing ideas and observations during our pre-start routines which also helped a lot.

Having full boat speed at the gun hinges on whether you have a hole to leeward and whether you trim in early enough.  I like to come back against the grain at about 1:30-1:00 so I can pick my spot, rather than set up too early and have other peoples’ actions determine how my start materializes.  As I said earlier, it’s important to be flexible in your starting routine.  If it’s not looking good bail out and reset.  To create a hole leave your sail out luffing as far as possible then at about 20 seconds trim in, get a touch of speed and head up.  This way when you trim in and go at about 10 seconds you can dive back down and hit the line with speed. 

Creating a clear lane simply means having clean air off the line.  This is hard to do in a fleet of 75 but the strategy is basic: beat the boat to leeward and the boat to windward of you.  If you can do this you’ll have your bow out in the fresh breeze and you’ll immediately be gaining ground on the fleet. 

As an example of how I brought all these techniques together I’ll quickly explain my start in the 4th race.  For this start the winds were SE around 10 mph.  However, the forecast called for it to switch counter clockwise to the ENE and then die.  So all else being equal I was thinking the left side of the course was the place to be.  The line was square and there was no mid-line boat.  Since I haven’t perfected the “Andy Burdick mid-line sag start” I was deciding between the ends.  At about 3 minutes I was luffing in the middle of the line when a noticeable left shift came through.  I reached down to the pin where I found Joe who had already picked up on it.  Both of us spun back against the grain at about 45 seconds as boats were already setting up.  Joe flopped to starboard before I did.  At this point starboard tack had totally imploded and the first ten boats weren’t going to make the line.  I went a few more boats up the line before tacking to starboard at about 25 seconds.  From the moment I tacked I was working the boat to stay powered up and moving forward so I didn’t get sucked down.  I trimmed in at 15 seconds, shot the pin and was the first boat to clear the leeward end of the line.  On my hip were Jeremy Pape, Jack Kern and E. Hood.  After a few boat lengths we all tacked, cleared the fleet and rode a long port tack in the fresh lefty up toward the mark.  Despite his jibe around fire drill, Joe managed to punch off the middle of the line on port and come back to get 3rd in the race.

Your dad Doug and I grew up as great friends but race course rivals when we were young growing up in West Michigan.  You seem to be running with some young guns from West Michigan.  I mean Joe Rotunda who you came down with finished 2nd.  Then Connor Davis whom you also travelled with won the Youth Division. Tell us a little bit about sailing in West Michigan, club racing there and some of the sailors you have sailed with over the years to help elevate your game.



You’re right, E.  West Michigan—and Spring Lake in particular—has produced a long and storied line of accomplished MC sailors, many of whom were pioneers of the class.  The Verplank, Reuterdahl, Eggert, Fox, Hatton and Walborn families have all made their mark on the MC class and continue to be instrumental in mentoring and supporting the next generation of sailors rising through the ranks.  On White Lake the Getz, Marvil, Penn, Bedau and Gill families are all longtime supporters of our MC fleet and continue to inspire our young sailors.  Growing up sailing on both White Lake and Spring Lake I had the privilege of learning from the best sailors on each lake and I owe much of my success to these experiences.

I was fortunate to grow up among a very talented group of junior sailors including Joe, Rob and Jamie Kimball, Matt Cassady, and my brother, John.  After several years of heated Junior Butterfly racing we transitioned to MC’s and frequently team up on C’s as well.  All of these guys have had great success in the MC and various other scow classes.  John won the MC Nationals in 2006 on Lake Norman and Jamie won it in 2007 on Torch Lake.  We stay sharp each year by sparring with local hot shots Chris Eggert, Brien Fox, Pete Fox, Dave Fox, Justin Hood, Kyle Verplank, Brett Hatton, Andy Molesta, Todd Bosgraaf, Doug McNeil, Bob Currier, Brian McMurray and Ted Keller.  Needless to say when all the guns get on the line the racing is intense. 

At the end of the day what stands out about the West Michigan sailing crowd is the camaraderie and lifelong friendships that sailing has forged among us.  There is also a uniquely strong devotion to perpetuate the sport by supporting junior sailing and encouraging new families to get into sailing.  The thriving junior sailing programs at both White Lake and Spring Lake are a testament to this. 

Keeping with tradition, Connor is part of of a strong and growing junior MC fleet in West Michigan.  It was neat to see him do so well at his first Nationals and I know he’ll be beating up on me soon.  I told him I was 56th at my first Nationals in 1996 at Torch Lake, so he is way ahead of my curve! 


If you could simply name the top 5 things you think are the most important contributions to your success this year winning the National Championship what would they be?

  • The invaluable practice I’ve had all summer against the speedy West Michigan sailors.
  • Getting off the line clean then sailing smart and conservatively the rest of the way.
  • Superior boat speed thanks to my North ZMAX.  The ZMAX is a versatile sail that tops the competition in all wind conditions.  It provided power in the light stuff and was easy to flatten out in the windy 3rd race.  This sail is built for success. 
  • The pre and post race pow-wows with Joe and Connor where we discussed strategy and what worked or didn’t work that day.
  • The relaxed atmosphere of the campsite, our convenient beach launch, and the late night Dominos deliveries. 


