Sailors found relief from their “stay at home” fatigue with a great sunny and windy day out on the lake racing and dealing with what the wind was dishing out. We changed up some of our race logistics to facilitate social distancing on the Committee Boat and it went very well.
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| Sunshine, blue skies and a wind (except maybe at start of 2nd race) |
Thanks to Committee Boat volunteers Beth Auld, Cindy
Bartlett and Bernice Rains, and to Safety Boat volunteers Jim and Mimi Riffle. Thanks also to Matt Bartlett and Dianne Fisher
for setting up a course that was very appropriate for the wind from the north. And of course, thanks to Beth Auld for organizing
the Committee Boat volunteers and Kevin Preuss for organizing the sailors and the
race.
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| Cindy, Bernice and Beth, our Committee Boat volunteers. They are as far apart as they could get while still all being in the "selfie". |
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| Jim and Mimi kept an eye on the fleet - 6 feet apart |
The first race started with a bang when a momentary gale
came through just as racers were crossing the starting line in a congested group. Relax though, faces were always at least 6 feet apart from one boat to another. The strength of the wind toyed
with courses that were otherwise set properly. Steve Willment recovered quickly
from a resulting capsize and a few sailors avoided the general fray, but most
were delayed a bit as they recombobulated.
As usual the first several boats to the first mark somehow enjoyed more
favorable winds for the remainder of the race with plenty of social distance
from the rest of the field. Why
does this happen so often? "The answer my
friend is…." well, you know the rest “boomer”.
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| Jim Voelz relaxes a bit after winning the first race |
Unlike the first race, the start of the second race was
during a lull in the otherwise decent wind which didn’t reappear until about a
third of the way to the first mark. The
2nd mark required a jibe (a turn with the wind coming from aft,
resulting in a swing of the boom from one side to the other, with much more
potential force than with the wind coming from forward). A jibe is always tricky when the wind is
“Grandview irregular”, and Jim Voelz fell victim but recovered quickly. There was a “photo finish” in this race as
Dianne Fisher was gaining on Tom Schroeder who had been leading her by a wider
margin until she wisely tacked earlier than he did on the final approach to the
finish line. Tom managed to stay about a
foot ahead of her at the finish to take 3rd place.Race results are below.
For social distancing purposes we did not have a protest meeting, which
is a big sacrifice. A bunch of smelly
socks and used face masks are awaiting our ritual “sock burning” at the first
protest meeting, whenever that will be.
RACE RESULTS:
First (Trophy) Race:
Laser
Class (and the JY-15 during Covid measures): Jim Voelz 1st, Matt Bartlett 2nd,
Tom Schroeder 3rd, Diane Fisher 4th, Kevin Preuss 5th,
Steve Willment 6th.
International
Class: John Auld/Paul Hass 1st
We are not
scoring the entire fleet on a handicapped basis due to limitations on timing
resulting from Covid measures.
Second Race:
Laser
Class (and the JY-15 during Covid measures): Matt Bartlett 1st, Kevin Preuss 2nd,
Tom Schroeder 3rd, Diane Fisher 4th, Jim Voelz 5th,
Steve Willment 6th.
International
Class: John Auld/Paul Hass 1st
