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Clark Lake Fall Regatta Clark Lake YC * Sept. 24-25, 2005 Race 1 pics - part 2 by Dan Hockenberry |
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| As the Interlakes get
set
to finish off their beat to #1 (l), Brian (4160)
and Larry
(4191) fight a close battle as ... ... |
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| ... they run down towards #2. ... |
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| John Hudak and Larry
Christiansen round the point and head for #2. ... |
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| Considerably later:
The
single Laser, sailed by Hobie sailor Chuck Quebbeman,
towers
over
the Sunfish near ... ... |
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| ... the finish line at #4. ... |
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| Jamie Jones finishes
first
among the
Interlakes, and can now ... ... |
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| ... relax while Tom
Ehman
wrestles with a puff on his way to ... ... |
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| ... a 4th-place
finish,
just behind Tom Marriott (909). ... |
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| Tom (l) did a
super
job of running this summer's Rebel Nationals at the
Portage Lake YC. ... |
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|
Having gotten
puff
while
Jim and Dave were busy fighting over 2nd place on the
reach to #5, Al
and Marc had rounded onto the final beat with the
luxury of a 200-yard
lead. With no more runs to plan for, we could now go
into a completely
defensive mode, strategically speaking. As we rounded
onto the beat,
starboard was in an average phase,
letting us sail about 30° low of the finish mark.
Given that wind
angle to the rhumb line and our lead, we had the
luxury of being in a
position to put some of our lead to windward,
preferably before the
next boat reached the mark behind us. So, after
rounding, we waited
eagerly for a juicy starboard knock so that we could
accomplish our
strategy. (Putting your entire lead into one tack is
risky, especially
on a shifty small lake where the guys astern can
easily get their
own wind and sail out over top of you!) When Dave and
Jim were nearly
at #5 and we were still awaiting our juicy knock, we
decided we could
wait no longer, and put in a relatively short hitch on
port. Having the
peace of mind that comes
with being both to windward and ahead, was
almost good as
having gotten the port lift. Of course, it's never a
sure thing,
especially on Clark Lake, but doing windward-and-ahead
strategy does
put
the odds considerably more into your favour and
reduces the
nervousness. In the end, there were no
big dead spots or huge shifts, and all we had to do
was remember to
stay as far as possible from the wind-blocking point
just south of #4,
until the last possible moment, i.e. approach it on or
above the port
layline. Going to the layline early is something we
very rarely do, but
here is an exception that
mostly pays big-time! In the photo above, we cross
first, even going to
the
unfavoured
end - anything to stay as far as possible
from the big trees
only 50 yards from #4.
... |
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| Time for Marc (r)
and Al to get some lounging practice in. ... |
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| And it's a 2nd for ... ... |
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| ... Dave Nickels (l)
and
Todd Schmida. ... |
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| A pretty terrific
comeback
for John Weakley and Eric Robb (4162) who have passed
several boats and
are now in a close battle with Jim and Theresa (4179)
near the finish
line. ... |
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| And they've done it!
3rd
place goes to ... ... |
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| ... John (l)
and
Eric ahead of ... ... |
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| ... Jim and Theresa
who may
have gone in too close to the trees? Rounding out the
top 5 with a fine
race of their own were Ron
Reading and Catie Simmons. ... |
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| Woody Woodruff and
Dorothy
Rose took 7th, just ahead of ... ... |
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| ... John and Larry. ... |
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| Mike Sharkey & Co.
roll
in. ... |
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| As does Chuck. ... |
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| A tough 10th for Jeff
and
Brittany: nowhere to go but up from here!! |
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