Energy is high this spring for the mc fleet. So high that four of us planned on attending the Cedar Lake Yacht Club Spring Regatta. Noel Neuman had to drop a few weeks out with work conflicts and on the travel day Kevin Kenny also dropped when a client came up with some emergency needs. John Grzybek and Scott Colesworthy stayed on course and made the regatta.
We had never been to the Cedar Lake Yacht Club, and it was fun to see another thriving ILYA yacht club. Cedar is the oldest ILYA yacht club at 125 years. Each yacht club is different, some with a long history and beautiful facilities. Others with no facility at all, meeting at member homes or public facilities. Cedar is the former type with a huge property and beautiful facility, just finishing a remodel. The lake is long and moderately narrow with a few turns offering several race course options.
During registration I asked if member lodging might be an option and the regatta chair, Rob Eckert, came through via his sister’s wonderful cabin right on the lake very near the yacht club. Thank you Cindy and Jack Rusher.
Friday John and I looked at wind forecasts and things did not look promising. Gusts well over 20 mph were forecast. Fortunately that did not happen and top wind gusts were more in the 15-17 range
For me, race one was a bust. I have the “brilliant” practice of releasing my battens so the Bungie does not stretch out. That requires one to remember this and not sail away with the battens sticking out. I was late getting off the dock and by the time I finally looked up, two battens were gone. I returned to the dock and fortunately my old c boat friend witnessed the whole thing and told me where the batons were. After a short wading expedition, I recovered the battenss and made it back out for the second race. After race one, I am in dead last at 22nd with a DNS. (Did not start.)
The second race found me positioned near the committee boat as all the velocity was coming from the right. I was in good company with Ryan Grosch a bit to leeward and punched out a little. I thought Ryan might have been over so I held back a bit. We were both over… Fortunately, the wind went way right and the race was abandoned.
The next start seemed to favor the port end end, once again I was right with Ryan Grosh. We rounded the top mark 1 and 2. The second beat Mark Tesar got a shift I did not and I dropped to 3rd. Then on the downwind finish the next pack crept up to me and apparently I lost 2 more boats by inches/feet to finish 6th.
The 3rd race of the morning was similar conditions with big shits and shots of velocity coming from both sides of the course. After a poor start, I hung on with a long port on a good angle while many tacked away to starboard, hoping for the left to come in. The final shot and shift came from the right so I was able to reach into the mark and round about 5th. There were no big changes the rest of the race, and I finished 5th.
After lunch we went out for more of the same. Sorry to report my fitness level was not up to the task. The first race was ok with a 7th and then the bottom fell out for me. Dropping sheets and tiller, crash-taking by not looking around carefully, and generally making poor decisions. The last two races of the day were 12 and 15. I will be working on my fitness so this does not happen again. Dang.
After racing the dinner was early and we returned to the cabin by 7. The days of going out drinking late at night on a regatta weekend seem to be gone forever. The conversation between John and myself was meager since sleep and rest time was badly needed.
On Sunday, the forecast was once again very high, but conditions started moderate yet again. This time, the MC race course was near the yacht club in a more protected area. I was still not in prime physical shape and proceeded to get rolled by the top group near the port end start of race one. Fortunately, I stayed left and sniffed out one last shot from the left that allowed me to sneak back into the hunt, rounding 5th. I maintained the position and finished 5th.
Now I was warmed up and feeling more competitive. My mind was in the right place, and I thought I’ll be dammed if I held back and get rolled again. I lined up on the starboard end with the regatta winner, Mark Johnson, set up below me. At one minute to go I considered moving down the line a bit to get some sight cover to the committee boat but I chickened out and stayed put. Well I did punch out on Mark at the start but that feeling of satisfaction was short-lived. Yup, I was over. This was a short course and I could not recover, finishing a dismal 15th.
I can’t give you a blow-by-blow of John’s races but I can report that John finished on an upswing with an 8th place finish in the last race. Nice job John!
Scott Colesworthy finished 12th, John Grzybek finished 17th. I look for us both to move up in future regattas. We had a great time with great race management. Hopefully next year we can return and bring more of our MC fleet with us. Next up on the regatta circuit is the ILYA invitational at Lake Beulah on July 12,13 and 14. Early indications are Noel Neuman, Kevin, Kenny, Scott Colesworthy, John Grzybek and Keith Morical will attend. I look forward to seeing you on the UMYC race course soon, AND attending the MC clinics, where we will sharpen skills.