As most of you know by now, we’ve lost a beloved member of the CLYC sailing family. Easton DeVries passed away Friday, July 28th.  Our thoughts, well wishes and prayers are with Easton’s family. Visitation and funeral arrangements can be found HERE.

Here we are; Championship Weekend!  40 or so of the best teams will line up starting Friday morning for the ILYA Melges 15 Championship. The early forecast looks to be temperate with a breeze in the teens! Many of you are volunteering in different aspects during the regatta and the organizing committee greatly appreciates that!  Don’t forget between your times of volunteering to watch some racing; youth sailors to more “seasoned sailors” will compete together on one race course which should lead to some exciting encounters!  Clear Lake has all 8 boats racing in this event, some X boaters are jumping in, an MC team trying their hand and of course the regular members of the fleet!  Good luck to all those competing this weekend!

Last weekend we had three young ladies, Brynn Tidrick, Sofia Allbee and Thea Sorensen compete in the ILYA Optimist Championship.  All three are current X boat crews and learning the craft by competing in the Green Fleet. Sofia led the way with second and third place finishes in her scoreline.  Thea had a pair of fifths. Some very exciting and positive happenings occurred over at Delavan; great results sure, but lessons in perseverance and displays of toughness made the event an incredible learning experience for the sailors and parents alike! Congratulations girls, the three of you made us very proud!

The ILYA X boat Championship was held earlier this week at the Lake Geneva Yacht Club.  44 boats in the Senior Fleet and 48 in the Junior Fleet sailed on separate courses over the course of 3 days, completing 6 races each. Behind the Team E flag and under the CLYC burgee, in honor of Coach Easton DeVries, our sailors marched in during the Opening Ceremony. A tragic loss of their beloved Coach honored not only by the CLYC X boaters, but also by the Okoboji X boat team who wore red ribbons in his memory. The fleets waited on shore all day Monday for the breeze to come in to no avail… Tuesday turned out to be a fantastic day with winds from 7-12 mph each fleet completing three races. Highlights from day two include Leif’s 9th place finish in Race 2 and Avery Tidrick’s top 5 mark rounding in Race 2.  Day three was absolutely wonderful for racing and our sailors were enthusiastic!  Each sailor had great results and now also have new bases to build upon for the future.  Leif and Alida Lundberg finished the three race day with a pair of 11’s leading to a regatta finish in 17th place overall.  Elle Ebeling wrapped up her X boat regatta career with a 12th place finish in race 6 which moved her up to 24th on the leaderboard. Overall the regatta was a great showing for Clear Lake.

This summer seems to have been plagued by odd conditions. Those odd conditions have managed to make the “Race for the Championships” a bit more interesting though…A breeze around 10 mph from the North “settled in” on Saturday morning; as Charlie said, it was probably the most solid breeze we’ve had all year!

Most of the X sailors had pulled boats already, leaving just a few to fight it out.  Leif and Alida sailed away with both races in their last tune up ahead of the Inland. It was the Harris brothers who took a pair of seconds; their faces were amazing as they crossed the finish line each race.  It’s this kind of joyful exuberance that makes watching youth sailing so special; no matter what you throw at these kids, they love it, they thrive on it… It’s not just the Harris boys either, it’s the entire fleet!  Sure, they compete and sail hard but at the end of the day it’s just a love of the game that keeps them coming back!

The MC Fleet belonged to Todd Tesar last weekend; the shifty and puffy conditions didn’t bother him at all as he reeled off a very solid 1, 2.  Speaking of not being bothered and sailing extremely fast… Steve Dunbar jumps back into his boat after a few weeks off and scores a 3, 2 on the fleet!!! Fantastic sailing guys!  The rest of the fleet seemed, well, a bit rattled and frustrated by the conditions and suffered with various cases of inconsistency.  Only a few short weeks of racing left to determine the Fleet Champion and right now, anyone in the top 6 or 7 could theoretically pull it off!

It was a battle of the ladies in the Melges 15 fleet!  Ashley Stokke who’s been helming bow # 619 this season sailed a 1, 2 Saturday while Riley Cooney returned after a week off and posted 2, 1.  Dave Atkinson and Will Finstad traded thirds and fourths. The promotional material and hype surrounding the 15 seems to be true…it is a boat for everyone.  We have teams sailing mixed, two guys, young, not young and it’s fun for everyone.  I can see this fleet expanding as it ages within the club!

Saturday afternoon’s tale was similar to the morning except much more dramatic in terms of velocity and shifts.  The shifts went through 40 degrees and the velocity was between 6 and 17 mph (that’s according to NOAA after racing). Race 1 was won by the Z23 crew after a long, hard fought battle with Brad Price and crew on the Z9.  Mark Tesar and crew barely snuck ahead of the 94 and 7 teams to take 3rd.  Race 2 was even more frustrating as a four boat encounter at the windward mark saw one boat launch the kite, douse the kite and relaunch, two boats doing circles and one caught in the middle!  Once that madness was figured out, it was game on and the racing heated up.  Emily Haugerud steered her craft into the lead and didn’t relent.  Mark Tesar took a clear second place with Brad Price taking third.

The C boats have more than one race in their season scoring!!!  I hope they get more in before the annual fishing trip; they’re currently all tied for first place in Championship without a clear tie-breaker!  Tom Birdsall tied up the hard fought series with a fancy bullet in their lone race of the day.  Let me remind you, Bird is sailing the wood boat, yes a 1976 Johnson…That’s older than your Crows Nest Author (1979)!!  Haha, sorry Bird… Steve Swift’s 2nd place created the three way tie at the top!

MC Fleet; your Fleet Captain Dave Haugerud sent an invitation via email to this year’s fleet party/annual meeting.  It’s Friday, August 11th at 6:30pm at the Oltrogge home on North Shore Dr.  Dave will be providing the main course, please bring a side or dessert to share.

Early notice for the next full CLYC social event; Saturday, August 12th at the Tesar/Oltrogge Compound on North Shore Dr.  The MC and C fleets along with Social Members living North of Main Ave should plan on bringing a dish to share!  Beverages of all kinds will be available on site to quench your discerning thirst.

We do have an item listed for sale –

2022 X-Boat – Opportunity to own one of the newest four X boats. Includes these items bought new with the boat in 2022: Melges trailer and hold-downs with spare tire, seadek flooring, tapered mainsheet, full deck cover, envelope cover, rudder/tiller bag, and Quantum mainsail & jib. Also includes 2023 Quantum mainsail and jib used only in regattas this season. Available at the end of August. Pictures can be provided.Price – $20,000 Contact Marcus Lundberg damfino999@yahoo.com | five zero seven-363-0634

Next week will bring a debrief of the Melges 15 Inland and a preview of the upcoming ILYA Annual Championship at Lake Geneva!  Until then friends…

Stay in the Clear Air.

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