The focus for some may be shifting away from the fun summer activities around the lake to the dreaded activities such as school and the hustle and bustle surrounding it…The lights of Friday night click on tomorrow evening, NFL preseason is in full swing, heck before we know it ski season will be upon us. BUT….we have one more week of Championship racing; the Second Series wraps up this weekend with bragging rights and trophies on the line in every fleet! Let’s enjoy the season just a little bit longer!

The E fleet party (if you RSVP’d Wil Cooney) is Friday evening; if you haven’t RSVP’d Wil, you may be able to beg and plead for a spot at the table; I make no guarantees though… I think he may have something pretty special up his sleeve that takes painstaking preparation!

The MC Fleet party is Saturday, 8/27 starting at 6:30 at the Sorensen residence (803 N Shore Dr).  All MC sailors and race committee members are invited. The main course and beverages will be provided, attendees should bring a side dish and/or dessert to share… Since Jake is aware of the party gauntlet inevitably being thrown by Wil, he’s expecting high quality dishes to be brought; those dishes should be just as painstaking as what Wil is undoubtedly going through!

This weekend is the Annual Hobie Fleet 10 Regatta here in Clear Lake.  Please be considerate of the Hobie sailors when heading out to your race course and back home. They’ll be in the main body of the lake; be prepared for our courses to be moved slightly to the West… It should be easy to find, it’ll be the racecourse the Hobies aren’t on… Look for Charlie or Tommy, go where they are…!

As I mentioned earlier, this weekend is the final weekend of the Second Series and the end of Championship…Five boats have a shot at second overall in the E fleet; the Z-9, 10, 11, 13 and 94 teams will battle it out this weekend to see who the first follower of the Haugerud/Oltrogge team will be. The X boats are still fairly close, Leif Lundberg leads the way with Elle, Jude and Finley hot on his tail. The MC fleet is once again very close; 4 boats, Mark Tesar, Todd Tesar, Stu Oltrogge and Dan Allen all have a shot to win the Second Series, but the Championship is down to the Tesar brothers… Many races within the races to watch this weekend! Hit the water and enjoy!

Three MC sailors and one E boat crew made their way over to Lake Geneva for the ILYA Annual Championships last week.  Ok, the results weren’t what the sailors had envisioned, that happens… The good news is that many positive experiences and results were still had!  Stu Oltrogge had a 3rd and 10th on the score line; Mark Tesar had a 9th; Todd Tesar had a 2nd in race 4 after his fight with Mike Tyson (you’ll have to ask Todd about the fight)!!! Brad Price and team on the E course had a very solid 17th place finish in race 4 with mark roundings near the top at other times. In the end, both the MC and E fleet were won by Pros; I lost count during an attempt to compile statistics, the number of World Championships, National Championships, Olympic campaigners, ILYA Champs, etc… To say that every fleet was stacked with talent would be an understatement! Congratulations to all of our sailors who ventured to Lake Geneva, you represented us well!

The E Scow Nationals is coming up in a few weeks; it’s being hosted by our friends up at Minnetonka Yacht Club.  58 boats are registered already, that includes two from Clear Lake.  Brad Price and his team along with Emily Haugerud and her team will be on the line vying for top honors.  MC Nationals being held at the end of September in New Jersey has 73 boats registered already; Dan Allen is planning to attend, Nate Kotz will be making his way from Boston to NJ and rumor has it a couple other Z Lakers are debating the long drive!

Across the fleets, 6 races total were scheduled; 6 races were completed last weekend… YES a full schedule of racing completed on a weekend in 2022, it’s seemingly unprecedented… Saturday morning was dreary, almost eerie conditions including rain, fog and what seemed like no wind.  Tommy called the fleets out on the lake and proved the racing conditions were pretty nice; the fog cleared off, aside from one short spell the rain cleared off and the wind built to around 10.  Navigating the shifty conditions masterfully, Finley Nyhus won Race 1 handily.  Race 2 was won going away by Leif Lundberg who hit the shifts and stayed in the clear breeze. The MC racing was compressed and competitive throughout both races on Saturday; in the end it was Dan Allen narrowly winning both races over Eric Protzman with Emily Haugerud 3rd in Race 1 and Byron Beasley 3rd in Race 2.

Sunday brought more overcast skies with winds anywhere from 5 to 14 mph it seemed. Once again from the Northeast.  All the sailors know, once you say North or East, it’s going to be shifty, when you say them together…It becomes a non PG version of “oh crap.”  Despite Charlie’s disclaimer about the line and it’s relative squareness, he did a darn good job getting it right!  Nice work Charlie and Casey!  Leif Lundberg in the Z5 picked up where he left off on Saturday; he hit the shifts and stayed in the frustrating streaks of breeze winning both races.  Finley Nyhus had a 2, 4 on the day, Jude Sorensen a 4, 2 and Elle Ebeling kept it consistent with a 3, 3.  The MCs were compressed again with Dave Haugerud and Jake Sorensen making their presence known. It was great to see Steve Dunbar racing his 2794 again as well!  Dan Allen worked his way through the shifts winning both races; Eric Protzman had a 2,3 with Byron Beasley ending his day with a 3, 2.

Mother Nature finally smiled Saturday afternoon; well it was more of a half smile…Regardless, it’s better than the forked tongued hiss the E’s have been dealing with for a good portion of the season!  The Northeast wind from the morning had built to around 14 with gusts over 20, yet was still shifty… It didn’t matter, the E’s ripped up the lake anyway! The Z-11, Wild Side won the first race by half a boat length, maybe less over Emily Haugerud driving the Z-23 with a makeshift crew; Eric Protzman and Team Little Wing finishing 3rd.  The second race was all Team Loon from start to finish; the Z-23 won the second race with the Ebeling/Callanan Z-10 finishing second and the Z-94 team once again taking 3rd.

What’s better than a brand new boat?  Selling your current boat locally and getting a brand new boat, that’s what!  I know some of you have been tossing the idea around in your heads…No I can’t read minds but sailors are predictable… Go ahead, order that new boat and let someone else enter your class with yours…We have sailors waiting in the wings to snatch up your used boats; call me, text me or email me and I’ll list it right here in the Club’s most read publication for free! What a deal!  dsallen@cltel.net

This just in: Mark Tesar has his 2018 MC for sale; #2718 has an accomplished race record and is in pristine shape, call or email Mark for details mtesar@cltel.net. You can also check out the MC Website for additional information.

Speaking of bright, shiny new toys… Mark Tesar and Dan Allen will both have Fall season group orders starting now.  Mark has a deal set up with Quantum, Dan has a deal set up with North. For details on the Quantum deal please contact Mark at mtesar@cltel.net and for details on the North deal please contact Dan at dsallen@cltel.net The deals will include all sails from Opti to A Scow, you name it, they have it.

The year end Awards Banquet is fast approaching; yes that means the trophy has to come off the mantle or out of the closet (in the case of the Juno Cup) and be brought back to the club for the ceremony.  Some of you may have to get your name engraved on the trophy first before returning it, go ahead and do that but make sure it’s back at the club Labor Day weekend.

There you have it folks, the news of consequence for the week. Until next week 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