MC Scow 2005 News

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2005 MASTER NATIONALS
Congrats Eric Hood, overall winner!

Report by Eric Hood


Photo by Joy Dunigan

2005 MC Scow Masters Nationals
Augusta Sailing Club - Augusta , Georgia

Picture this!!! You pull into a 16 acre Georgia pine forest in a remote area on a huge beautiful lake. When you pull in and finally make it down the long , winding road to the boat parking area you find a 2’x3’ sign with ASCs logo, your name and sail number that designates your spot for the week. Then because it is an all inclusive regatta all of your food, drinks, massages (yes massages) are all included and there are no cash transactions, no lists. Then if you are worn out from all the socializing and yes worn out from the sailing then you sit in one of their rocking chairs elevated up over the lake looking out at one of the most pretty lakes in the southeastern U.S.. You could also come in and just watch the hundreds of pictures of the days sailing that were taken by Joy Dunigan. Those are just a few of things we had going for us this week.

Next you bring in a team of race committee folks assembled by PRO Jeff Annis that are all sailors (not Masters yet) and you get the best racing you could possibly have. I have raced at hundreds and hundreds of regattas over the years and Jeff ranks as one of the best or the best PRO I have ever seen.

So the setting was perfect. Great racing and great social activities, outstanding food, excellent music, great weather. We had everyday in the 80s or high 70s with light medium winds.

 

"Dear Charlie Harrett, Harry Melges and Andy Burdick,

We gave Eric Hood a special award from Scow Fleet Augusta at this event.

This is because of the above the call of duty hard work he put into building our C and MC fleets here. His positive and enthusiastic attitude has made this happen here.

He has served as a teacher of sailing, racing and sportsmanship at our club. He has added a great deal to the love of sailing that many of us share here at the Augusta Sailing Club.

It should be noted that this would all not be possible without the help and support of Melges Boats, North Sails and the individuals who support Eric professionally and personally.

So, thanks to all MBW and all North Sails and all Eric's friends who help Eric help us. I thank you and we all thank you".

Scow Team Augusta
2005 MC Scow Masters Nationals
 
We want to hear from you! Read more..

The racing was tough. After the first two light medium races it became clear that about 8 of the 38 boats had come out of blocks with speed and consistency. Those included Lenny Krawcheck, Skip Moorhouse, Tim Fredman, Ed Durant, Jim Claffey, Eric Hood and Bob Miller.

Being quick off the line was huge. Several of us had practiced a bunch and all of us kept getting looser and looser with our sidestays in the lighter day 1 winds. The lake is a big open water lake so you could see the wind for sure and it was true to what you were seeing. Those who went out and practiced with intention always faired the best. What was cool in the shifting breezes was how quick PRO Annis and his team could shorten, lengthen and change the courses.

So now race 3 comes along on day two. EHood and Ed Durant went out early , sailed the entire course before the race then went on to finish 1-2 in this race. Krawcheck , Moorhouse, Miller, Fredman and Claffey all had pretty good races but lost some ground point wise.

In my mind I was starting to think boy whoever is going to win this event better get the points today because with just one scheduled race on Sunday this thing could be over after race 4 if the wind does not fill on Sunday morning. With that in mind I started playing different boats to make sure I had the point spreads I wanted. Letting some boats go here and there but getting on others quickly after the start.

At the end of the 4th race most of the sailors who were up front had a bad race. E.Hood had 9 point lead over Tim Fredman , 18 over Skip and 23 over Bob Miller.

Race 5 was probably our toughest race. A nice but unstable light north wind was present for the start. After a short delay Jeff and his team got the race going. I quickly recognized the danger of this race so I elected to stick close to Tim Fredman to protect my 9 point spread. Tim and I both started at the committee boat end , both tacked out to the freshening breeze on the right side of the course. Before you know it the two of us were poked out on the fleet. Some changes occurred on the way to the 1st top mark, I rounded 1st, Tim about 5th and Skip was around 10th. So we sailed around the first 4 legs this way and I am thinking well this is a done deal. Then coming into the last leeward gate. The wind shuts down.. Fredman catches me at the leeward mark. 10 other boats round with us. Needless to say after a couple of weeks of finishing second at some scow regattas by 1 point I was feeling a little lump in my throat. I did round first, the breeze started filling but Tim had managed to split away from me. The group of ten split on me so I did some quick math. Electing to give up a few boats, protect on others, but most importantly stay in the dark water, get to the finish line and win the event. Tim won the race; I finished fourth but was safe to win the event.

Couple of speed tips for the event. These were critical:

• Loose sidestays in light air
• When the puffs hit, ease the mainsheet, steer the boat straight and let the boat accelerate.
• Marking your mainsheet really helps. About every six inches. I usually do not do that and I found it made a huge difference this week because I knew where it was when I was fast.
• Polarized sunglasses makes a huge difference on what you see on the water.
• Get out early and practice. It makes a difference.


Eric Hood on final approach to last leeward gate of race 4  leading for National Champ Willi Lenkeit 1922, Rick Trester 2352 and Tom Harken 1810.
Photo Joy Dunigan


Bob Cole from Keuka, New York sailing his new MC at this year's MC National Championship
Photo Joy Dunigan

 

Congratulations to Salty Schwarting for winning the Mega Master division and Tim Fredman for winning the Grand Masters division. Boy there were so many great moments out there. Check out the race results and you will see how your friends and members of your club did at this great event.