The strength of our class always has been sharing and I know you come from a long line of McNeil’s including Doc and Doug that have always given back.  Okay you are the National Champ and you have the podium.  If there is anything you could share to help our class sailors out both veteran, new, older, younger, male, female what would it be? 

You mentioned my family and I’d like to briefly touch on the importance of the family support I’ve had throughout my sailing career.  My grandparents Doc and Nancy McNeil were avid fans of scow sailing and their support allowed my family’s various campaigns to take shape.  From our Butterfly days and into the MC and C boat, Doc and Nancy travelled far and wide to cheer us on at regattas.  My parents have been there every step of the way as well, although they learned to be a little less “hands on” than Doc was.  The lessons and tips my dad has passed on from his years of dueling against E. Hood, Bill Metcalf, Brett Hatton, Andy Burdick and others are forever engrained in my mind (I think I can recount every C boat Westerns regatta since 1975).  The family support I received over the years is the #1 reason I have progressed to this point.

I would be remiss to not mention the support I get from my girlfriend, Lindsey.  She puts up with me devoting many summer weekends to sailing and I want to thank her for that.  Sailing is much more enjoyable when you know you’re not in the dog house when you get home. 

Now to answer your question I’ll make two quick points.  First, it is incumbent upon all MC sailors to do their part to help grow the fleet.  Make MC sailing inclusive, not exclusive.  If you are the club champion help others in your fleet with rigging, tuning, boat handling and sail trim.  Hang out after the races to de-brief with the fleet over a cold one.  Start a junior MC fleet at your club—even if it means getting sailors to lend out their boats for a day.  If you’re buying a new boat sell your old one on the lake.  A few simple initiatives such as these can quickly grow your MC fleet.  

Second and most importantly, remember that sailboat racing is about having fun.  It’s great to be competitive but win, lose or draw sailing is about enjoying the beautiful lakes we sail on, spending time with great friends, and meeting new friends who share your passion for sailing.  If you happen to sail well enough to get a trophy, or better yet win a regatta that is icing on the cake!

Cam I can tell you as a MC Class Leader for so many years that myself along with so many others in this class applaud your convincing win but more importantly your great attitude, character and sportsmanship.  Congratulations from all of us in the MC Scow Class.

Thanks again, E.  And thank you for all the work you’ve done over the years in conjunction with Melges and North Sails to build and support the MC Class.  I look forward to seeing everyone at the 2011 Nationals on Lake Keuka, NY. 




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2010 MC SCOW NATIONALS
Congratulations Cam McNeil!

Report by Eric Hood

 

North Z Max DOMINATES!
1st Cam McNeil Z Max
2nd Joe Rotunda Z Max
5th EHood Z Max
7th Ted Keller Z Max
8th Jeremy Pape Z Max
9th Jeff Surles Z Max
10th Dan Fink GLM
 
North Z Max wins 3 of 4 races
 
North Z Max wins following divisions:
Top Master – EHood Z Max
Top Grand Master – Byron Beasley Z Max
Top Woman – Amy Larkin Z Max
Top Youth – Connor Davis Z Max


An incredible week here at Lake Lanier , Georgia with great sailing, great community time among the sailors, incredible food and social events on one of the nicest lakes on planet earth.  The huge high pressure system we have watched all week is in fact here and no racing today for the final day of this championship.
 
Cam McNeil joins a short list of sailors who have won more than one MC Scow National Championship.  Cam dominated the series with a convincing championship win and will bring home the hardware to White Lake , Michigan.  Right behind Cam and sailing with blazing speed all week was Joe Rotunda from Spring Lake, Michigan.  Noel Neuman sailed consistently strong and was always a threat at this year’s national championship.  It was great to see big Jeff Grinnan from Rush Creek Yacht Club finish strong in 4th .  EHood put together a very strong last race to move up to 5th.
 
As mentioned earlier this championship was tough with the huge amount of talent and tough light medium conditions we faced.  At the end of the day you had to have a great start with a quick escape route off the line then clear air and in pressure.  Sounds easy but with 75 boats in light medium conditions it is hard to do.  The top five boats were good at this. Second five were good at this too but all had a tough race along the way.  Some great sailing further back in the fleet this week.  Check out the photos at Chris Zanders website later this week to see all of that.
 
So final results and division winners at this year’ National Championship.
1st Cam McNeil – White Lake, MI – 11
2nd Joe Rotunda – Spring Lake, MI – 22
3rd Noel Neumann – Upper Minnetonka, MN – 23
4th Jeff Grinnan – Rush Creek, TX – 32
5th EHood – Lake Eustis, FL – 34
6th Steve Everist – Okoboji, IA 37
7th Ted Keller – Torch Lake, MI 38
8th Jeremy Pape – Lake Lanier , GA – 40
9th Jeff Surles – Pine Lake, WI – 45
10th Dan “Squad Car- BookEm Dano” Fink – Pine Lake, Wi – 45
 
1st Masters Div. – EHood – Lake Eustis, FL
1st Grand Masters Div. – Byron Beasley – Clear Lake , IA
1st Mega Masters Div. – Bob Miller – Diamond Lake, MI
1st Womans Div. – Amy Larkin – Lake Lanier, GA
1st Youth Div. – Connor Davis – White Lake, MI
 
 




Last night we had our annual class board meeting led by class president Jeff Annis and Ron Stryker.  Jeff will be stepping down as president and off the board at the end of this year.  Many thanks for all of the incredible hard work Jeff has done to promote the MC Scow for so many years and having been a key player in building up the large southeast fleets here in the U.S..  Three new board members were voted in among the nine candidates and they were Frank Ponitius, Danny Ziegler and Richard Blake. 
 
