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5/18/2014

MAY 18TH RACE REPORT

We had four new participants join us for the first race of the season.  Many of our regular sailors were out of town, but we had a good sized fleet. With cool air and water temperatures, it was probably a good thing that it wasn’t windy enough to cause the usual number of capsizes.  It was an exciting race nonetheless because of the close standings of the six boats during the entire race, and the surprises from the variable wind.   Peggy Voelz and the “Portsmouth Yardstick” have the last laugh, and she is probably just now learning about it while reading this report.

Our new participants were:  
·         Chris Braun, who will be racing a Laser this year.  He volunteered on the Committee Boat for this race to see how we do things.  Chris is new to the area, and is an experienced sailor and racer.
·         Ross Kunkler, who crewed for Tom Schroeder.  With plenty of instruction from Tom, Ross is now an experienced crew, but the other skippers will need to correct what Tom taught him!  We hope to have Ross take the helm as soon as possible in a race this year.
·         Maura Leonard, who volunteered for the first time on the Committee Boat after attending the instruction meeting on May 10th.  Maura is veteran sailor, Riley Leonard’s Mom
·         Nicki Leonard, Riley’s sister, who was in town and helped out on the Committee Boat as well.  We discovered that Nicki has a very competitive spirit, so we hope she’ll “come sail with us” sometime this summer since more than a few of the GYC sailors share that trait.

Kevin Preuss, organized the race in his new role of Race Chairman which we are very grateful to him for taking on.

Riley Leonard set up a good race course with Kevin's assistance.  Thanks gentlemen!

The well-staffed Committee Boat (THANKS! To Chris Braun, Lisa Duret, the Leonard family - Maura, Nicki and Riley, and Arlene Truex) got us off to an excellent and prompt start. 

Jim Voelz was out front immediately and kept it that way, winning the Laser class.  The rest stayed reasonably close behind.  Although they sailed divergent courses, they converged to within inches of one another at each of the three “marks” (turn markers).  So close in fact that it is a little surprising no one tested the limits of their right of way, invoking a protest.   The wind was so variable that Schroeder/Kunkler who were way to port (left, remember?) and aft of (that means behind) the rest of the pack approaching the first mark, were easily able to catch up when the wind shifted, and they counted their blessings.  There was little motor boat traffic so it was easier than usual to read the wind by watching the water.
On the way to the 2nd mark
On the way to the third mark, Lasers skippered by Kevin Preuss and Tom Jennings were off to starboard (yeah, you figured it out – to the right) of the rest of us.   The two boats were overlapped, and since Kevin was leeward (downwind) of Tom,  Kevin had the right of way.  Tom wanted to turn to the port side, but couldn’t because Kevin was there.  Finally, Tom slowed down and went behind Kevin to maneuver himself to the mark.  By the way, regarding the pronunciation of leeward:  An experienced sailor will pronounce it "leward" instead of "lee-ward".

The finish was very exciting with no “instant replay” required since it pretty much all transpired in slow motion.  Jim Voelz finished first followed by Tom Jennings.  Kevin Preuss was doing fine, but got into a position that would have been fine, but with a wind shift, became very unfavorable.  In the last 15 yards he had to tack several times (turn such that the wind comes across the other side of the boat along with the boom– duck!) , putting him at a big disadvantage.  Meanwhile, fairly close to the finish line, Laura Garrett was moving along ahead of both her Mom, Peggy Voelz, and even further ahead of Schroeder/Kunkler, while Kevin was off to her starboard side.  Then the wind died down and shifted just a bit.   Who was going to cross the line first now?  Would it be Peggy or would it be Laura?    

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Laura and Peggy, Schroeder/Kunkler, who were windward (upwind of), were getting the slight wind first, blocking it from Laura and Peggy.  It wasn’t much wind mind you, so Schroeder/Kunkler were moving about as slowly and stealthily as an alligator approaching its prey, unnoticed.  Not having the right of way (because they were windward not leeward as you learned earlier), they had to sneak past Laura and Peggy and crossed the finish line first!   Then Ross did something that showed he is new to Grandview sailing.   Did you read last year’s blog?  If so, put the pieces of this situation together:  a) they had just crossed the finish line before the others unexpectedly  b) therefore they were very pleased with themselves and their sudden good fortune and c) there wasn’t much wind at that moment.   Yes, you guessed it; Ross became celebratory and initiated a “high five” with Tom.  They were lucky; the “high-five syndrome” wind gust did not strike them and capsize them.  But now Ross is aware of the dangers of “high five syndrome”.  

Meanwhile, Kevin Preuss managed to get across the finish line, but the Laura/Peggy drama remained unresolved. Laura mentioned that it was her birthday and she ought to win, so some “happy birthdays!” were shouted from various quarters.  Nevertheless, the wind moved Peggy’s boat forward first to victory. 

In the International Class, Peggy gets the last laugh on Schroeder/Kunkler because after the “Portsmouth Yardstick” (see port column for details) handicap for the boat type is applied to the elapsed time, Peggy beat them.  So did Laura.  So on a handicapped basis it was Peggy Voelz 1st, Laura Garrett 2nd, and Tom Schroeder/Ross Kunkler 3rd.

And in the Laser Class, it was Jim Voelz 1st, Tom Jennings 2nd, and Kevin Preuss 3rd. 

Although we don’t handicap the Lasers for scoring purposes, if we did,  the overall results of all the boats on a handicapped basis would have been as follows:  Jim Voelz 1st, Tom Jennings 2nd, Peggy Voelz 3rd, Laura Garret 4th, Tom Schroeder/Ross Kunkler 5th and Kevin Preuss 6th.

The sailors chose not to have a 2nd race due to low wind.

Wayne and Arlene Truex hosted the first Protest Meeting of the year.  We enjoyed the views from the upper deck.  We did a more thorough job of welcoming our new participants and had fun re-living the race.  Thanks Wayne and Arlene!

The next race is scheduled for June 1st and will be considered the Memorial Day Trophy Race (these days we avoid racing on holiday weekends).   We need Committee Boat volunteers to assist Tom Schroeder, so please contact Tom or our Committee Boat chairperson, Beth Auld if you would like to help out.  We don't like to post email addresses on the blog because they invite spam.  But you can phone Tom at 873-1637 using the Indy area code.

In the meantime, see you at the Memorial Day Breakfast and/or the Spring Social.

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