I cannot say enough thanks to the entire team at ASC, Jeff Annis for all of his hospitality to all the guests, Barfly Ed Durant, John Lovin, Brian Slater, Guy Mossman, Dick Mayne and the dozens of others for all of their volunteer work this past week.

Special thanks to the ASC group and Jeff again for the special “Sportsmanship and Class Support Award” they gave me at this event.

The awards ceremony was cool. Everyone received a great prize, everyone.

Special moment of recognition and silence for Nancy Bradley was held. Nancy recently passed away. She always stood faithfully by Curt Bradley who did so much for our class and is for sure one of the reasons we are doing so well today.

If anyone wants to talk about the Masters Nationals, MC Sailing or sailing contacts in the southeast for some great winter sailing please call me in Zenda. I will be back there on this Tuesday.

Photo gallery, click here.

For more information about our MC sails, don't hesitate to contact our MC experts. To order MC sails online, click here.




2005 AUGUSTA HALLOWEEN REGATTA
North 1st on the MC and C Scow!

Report by Eric Hood

Wow, if there ever was a club deserving of U.S. Sailings St. Petersburg Award the Augusta Sailing Club should be right up there at the top of the list.

I have been to somewhere between 400 and 500 regattas in my life and this one never ceases to amaze me. You roll in; they have designated parking spots with signs that have your name on them. They have unloading crews so you do not do any work. Then Augusta being the golf capitol of the world has a few golf cart companies around like EZ-GO, Club Car and others. So the club launches your boats with these oversize custom golf carts plus they transport you around the 16 acre club grounds with the carts. You generally add body weight when coming to Augusta. The food program is the best you will ever see. All three meals everyday are outstanding and unique.

This regatta is a multi-class regatta. It is really cool because you have so many young sailors attending who sail Optimists, Sunfish and Lasers. Four courses accommodate the 125 boat plus fleet. I am happy to report the largest class at this year’s event was the MC Class with 30 boats. Many MC sailors who are staying here all week are warming up for the big Masters Nationals Championship that kicks off with several events on this coming Thursday at ASC.

We also had 7 C Scows all from Augusta sailing. The C Scow class will be turning in a report the class website. Scows have taken root in the southeast and ASC is the heart of it along with Eustis, Atlanta, Charleston, Beaufort and Charlotte. Several smaller fleets are popping up everywhere. It is cool to see.

Dr. Roman Cirburka and his 3 boat team gave us great courses for our four races held in light medium winds. The tropical storm rains from this last Thursday and Friday cleared out just in time for racing.
Check out www.Augustasailingclub.com , look at the history of the club and you can see pics of the lake. Lake Strom Thurmond was created by the Corp when they dammed up a large section of the Savannah River. Check it out on a map. We sail down at the very east end by the damn.

Now onto the racing. We had some great racing. It was exciting because after the first day it looked like E.Hood and Bill Rembold were going to walk away with the regatta without much challenge. Then came the last race where all the guys in 3rd -7th said, wait just a minute – we will take a shot at the title. Lots of lead changes, crashes at the start that took some players out and put them behind the 8-ball. All sorts of stuff going on. It was fun though because everyone involved knew that the way things were going in the on again / off again air of the fourth race that it was anybody’s race.
In the end the event was decided by two boat lengths with Bill Rembold of Charleston winning over E.Hood . Other really good performances came from Tommy Harken 3rd, Mike “Skinny” Risewick 4th, Bob Miller 5th, Lenny Krawcheck 6th, Kurt Stadele 7th, Bob Skorupski 8th, Jeff Annis 9th, Frank Pontious 10th, George Scarborough 11th, Jack Kern 12th, Dick Mayne 13th, Guy Mossman 14th, Bull Schmidt 15th, Rich Jefferies 16th, Ed Durant 17th, Randy Mintken 18th, Mike Neidig 19th, John Lovin 20th, Jeff Meyers 21st, Dennis Fisher 22nd, Stan Stanton 23rd, Chris Hamilton 24th, Robert Cole 24th, Steve Doehler 24th, Mark Marenakos 24th.

Top five actual scores
Bill Rembold 2-2-7-3
EHood 3-3-3-6
Tommy Harken 10-1-4-4
Mike Risewick 14-4-1-1
Bob Miller 1-8-6-7

This regatta was about getting off the line and into the dark water quickly. It is such a big lake that the wind shows on the water so you always know what is coming. Having polarized sunglasses on really helped see the light and subtle wind changes. Shifts were pretty easy to read but doing the first upwind practice beat and first downwind practice run really made a difference for me and I know some others.
Loose, loose, loose was the key to going fast on the sidestay tension.

Race winners were Tommy Harken, Bill Rembold and Mike Risewick.

Great story for Mike Risewick from Clear Lake, Iowa. He got tired of being overweight, got serious, changed the diet, worked with a trainer and lost 80 pounds. It was great to see him so happy and feeling good about himself. Just goes to show you that you can do almost anything if you put your mind to it. He also won two races this week.

Many thanks to Jeff Annis and the entire ASC team. They did a fantastic job once again. Pictures will be posted at the ASC site along with complete official results.

If you have not signed up for the Masters Nationals Championship it is not too late. Hope to see you there.

2005 MC SCOW NATIONAL CHAMPS
Congratulations Vincent Porter!

Report by Eric Hood

Clear Lake Yacht Club - Clear Lake, Iowa

MC Fleet 36 at Clear Lake, Iowa was the site for this year’s National Championship. 74 Teams sailed in this year’s event. The four day event hosted by CLYC will go down in the books as one of the best National Championships ever and certainly in my mind the toughest one yet with regards to the level of competition.

