PHOTO-STORY of the June 24th Race

Images courtesy of photojournalists Sandi Miller & Bernice Rains

Welcome to new sailor, Phil Bush!  This was his first time in a sailboat.  He studied ahead of time, and learned quickly while on the water.  He is now a crew with experience, and is eager to join us again (those needing a crew take note). The conditions were just right for a new sailor at Grandview as well as for the rest of us.   Warm but not hot.  Winds that were not too gusty, not too slow, and only absent for a short period.  Just right.  Our Committee Boat volunteers, "the gourmets",  dined well in the great weather.  And Tom and Andy Jennings were able to squeeze in another great sailing day at Grandview before the big move (and took first and second respectively in both races).

Committee Boat volunteers have sounded the "5-minutes-to-start"horn.  Jack monitors the stopwatch while the others watch the sailors try to position themselves optimally for the start.

Our Committee Boat volunteers were Steve and Gretchen Fisher, Jack and Sandi Miller, and Terry and Bernice Rains.  Sandi's and Bernice's great photos tell the story of the race.

Jim Riffle and Cindy Bartlett performed safety boat duty.  And the race gave Bob Orben a good reason to get out in “At Last”.  We had plenty of other spectators as well, ready move out of the way of approaching sailboats (thank you!).  Terry Rains and Kevin Preuss set up a really good race course.  Kevin Preuss and Beth Auld organized the race and Committee Boat.  Arlene Truex again hosted a very very pleasant “protest meeting”.  Thanks everyone for making for such a great day of sailing and socializing.

1st Race Start:  Dianne is first over the line

1st Race Start: Uh-oh John & Paul in foreground on far right "catch an edge" of the bow, slowing them down.

...

Ah, they recover and are on their way.  But wait!....who is this approaching on the right edge of the photo?  Why it is Matt, on a starboard tack....with the right of way!  Headed straight for John & Paul. Oh man, this will be close.

 John & Paul are on a port tack and do not have the right of way.  Sure enough, Matt had to alter his course to avoid them.  Matt informed them that he was fouled, so....

 John &Paul must perform the dreaded 360 degree turn as their penalty, costing them precious time. Here they are 180 degrees through the turn.

 Meanwhile the Lasers are off to a good start with Kevin out in front followed by Andy, Tom, and Dianne in wind-dictated synchronization.

Meanwhile, on the Committee Boat:

Our Committee Boat volunteers did a great job of starting the first race and capturing it in photos.  So now they settle in and relax with a nice lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, cantaloupe, brownies, and craft something-or-others.  They have about twenty minutes to dine and watch the race unfold before they have to exert themselves again.  Food and entertainment on the water, aaahhhh, life at the lake.

Time to get busy again: Gretchen eyes the exact finish line and will blow the horn the nano-second approaching Laura crosses it.  Jack will announce the precise time which will be recorded on the race sheet.

Gretchen blows the horn for a finisher.

Tom Jennings, having finished well ahead of everyone else checks his stopwatch to determine his elapsed time
 
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John and Paul finish and prepare for the next race. "Hey volunteers! Can you all spare a brownie?"

Then Tom with rookie Phil as crew come by the Committee Boat.  "Hey volunteers! Can you all spare a couple of craft something-or-others?"

Okay, time to start the 2nd race:

2nd Race Start: Andy (in foreground) is hoping to start ahead of his dad, Tom (approaching from left).   But as we all know from the start of the first race, Andy has a little problem.  And since he is peeking under his boom to see where other boats might be, he is also aware of that problem:  He is on a port tack, and Tom, on a starboard tack has the right of way.  So guess what?

Andy (in foreground) has to "come about" changing to a starboard tack to avoid fouling Tom.  Since they are both on a starboard tack now, who has the right of way?   You are correct - Andy now has the right of way because he is downwind of Tom and they are overlapped.  If Andy turns to his right, Tom will have to yield to him by turning right also.   Would he do that to dear-'ol dad?

Yes, he certainly would, this is a race after all!  They have both turned to the right and both are on a port tack,  just in time to encounter Matt who has the right of way over both of them because he is on a starboard tack.  So they have to go behind Matt. 

Then Dianne crosses the starting line.  A little close to the starting line buoy.  If she touches it, she has to take a 360 degree penalty turn - guess she did not.

 Then Laura speeds by the Committee Boat. 

So now you have seen the start of two good races from the Committee Boat.
We welcome volunteers and will train you.  What is it like to be in the race?  You can find out. Come join us!

Race Results:

First Race

Lasers: Tom Jennings 1^st, Andy Jennings 2^nd, Matt Bartlett 3^rd, Kevin Preuss 4^th, Laura Garrett 5th

International Class on Handicapped basis:  Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 1^st, John Auld/Paul Hass 2^nd.

Overall on Handicapped Basis (not for scoring):  Tom Jennings 1st, Andy Jennings 2nd, Matt Bartlett 3rd, Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 4^th, Kevin Preuss 5th, Laura Garrett  6^th, John Auld/Paul Hass 7^th.

Second Race

Lasers: Tom Jennings 1^st, Andy Jennings 2^nd, Dianne Fisher 3^rd, Laura Garret 4^th, Kevin Preuss 5th^.

International Class on Handicapped basis:  Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 1^st, John Auld/Paul Hass 2^nd.

Overall on Handicapped Basis (not for scoring):  Tom Jennings 1st, Andy Jennings 2nd, Dianne Bartlett 3rd, Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 4^th, Laura Garrett 5th, Kevin Preuss  6^th, Matt Bartlett 7^th, John Auld/Paul Hass 8^th.

The next scheduled race is the "July 4th Trophy Race.  Instead of July 4th (too busy on the lake) it will be  held on July 8th.