A round of applause please for the folks at the Outing Club, especially the residents who are members of the CLYC!  We couldn’t have asked for a better night in their beautiful slice of Clear Lake! Thank you to all who attended, those who provided the great treats and I can’t forget Linda Thoan who always makes sure we never go thirsty!

A heads up for the E fleet; you have racing this Sunday afternoon, July 23rd at 2pm!  A possible warning for those in the Saturday morning fleets; we are behind one race and may do back-to-back races if conditions warrant.  This is obviously at the discretion of the PRO.

The ILYA Melges 15 Championship is only two weeks away, with onsite registration starting August 3rd. The regatta committee is in the final stages of planning and now the final touches are being made! While many positions are filled with volunteers, we still need more in order to thin the workload for everyone; if you’re able to volunteer, even in the slightest capacity, please contact Julie Oltrogge, clyciowa@gmail.com.

Two words best describe racing for the Jack MacNider Memorial Regatta… Shifty and smokey… The wind never chose a solid direction and those Canadians do not know how to fight forest fires! Perhaps they’re a touch overwhelmed…? I’m not sure how you couldn’t notice, but if you didn’t, much of the weekend the opposite end of the lake was impossible to see due to the smoke. It was either worse or our friends from Minnesota are more sensitive… Several yacht clubs in Minnesota have written into their SI’s that they will not sail if the air quality numbers are beyond a certain level; 151 if that means anything to you folks…The way the wind has mistreated the Clear Lakers this year, I don’t think we need another reason to stay on shore.

Last week’s recap is going to start in unfamiliar territory, the C boat fleet… The nostalgic trio made their first appearance on the water this season in a pretty nice breeze Saturday afternoon, they lined up to start and frankly, they looked great!  They and their boats may age but you certainly wouldn’t know it!  Speaking of age, Tom Birdsall was sailing the only C boat left in his inventory; a 1976 Johnson C, in fact the LAST wooden C boat made by Johnson!  His last wooden toy, before the “Plastic Toy.” (Bird’s first fiberglass boat was named “Plastic Toy”) One race was completed before the fleet decided the wind had built too much and called it a day (hopefully they didn’t call it a year).  The lone race went down to the wire as expected, with Bill Nicholas just edging out Swifty and Bird coming in a very close third.

The X boats were by far the most fun fleet to watch last weekend as they were changing positions and fighting for every inch and every place on the scoreboard.  Race one on Saturday was in a frustrating NW breeze, oscillating frequently without pattern and the velocity was sketchy at times.  Brady Amble shot off the starting line and put himself in great position, he sailed the shifts and stayed in the breeze to beat young Avery Tidrick who finished second with Finley Nyhus in third.  The ovation as Brady and crew Sofia Albee crossed the line was fit for Royalty, and rightfully so; this was Brady and Sofia’s first win in the X fleet ever!  BUT, they weren’t done… The second race was won by Leif Lundberg who gathered himself after a tough race one; that’s what competitors do, well done Leif.  Avery Tidrick, wow, where did she come from???  Avery and crew Thea Sorensen posted their second consecutive 2nd place finish with past Club Champion Elle Ebeling finishing third.

The M15 fleet on Saturday looked as though they were bored!  The racing was competitive, however, we all know they like to blast around in a big breeze! Jeff Nicholas showed the fleet what he’s made of cruising to two consecutive bullets with crew Ashley Stokke.  Brad and Mary Thompson continued to sail well finishing 2nd in the first race, Will Finstad finished third.  In the second race Dave Atkinson stepped back to the front of the fleet taking 2nd place behind Jeff with the Thompson’s in 3rd.

The light breeze and frustrating shifts were felt in every fleet, the changing of positions was probably most dramatic in the MC fleet. Everyone was so close together that no one was out of a race all weekend.  Dan Allen won the first race leading the entire way after a good start. Mark Tesar finished second with Brad Oz not far behind in third.  The second race had a bit more velocity at times but the oscillations kept coming.  Dan Allen once again nailed the start and led most of the race with only a brief loss of the lead to Randy Kotz who sailed a run brilliantly to pass 3 or 4 boats.  Brad Oz sailed well again finishing second with Todd Tesar in third.  (Charlie, only 147 words!)

