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2004
Clark Lake Fall Regatta gets great
weather!
The Clark Lake
YC's
annual Fall Regatta
attracted 37 entries September 25-26 to Clark Lake
SW of Jackson,
Michigan. With temperatures in the low 20's Celsius
(70F) and benign
winds mostly at 5 to 10 knots, the sailing was ideal
for beginners and
experts alike. Tim Dowling and his Committee ran the
five-race series
smoothly, getting us back in plenty of time for the
excellent meals
supplied by Cheryl Hockenberry and her team of
hard-working helpers.
And of course, there was the free draft beer from
Friday through Sunday
afternoon. The competition was good and the people
were friendly. All
in all, an ideal way to spend a weekend which was
once again worth
making a trip of several hours.
From a Wayfarer perspective, attendance was very
disappointing as only
defending champions, Bob Frick and Peter Every were
able to return from
last year's group of 5 Wayfarers, and Bob and Peter
were joined by new
Wayfarers, Chester and Gail Javis in their lovely,
very well preserved
W739. It was a tough way for Chester and Gail to
make their regatta
debut as they never did beat the veteran team of
Frick and Every.
Another disappointment was the small Buccaneer fleet
which had been
expected to produce 15 entries and fierce
competition like last year.
In the end, only four boats made it out, and Clark
Lake's Larry Schmida
with his son and Patti Long sharing the crewing
duties, had little
trouble cruising to victory with five straight
firsts. The real battle
was over series second where team Frisbie and team
Callis entered the
deciding 5th race tied with Frisbie taking second by
beating Callis in
the finale. The team of Angell and Piekorz in the
lone Mutineer - a
smaller version of the Buccaneer - once more raced
with the Bucs to
have at least some company out on the course.
A very competitive Sunfish fleet of nine boats saw
three boats still
with a realistic hope of winning the series going
into the final race
where Dan Norton removed all doubt with a
first-place finish while his
closest rival, Ray Steely could do no better than
5th. Meanwhile
Dan's wife, Linda, moved into a tie for series
second with a 3rd in
the finale but lost the tie-breaker to Ray who had
scored two firsts.
In Interlakes, the battle over series first also
went down to the wire
before Ty and Felicia Cathey held on to edge out the
senior Bradleys by
a single point. And the fight for series third was
even closer as two
of five boats still in the hunt for the third-place
plaque ended up
tied. The tie-breaker went to one of two junior
Bradley crews on the
strength of their one second-place finish while Tim
and Brent
Marriott's best finish had been a third.
As always, the competition in the Rebel class was
very close and
exciting, perhaps never more so than in the first
race where the top
eight of 11 boats finished within one minute and
boats 2 through 8
crossed within 15 seconds or so. After placing 4th
in that exciting
first race, Clark Lake's Dan Hockenberry and
Wayfarers' Uncle Al came
back to reel off four straight hard-fought firsts to
gain Dan his
first-ever Fall Regatta victory. Steve Cummings,
meanwhile, got
excellent crew work from his young daughter,
Lyndsie, in scoring a
convincing series second. It was youth hanging on to
win out over
experience in the battle over series third as the
Junior team of Jim
Quiniff and Theresa Stoodley from Chicago held on to
beat the wily
Clark Lake veteran, Woody Woodruff, by a mere single
point despite
placing last in the finale. A good series for Woody
though, considering
the fact that he much prefers a more substantial
breeze.
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