Regatta co-chairs Eric Protzman and Stu Oltrogge put together one incredible team of volunteers that made it possible for the fun times on shore and on the water.

Julie Oltrogge and Margaret Osmundson led the on shore teams. This was a large team and they did a great job with registration, posters, shirts, lunches and a great dinner this past Thursday night.

The Surf Ballroom where music legend Buddy Holly played his last gig was a ton of fun on Friday night. We had our annual National meeting, dinner and great music by the show band Hotel California. It was cool!!!!

Terry Bischoff was our PRO and led the experienced group of CLYC veterans that included Head Judge: Warren Wang, Race committee members Charlie MacNider, John Hanson, John Lundberg, Bud Toepfer, John Toepfer, Rober Bang, Craig Caslavka, Reece Caslavka, Russ Schurtz, Sterling Laaveg and Ann Schurtz. Apologies for anyone I left out in my list above.

Here are just a few of the cool things that we did at Clear Lake.

  • The Surf Ballroom with the show band Hotel California
  • Great storms with good light shows with some serious rain
  • Incredible Clear Lake sailing with all wind velocities
  • Great race courses, great starting lines
  • Excellent food and parties
  • Sailing seminar with Eric and Andy before the event
  • Annual National Class Meeting
  • Excellent competition from top to bottom. Former regatta winners placed in the 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. Everyone at this event was a winner.
  • Very good sportsmanship on the course at this event this year. Really good to see in our group. Only one or two with louder voices now in the group. It sure is fun when everyone sails by the rules and treats the rules with a good Corinthian spirit like this past week.

I could go on and on about all the cool things we all experienced this year at Clear Lake. Kudos to that whole group at CLYC on a super event.

Now onto some racing news!!!!!

Here is a commentary from Andy and then I will share some thoughts.

From Andy - The MC National Championship was a premiere event - plan to attend the 2006 event at Lake Norman, NC.

Driving back from the regatta allowed me time to reflect on "What Was Fast" at the Nationals. In review, I felt that the top boats sailed for speed always rather than pointing ability. Sure, at the start, pointing is important. Especially in a large fleet, you need to keep you lane and stay above the competition. However, once you had clear air you really had to "put the bow down" and go for speed. Vincent Porter was doing this in the breeze and he was fast. As I sailed upwind, trimmed hard, pointing high, I could see the speed edge Porter had in the windy races. I had to adjust my boat to match the speed and in what turned out to be the final race of the regatta I had done this.

This was accomplished by dropping the traveler more, not trimming as hard and then making a concerted effort for my crew and I to hike hard as I "footed" upwind. Even with footing more upwind, our pointing ability was okay because the boat was going so fast upwind. You need speed to point so it all makes sense. In order to put the bow down and foot you need to definitely pull hard on your Cunningham and vang, use a softer sheet and hike. This is the technique that brought new speed to this years National Championship.

I would agree with Andy that the lesson learned about putting the bow down and footing was a huge lesson we learned from Vincent, Andy Burdick and Jamie Kimball. These three top boats did this very well. Especially in the breeze. I remember looking up at Vincent during the event and seeing this huge twisted mainsail exit. That could only be accomplished by what Andy talks about in his commentary. Also, in the light stuff though the top eight boats had an edge on the rest of the fleet. All of the top and look at their scores were sailing fast and bow down in the light stuff. It is easy to over trim when you have a lot of boats around and you feel a need to point. The only way you will point in a MC Scow is with boat speed. It is the number one question we get about sailing the MC. “ I am not pointing with the group”. That is because of over sheeting and slow boat speed. Find a tuning partner, go out and work on this. I think you will see the difference right away.

Other observations were downwind in big breeze. Too many teams were sailing flat, not committed to heeling the boat to windward when sailing down the breeze. Remember when it is windy, sail to the mark or below the mark by sailing a little bit by the lee. The boat is faster, easier to heel and much easier to sail but pay attention to the new breeze coming all the time and watch the wave sets in front of the bow so you do not bury the bow. Vang pressure on is very important here. If you are too light on the vang and your boom is above 90 degrees on its angle from the mast then you are at risk for some instability. Practice with vang pressure and you will see what we are talking about.

All of the race results can be seen at www.mcscow.org but here are some highlights.

Race Winners - Jamie Kimball, Vincent Porter, David Fox, Andy Burdick

NORTH FACTS:

74 boats, 56 powered by North Sails !

1,2,3,5,7,8,9,10 used North Sails!

North wins every race, every division! Overall, Singlehanded, Woman, Master, Grand Master, Mega Master, Junior

Division Winners
Overall – Vincent Porter
Singlehanded – Jeff Annis
Masters – David Ferguson
Grand Masters – Steve Avery
Mega Masters – Charlie Lind
Top Woman – Kelli Farrar
Top Junior – Will Loux.

The top three boats all had top ten finishes... and North Sails!

The top nine boats had 40 points or less during the four race series. Consistency was the key for these top nine boats.

The point spread from top to bottom was 10 points to 286.

22 Fleets were represented at this years National Championship.

Individual race highlights for those outside the top ten – good moments on the race course. You can see how good the competition was at this event.

