The always competitive Rebel fleet mustered eight entries, at least three of whom are past National champions: Mary Reif (above right), Dave Nickels and his son, Kevin. In Saturday's early going, Scott Wright and Ann Markaity (above left) got off to a great start with 1-2 finishes with only perennial Clark Lake champion, Dave Nickels with Karolina Karmona (4-1) and Mary Reif with husband, Aaron (2-3), as apparent threats to win. Kevin Nickels at 3-4 seemed a long shot at best - until he took a page from his father Dave's book and staged an impressive come-back.




In race 3 the worm Rebels began to turn. While series leader, Scott Wright crashed to a 6th-place finish (not droppable) while Dave Nickels won his second straight race and headed off to Saturday evening, suddenly holding a two-point lead over Scott, Kevin and Mary who were tied in series second. One other item of note from race 3 was the fact that Clark Lake's Steve Cummings and daughter Lyndsie - a very much to be feared and respected team who won here in 2018 - finally got it in gear with a 3rd-place finish.

In Sunday's slightly stronger breeze from the SE, Kevin Nickels won the opener but with his dad, Dave, right behind in 2nd place, Kevin still faced the daunting task of trying to win the finale and hope that Dave would place no higher than 3rd. Realistically, Scott and Mary were now reduced to fighting over series 3rd, and Scott took a step towards that goal by finishing 4th ahead of Mary's 5th. Continuing the improvement they had shown in Saturday's finale (5th after 7-8 in races 1 and 2), Brent and Forrest Nowak dazzled the fans with a 3rd in Sunday's opener.


In the finale there were several sources of interest: Would Kevin (3-4-2-1: 10 pts) be able to catch his dad, Dave (4-1-1-2: 8 pts)? Would Scott (1-2-6-4: 13 pts) be able to hold off many times National Champion Mary (2-3-4-5: 14 pts)? Would Brent and Forrest keep up the fine sailing they had done in race 4? Well, as can be seen in the results table below, Dave Nickels had a rare bad race (6th) and he and Karolina Carmona ended up having to console themselves with the runner-up position behind Kevin Nickels and Steve Middlebrook. Scott Wright and the delightful Anne Markaity overcame the lack of Dark'n'Stormies and held on to series 3rd as they finished the finale in 4th ahead of Mary and Aaron Reif.

Steve and Lyndsie Cummings had sub-par results in the series but ended the series with a fine 3rd. As Lyndsie said on Facebook: "This is by far one of my favorite things about the month of September. I'm thankful my Grandparents became apart of such a wonderful place so that their grandchildren can enjoy it all the same. This was the first year in a long time my Dad and I haven't placed in the top 3, but I'm perfectly happy with that because it was a great 2 days out on the water. Here's to next year Dad and boat #4167."

This time around, the Nowak family was represented not by Bruce who was busy being PRO of the regatta, but by his brother, Brent, sailing with his eldest son, Forrest. Their start to their series was slow, but their 5-3-2 progression thereafter was something to be proud of and almost moved them past the Cummings into series.

 

There was close competition to avoid series last between a second pair of Lake Fenton teams: Tim Nickels with Dustin Turnbull (above right) and Jay Topping with wife, Pat, were in a points tie at 28 going into the finale. In this duel, it was the much-loved Toppings who got the better of Tim and Dustin and took series 7th.

Many thanks to Principal Race Officer, Bruce Nowak (Rebel #3) who ran the Race Committee while giving up his sailing. In addition to Bruce, Hugh and Helen Harris (below) worked the Committee Raft. Our gratitude as always to the Safety Boats, manned this year by Ian Buckley, Laurie and Mike Wilson and also Judy and Bruce Chipman.