What a way to close out the 2022 CLYC season!  A wide range of wind conditions under beautifully blue skies in seasonal temperatures.  A full schedule of Labor Day Weekend racing was accomplished, the awards handed out and the leadership passed down. The weekend really couldn’t have been much better!  So many thank yous are owed to so many folks who have generously volunteered their time and put forth a huge amount of effort; it’s impossible for me to name them all!  The most important thank you (at least in my opinion) goes out to Commodore Mike Starbeck.  The enthusiasm, teamwork and aim for success Mike showed all year was second to none!!! The many volunteers within the club are much more likely to become involved when the leadership of the club is volunteering just as much! Mike was obviously very good at leading by example!  Thank you Michael for your service to the Club, we all owe you a great debt of gratitude!  Well done brother!

“Taking the helm”, as he poetically referred to it, is Brad Price who will be joined by now Vice Commodore Casey Callanan. Jamie Zanios said it well after the awards, “It’s great to see the Club being run by the younger generation!”  Thank you to Brad and Casey in advance for your commitment to the Club and our future success!

The measure of success at our club is never by the number of dollars profited at the end of a fiscal year; it’s measured more so by the experiences provided to guests, the fun factor for the members and the respect given by our peers. The Clear Lake Yacht Club is a completely volunteer run organization; not a single paid position is to be found within it and the previously mentioned successful measures begin and end with people willing to go the extra mile to make the Club thrive… Several awards are given each year to those who commit themselves to the Club and make the operation better and more successful:

The Harold Crane Memorial Trophy for contributions to the CLYC – Andi Tisor – Despite already being the Sailing Center Treasurer and serving as a Co-Chair for the ILYA X Championship, Andi Tisor stepped above and beyond to volunteer for more duties.  Need a temporary YC Treasurer while Meg is on maternity leave, Andi will do it… Need someone to decorate for a party, Andi will do it… Need anything at all done, Andi raised her hand… Her spirit of volunteerism runs deep, which is the very essence of the Harold Crane Memorial Trophy.  Thank you Andi for everything you do, we’re truly blessed to have you!

The Loose Anchor Award for contributions made behind the scenes – Al and Traci Ludwig – The 2021 MC Nationals and the 2022 ILYA X Championships had many common themes, however, the one that stands out is the repeating names, Al and Traci Ludwig… Volunteering for many positions within each event including the always intense and frustrating formal dinners! Twice the Ludwigs have answered the call and put together social events during regattas which are raved about by the mass of attendees. Never did they falter despite the tall tasks asked of them; thank you so much Al and Traci for everything you’ve done, the club couldn’t pull off such feats without people like you!

The Blooper Award – Marcus Lundberg – Tempting fate before a storm isn’t something you see very often in these modern days of doppler radar, wireless communication and safety sworn sailors!  But…. Evidently those rules didn’t apply to Marcus who was on a C boat with his son Leif and Tom Birdsall. Out for an afternoon sail despite races being called off due to storms in the area; they continued to ignore the big black ugly storm clouds approaching, they ignored the calls on the radio, they even ignored the warning and offer of a tow to safety from VC Brad Price… Thankfully the storms with lightning and big wind proceeded North, barely, and the foolish sailors eventually made a soggy return to safety with no injuries to anything but their egos! Perhaps most foolish was Marcus making the nomination of the C fleet and inadvertently mentioning part of this story which was immediately pounced on by the peanut gallery!

The racing season was a mixed bag of conditions.  After a First Series plagued by very heavy winds, the Second Series treated the X and MC Fleets to more moderate conditions resulting in  20 races in each fleet! The E Fleet had a tough year completing just 17 races all season which was hopefully just a fluke. Each class was as mixed up as the weather; the competition was fierce yet friendly and fought down to the wire for the titles of Champion!

The entire season results can be found on the website, www.clyciowa.com but here are the final Championship standings from each fleet:

Please remember; none of the club racing can be done without our fantastic race committee teams:  Charlie MacNider PRO, Kathy MacNider, Bill Casey, Casey Callanan, Tommy Erickson and Denni Sue Erickson.  These people keep the sailors where they belong, in their boats and not trying to run races.  Many thanks to all of them for everything they do!

Some interesting facts about the racing from 2022: 7 different MC sailors, 5 different X boaters and 5 different E boats won races this year. The longest race winning streak was 5 and it wasn’t done by a Fleet Champion.  Mark Tesar won his 12th MC Fleet Championship. Emily Haugerud has now won 3 consecutive E Fleet Championships and 5 of the last 6. Leif Lundberg has now won the X Fleet Championship twice as a skipper and once as a crew.  Junior Fleet sailors have won the last 4 X Fleet Championships!