Place Name Best Race
11th Rob Kimball 9th
12th Randy Kotz 13th
13th Brad Farrar 9th
14th Jeff Annis 2nd
15th Lenny Krawcheck 19th
16th David Fox 1st
17th Peter Toumanoff     10th
18th Noel Neuman 7th
19th Mike Risewick 21st
20th Byron Beasley 10th
21st Kevin Neal 17th
22nd Dan Fink 20th
23rd Kelli Farrar 8th
24th Rick Trester 16th
25th  Zack Clayton 15th
26th Kurt Stadele 9th
27th Mark Marenakos 10th
28th Stu Oltrogge 17th
29th Kelly Reese 13th
30th Scott Tillema 20th


In closing I would say this was one of the best events I have been to in a long, long time. The health of the MC Class is very good. The quality of competitive sailing is at an all-time high. The quality of sportsmanship is at an all-time high. The Clear Lake Yacht Club and its lake are no doubt one the premiere Scow racing venues one could attend.

Tons of great events coming up. Herman at our website has done a great job keeping all of our regatta and class information up to date. Don’t forget to support him and the class by getting your regatta information in early.

New boats are road ready in Zenda right now. Next available hull is 2346. Also, Zenda has two demo boats available for MC sailors at a great savings. Both 2335 (EHood) and 2343 (Andy Burdick) are road ready to go. Call Zenda today. Also, please, please stop by Zenda or Lake Geneva for a tour of the factory. You can see MC Scows in all phases of production. It is pretty cool to witness this.

One last item we need to mention about our MC family. This involves losing MCs on the highway at high speed and how members of our MC family step up to the plate when someone needs help. First, thank God Justin Hood, Jamie Kimball and Bre Hatton were not hurt in this accident. They lost their two boats and double trailer on the Chicago Skyway. Trailer was unusable but the boats only saw minor damage. Dave Bandstra from Spring Lake stepped up to the plate, dropped what he was doing, grabbed another double trailer, drove 3 hours, then helped unload two MCs from a wrecked trailer on a very busy I-90 Chicago Skyway then took the wrecked trailer back home another three hours. All so his good friends could still sail in the National Championship they had so looked forward too. Nice job Dave!!!!!!! Stuff like this is the backbone of our MC family.

See you all down the road somewhere. Big choice of events to attend, lots of good club sailing ahead this summer.

One last special thanks to my crew Elle Schurtz for doing a great job this past week at Clear Lake.

For more information about these winning sails-pure power, don't hesitate to contact our MC experts. To order MC sails online, click here.

 

 

2005 Orland Webb MC Regatta

Report by Eric Hood

Big storms and big winds for the little lake just outside Kansas City we all know as Lake Lotawana. 45 teams blew off the gloom and doom reports from the "Weather Channel" and made it out to this Scow stronghold just southeast of Kansas City , Missouri. We were probably looking at 60 boats before the bad weather reports came in.

A new twist for this years event was having the C Scow group step forward to help run the event so some of the ladies could start sailing more in this classic event. In years past Paula Martin and several other ladies who sail MCs now ran this big event. Jon Martin along with his team of C Scow sailors stepped up as PRO and gave us some great races.

The Missouri Yacht Club lived up to it's reputation for outstanding social activities all three days with the usual great food. Regatta Chairman Terry Haug acknowledged the very large team of volunteers at the awards ceremony. It was good to see another fleet stepping in to help run the event. Most successful clubs around the country have this kind of setup. For those of you who have not been to MYC at Lake Lotawana they on a regular basis get 25-30 MCs and 25-30 C Scows just for club races.

Now to the racing . Day 1 and Day 2 had very similar wind velocities - "Blowing The Dogs Off The Chains". The fun thing about Lotawana though is that it sits down in a valley with very high hills surrounding the lake. So you can find places to hide from the wind but if you want to compete and win you have to leave those little safe harbors.

This series was all about boat handling. Tactics were important but if you could not handle the quick velocity changes and quick directional changes then you quickly found yourself at the back of the pack or swimming. You for sure could not deal with tactics if you were struggling with our boat handling skills.

Even though it was windy we had no wave action on this long skinny lake. That always makes it fun when the puffs hit.

Here are some thoughts about downwind sailing. When going downwind the boat really responds and accelerates quickly to puffs and your trim changes. One big mistake most teams were making at this event was sailing without enough vang on in the big breeze. Not only is it slower but makes the boat much harder to control. Try pulling the vang on harder when the big puffs hit. Also another area to avoid is sailing the boat to flat in the big breeze downwind. It is actually much easier, faster , safer to heel the boat to windward. The puffs were so big , the boats were going so fast that I could sense a lot of teams thought they were gaining control by sailing the boat flat. You actually lose control and create more helm by sailing the boat dead flat in a big breeze downwind. So work on those two things and I think you will see how much quicker and safer it is sailing a MC Scow in a big breeze downwind.

Some thoughts on upwind sailing. This was a traveler down a bunch regatta. The puffs would go from 10-20 just like that, the angles would change quickly. I found the only way to control the boat was to give a little up in the lulls so that I could go fast in the big shots . It also allowed me to keep the boat upright for the whole weekend. This was a lots of mainsheet in and out weekend. My arm is still sore today. I just was sticking up for all the small people 170 or less and those over 48 years of age so I was trying very hard. Seriously though, it was some hard work. When you get in top end wind conditions just keep it simple. Do these things for upwind and you will have a much easier time. Max outhaul, max Cunningham, traveler down at least 1' from center and keep your boom vang skipper control lines balanced. Having vang lines balanced from tack to tack is critical to both fast and safe sailing. I pulled max vang on going upwind but had to ease quite a bit to get under the boom in the tacks. I would pull the vang on first in the new tack so I could quickly get the boat on her lines and put the bow down for speed. Then the board came up. To many teams pull their boards up first then put the vang on. You easily lose 5-15 seconds a tack doing this. Multiply that by say 30 tacks per race and you can see the time difference just on boat handling issues.

