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Northern Warm-Ups Sunfish Regatta - May 16, 2009
hosted by Wolf Lake Yacht Club, near Jackson, Michigan
The first annual “Northern Warm-Ups ” seminar and regatta was held on May 15-16, 2009 at the Wolf Lake Yacht Club near Jackson, Michigan. Friday afternoon, two-time world sunfish champion and author, Derrick Fries, conducted an advanced sunfish sailing seminar. We all benefited from his classroom instruction and on the water drills with individual sailor critiques. This outstanding workshop was followed by a wonderful spaghetti dinner and a chance to share our thoughts of the day. Heavy rains through the night brought in strong winds on Saturday with west-northwest winds at 18-23 mph with gusts as high as 30mph. The ominous gray skies during the first races opened up too a nice partly-sunny day for the later races, with cool temperatures of only 60 degrees. The winds remained strong and gusty throughout the day. A triangular course was set for the first two races. The last two races combined a triangular course with a windward-leeward final leg. This made for challenging beats to windward followed by a more than thrilling ride downwind. Rich Chapman, Josh Kerst and Dan Norton battled for the top spot in in each race with Rich edging out Josh for the overall regatta championship. Regatta photos, taken by Kathy Ziegler, are available in the WLYC website's photo section: http://www.wolflakeyachtclub.org or go directly to the photo gallery located at http://gallery.me.com/jffenton
-- Race Synopsis -- Race 1 – Wind speed 16 to 18 knots – Its the “Dan Norton & Rich Chapman Show” as they traded places down the reach leg way in front of the fleet and after a close leeward rounding Rich wins by covering Dan followed by Josh Kerst just edging Rob Stephenson followed by Tom Katterheinrich. Race 2 – Puffy conditions wind speed 16 to 18 knots – Dan led wire to wire while Rich and Josh battled on the last beat as a final right shift paid off for Josh as he nipped Rich for 2nd Race 3 – The long course - Wind speed 20 to 22 knots - Rich had an awesome 1st beat and swooped into the mark from a port layline position followed by Josh, Dan and Rob. Jim Towler “muscled” it out on the long course to finish a strong 4th in the race while the other highlight was Matt Heywood surfing down to the finish just in time to edge out John Fenton at the line. Race 4 – Very puffy –Wind speed 22 to 25 knots – Rich and Dan switch to the Jens rig before the start. Josh led at the 1st mark by 20 boat lengths only to see Rich evaporate the margin on the two reach legs. Josh holds off Rich at the line while Rob makes it look easy (for a 115 pound flyweight!) as he edges Dan Norton for third in the final race. |
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Sunfish Fleet – Regatta Results |
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Name |
Sail # |
Club |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
total |
place |
Chapman, Rich |
59541 |
Lake Bluff YC |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
Kerst, Josh |
4909 |
WLYC |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
Dan Norton |
80021 |
Douglas Lake YC |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
10 |
3 |
Stephenson, Rob |
80480 |
WLYC |
4 |
4 |
7 |
3 |
18 |
4 |
Katterhienrich, Tom |
75417 |
St.Marys BC |
5 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
21 |
5 |
Towler, Jim |
46409 |
WLYC |
6 |
6 |
4 |
6 |
22 |
6 |
Heywood, Matt |
79660 |
WLYC |
7 |
8 |
5 |
9 |
29 |
7 |
Fenton, John |
79660 |
WLYC |
8 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
32 |
8 |
Many thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to make this regatta a success. It was a well organized, enjoyable event. The race committee set a great course and kept the races moving and safe on the water. The clubhouse kitchen crew kept everyone well feed with wonderful home cooked meals. And of course, a thank you goes the sailors who traveled great distances, some as far as Illinois, Ohio and those of us who were only a few miles from home. Regatta photos, taken by Kathy Ziegler, are available in the WLYC website's photo section: http://www.wolflakeyachtclub.org |
2009 WLYC Northern Warm-Ups Regatta Sailors (click to enlarge) |
A Special Thanks to all the Volunteers!
Awesome Kitchen Crew
Our Super Race Committee
Thanks to…