Also at last night meetings Professor Frank Vandall roasted many members of the fleet.  Obviously Frank worked all year on his roasting speech last night.  Truly a delight for everyone who attended last night.
 
Rumor has it that the retired famous Camp Schnepahoe founded by EHood and Doug McNeil back in the day is being resurrected tonight on the beach here at the club with new champ Cam McNeil, runner-up Joe Rotunda and Youth Champ Connor Davis.  Have fun you three sailed well.
 
So many thanks to co-regatta chairs Amy Larkin and Kurt Stadele for well over a year’s worth of work in preparing to make this a great event both on and offshore for all the sailors.  A huge volunteer team at Lake Lanier Sailing Club did a fantastic A+++ job.  Kudos for Lee Estes and his very large team of race committee folks, judges , boats and more.  4 very tough great races were held.
 
It was a fantastic year for the class.  Stay in touch through our class website for all the upcoming news on 2011 events. Our National Championship for 2011 will be at Lake Keuka, NY (destination spot/bucket list).  Dates are still being discussed with either late August or early September being the choices at this point.
 
Two great regattas left. The famous Halloween Regatta at Augusta next week (destination spot/bucket list) and then the S.E. Championship at Lake Eustis in November.
 
Below are all the websites that will have race results, regatta stories and tons of great images will be posted at Chris Zanders site listed below.
 
www.chriszanderphotography.com

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2010 MC SCOW BLUE CHIP CHAMPIONSHIP
Congratulations Ted Keller! North Sails 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!

Report by Eric Hood

Twenty six MC skippers made it to this year's 25th Annual Blue Chip Championship.  More were registered but the Weather Channel probably spooked a few folks off with the cold windy predictions for Saturday and Sunday. 
 
The weather on Friday was too much for practice and straight west of Spring Lake, Michigan over in Pewaukee , WI they say the same big winds at the E Scow Blue Chip Championship and did not sail there either.  Saturday we had 15-22 out of the Northwest and occassionaly some very odd drops in the breeze would come through.  Four races were held on Saturday.  Sunday saw much nicer winds out of the northeast that ranged from 5-12 mph with two races being held.
 
Sailors from five states including Washington, Tennessee, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Virginia were represented.
 
This year's special Mystery Guest was Travis Weisleder who has a great track record in high performance dinghies ,keel boats and having sailed all around different spots on the globe.  Also, Travis was a former Melges 24 Class President.  Currently he leads at Layline where so many of us purchase sailing goods.  Travis shared with everyone at the Blue Chip dinner the importance of having inter-generational fleets, strong junior programs to help keep growing the sport making it fun for everyone of all ages.  Travis had three very good races out of six in his first go at an MC Scow.
 
Race winners include Jamie Kimball, Ted Keller (twice), Joe Rotunda, Andy Molesta and Kelly Hirn put it on everyone in the final race with a convincing win.
 
Top Youth sailor was Allison Price who is coming off her MC Youth National Championship win.  Kelly Hirn was top Woman.  Richard Blake our current MC Masters Champion won the Blue Chip Masters division.  Terry Mestan from Wisconsin was this year's top Grand Master.
 
The sailing was quick, tough and challenging even for the locals even though they finished 2nd-7th.  Lots of tacking and gybing.  For those going to the National Championship in 10 days they will be ready for fast tacking and gybing when needed that is for sure.  The key to this whole event all six races was the first 60 seconds.  Each of the six races the forward finishing group jumped off the good starting lines we had.  It was a rich get richer scenario with not much wiggle room for come backs if you were not in the top ten at the first weather mark.  So spotting your boat on the line and moving was key.  It was not a place to try and get your boat going with 10 seconds to go.  You had to be dropping the hammer down with 30-20 seconds to go.
 
Great courses from PRO Steve Schiller.  Fantastic help from Pete and Nancy Price who were both on the boat with Steve.  Many thanks to Nancy for the quick scoring too.  Midge Verplank and his team on the leeward end did a great job assisting.  Happy Fox and team set the marks.
 
Glen Walborn who is we think the only person to have sailed all 25 Blue Chips will be retiring from his volunteer lead position of hosting this championship after today.  Many thanks for making this event a great year end championship Glen.  Bravo!!!!!!
 
The Molestas, the Fox family , Amy Keller and several others were fantastic hosts for all of our lunches and of course the famous Blue Chip dinner.  There were a few challenges at the Blue Chip dinner between runner-up Jamie Kimball and Ted Keller.  Jamie tried his best to get Ted a little out of shape and off course for the next day but no luck at Ted Keller prevailed winning the Blue Chip Championship.
 