We had some great duals on the race course but consistency in big fleets is what wins regattas when the numbers are up. Local favorites Big Scott Tillema and Bob Cantrell led the group around the first day when we only had one race but both had trouble starting and staying up front on Day 2 . Mark Long from Lake Winnebago was swimming the first day but had a great second day. Crowd favorite Austin Chamberlin went swimming four times on Saturdays first race but still managed to finish 26th then came back with a bullett on Sunday morning. Scott Cameron in his new MC had a great regatta with his wife finishing third. Big Justin Adams from Tulsa Windycrest and fresh off his Arlington win sailed very well and ended up finishing in the top 5. Pam Cantrell could be tough at the Nationals against the two Kellys and other ladies going. Pam finished fourth overall and was also the top Master. Story of the day though was the famous old plain pewter trophy that nobody wants for 2nd place once again has landed in Arlington , Texas. It was stuck for a while in Zenda but we fortunately sent her home back to Texas. All weekend long Drew and I went at it saying I will finish 1st or 3rd through 45th but please Lord don't let me go home with that awful second place bowl. We had some fun on the race course. Drew sailed great with a 4-4-4 and I ended up with a 6-3-2 to win by one point.

Up next the National Championship at Clear Lake , Iowa. Eric Protzman, Stu Oltrogge, Mark Tesar and Team Clear Lake have some big plans for us. We broke the record here in 2000 with a 111 boats. We could do it again this year. Check out www.mcscow.org for full details.

Also, for full results on the 2005 Orlando Webb Memorial Regatta check out www.mcscow.org

See you in Iowa!

For information on North Scow sails, contact the North Scow experts.

2005 MC Scow Spring Shakedown

Report by Eric Hood

2005 Grand Rapids MC Scow Spring Shakedown Results

1. Bob Currier
2. Mark Weaver - 1st Master
3. Cam McNeil
4. John Knape - 2nd Master
5. Jamie Kimball
6. Brien Fox
7. Andy Molesta
8. Eric Hood
9. Bob Heathcote
10. Jeff Minore
11. Ted Keller
12. Dan Chappel
13. Rob Kimball
14. David Fox
15. John Kimball
16. Curt Bradley - 1st Ancient Mariner
17. Danielle Ralston - 1st Woman
18. Dave Bedau
19. Ken Bansdtra
20. John Hans
21. Jamie Welch
22. Stephen Streeting
23. Mary Vorel
24. John McNeil
25. Rich Bourne
26. Charles Yole
27. Al Vorel
28. Andrew Balog
29. Jamie Clark

Thank you volunteers - Jeff & Jane Minore, Kate & Curt Miller, Karel and Al Vorel, Brian Wrase, Chuck and Betty Harrett!

 

 

2005 MC Scow Rebel Rouser

Report by Jeff Annis

Executive Summary Rebel Rouser 2005:

1. Blew hard!
2. Great Food!
3. Big Waves!
4. Snowed Sunday!
5. Had fun!

Lake Lanier Sailing Club and MC Fleet 3 hosted the Rebel Rouser in the usual fine fashion. Jeff Meyers, Kurt Stadele, Frank Vandall, Bob Skorupski and all the fleet members did a wonderful job of hosting our 17 MC's this weekend.

The food program was excellent and convenient. The usual race committee was in place and did an honorable job of watching the wind. You could tell they wanted to race but they also respected the class rule about not racing with over 20 steady.

When the first race started after an hour delay it was 18 mph steady. The wind had been 18to 25 knots earlier. Some new categories for finishes were discovered such as: DNGO (did not go out), DNPI (did not put in), ICSP (in clubhouse smartest person), WOCI (went out came in), WLARBNS (watching Lance Armstrong Race Bikes No Sailing) . 7 boats were in these categories. There were 9 that went out and started the race.

Most boats made it to the first buoy of the windward-leeward twice around course. The first run was a problem as two boats made it to the bottom buoy (Cyrul-Annis). Then Cyrul ditched on the second run and Patrick Harmon passed him. Patrick was smart and turned over on the first run, setting him up to take advantage of the "late-flipping" Chris Cyrul who flipped on the second run. Obviously most folks who tried to race either flipped, swamped or both. It was one of those races that will be talked about for a while by the sailors.

Sunday morning brought snow! On McEver Road into the club many drove through snow drifts. It was cold and even more windy on Sunday than on Saturday. After an hour delay and with no letting up in sight, the regatta was terminated. So, we had lunch, got some trophies and we were all home by 2 pm.

All in all a very nice event. Good Job.

1. Jeff Annis #1860 (Augusta Sailing Club)
2. Patrick Harmon #2316 (Lake Eustis Sailing Club)
3. Chris Cyrul #1341 (Privateer Sailing Club)
4. 13 folks tie:
Mark Munson #1647
David Varnell #840
Jeremy Pape #1840
Frank Vandall #1568
Jeff Meyers #2099
Leonard Wittman #1221
Kurt Stadele #2067
Willi Lenkeit #1922
Bob Skorupski #1958
Jerry Lane #1541
Gene Lane #1669
Walt Jenison #1212
Barry Klein #1699

Two regattas will take place this coming weekend of April 30 and May 1.

