Get ready for the “Great Carnie Invasion of 2023!”  It seems they’ve arrived a touch earlier than expected as tents, ticket booths and various other signs of the forthcoming mayhem started late Monday. The events and carnival begin tonight (Thursday 6/29) at 5pm; the entire schedule of events can be found on the Chamber of Commerce website.  www.clearlakeiowa.com

The 2023 Melges 15 Inland Championship is fast approaching, most of our local fleet is registered!  Thank you folks for that, the Regatta Committee greatly appreciates it.  For those who haven’t registered yet, please do so if you intend to race.  You’ll need to visit www.ilya.org to pay your ILYA membership and register for the event. Visiting racers will start showing up August 3rd!  Many members have come forward to volunteer in different aspects, however, we still need more.  Please contact Julie Oltrogge, clyciowa@gmail.com, if you’re able to volunteer in any capacity.  We’re expecting 50-70 boats, yes I know that’s a wide range, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens!

E fleet – a reminder, your annual fleet party will be Friday, June 30th at the Sorensen residence on North Shore.  The festivities begin at 6:00.  Food and drinks will be provided by the gracious hosts, just show up and enjoy! Don’t forget 2023 is the 100th Anniversary of the E Scow, a special event is planned during the party to commemorate this remarkable milestone.

This weekend is the Fourth of July Regatta, be prepared for back-to-back races on Saturday.  It’s also the end of the First Series and it looks like the scores are extremely close in every fleet.  One misstep could cost you places in the ranking and a few good races could drastically improve your standing… Can you handle the pressure?

You may have noticed a gaggle of X boats braving rough conditions Monday and Tuesday…The Annual West Water Clinic started this year with 9 races on day one! 20 boats from Clear Lake, Okoboji and Minnetonka took to the water in 15 knots of breeze for what has become a West of the Mississippi classic in the X boats. Day two brought another great day to hone skills, this time it was those skills used in extremely light air! Only one race was able to be completed but chalk talks and fun were had on shore all day!

You can never make everyone happy… The rain of the weekend, while great for farmers, lawns and ducks, put a damper on our racing plans. Whether it was storms or wind that rolled through the area multiple times, 50% of the racing for the weekend was canceled. No MC, Melges 15 or X racing Saturday morning and no E racing Sunday afternoon.  It’s too bad really, Mother Nature needs to plan that stuff during the week or at night… Mr Commodore, would you have a chat with her please?

After the morning fleets were stormed out, the E fleet took to the water Saturday afternoon and got one solid, windy race on the books.  Brad Price and crew sailing their new stallion, showed their heavy air prowess, winning the hotly contested race.  Mark Tesar finished second with Eric Protzman finishing third.

Sunday morning dawned with mist/rain and lighter than anticipated winds for the sailors… Of course that was short lived; the rain stopped, the wind shifted and in came the velocity with more rain! The X boat fleet was kept on shore leaving the MC and M15 fleets to battle within their ranks and the elements. After a long windy race, Mark Tesar bested the MC fleet with Stu Oltrogge in second and Todd Tesar in third.  It seems typical and boring right…? Not so much…! Did you hear the high pitched scream, the shrill like nothing ever experienced before???  You must have heard it! That was Emily Haugerud yelling “Protest” at her own father!!!  Yes, that’s right, her own father… Family on shore, enemies on the water evidently; no quarter will be given! Hahaha The truth is that Stu deserved the lashing; he decided to tack onto port to get around the windward mark and had no rights under the rules…He decided to do this in front of an aggressive, well seasoned sailor, who just happens to be his daughter… BAD MOVE Stu! Atta girl Em, hold your lane and give ‘em the “what for!”  Like a true sportsman, Stu did the penalty turns and continued racing. This episode should serve as an example to the rest of the fleet; Emily does have a cape AND an incredible set of lungs behind that innocent facade; she will show no mercy!

A big welcome back to racing and welcome to the MC fleet Sam Ludwig, who was able to make it out on the water finally after his offseason leg surgery! Track and Cross Country are brutal!  What’s even better than a comeback story? One of comebacks and new beginnings in one!  Sam had a crew named Luke Rundall sailing with him; Luke is the Grandson of one of our newest members Alan Rundall from Cedar Falls, they were here at the Lake when Sam needed a crew… Badda bing, Luke was initiated by fire (water I guess) into the world of scow racing! So, things didn’t turn out quite so rosy for the epic duo… Sam: careful with the MC vang around the offset… Too much is bad, too little is worse… After forgetting (or perhaps not being told) this rule and wildly capsizing, Sam and Luke managed to right the boat and finish the race! What a great show of enthusiasm and grace! Good job guys! Sam it’s great having you back on the water, and Luke, welcome to the world of dinghy racing my friend!

Meanwhile in the M15 fleet, Brad and Mary Thompson, who are second year members and first year racers, showed their ever improving skill winning the M15 race with Will Finstad finishing second.  It surely was impressive watching those boats rip down the runs; WOW!!!

The ILYA regatta season is now in full swing; next weekend is both the E and MC Invitational regattas.  The E scows will be heading to the legendary White Bear Yacht Club (wear the sailors can’t use the yacht club… weird) and the MC fleet will be heading to Lake Nagawicka just outside Milwaukie.  Brad Price will be representing the CLYC E fleet at White Bear and Mark Tesar will be representing the MC fleet at Nagawicka.  Good luck to them both!  Bring back some hardware!

Most, if not all of you know the DeVries family, whether it be from the YC, football or business; Easton DeVries who has grown up sailing here in Clear Lake, is an instructor at the Sailing Center, a fantastic golfer and most of all just a great kid, is struggling right now and could use your positive vibes!  Easton was born with a heart defect which was surgically corrected in his infancy… Though the doctors knew it would fail eventually, that surgical correction is failing earlier than expected.  What this means is that E is now being assisted by machines to give his body the rest it needs to prepare for a transplant. When certain conditions are met, the transplant will happen in Iowa City where he’s been since June 14th.  Easton has been positive and fighting through this entire ordeal as has the rest of his family; please send out your positive vibes, thoughts and/or prayers for Easton and the DeVries family.

I hope to see you on the water this weekend!

Stay in the Clear Air,

Dan Allen
MC 2811 – Relentless
dsallen@cltel.net
www.clyciowa.com
www.clycss.com