Full results will be posted at www.mcscow.org
 
Folks are still signing up for the National Championship at Lake Lanier.  As of this writing on Sunday night we are at 85 boats and know of at least 5 more from Michigan alone that are coming.  If you are on the fence post come join us at a great venue at Lake Lanier.  We just might see 100 boats which would be great.

 

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2010 MC SCOW MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Overall 1,2,3,4 powered by North! Congratulations Richard Blake!

Report by Jeff Annis

First of all, we knew that Okoboji, Iowa was the most northern and most western corner of our MCSA universe as far as sanctioned regatta venues are concerned.  It was awarded due to their ability to put on a great event, their valiant efforts to attend regattas themselves, and their ability to provide the necessary qualifying paper work on time.  This was my 4th regatta at OYC, so I was not at all daunted by the distance of the travel necessary to attend. 

Also, the weather at OYC in June is just about perfect for sailboat racing.  Our goal might have been 45 boats on the top end.  We came in at 30 boats which was our lower end as far as expected turnout is concerned.  However, it was a successful event.  I would happily return to OYC again for a regatta. 
OYC did their job in the way of providing boats in the course with 10 in the field.  OYC folks finished first and second in the Grand Master division, third, fifth, and sixth in the Master division, and first and second in the Women’s division. And second, third, fifth and seventh overall for 4 of the top 7. 

PRO Phil Peterson and his race committee team did a great job on the water, and off the water.  Here are a few highlights from that effort.  1) The proper use of radios for communicating with the competitors.  2) The information was always right on time and useful.  3) They switched to the RC channel during the race so that we did not have to endure the typical RC chatter so common, and distracting.  4) They promptly called back the OCS offenders.  5) The radio talk we heard was concise, professional, and appropriate.  And, they radio talk made us all feel as if they knew precisely what there were doing.  That gives the fleet confidence about the whole racing program when the communication is right.

The club members and management (Brad Farrar) do a great job.  The bar was open for business and the free beer that came with registration was well used by many.  The other adult libations were reasonably priced and served very quickly and well prepared.  Plenty of water and soda were plentiful throughout the event for the sailors.  The food was very good throughout as they hosted 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and 2 major dinner parties.  The cost to the competitors was very reasonable.  The registration was quick and easy.   
The grounds were immaculate, and the landscape was well groomed, and the grass was beautiful.  The chairs under the trees and the picnic tables were laid out just the way you would want them.
The parking was well handled in advance.  Everybody knew where to park and 8 boats were on lifts at the club.  Another 7 were within a few yards of the hoist for easy in and out.  And just a few were in the cross-street parking lot.

The competitors cooperated with the launching and retrieval with the hoist, and the club provided adult supervision to facilitate this. 

Final Day Report
Wind was expected to be at 6 mph this morning, but instead it was blowing 18 to 25 mph at 8 am.  We postponed on shore.  It was monitored until 10:15 am when it was determined that it was time to pull the plug.  So, there was to be no racing on the final day.


The results were as follows:
Mega Masters

  1. Jack Kern  (6th overall)
  2. Bob Miller
  3. Dick Booth
  4. Mike Flannigan
  5. Hardy Will
  6. Phil Ecklund

Grand Master

  1. Steve Avery  (2nd overall)
  2. Larry Jensen  (3rd overall)
  3. Peter Toumanoff
  4. Ron Stryker
  5. Dave Bedau
  6. Harvey Protzman
  7. Brian Norwood

Masters

  1. Richard Blake  (Overall Champion)
  2. Eric Protzman (4th overall)
  3. Jeff Annis (8th overall)
  4. Marty Palmer
  5. Craig Brownlee
  6. Gerry Dorsey
  7. Danny Zeigler
  8. Woody Woodruff
  9. Chris Brooks  (New fleet 91 member in attendance)
  10. Bill Nolte
  11. Scott Baker
  12. Tom Maser
  13. Darrel Daniel
  14. Darcy Berglund

Women

  1. Kelli Farrar           (7th overall)
  2. Susie Brantley

Steve Avery won the first and the third races.  Eric Protzman won race number 2.

Richard Blake sailed a perfect three races by getting good starts and keeping his eyes on the places to be on the course.  He was the most consistent, so he won.  The key to Richard’s fast move up the leader board this year has been a few years of very steady hard work.  He has listened, learned, and put time into being in the boat as much as possible.  Earlier in the year, he won the Scowabunga Regatta at PYC.  He has been making rapid improvements in his speed and in his ability to pick the places to be on the starting line and on the course.  With great certainly, I can proclaim that Richard Blake has been the most improved sailor the last two years.  He makes a great champion for our fleet.  He is a fantastic sportsman, and a very enthusiastic promoter of our class.  He teams with Ron Stryker at Hoover to keep things on the move in Columbus, Ohio for our class. 

It was a great regatta and everybody felt well served by their attendance.  I look forward to sailing there again soon.