Keowee Sailing Club Open at Seneca South Carolina. Keoweesailingclub.com for info. The Charleston crowd is on big for this one. We have a good fleet there who does a great job hosting.

Atlanta Yacht Club Open at Ackworth, Georgia (exit 120 on I-75 just north of Atlanta). Go to Atlantayachtclub.org for info. The Chattanooga crowd and a boat or two from Atlanta will go there. There is one MC there and they want to show that crowd of Thistle and Snipe sailors there the fun we have.

INTERVIEW
Lenny Krawcheck, Charleston Easter Regatta winner

Report by Eric Hood


Photo courtesy of JOY Advertising | joysavannah.com

Lenny, again congratulations from everyone at Melges Performance Sailboats and North Sails One Design. It is great to have you in the class. You are always one of the toughest and most focused competitors on the course.

Congratulations on your recent Victory at the 2005 Charleston Easter Championship. You had a tough crowd there. Tell us a little about the races, the conditions and especially the last race where you sealed the victory.

Lenny - The Easter Regatta attracts a tough crowd. This year we had Hood, Harken, Annis, Usher, Durant, Kimball, Scarborough, Mossman and several other really fast sailors. All three races were sailed on an ebb tide in a moderate east wind. We got in one race on Friday before the rain set in , and two on Saturday before the wind died. The course for all three races was in the same location, to the south of an island known as Castle Pinckney. On an ebb tide, the current runs generally north to south and then bends around Castle Pinckney and runs west to east. Often in these conditions you want to start the race on starboard at the pin with the tide on your lee bow. As the current starts to run west to east, port tack puts the full force of the tide right on your transom. This usually works and it worked for me in the first race as I was third at the weather mark behind Kimball and Usher. They started in the middle, tacked up the middle right and picked up a nice veer on the last part of the leg. This is how it often happens in Charleston harbor, the tide favors a certain strategy but still upwind wind shifts are most important.

Downwind it can be different playing the tide is more important than playing the shifts. Kimball, Usher, and I rounded the weather mark together. On the first part of the run, the current is almost directly against you until about half way down, you come out from under the effect of Castle Pinckney and the tide pushes you down to the leeward mark. Kimball jibed over to port on a shift about one-third of the way down the leg; Usher and I held starboard tack right on out to where the current comes more from the side and jibed, which gave us a better angle to the mark and more help from the tide. All of the races followed this pattern, if you got to the right upwind you needed a good shift to make out, and, if you jibed early on the run, it was costly. After the first race, the pin end of the starting line got crowded, and so did the left side going upwind. But downwind, the shifts proved irresistible to most and all of these boats missed a good boost on the last part of the run. Luckily for me, in the last race after a poor start and rounding the weather mark in eighth or ninth, I was able to stay on starboard tack downwind, ignored the shifts and rounded the leeward mark first and hold on to the finish.

Besides being a force to contend with in our MC Class you have won major championships in several other classes. For our readers and friends tell us about a few of the more significant victories. Victories that really meant something to you and why.

Lenny - The first time I won the YFlyer National Championship, it was very special because Townie sailed with me, and it was the first time. The second time it was special because it was in Charleston where I have lived and sailed all of my life. I am also very proud of winning the Deep South Lightning regatta twice and some top five finishes in the Lightning North Americans.

It seems like everyone in your family sails. Towne your wife, your sons Kenny, Lenny, your daughter Sally. Any others? Tell us about their involvement with sailing over the years.

Lenny - Townie and I met at the Mt. Pleasant Regatta when I was in College. She has sailed with me for all these years, although she has pretty much retired from the Lightning. She crews for me on the MC when it blows, and she really enjoys it. Kenny and Johnny are both fine sailors. Kenny races Sunfish and Lasers and Johnny sails an MC. Sallie and Elizabeth loved sailing as teenagers but now families and careers take all of their time. My father and brother were very active sailors and taught me to sail at a young age.

You have seen and experienced many classes over the years. What attracted you to the MC Scow Class? What are some of the highlights you have discovered since joining the class?

Lenny - Greg Fisher got me interested in the class. We were at the Lightning Southern Circuit in Florida six or seven years ago, and Greg told me that he was sailing an MC Scow and he thought I would enjoy the boat, the class, and the people in the class. He arranged to bring an MC to Atlanta for me to sail at the Rebel Rouser. I loved racing the boat in that first regatta. Coincidentally, when I returned to Charleston from the Southern Circuit, I learned that Tommy Harken had bought an MC and was promoting the boat in Charleston. Tommy is a great sailor and a very nice guy and he had much success in getting the class started in this area. It wasn’t long before Jeff Annis and Ed Durant started a fleet in Augusta and with your visits, seminars and Melges’ help, the class was established in the Southeast. What started out as fun has only gotten better. MC sailors have a good time on and off the water. It’s like being in a fraternity.

Lenny, again congratulations from everyone at Melges Performance Sailboats and North Sails One Design. It is great to have you in the class. You are always one of the toughest and most focused competitors on the course.

 

2005 BLACK TIE CHAMPIONSHIP
Dallas Breeze Kicks Up Some Exciting Racing

Report by Andy Burdick



The final day arrived for the Black Tie Championship. There has been a range of conditions for this event. No wind on Friday, great breeze Saturday for two races and a forecast of great breeze for Sunday.