Saturday afternoon was made for E boating!  The wind piped up and gave the teams quite a few ripping rides up and down the lake!  Brad Price and the Z-9 team dominated the first race winning by a considerable margin over Mark Tesar and team in the Z-13.  Eric Protzman and team finished third with the newbie Z-16 Team finishing 4th.  A slight shake up the second race as the wind continued to build, Mark Tesar and team showed what heavy air racing is all about, exerting dominance over the fleet this time winning by quite a margin.  Brad Price, sailing with just 3 on the boat, managed to hold off Eric Protzman and take second place.  Team Sorensen aboard the Z-16 wins Saturday’s “Bottoms Up” award as they tipped over at the last leeward mark of the day trying to douse the kite… Never an easy maneuver, the stronger wind obviously complicated the situation.  Thankfully no one was hurt, nothing was broken and spirits remain high among the team!

Sunday morning dawned much like Saturday; smokey with light and shifty wind… Well the wind decided to settle in, relatively speaking anyway,  and picked up quite a bit throughout the morning race.

More competitive close racing in the X fleet as they once again pushed each other to the limits.  Remember that previous statement; “BUT they weren’t done…”?  Well, Brady and Sofia did it again!  One day after taking their first bullet, they take their second!  Tremendous job Z-84!  Jude Sorensen found the heavier air much more to his liking finishing in a solid second place, Finley Nyhus also liked the heavier air better, finishing third.

The 15’s wish came true, they got more breeze…It wasn’t up to “Crazy kiteboarder standards” the Thompson’s would have wished for but, hey, they’ll take it!  And take it right to the finish line they did, winning the race with Dave Atkinson again in second and Will Finstad scoring another 3rd!

12 knots… The magic number for the Tesar brothers… Enter total Tesar domination of the MC fleet.  Mark and Todd worked their boats far better than the rest of the fleet and leapt away from them, battling each other for the win.  At the end Mark Tesar took the bullet with Todd taking second.  Brad Oz sailed an amazing final beat passing Dan Allen with no problem and nipping Eric Protzman at the line to finish third.

The E’s had two more races on Sunday with only the first race counting toward the Jack MacNider Memorial Regatta. In the bigger breeze of Sunday afternoon it was once again the Tesar’s showing their skill, this time together.  The brothers won both races handily, Brad Price took 2nd place in the first race followed by Eric Protzman.  In the second race, Eric Protzman finished 2nd and Brad wasn’t able to finish after a malfunction in the spinnaker system.

It has seemed each week has brought a new and exciting story line! It’s really special when those stories come from our youngest sailors. This year, I’ve personally seen more growth, fun and competition within the X fleet than I’ve seen in many years; in terms of CLYC fleet camaraderie, competition and love of sailing, this group may rival those of YC lore.

Congratulations to all the winners! The full results for the Jack MacNider Regatta are as follows:

Another week, yet another regatta for Leif Lundberg.  This time his sister Alida was crewing for him at the Xtreme Regatta in Oshkosh, WI.  Most sailors either know first hand or have heard about the wind and waves on Lake Winnebago… They’re both typically BIG… That was the case for the 46 boat X fleet Monday, then of course the wind disappeared for Tuesday.  Leif and Alida sailed hard in the tough conditions and stacked fleet, ultimately finishing 22nd.  Nice job Lundbergs!

Our sailors and RC officers are approaching the busiest portion of our season. The ILYA Opti Champs begin Thursday, July 27th at Delavan. We have an all girl contingent representing the CLYC this year; Thea and Isla Sorensen, Brynn Tidrick and Sofia Albee. X Champs is at Geneva July 30 – August 2nd and the bulk of our fleet will be participating.  Mark Tesar and Stu Oltrogge will also be in attendance working on the race committee. Back to Clear Lake everyone comes for the M15 Champs and two weeks later it’s back to Geneva for the Big Inland! We have many of those youth sailors, along with our adult sailors racing the M15 Champs here in Clear Lake. The count as of right now is four or five MCs and one E boat heading to Geneva for Championships.  *Please note these numbers are estimates based on the word of several sailors who haven’t registered yet, the author makes no representation to the accuracy of these numbers*  Nice disclaimer huh!?!?!

Next week, I’ll have a preview and thoughts from X boaters and parents regarding the upcoming ILYA Championships.  Until then friends…

Stay in the Clear Air,

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