CLYC 2000 regatta report

Good news, bad news from the 2000 Clark Lake YC Fall Regatta held September 23-24 south of Jackson, Michigan. The bad news was that yet another unpromising weather forecast kept attendance down. Our fleet had only 6 crews. But there was plenty of good news as well. The Clark Lake hospitality and organization were great as always. We got lovely mid-range winds on both days. Saturday, although enlivened by a downpour in the middle of the second race, was generally a fine sailing day with temperatures in the 20's Celsius. A cool front moved in overnight with lots of rain and wind but by race time we were back into nice, sailable winds with the sun coming through before the racing had ended just after noon.

With winds ranging generally from 6-12 knots, all 5 races were completed on time and in an enjoyable manner. It was one of those weekends where Uncle Al Schönborn and ace crew, Roger Shepherd (trained by none other than the great Ian Porter himself!!) were in tune with the shifts and most things they touched turned to gold. The SHADES team rolled to an impressive five straight comfortable firsts. Roger and Al attribute this to the following of their game plan which was to look for areas of better wind on the water, go there, and then play the shifts within that area upwind, or run down with the puffs downwind.

Just about as impressive with five straight seconds were London's John and Dolores deBoer. On at least a couple of occasions, John and Dolores were behind such veterans as George Blanchard and Bob Frick going into a final short beat across the lake, but every time, they managed to pull out a second. Well done, John and Dolores!

Reflecting the close racing in mid-fleet was the fact that there was a three-way tie for 3rd place among Bob Frick, George Blanchard and Tony Krauss. Using the most firsts, most seconds, etc. method, the RC broke the tie in favour of 5th-seeded Tony Krauss of Cleveland who borrowed not only Bob Emans' Corinthian but also his crew, Tom Reed. By grabbing off 3rd overall, Tony and Tom also became our regatta's Most Improved crew at +2. Congratulations, guys!

Series 4th went to Toronto's George Blanchard and Mike Codd who had two 3rds to Bob Frick and Peter Every's one, while a second Michigan crew consisting of USWA Commodore, Mike Anspach, and Ken Greywall were the good hosts by finishing 6th despite sailing quite well. It was a typical example of "Someone has to be last."

Our memorable weekend began with a fine group dinner organized by John and Dolores deBoer for the Eagle's Nest just minutes down the lake from the club. We had all the Wayfarers around one big table - except Bob Frick with Peter Every and Mike Anspach with Ken Greywall who arrived on Saturday morning.

The relaxing weekend continued with leisurely boat preparations on Saturday morning as we had hours before the noon Skippers' Meeting. There was, however, one moment of concern when Tony Krauss discovered that the starboard shroud wire on Corinthian (borrowed from Bob Emans) had 2 x 19 wire instead of 7 x 19 wire. Since George Blanchard's "trunk that has everything" car was not available (George having been chauffeured to the regatta by Mike and Darlene Codd), a serious jury rig search had to be undertaken. Uncle Al was able to contribute a bit a 1/8" halyard wire, wire cutters, a Nicopress tool and a thimble while the CLYC storage shed came up with a pair of museum piece Nicopress sleeves. Soon we had jury-rigged a new shroud which only occasionally gave Tony and Tom palpitations as it pinged at odd moments during the racing!!!

Despite an impressive array of rain-laden clouds that were cruising across the venue, the three Saturday afternoon races went off as planned and were not even interrupted by a substantial downpour in the middle of the second race! Brief descriptions of these races can be found on the Saturday races picture page.

During our usual fine dinner, the rain, wind and cold front moved in, and the evening for most people was topped off with some Karaoke and a surprise appearance by the Neighborhood Disturbance, a very talented "barber shop" group.

Sunday morning dawned rainy and, at about 15C, on the cool side. However, the rain let up by 9 a.m. and we got in the remaining pair of races by 1 p.m. For race pics and commentary, click here.

A total absence of protests enabled all to enjoy a fine lunch and the awards were presented shortly thereafter. On behalf of all us sailors who got to seriously enjoy ourselves, sincere thanks to the many Clark Lake volunteers who made this, the 40th annual Clark Lake Regatta a highlight of the 2000 sailing season!!