Two races were sailed in the MC and C classes on Sunday. In the C fleet there was some very tight racing with the edge going to boats that had two people in the first heat and then three people in the second heat. The fresh breezed kicked up for race two however, race one tricked many as they feared the breeze would increase during the race. It never happened.

Sam Rogers, Frank Davenport Jr. and Michael Lynch had a battle up the last beat only to see Davenport sneak ahead in the last hundred yards but then miss an opportunity to win. Rogers and Lynch crossed the line overlapped with Davenport within a length. Sam Rogers edged out the victory and put himself even with Lance Avery for the opportunity to win the C Black Tie.
The final heat saw Lance Avery pull away from Rogers who chose to sail with two people. The breeze kicked up and Avery put it into overdrive. This race was dominated by Steve Avery, Lance's father. Steve won race four, the final race of the Black Tie. This moved Steve up to 5th overall. Lance finished fourth in the final race and won the championship. Peter Keck and crew Jim Petersen had a great race and finished second. This moved them into second for the overall championship.

C Results - Top 8
1. Lance Avery
2. Peter Keck and Jim Petersen
3. Eddie Robison
4. Sam Rogers
5. Steve Avery
6. Pat Lynch
7. Michael Lynch
8. Fletch Avery

North Sails Won Every Race of the Regatta!


Race Winners: Lance Avery, Sam Rogers x 2, Steve Avery

The MC fleet had exciting racing as well. Doug Kern led both races at one point or another sailing very fast. Andy Burdick ended up winning both races on this day firming up his MC class win. Doug Kern not only was fighting off Burdick but trying to fight off Scott Slocum too who was trying to steal 2nd place from him. Slocum sailed well and got by Doug on the last run and ended up second overall. Heck, after playing the drums all night for us in the Black Tie Band he deserved to be second at the very least. Great sailing as always from Scott but even better rock and roll on Saturday night at the Black Tie Dinner - AWESOME!

Top 5 in the MC Class
First Overall: Andy Burdick
Top Master: John Bates
Top Grand Master: Dr. Jack Kern
Top Mega Master: Charlie Lind
Top Woman: Kelly Farrar

North Sails Won EVERY RACE of the Regatta!


What was fast in the MC at the Black Tie Regatta - Winds 10-22mph
1. In the breeze dropping the traveler 6" or even more in the big blasts allowed the boat to jump over waves rather than crash into them. Mild vang and heavy cunningham in conjunction of the tracks going down was a must.

2. Raise your boards - upwind putting your boards up 2-4" above the board box/deck edge was a must. After doing this we found excellent speed and great pointing upwind.

3. Heavy vang downwind. You know you have to ease the vang before your turn down at the weather mark but when you get around the offset and you are headed on your run you need to crank your vang back on hard so that the boat is stable. This allows you to sail low / by the lee or if you need to head up around waves you will have better control and speed during this manuever with heavy vang on. 75% of the Black Tie MC fleet did not have enough vang on downwind. If the boat was rockin' and rollin" and you had to stand up in the boat to settle it down you could simply pull more vang on and it would stabilize your program.

4. Skipper and Crew weight: Keeping your weight together going upwind (sitting right next to one another ) is fast in the big wind, big wave condition. Slide your crew back as far as you can upwind and have the crew hike hard angling aft so that you allow the bow of the boat to jump up going uphill.

5. Solo: To sail fast in these conditions alone you had to go to the extremes of raising your board, dropping your traveler all the way down! Hang on and hike hard!

Dallas, 2006, be there! The Black Tie Championship is a great event and the band rocks!
For information on North Scow sails, contact the North Scow experts.

2005 MC SCOW MIDWINTERS
Lake Eustis Sailing Club - Florida

Report by Andy Burdick

Kelly Reese Kelly Reese used North on 4 of 6 races and winning the regatta on the last race with her ZMax

FINAL RESULTS

Kelly Reese won the 76 boat MC Midwinter Championship this past weekend in Lake Eusits Florida. Kelly won 2 of the 6 races in the event. North Sails powered her to the victory in 4 of the 6 races. Congratulations Kelly!

Here are the final North Sail stats:

1st Overall: Kelly Reese*
1st Woman: Kelly Reese*
1st Master: Lee Sayler*
1st Grand Master: Dick Tillman
1st Mega Master: Charlie Lind

NORTH FACT: 54 out of 76 boats used North Sails!

*partial North inventory

DAY 2

David Harrison Wins Race 3 In Style With An Over A Minute Victory

After a lot of shifts in the wind and variation in velocity race 3 finally got underway. John Hearn from Chattanooga, TN. led the first half of the race while David Harrison and Smiley Freytag chased him. In the end, Harrison won the race with a minute plus win.

Here are the race 3 results.

1. David Harrison, Oshkosh, WI.
2. John Hearn
3. Smiles Freytag
4. Jeff Surles
5. Glen Dickson Sailing World Magazine
6. Dick Tillman
7. Skip Moorehouse
8. Scott Slocum
9. Richard Grayson
10. Brad Farrar
11. Ed Durant
12. Zak Clayton
13. Rick Trester
14. Eric Hood
15. Kelly Reese


DAY 1

MC MIDWINTER CHAMPIONSHIP KICKS OFF

The Lake Eustis Sailing Club in central Florida pushed off the 76 boat MC fleet on from the docks. After a few hour delay the fleet was welcomed with 6-8 mph winds and a light drizzle. While it was cool the competition was hot for the first race of this famous championship.