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2010 MC SCOW ORLANDO WEBB REGATTA
Top Grand Master: North!
Top Woman: North!
Top Master: North!
Top Junior: North!
Top Under 50: North!

Report by Eric Hood

 

DAY 1 Report:

Wow, 64 boats entered, 54 boats actually made it out to the line.  Missouri Yacht Club pulled out all the stops this year promoting the regatta with clinics, boats being loaned out, housing and lots of great networking.  Many thanks to Gordon Hannebut and his large team who put all of this together for the second largest regatta of the MC season.
 
3 races held on this first day with winds that started out in the 8-12 mph range and increased through the day.  Some shots at 18mph.  The story of the day where huge shifts, big up and downs on velocity.  So quick tacks and boat handling allowed the forward ten boats in all three races to be successful.  It was a rich get richer story with this many boats today.  Lots of fun, very exciting starts that went across the width of this long lake that is skinny running north and south.
 
Here are the top ten.  One more race tomorrow with big winds and some storms predicted later in the day. 
 
Andy Fox, Scott Tillema, Mark Long, Danny Ziegler, Steve Everist, Dave Mooring, Jeff Surles, Eric Hood, Drew Ziegler, Austin Chamberlin.

FINAL DAY Report:

Day 2 at this 2nd largest MC regatta of the year (64 entered-57 actually sailed) brought some Crazy Ivan winds and a flip to the northwest. Light , challenging , fluky winds were the order of the day .
 
With only one race scheduled for the day we started early at 9 a.m. .  This is always a tradition at Lake Lotawana because of the famous Lotawana Champagne Brunch.  Actually I think a lot of folks come to this event for the three great parties (Friday night, Saturday night and the Brunch).  All in all this was one of the most fun events of the year.  Some new traditions started this year with racing clinics being incorporated into the event so a lot of teams came in on Thursday night for coaching by Andy Fox, Scott Tillema, David Mooring and then Eric Hood closed it out on Friday with some classroom final thoughts before the big event on Saturday.  Put this event on your MC bucket list it will not disappoint you.  And for those of you wondering can you really fit 57 MCs on Lotawana the answer is Yes J , no problem.
 
Probably the big lesson learned at Lotawana this year or re-learned is that you need to get off the line with some speed and need to have the ability to make two quick tacks probably in the first 1-2 minutes.  Because the lake is long and skinny it is a “rich get richer scenario”.  Clear air is huge and is probably the number one mistake skippers and teams would be making.  You have to have clear air, passing lanes and always be looking for the new fresh breeze coming in quickly over the high hills of Lotawana.  Much of this event was a boat handling event.  Being able to make those quick moves to get into those lanes of clear air and pressure really made a difference.  Probably the top 6 boats did that the best this past weekend. 
 
Andy Fox from Lake Eustis , Florida put a string of races together making no mistakes and that was key.  He was not always in front during many of the races but one by one with much patience he picked off boats one by one.  Andy really did a great job and clearly was the champ for this weekend.   A fun three way tie that went down to the wire for second.  Last year’s runner-up Mark Long of Lake Winnebago sailed with his bride Aimee for the first three races and then made a huge comeback on the last leg of the last race to secure second.  Danny Ziegler of  Windycrest really put together some great race finished third and Scott Tillema who finished third last year finished fourth this year.
 
Here are the top ten and some category winners. 
Andy Fox, Mark Long, Danny Ziegler, Scott Tillema, Steve Everist, Jeff Surles, Dave Mooring, Austin Chamberlin, Eric Hood, Drew Ziegler.
Top Overall and  Master – Andy Fox
Top Under 50 and 2nd Overall – Mark and Aimee Long
Top Woman – Julia Lentz
Top Grand Master – Jeff Harriman
Top Mega Master – Jack Kern
 
Some great images , several hundred were taken by Geri Mullen.  You can contact her at flygeri@yahoo.com and she will let you know how she is going to post.
Full official results will be posted at www.mcscow.org
For notice of race, scoring systems for your next MC regatta please take advantage of all the tools provided by the class at our website.
 
Get ready for all the majors coming up.   Masters next then Inlands, Nationals and more.  Practice , practice , practice.
 
One more shout out for the way things were done this year at MYC.  Lots of training , lots of great food and connection time.  So good to see such a wide age range of sailors too. Many thanks to Gordon Hannebut , his wife and over 25 volunteers who raised the bar once again on how to throw a great regatta.  Way to go Team Mizzou Yacht Club.
Thanks from all of us who sailed this fun event this year.
 

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2010 MC SCOW SPRING SHAKEDOWN
Top Overall: North!
Top Woman: North!
Top Master: North!
Top Youth: North!
Top Grand Master: North!

Report by Eric Hood

Winds were good on Friday for the team MC skippers who came in early for some MC Scow training from EHood and Coye Harrett. EHood did the classroom and post race discussion and Coye Harrett helped with pacing by sailing with the group for the four practice races and five starts held. Lots of fun with great questions. Very cool to see all the clinics this year - many thanks to Ted Keller, Coye Harrett, Jeff Annis, Scott Tillema, David Mooring, Andy Fox, Ron Stryker and the volunteers who are making this happen at many of the events.

