|
|
District 4 Regatta Report | Sat May 21st, 2005 through Sun May 22nd, 2005 |
|
| |
Report by Tom Londrigan Jr.
Skip Dieball likes to refer to Gull Lake as Pleasantville. I call it Fantasy Island. Life is good at Gull Lake and the daily struggles seem to fade away upon arrival. Tom and Jon Vandermolen stay up late to greet their visitors and, as each boat arrives, their little friend Pat Londrigan dances around like a spider monkey tugging at their coat and yelling “da plane, da plane”.
38 boats arrived, Pat was spent The Gull Lake Fleet finds housing on the Lake for all who ask. The Lake is beautiful and clean. It is spring. It is May, a new season, a rebirth, a clean slate, and by July anyone could win the 4th District Championship.
But as with all fantasies, there always seems to be a catch. This year the weather threatened the event. On Friday, it was sunny and windy. We played golf in the morning and raced in the afternoon. Jim Vandermolen and Mike Wolfs won the race and the Michigan boys fantasized of being the first locals to win the regatta, but there was a catch. Sure, Mike is Canadian but lets not ruin a good story. Besides, Michigan borders Canada, we import Canadian prescription drugs, Jim and Mike both like Labatt’s and bacon; and the Vandermolens are willing to adopt Mike. Let’s embrace the common ground here. They finished fifth in the regatta, and maybe a fifth as well.
Saturday brought blue skies and temperatures in the seventies… but there was a catch, no wind. We played croquet and enjoyed the day. Skip Dieball and Geoff Ewenson played golf. At three o’clock, approximately the fifteenth hole, a gun was fired and the postponement flag as dropped. The gun was loud enough to be heard on the golf course and Skip and Geoff, both shot a three on the 15th hole, sprinted to their boat, and shot a three in the first race behind Rob Maine/Dar Barkauskas and John MacCausland/Rick Burgess. The wind was light and extremely variable. Peter Wright went from first to 17th . George Szabo and Tom Vandermolen were in 10th when they watched 15 boats slither by only a few yards from the finish.
That's life, that's what all the people say.
You're riding high in April,
Shot down in May
We finished 25th. However, on a nice note, Class President Bill Allen went out of his way to remind me that I failed to sail around the offset mark. I returned to the scene of the crime and thanked Bill. 25th is better than DSQ and we learned a valuable lesson. I am sure we will never miss that offset again.
But I know I'm gonna change that tune,
When I'm back on top, back on top in June.
38 boats, lots of talent, loads of fun and Skip and Geoff decided to take a swig from the fun jar on Saturday night. However, this time the Race Committee’s warning gun failed to penetrate their peaceful dreams. No sprinting to the dock, and finishing third. Instead, they stumbled to the harbor and missed the race.
While they slept, we raced. This time we had wind, but there was a catch, we also had rain. At the windward mark, my crew Chris Wallner and I were winning the race. As we started heading downwind, the second place boat kept sitting on my wind. I exchanged courtesies with Greg Smith and TC Belco and thereafter apologized as I realized that they were sailing high to fetch the offset mark. I missed the offset mark… again. I’m sure I will never do that again.
Each time I find myself, flat on my face,
I pick myself up and get back in the race.
Downwind Arthur Anosov and Dave Caesar sailed past us easily and won the race. Peter Wright and Steve Ticknor were second with Larry Whipple and Jon Vandermolen in third. We finished sixth and six is a good number. Besides, first place is so overdone. Now sixth, that has some style to it.
Between races I asked Arthur about my downwind speed problem. The next thing I know the Ukrainian was boarding my boat. Arthur emerged from below my deck with my aft mast pin in hand. Afterwards, my set up and speed were much better. Arthur and Dave are constantly helping others and reflect the spirit of the Star Class. Not many competitors would adjust another sailors boat on the water, thanks again.
In the third race, Peter Wright and Steve Ticknor took first, Chris and Mickey Neilson were second, and George Szabo and Dave Jackson were third. Todd Gay and Jon Klerk led most of the race only discover that they were OCS. But the story was all about Rob Maine and John MacCausland. Rob and Dar held their position in front of John and Rick to win the regatta. Rob Maine heads into the bulk season as the favorite in the 4th District and primed for his second District Championship in July. But the rest of us, as Sinatra sings, still have high hopes. Many times I thought of cutting out But my heart won't buy it But if there's nothing shakin' come this here july I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die Well, maybe not die, but the beer won’t taste as sweet.
|
|
|
ISCYRA Central
Office 2812 Canon Street San Diego, California 92106 USA Phone: +1 619 222 0252 Fax: +1 619 222 0528 SKYPE: star.class.office office@starclass.org |
Results
- Calendar
- Classified
Ads - History |
Sign up for eStarlights... |