Rookie crew, Mallory Price, shines as Uncle Al sweeps US Nats at Tawas!

Tawas Bay gave us the usual great 10 to 18-knot winds and lovely, warm sunshine July 8-9 as the always friendly and efficient Tawas Bay YC hosted the 2006 U.S. Nationals. This year, Al Schonborn teamed up with Nick Seraphinoff's grand-daughter, Mallory Price, who did a great job in her racing debut (photo below), enabling SHADES to score six firsts in the six-race series.

Unfortunately, only 8 Wayfarers made the long trip to Tawas but the 10 or so Lightnings with whom we shared the course were a big help as we attacked the bar.

A Saturday competitors' briefing (above) at the civilized hour of 11 a.m.  let the Wayfarers, most of whom were staying at the Château Seraphinoff right on the beaches of Tawas Bay, sleep off the Friday night excesses, yet still left us plenty of time to get out to our first gun at noon. Our RC of Bill Coberly, Matt Princing et al were planning to give us four Saturday afternoon races on the assumption that the warm, sunny day would generate the usual perfect Tawas lake breeze of 12 to 18 knots.


Their plan worked to perfection and we were treated to four glorious races in conditions that made you glad to be alive and a sailor (see photo above). Two more Sunday morning completed the series as scheduled with no start after 1 p.m. so that those with a long trip home could get away at a reasonable hour. The weather was a carbon copy of Saturday's, the weather Tawas Bay is justly famous for. This time, however, we got to sail in the somewhat lighter morning winds, and the real lake breeze did not kick in until the sail back to the club during which Mallory and I enjoyed a lengthy reaching plane and got back to shore in record time.


Although Wayfarer attendance was dismal, a bright spot was the fact that we did see a number of new faces: As previously mentioned, Mallory Price was making her racing debut by crewing for Uncle Al. Paul Town looked every bit the pro (see photo above) at the ripe old age of nine as he sailed with his dad, Scott, in a "boys' weekend away".


Ottawa's Frank Goulay finally lured the lovely Kim Bergevin to a regatta. The waves of Tawas were a far cry from her usual sailing venue at Lac Deschênes but she toughed it out admirably. And what a pleasure it was to have a young Michigan skipper with us for a change: Harold Whitcomb, owner of the venerable W2304 (above) for less than a year, got right into the racing. He and crew, Steve Herr, did not look out of place at all. A final face new to Wayfarers was Jeffrey McCann, a step-grandson of Nick's, who crewed for Bob Frick.


Results-wise, Uncle Al won the series, helped by absolutely great work from Mallory Price, who delighted in beating out her granddad, Nick Seraphinoff of Detroit and Traverse City, and another step-grandson, Joe Blackmore. Nick and Joe just edged out Scott and Paul Town from London, Ontario by two points for the runner-up spot. Thus, the Seraphinoff/Blackmore team not only won very lovely The Designer's Trophy (above), but also a share of the green Most Improved pennants as they beat their seed by two places.

Despite having to miss a pair of races due to boat breakage, and sailing white sail only, Frank Goulay and Kim Bergevin, took a very competitive series 4th as they made Tawas a stop on their summer vacation.


Wonderful enthusiasm continues to be displayed by the Maryland team of Tony Krauss and Mary Abel (above). After a stop in North Bay, Ontario the weekend before, team 4105 continued their grand northern tour with a stop in Tawas. Here, their 5th overall gave them a share of Most Improved honours and also won them the Top of the Bottom award (below) as the top boat in the bottom half of the fleet. Well done, Mary and Tony!!


Two veteran Michigan skippers were unable to find crew. So Joe DeBrincat and USWA Commodore teamed up in Joe's Maltese Falcon, bringing her home in series 6th ahead of Harold and Steve (7th) and Bob Frick with Jeffrey McCann.

Thanks again to

• our committees,
  
• to our host, Nick Seraphinoff,
  
• to his daughter, Emily for the fine action shots you see on this page and elsewhere
• the TBYC staff in both bar and kitchen, and finally
• to all those lovely Lightning and Wayfarer sailors who made the whole thing work

See you next year in Tawas, I hope!