The racing was some good ol'fashion light air Crazy Ivan stuff on Saturday with two races in 0-5 m.p.h. that saw lots complete flips in positions for almost everyone in the group. I think everyone came home after the two tough drifters and could claim at some point " Hey there I was leading the race today". After all the challenges of these two Saturday races in the end both Curt Miller -race 1 and Cam McNeil - race 2 could say "There I was first at the finish". The wind went away 100% by 3-3:30pm and the group of 29 MC skippers along with their entrourages' proceeded to the GRYC deck for some cool drinks. By the way you should see the Home Improvement makeover they did to GRYC. Very , very nice for sure.

Sunday with temps in the low 80s and some S.E. breezes ranging from 4-10 m.p.h. we had three good W 2&1/2s. No Crazy Ivans (180 wind shifts) like Saturday. Some good Reeds Lake specials though with 20-30 degree shifts that you really needed to watch for. With the high hills and tree tops surronding the smallest lake on the MC circuit (Harriett and Winnebago are close in size) you had to be ready with good boat handling to react , tack-gybe and get in that new breeze quickly. Starting lines were good and different each start. Sometimes leeward and sometimes windward end favored so that was fun trying to figure all that out with the shifty breeze. Only one general recall all weekend. A few folks got busted by the line cops :-). Some of the lakes we sail are clean and some lakes are challenged with weeds. This was a spring with a early weed launch at Reeds Lake and it was one of those things you had to pay attention to making sure you were not sporting weeds on your boards on longer tacks or on your rudder both upwind and downwind. Had some folks doing 720s and some mark maulers doing 360s - sportsmanship was great and everyone was laughing . Talent was off the charts for a spring regatta of 29 boats .

Many thanks to Regatta Chairman Rob Easley, his large volunteer team , our PRO team and all those who helped out at GRYC this weekend. The group here really want to see the Shakedown Regatta return to its old glory days of 40-55 boats and it feels like they are on their way. Some cool shirts and hardware (frames with your picture already in place.

Here are some scores. - Official will be posted soon on www.mcscow.org

1st - Cam McNeil 2-1-2-5-7 = 17
2nd - Jamie Kimball 4-7-3-3-4 =21
3rd - Coye Harrett 5-8-8-1-2 =24 Top Youth
4th - Rob Kimball 17-2-1-10-1= 31
5th - Eric Hood 19-8-6-2-3 =38 Top Master
6th - Brien Fox 3-4-11-17-5 = 40 ( Liam Fox age 4 - youngest sailor in event crewing with his dad . Best races when Liam was on board and worst races without Liam -hmmm)
7th - Chris Craig - 14-3-7-6-11 =41
8th - John Knape 6-19-4-11-6 =46 (sailed really well with old boat and sail - watch out if he gears up)
9th - Lara Lanka 7-11-10-9-19 =46 Top Woman
10 - Thor Sorrenson 12-6-13-7- 12 = 50
11 - Jeff Cornetet 58,
12- Jeff Minore 61,
13 - Andy Rundquist 66 (Top Grand Master)
14- Ken Bandstra 68,
15th- Mary Vorel 80,
16 - Chris Lopez 80,
17- John Erdman 83,
18- John Kroggel 85,
19- Dave Bedau 92,
20- Brian Horwood 94,
21- Curt Miller 105,
22 - Stephen Streeting 109,
23- Dave Bloye 112,
24- John Merritt 114,
25- John Ebers 115,
26 - Karel Vorel 120 ( had a great 2nd race maintained 2nd place for almost two full legs ),
27 Gary White 123.

That is the latest from I-94 (while my chaueffer Coye drives and I try to type on the rough road).

Couple of great regattas coming up after all the club regattas this coming Memorial Day weekend. Check out www.mcscow.org and www.melges.com for all the latest info on MC Scow regattas, news and boats.

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2010 COWTOWN CLASSIC REGATTA
North Powered Boats: 1,2,3,4!

Report by Eric Hood

Wow, 6 great races at this year’s 14th Annual Cowtown Classic!!!! Also, record attendance of 35 boats with the previous best being about 27 boats. So great growth. On Friday, Ted Keller and EHood worked a ½ day clinic hosted by Ron Stryker and the Hoover Sailing club . That group had five hours of classroom and sailing with 5 races. So about 15 of the MC skippers actually sailed 11 races.

The weather reports were ominous and we actually had reports coming on Friday that it was possible we might not sail on Saturday or Sunday. Then even though it was dark and spooky at times the winds were great. The range through the 6 races was 7mph with a couple of shots coming through in the 18-19 m.p.h. range. Most of the time we sailed in 10-14 m.p.h. which was great. A solid workout but not crazy.

Solid race committee work from Mark Anders who is in the Flying Scot fleet and MC Scow fleet made it nice for the group this weekend. Many thanks to Mark and all the volunteers who gave the MC skippers and teams a great weekend of racing.

