JUNE 29 RACE REPORT

(photos courtesy of Jack and Sandi Miller)

We tied our largest turnout of sailboats in Wayne Truex’s memory (eleven boats, and it happened also in August of 2012). Ross Kunkler skippered his first sailing race and did very well.  We welcomed back Jackson Gall and Brad Stinebring.  And things may be getting a little decadent at the Grandview Yacht Club, what with a co-ed community shower prior to the race, a gourmet meal aboard the Committee boat, and a generous donation.  We also had some exciting action at the finish line, and took a brief dive into a rule-book conundrum and threw up our hands.

OK, the “co-ed” shower was just a brief but heavy rain, and our Committee Boat volunteers got just as soaked as the rest of us.  Thanks to volunteers Steve and Gretchen Fisher, Jack and Sandi Miller, Donna Mount and Mimi Riffle.  Kudos to them for calmly sizing up the rain situation and not cancelling the race in a knee-jerk fashion when the downpour began and the winds got a little gusty. There was no thunder or lightning, and it was pretty clear it was just a squall.  They also did a good job of protecting the decadent gourmet lunch Gretchen had prepared for the group.  And they enjoyed the luxury of a brand new, big, vinyl-coated anchor donated by Jim and Peggy Voelz after Jim’s experience on the Committee Boat at the last race.  Thanks very much Jim and Peggy!  Yeah, things are getting pretty cushy on the Committee Boat these days!  But our fine group went above and beyond the call by hauling in all of the race markers after the race.

Our volunteers take down the markers.  It "takes a village' to conduct a sailing race

  

Thanks to Kevin Preuss and Jim Voelz for setting up a fine course with the start/finish line well away from the power boat traffic.

In his first and second races as skipper, Ross Kunkler took the helm of the Schroeder JY-15, finishing with a very respectable 3^rd out of 6 boats in his class in the first race.  According to our scoring system, captains that turn the helm of their boat over to their crew earn the same number of points as if they had captained the boat themselves.  So Ross may not have realized it, but he was actually doing that particular boat owner a favor with his fine debut as skipper. And in only her 4^th race as a skipper, rookie Sherri Agnew finished 2^nd place in her class of 7 boats and beat the other 2 Butterfly sailboats that are also part of the “International Class”.  In his first time at the helm this season, and with little sleep after  handling the late shift at the E.R., John Gall, with returning crew, Jack Gall, came in 2^nd out of 6 in the “International Class” in the first race, and beat the other Y-Flyer and reigning champion John Auld and crew Paul Hass. Jack took the helm for the first time this season in the second race. And finally, Brad Stinebring returned to the Laser class after a year off, finishing 4^th overall on a handicapped basis out of the fleet of 11 boats in the first race, looking very relaxed, evoking to some, images of former GYC great, Dave Brown.  So it appears there will continue to be plenty of competition in Grandview sailing to keep things lively.

The first race was a snoozer for an on-looker with a low-to-no wind situation following the pre-race dousing.   For the most part, the finishing times were pretty tight on a handicapped basis though.

Laura tries to squeeze speed out of very little wind.  Jim and Arlene are behind her in the Hobie Cat.

For the sailors, it is just as much, if not more work, since low-wind sailing requires constant vigilance and optimizing.

The fleet heads for first mark. Riffle/Truex in catamaran in foreground

The second race was more exciting with a much better wind, and boats finishing in half the elapsed time.  At the protest meeting, eyewitnesses said that about three boats got in the path of the Jim Riffle/Arlene Truex catamaran which had the right of way, causing Jim to alter their course (at Arlene’s urging).  No protest was made, but could well have been successful if pursued.  Nevertheless Riffle/Truex finished first in their class. 

Start of 2nd Race: Jim Voelz (right) and Sherri Agnew (left) foreground

At the finish line, Sherri Agnew was hiked out to the maximum trying not to have to make a final tack.  She nearly went over, but kept the boat upright, and the committee boat and those nearby erupted into cheers.    Shortly thereafter, Peggy Voelz and daughter Laura, both just a wee bit competitive, were in a photo-finish, just like in the race two weeks ago. Peggy prevailed again, but we hope Laura keeps the pressure on.

Heading for 1st mark in 2nd race (more wind). Brothers Gall in foreground attempting to catch Auld/Hass in yellow boat. Sherri on right, Brad on left.

We enjoyed a fine protest meeting at the Truex's.  Thanks Wayne and Arlene!  We discussed a situation that occurred at a mark with the Riffle/Truex boat and the Jim Voelz boat.  The question was who had the right-of-way when they both turned.  We won’t bore you with the details involving Rule 13 and rule 18.3, but the rule book gave unclear guidance for this particular situation.  We were quite pleased there was no protest upon which a ruling would have to have been made and argued over.  Maybe next time.

Race results were as follows:

1^st Race, Laser Class

Jim Voelz 1^st, Tom Jennings 2^nd, Brad Stinebring 3^rd, Kevin Preuss 4^th

1^st Race,  International Class on handicapped basis:

Peggy Voelz 1^st , John & Jack Gall 2^nd, Ross Kunkler/Tom Schroeder 3^rd, Sherri Agnew 4^th, John Auld/Paul Hass 5^th, Jim Riffle/Arlene Truex 6^th

1^st Race,  Overall (not for scoring) on  handicapped basis:

Peggy Voelz 1^st, Jim Voelz 2^nd, Tom Jennings 3^rd, Brad Stinebring 4^th, The Brothers Gall 5^th, Kunkler/Schroeder 6^th, Sherri Agnew 7^th, Auld/Hass 8^th, Kevin Preuss 9^th, Riffle/Truex 10^th.

2n^d Race, Laser Class

Jim Voelz 1^st, Kevin Preuss 2^nd, Tom Jennings  3^rd

2^nd Race,  International Class on handicapped basis:

Jim Riffle/Arlene Truex 1^st, Sherri Agnew 2^nd, Peggy Voelz 3^rd, Laura Garret 4^th, Kunkler/Schroeder 5^th, Auld/Hass 6^th, The Brothers Gall 7^th,

2nd Race,  Overall (not for scoring) on  handicapped basis:

Jim  Voelz 1^st, Kevin Preuss 2^nd, Riffle/Truex 3^rd, Tom Jennings 4^th, Sherri Agnew 5^th, Peggy Voelz 6^th, Laura Garrett 7^th, Kunkler/Schroeder 8^th, Auld/Hass 9^th, The Brothers Gall 10^th.

 

The next race is July 13^th and is a “trophy race”.  We don’t race on holiday weekends anymore, but this will be for the historic “July 4^th trophy”.   In the meantime we hope to see you at the various functions over the Independence Day weekend.