After two general recalls and shifting winds to the right the fleet finally got off the line and the MC Midwinter Championship was underway! The port end of the line was favored. Lenny Krawcheck from Charleston had the start of the fleet. However, the boats in the middle of the line took advantage of the port shift and many dug into the right side of the race course. Kelly Reese sailing her brand new Melges MC was out of the box fast. She sailed a perfect windward leg and led by 75 yards at the top mark. Lenny Krawcheck, David Harrison from Oshkosh and Eric Hood from Zenda, Wisconsin were close behind.

Downwind was difficult today because of the shifty dying breeze. The boats that sailed hotter angles downwind benefited. This meant trimming your mainsail in, heeling the boat up more and reaching or sailing hotter angles. Ed Durant, Kelly Reese and David Harrison did a great job of this and they stretched out on the first run. Over half way up the second windward leg there were exciting velocity changes and shifts. Ed Durant tacked off of Reese's transom and sailed just 75 yards left of her. Durant tacked back to port with a new angle and new found pressure allowing him to sneak around Reese and round the mark with a 25 yard lead. Reese, David Moring from Lake Eustis, Florida, Mark Marenakos from Charleston, Sjoerd-Jan Vanderhorst from Ohio all sailed great upwind legs to round in the hunt too.

In the end Ed Durant from August, Georgia held off Kelly Reese to win the first race of the championship. Durant crossed the line with arms up in the air in excitement of his victory. " I kept thinking of how I could race the boat to its maximum speed downwind and fend off the other boats". Durant won the race downwind with his technique. Kelly Reese sailed an excellent race to get 2nd. Marenakos came back in the race to place 3rd and David Moring from Eustis was 4th, David Harrison sailed well to finish 5th.

Sailing World Magazine is at the Regatta. Glen Dickson from New York is racing in a brand new Melges MC that the guys from Zenda brought down for him to use. Glen is doing a feature article on the famous MC Midwinter Championship and the popular Zenda University MC Racing Course. Glen sailed well in race one. Glen is a very good sailor and will get even faster as the wind builds.

Here is the top 15 after day one. Remember 76 boats in total. An excellent MC Midwinter Fleet.

1. Ed Durant - Top Master Division too.
2. Kelly Reese - Long Lake, IL.
3. Mark Marenakos - Charleston, SC.
4. David Moring - Eustis, FL.
5. David Harrison - Oshkosh, WI.
6. Jeff Surles - Oconomowoc, WI
7. Scott Slocum - Dallas, TX.
8. Lenny Krawcheck - Charleston, SC. - Top Grand Master Division
9. Sjoerd-Jan - Vanderhorst Ohio
10. Skip Moorehouse - New Jersey
11. Charlie Lind - Dallas, TX. - Top Mega Master Division
12. Dick Tillman - Florida
13. Eric Hood -Zenda, WIi.
14. Rick Trester - Cedar Lake, WI.
15. Guy Mossman - Charleston, WI.

2005 GEORGE WASHINGTON REGATTA
Jeff Annis Wins 1st MC Regatta Of the Year

Report by Eric Hood

Lake Eustis Sailing Club hosted about 50 boats for their Annual GWB Regatta. 24 MC's registered. The temp was about 50 in the morning and about 70 to 78 in the heat of the day, which is very comfortable for sailing down there.

It was definately a strange regatta in many respects. The conditions were more like Spring Lake, Michigan than Lake Eustis, Florida. All races were windward leward courses, with the start and finish line in the bottom quarter of the windward leg.

The first day of racing saw wind from 1 to 14, so it was either under the boom or sprawled out hiking hard. Each race had some of each. It was very shifty as well. The wind switched in the 40 degree range during the racing.

Most sailors had a good race and a bad race on Saturday, except George Scarborough, who had 1,4,4 for finishes on Saturday. Mossman (10,2,5) and Annis (4,11,2) were tied for 2nd after the first day with 17 points. Krawcheck was in 4th with 18 points (3,5,10). Marenakos (2,15,3) and Moorhouse (7,1,13) were tied with 20 points after day one. Tommy Harken had a 4,dnf (what?) , 1 for the first day. Needless to say, scoring was wild.

Day two brought a first race with plenty of wind in the 10 to 14 range and Jeff Annis took the lead on the first leg and won. A group of 5 boats was competing for 2nd and Tommy Harken pulled away to take second, even though he did a 720 degree turn due to a mark rounding incident at the weather mark.

Going into the last race it was very tight. With wind going up and down and pretty shifty conditions we all knew that anything could happen in the last race and it did. The wind in the last race was from 7 to 11. As the last race developed, Marenakos and Mossman were in a race for first, with Mossman leading most of the time. Chris Cyrul, Tommy Harken, Jeff Annis, George Scarborough, Lenny Krawcheck, sailed right behind them almost in the race. It was tight going all the way to the end.

The weather in Eustis was beautiful and the meal program was better than ever. The oyster troff and our new best BBQ folks, T-Bonz were wonderful as usual. The club kept up the reputation as they provided beer and water throughout the weekend.

We are looking forward to seeing 70 to 90 MC's in just a few weeks. The grounds and the club are in prime condition for our best event of the spring. They are ready for a big event.

For Complete race results race to www.mcscow.org
For information on North MC Scow sails, contact the North MC Scow experts. To order the fastest MC North sails, click here.

 

 

For more information on MC Scow sails, contact the North MC Scow experts.

 

 

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