186 X Boat sailors, 72 Opti sailors, their parents, 27 coaches and their boats all descended on beautiful Clear Lake for nearly a week of racing in near Chamber of Commerce conditions!  29 races, over six days, in four fleets! The only thing that outweighs a great week of racing is the feedback we receive from those visiting to race… The number one compliment goes to our volunteers; the common message about them all is how friendly and helpful everyone is, followed by the setup at the regattas.  Ease of access to everything you need; the hotels or airbnb, restaurants, parks, even Walmart or Target for the forgotten items!

Clear Lake’s seven X boaters were split between the Senior and Junior fleets for the ILYA X boat Championship.  In the Senior fleet successes were had; Elle Ebeling managed to bring home a top ten race finish and other sailors were right in the mix in most races. Sam Ludwig was the top Z finisher; he was followed by Elle Ebeling, Finley Nyhus and Danny Starbeck. Danny and Sam have officially sailed the last X boat regatta of their careers; thank you both for your representation in the youth class, we can’t wait to have you in a different fleet next year! Over on the Junior fleet course the remaining three X boats also had some big successes.  Jude Sorensen had a top ten finish in Race 3 and Brady Amble saved his best for the last race, finishing 13th. Leif Lundberg led the way for Team Z finishing in 10th place, which was the direct result of sailing consistently, including two top ten finishes.  If you’ve been reading the Crows Nest throughout the year you may have heard me use the term, “Road Warrior” when talking about Leif Lundberg…The traveling of he and his crew (and of course Marcus and/or Julie) along with the aforementioned consistency have led to a Blue Chip Invitation for the Z-5!!!  This may be the first time a Junior Fleet sailor from Clear Lake has been invited to the Blue Chip and adding to the honor is that it’s the 50th Blue Chip!!! Great work Z-5!!!

Ten, almost 11 brave Opti sailors took to their home waters to test out the early stages of ILYA competition… The non-participating Opti sailor had good reason for not racing; doctor’s orders; more on that later as a non-lethal, non-sailing injury may qualify as a Blooper nomination… The remaining ten participated in the Green Fleet; a fleet led by Candace Porter of the ILYA who I have a new found respect for after listening to her Skipper’s Meeting.  These young sailors really shined on day two after they had calmed their nerves and the breeze came up!  Charlotte Tisor was the top Clear Lake boat, finishing in 7th overall, including a bullet in Race 8; she was only out of the top 10 once! Eliza Zanios was next in line with a 2nd in Race 4 and three other top 7 finishes!  Griffin Harris had a 2nd place in Race 3 on his way to a 9th overall finish.  Every Opti sailor should be proud of their accomplishment; taking the first steps toward ILYA greatness and more importantly, long lasting friendships.

A couple weeks have gone by since the last club racing and my aging memory is showing; I really don’t have much recollection of what happened… I can tell you from the scores that Leif Lundberg won 3 of the 4 X boat races that weekend with Elle Ebeling winning the other.  The MC fleet had four races with four different winners; Mark Tesar, Dan Allen, Emily Haugerud and Todd Tesar.  The E fleet continued it’s streak of no wind or too much wind, getting in just one race; Team Loon took the honors in a very windy race over Brad Price, Eric Protzman and Wil Cooney.

IF the forecast holds for this weekend, which is pretty unlikely given our luck this year, please make sure to plan for two races at each race time.  The X, MC and C fleets will be racing as normal; the E fleet is SATURDAY ONLY this week…Maybe PRO Tommy Erickson should consider running back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back………. You get the idea.  The E fleet has been a bit short of races this year.

So about the almost 11…  This young man seems to have gone to a whole different level in trying to get out of a regatta… Jude Sorensen, a winger on his hockey team; for you non-hockyers like me, that means he skates well and is tough as nails… He took a little spill on his rollerblades the night before the event and convinced the ER doctors to put in as many stitches as they could fit in his now swelled chin…Between 25 and 30 did the trick to get him out of sailing in the Red-White-Blue fleet at the ILYA Opti Champs. I’ll let you decide whether it’s funny or not; I found it hilarious as soon as I found out he was fine!  In all seriousness Jude, we’re glad you’re ok!  Now put some duct tape on it, we’ll see you on the water in a couple days!

The next party of the year is next Saturday, August 13th at the MacNider-Ebeling Compound on North Shore Dr. I’m not sure what our Esteemed Commodore and Vice Commodore have up their sleeves for this one…?  The last event will be tough to beat, however, I’m positive they will give it their best shot!  More details next week!

The Annual ILYA Championships at Lake Geneva, WI start Wednesday, August 17th.  As of right now, I believe we have 5 CLYC boats attending; Brad Price and team in the E fleet with Dan Allen, Stu Oltrogge, Mark Tesar and Todd Tesar sailing in the MC fleet.  Beyond that are the National Championships for both the E and MC fleets; the E’s are in Minnetonka for their event and the MC’s are all the way out in Barnegat Bay, NJ

Until next week my friends…

Stay in the Clear Air,

Dan Allen
MC 2811 – Relentless
E Scow Z-11 – Wild Side
dsallen@cltel.net
www.clyciowa.com
www.clycss.com