Race winners for the weekend: Scott Harestad a new member for Hoover Sailing Club but still living down in Tennesse . Scott attributed the race 1 win to practicing on Friday. Race 2 was won by Andy Molesta of Spring Lake, Michigan. Local Hoover skipper Jeff Clark sailed a great race 3 and won that race. Race 4 won by champion swimmer Brett Hatton from Spring Lake. We say champion swimmer only because Brett had a spectacular death roll in our one windy race which was race 2 and while in second place at that. Race 5 was by Andy Molesta of Spring Lake for his second regatta race win. Then the last race was won by Jeff Annis which moved Jeff up quite bit in his final standings from the previous day.

The top three boats in this spring regatta really had a leg up on everyone all weekend. The eventual winner was Andy Molesta with 21 points, 2nd local favorite Ted Keller with 29 points and third to Scott “Harry “ Harestad. Top Master was Jeff Annis who finished fourth. Top Grand Master was Doug Kiser who finished 5th. Sixth went to local sailor Richard Blake, seventh to EHood, eight to Top Junior Stuart Fisher , ninth to Sean Treacy of Keuka and tenth to John Hans from Michigan and DLYC. Top Woman was Judy Hearn from Lake Cowan.

This regatta was all about boat handling. I say that because if your boat handling was not good you could never put your boat in the right spot. The lake is long and skinny running north and south. The wind direction for all six races was perfect varying from 170 to 210 all weekend. Pretty steady from race to race but just enough change that you had to be quick with your tacks and react quickly as the breeze came across the dam (where the weather mark was) and eventually dropped down to lake level and would show itself. All of it happened very quickly so boat handling and tacking quickly upwind were a big deal. Downwind not a lot of passing but correct leeward gate selection was critical. Some passing happened here with again good boat handling moves making the difference. That is what is so great about our spring regattas and our club sailing early summer is getting a chance to work on your boat handling before the big events come up later in the year. Several of us got to practice our 360s and 720s with some sticky and tight mark rounding’s which if you do not get to practice live at regatta you should practice in practice before you go to any of the big events this year.

So in closing I would just encourage all of you to stay in touch with www.mcscow.org . Also use the system in place for your Regatta NORs, use the MC Class scoring system that is available for free (huge help to the class in calculating national rankings and Blue Chip points). I would also encourage you to network with all of those in sphere of influence to make sure everyone in your group is feeling good about being connected to the class, connected to learning and wanting to try some MC regattas. It always takes as many leaders as possible to keep things moving and up to the right with growth and our new sailors.

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2010 CAROLINA YC EASTER REGATTA

Report by Eric Hood

The setting Charleston, South Carolina and one of the most challenging and fun venues we have for E Scows and MC Scows.  This year we had over 60 boats participate in the three classes that consisted of the MC Scows and E Scow plus Lasers.

For those of you who have not sailed in Charleston Harbor just do a Google Earth and take a look.  You have two major rivers in the Ashley and Cooper rivers that feed into Charleston Harbor and then a tiny choke point in the shallows and single large ship channel out at Ft. Sumter where the tides can go in and out from the Atlantic.

So the tides and current not only help drive the wind but obviously also a big part of your race strategy.  Tons of fun when you add this dimension of current in boats where we do not normally sail with current.

For crew members who might not sail in lighter winds or for family members who come along on Easter weekend there are a ton of things to do right near the Carolina Yacht Club.   The house tours, Market Street, College of Charleston, The Yorktown, The Citadel, Plantation tours not far out of town, great restaurants, Ft. Sumter, the Atlantic Ocean and more.    Here is the easy part you all, the date is easy to remember – Easter weekend and we do not race on Easter Sunday for those going to different services around town.  The most popular being on the High Battery at Sunrise on Sunday morning.

The team from Carolina Yacht Club has been running this great regatta for a long time now and they did a great job with our race courses during this full moon week and big tides.  PRO Harvey McCormick and Tommy Harken led a large volunteer team both onshore and out on the water.  Their hard work allowed us to get all six races by mid-afternoon Saturday.  The conditions could not have been better.  Races 1,2,3 were held in 7-10 mph and race 4 in 8-12 mph then races 5-6 in 11-15 mph.  Lots of spectator boats, mark boats and water boats on the course.  Perfect, safe, fun and fast sailing.

In the E Scow Class Robbie Wilkins sailing SC27 won the first 5 races in his fleet allowing him to come in and cool down that hot tiller hand for race 6 and not sailing with the drop in play.  Boats from Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia, South Carolina, Colorado and New York came in for the event.  Check out the E Scow website and newsletters for those full results to be reported soon.

Sunfish World Champion David Loring won the Laser class.  Charleston will be hosting the Laser Masters Championship later this year and many were in town preparing for that event.

In the MC Class it was great racing and went down to the last race much like the Midwinter Championship.  Just goes to show you that the regatta is not over till it is over. 
Race Winners were Eric Hood winning race 1 and 2,  Jeff Annis race 3, Kurt Stadele race 4, Lenny Krawcheck race 5 and local M24 and MC sailor Reggie Fairchild winning race 6.

You certainly can tell the Nationals are coming to the south as the game seems to be notched up already early in the season with the tough sailing at Eustis and now here at Charleston.  Folks are fighting for every position which is really exciting to see.  Lots of spring regattas coming up soon so make sure you start prepping now for the big dance in October.