Two sailors, Sam Ludwig and Danny Starbeck have aged out of the X boat this year… A somewhat sad time, but also an exciting time as they move on in their sailing journeys.  Sam Ludwig will be sailing in the MC fleet next year, hopefully steering #2606 wonderfully through the shifts to the top of the fleet.  Danny hasn’t signed his letter of intent yet, however, I’ve heard he may be crewing on the Peterson/Starbeck E boat or sliding into the newest fleet, the Melges 15.  Good luck to both of you!

The sailors have several awards for their efforts during the season. Club racing is important to us all; some race only in Clear Lake purely for entertainment, others to remain in competitive sport, many use it as tuning time for the large scale events they plan to attend. The recipients of the following awards honed their skills and cut their teeth in fleet racing right here in Clear Lake, taking those skills to an entirely different level:

The R Lyle Bergo Memorial Trophy – Best off lake performance in the X Fleet:  Leif Lundberg – A traveling sailor for sure, Leif Lundberg amassed great results in 2022.  4 Top 15 regatta finishes including at the ILYA X Championship, 10 total top 10 race finishes, 17 total top 15’s. Clear Lake’s sole invitee for the X Blue Chip Regatta this year, Leif has certainly made everyone at the CLYC proud this year.

The Marie O’Brien Alcorn Trophy – Best off lake performance in a Scow Fleet:  Stu Oltrogge – If at first you don’t succeed… Just go out and nearly win a National Title!  Stu’s performance at the 2022 MC Masters National Championship is what wins him our highest award for sailors.  Every race scored in the top 8 including a final race win propelled Stu to a second place overall finish (the winner is a Pro), cementing his place not only as the winner of this award, but also as one of the best MC sailors in the country.

The Tom MacNider Trophy – Most Improved of all Fleets – Brady Amble – Constant improvement is something all sailors strive for; clearly it’s something Brady has achieved during the 2022 sailing season.  “Sponge”, “Hard worker”, “Dedicated”; these are all words used to describe Brady this season. I would add “Fun loving” and “Positive.”  Having the best overall improvement in the club is no easy task; the hard work paid off as Brady improved his average by nearly 2 full points over his 2021 score proving himself to be a true force to be reckoned with in the X fleet.  His improvement was not only shown as an X boat skipper but also in his ability to transition over to crewing on an E scow, learning every position on the boat!

More sailing has yet to be done in 2022.  As you’re reading this newsletter two of our E scow crews, Z-23 Emily Haugerud and team along with Z-9 Brad Price and crew are gearing up for the 99th E Scow Nationals being held at Minnetonka Yacht Club.  Nearly 70 boats are registered, all vying for the title. The weather conditions look to be changing by the minute, it’s really anyone’s game!  We wish them luck and good sailing!

At last check four boats from Clear Lake are attending the first MC National Championship in New Jersey. 84 boats are currently registered for the event; the hosts, Fleet 105 – Barnegat Bay, NJ is only a few years old, but have a strong membership and are set to host this major championship.  Mark Tesar, Steve Dunbar, Dan Allen and Nathan Kotz are currently registered and ready to make the 1200 mile one way trek (shorter for Nate who now lives in Boston)!  Once again, good luck to these guys!

In October, Mark Tesar and Todd Tesar (maybe, Amy hasn’t decided yet) will be attending the Black Tie Regatta at Rush Creek Yacht Club, just outside Dallas, TX.  This is also the site of the 2023 MC National Championship in June. The sailors most likely remember the regatta as a subject of fun and lure in years past.  It’s now been resurrected, a new fall time slot assigned and hopefully new glory found within the ranks of scow regattas!

Watch for reports from each regatta, perhaps all in one or two reports, we’ll see what happens!

The program which keeps the entire CLYC running and full of sailors and social members…The Clear Lake Sailing Center operated in fine form this year with 119 students over 8 weeks of instruction.  We owe tremendous thanks to the entire BOD at the Center; Mark Ebeling – President, Andi Tisor – Treasurer, Kelly Cooney – Secretary, Jake Sorensen, Rebecca Nyhus, Jamie Devries and Molly Harris.  Thank you as well to all of the instructors on the ground/water who made the experiences fabulous for the students!

And with that my friends, we’ve reached the end of the 2022 Clear Lake Yacht Club season; as we move on to our favorite off season activities we can all reflect on what a successful season we’ve had!  2 Championship Regattas hosted, a wonderful X boat clinic, lots of great club racing, truly amazing parties along with friendships made and continued! Please don’t hesitate to check in during the off season; always be mindful of those potential blooper nominations!  Until next time folks!

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