Here are some final race results. (Six races held and one throw-out)

EHood 2516                           1-1-6-3-2-2  = 9
Lenny Krawcheck 2453          3-7-2-2-1-4 = 12
Jeff Annis 2481                      4-4-1-5-3-5 = 17
Mark Marenakos 1950            2-2-9-7-4-3 =18
Reggie Fairchild 2049             14-5-3-4-10-1 =23
Kurt Stadele 2067                   10-6-4-1-7-6 = 24
Will Sloger 1721                     8-raf-7-6-8-12 = 41
David Helmick 2393               7-17-8-10-11-7 =43
Charlie Laffitte 2482              9-9-12-15-9-8 = 47
Oliver Humphries 1712           11-16-10-11-6-10 = 48
Guy Mossman 2486                12-15-16-9-5-11 = 52
Bob Wynkoop 2402                15-14-11-8-13-9 = 55
John Bowden 2002                 5-3-15-DNC-DNC-DNC = 63
Bob Miller 2460                      13-13-14-12-12-13 = 63
Justin Walling 1774                6-12-DNS-13-14-DNS = 65
Bull Schmidt 21                      18-8-5-DNC-DNC-DNC = 71
Brian Swan 1940                    17-11-13-14-DNF-DNS = 75
Brian Slater 1800                    16-10-18-DNC-DNC-DNC = 84
Jennifer Jones 1853                 19-19-18-17-16-15-DNC = 85

A HUGE shout out and THANK YOU to Sonny Meevers one of great sailing friends from Charleston who always hosts the Easter awards ceremony at his mansion on the battery at 17 E. Battery (Google Earth to see ).  If  nothing else you want to come down to meet Sonny and go to his party at Easter just for the great friendship with him and the history of his home that he shares with all of us.

Okay, last some class family news.  Take a good look at your calendars, get your ducks lined up in a row and plan out your championship season.  I would highly encourage all of you to put the National Championship late in the year at Lake Lanier on your schedule.  Watch for the NORs and registration page to go live shortly for the National Championship.  Our goal is 100 boats this year.  If all the northern folk saddle up this can happen.  Word on the street that the West Michigan group is secretly gearing up, changing the oil in their motor homes and bringing a big group down to take all the candy home back to West Michigan.  So there is your challenge New Jersey, Florida, Iowa, Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio, Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee , North Carolina, New York, Illinois, Louisiana, Washington, Alabama, Mississippi  and any other states I failed to mentioned that normally come to the big dance.

Also, congratulations to David Helmick who purchased 2543 and is hoping we have a good summer of MC selling so he can sail his boat at the Nationals.  Right now the factory is around 2525.  If you have not tried the new boat just let Andy Burdick, Harry Melges, Charlie Harrett, Jim Gluek or myself know and we will arrange for  you to try one out.

Lots of great spring regattas coming up.  Check out www.mcscow.org

Remember the best way to grow our class is to help out our new sailors and those who are working hard at trying to get better.  All of us benefit when we take care of all ends of the fleet.







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2010 ZENDA UNIVERSITY
Congratulations Rob Terry - winner!
Report by Andy Burdick

Zenda U 2010

The 14th Annual Melges MC Zenda University Training course just concluded.  As you can see in this photo – smiling faces as all graduated!  Lake Eustis Sailing Club is the site for the event.  For 14 years now Melges Performance Sailboats and North Sails Zenda have put on a fantastic training session for MC sailors.  This takes place 2 days prior to the Midwinter Championship.  Two days of intense learning takes place.  On land discussions, video review and demonstrations along with on the water coaching, racing and practice drills.  The atmosphere is positive, reinforcing, fun and rewarding for the students.  

Most of all it is fun for the instructors as we get the opportunity to see instant results.  Every sailor improves.  Every sailor gets faster and every sailor becomes more comfortable in their Melges MC.  After the two days of coaching they get to roll right into the Midwinter Championship which features over 80 boats this year!

“Last year Rob Terry from Crystal Lake, Michigan finished 2nd in the Zenda University Racing Clinic and then went on to win the Midwinter Championship.  The course works. It really improves the students sailing”, says  Instructor Eric Hood.  

How far reaching is this event?  Jerry Roloson drove for a full week from the state of Washington to attend Zenda University and the MC Midwinter Championship.  Why?  Because he wanted to improve in the boat, take lots of notes so he can help his fellow fleet members back home and so he could trailer a new boat home in order to grow his fleet.  How many boats do they have in his area?  Nearly 35 boats now!  The Melges MC spreads across the USA.

Come to Zenda University in 2011.  Sign up now though – we limit the class to 20  boats so that everyone receives personal attention!

Instructors were Eric Hood, Ted Keller and Andy Burdick

Top Five in the ZU Racing Clinic:

  1. Rob Terry – Crystal Lake, Michigan
  2. Bob Cole – Kueka, New York
  3. Richard Blake – Hoover, Ohio  
  4. Steve Everist -  Okoboji, Iowa  
  5. Bruce Patterson – Palo Alto, California
Most Improved:  Jerry Roloson and Tim Marvil

For more information on the fastest MC sails, contact our MC experts.
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