Daily Recap's from Petey Crawford
Day 1
There’s an idiom that comes to mind after a day like this. Actually, there’s quite a few but for the purpose of this article I’m going to go with “(One) could go on all day about (something)”. I’m going to do my best to NOT go on all day about it though as we were on the water long enough, we don’t need to read about it too!
Day 1 – NCESA National Championship
We started the day with a brisk NNE breeze that seemed poised to give us a full day of epic conditions for 3 scheduled races after a 11:00 am warning gun. Unfortunately, it was accompanied by a lot of weather systems rolling through the area, which led to an onshore postponement. Looking at the radar, it seemed like it was going to be awhile, but the window opened up a bit and the fleet hit the water. The RC set up and we were looking good for a start around noon. Oh, remember the weather I mentioned, yeah, that made this whole “yacht racing” thing a bit difficult as cell after cell passed just close enough to give us 30-40-degree wind shifts, followed by more acceptable 10-degree shifts. The RC would scramble, reset the line only to have it all fall apart again.
Multiple postponements and general recalls later we finally got our first start off at about 3:00 pm. Wind speeds ranging from 12-18 along with the aforementioned shifts created extremely tricky conditions for the 70-boat fleet. Locals at every event always say “I swear It’s not normally like this here” so much that it is rarely believed, but I can say with 100 percent certainty, today this was true. It was weird out there. The boats that did the best today not only needed to start well and sail fast they had to have extreme patience as Lake Minnetonka was at its trickiest.
Race 1 was all Black Pearls and Blind Squirrels with Rob Terry and John Brown taking the top 2 spots. Local boys Rob Evans and Derek Packard finished 3rd and 5th with the Top Woman Skipper on the day Emily Haugerud taking the 4 spot.
Race 1 full results here
The RC attempted to get us straight into another race, but just like before, the breeze didn’t get the memo and made it difficult to get us going in a timely fashion. Once we were off again, the wind was now fading, adding the big velocity changes to the tricky conditions. Race 2 was won by Kevin Jewett returning to his childhood waters followed by another local Peter Slocum. The top 5 was rounded out by Vincent Porter, John Brown and Jamie Kimball.
Race 2 full results here
After about 7 hours on the water in the cold weather and sporadic rain showers, the fleet was definitely ready to numb the pain at the cocktail party hosted by Tom Nicol at his Cottagewood home. Unfortunately, we shredded a spinnaker (I’m repairing it as soon as I click send here) and I was unable to hit the bar to chat it up and get some interviews and quotes for this article. I promise to get some of that content tomorrow!
For now, take a look at some of the action as seen through the lens of photographer Tammy Sawyer.
"link here"
Tomorrows forecast looks far more forgiving with a North breeze in the 12-15 range but as soon as this posts, I’m certain that will change as well. “I swear it’s not normally like this here!”
Petey Out
Day 2
What looked like a more forgiving day was anything but. In fact, it was pretty much Groundhogs Day but without the rain. Have I mentioned that a Northerly breeze is my least favorite direction on Minnetonka? Well, consider it mentioned.
We all sailed out under sunny skies and a good, 10-12kts. Race one got off on time with no drama. We were off to a good start, no pun intended. The local fleet did well in race 3 but still couldn’t take the W. Vincent Porter (!-2) and his team got the top spot followed closely by Tim Krech (M-20), Erik Bowers (M-11) , Jeff Solum (M-12) and Patrick Heaney (H-13) rounding out the top 5.
Race 3 Results here
Then it became Groundhogs Day. The wildly oscillating breeze that plagued day 1 came into full effect. The RC struggled to get a proper line set and we sailed back and forth for quite a while, I lost track, but I think it was about an hour and a half later till we finally got going again. Well, at least it wasn’t raining.
Race 4 was again pretty tough sailing, big shifts and big holes in the breeze. It was one of those races where you HAD to tack on the shifts (there was a lot of them) but you also HAD to get to an edge of the course, especially near the top of the track. It was easy to lose sight of the plan and get caught up in the shifts while missing the part where you had to get to the next puff, shift or not, which sometimes meant eating a huge knock for minutes and seeing a pack on the other side of the course wound up and rolling. Then, all of the sudden, the auto tack came, and the team was fully hiked and pointing to the moon. If you had the self-control to not look back at the other side of the course, you probably did well. Robby Wilkins (SC-55) mastered the conditions and won the race with Jacob Zils (M-77) who had a good day going getting 2nd with the 3-5th place going to Hugh Sugar (H-9), Kevin Jewett (SC-7), and another guy having a great day in these conditions, Erik Bowers (M-11).
Race 4 results here
Groundhogs Day part 2 then took full effect and we were all given the opportunity to enjoy Lake Minnetonka at its finest. I’m not sure if this was planned or not but it couldn’t have been a better day to sail around and take in the sights. Some went to the beach on Big Island to grab a picnic and some sun, some went to Lighthouse Island to relax and some just sailed in and out of the huge spectator fleet and said hi to long lost friends. What a day to be alive.
Race 5 finally started and it was perhaps the most enjoyable of the day. The breeze picked up a bit giving us all some fun rides off the breeze and somewhat “consistent” direction. Luckily, we got this one in and off the lake early enough for most everyone to get home and showered for the party at the club. I’m sure fun was had by all but to protect the innocent I will not name names or get into any alcohol-soaked details. It was good to see everyone enjoying themselves like we do at sailing events, after all, this is a HUGE part of why we do this silly sport. The friends and families we have grown up with all-in-one place having a ball.
Oh yeah, Race 5 results here
Oner thing I was looking at this morning was the distance sailed on the day. We logged (as did many) about 70,000 meters after we left the dock. On average were going to say we raced about 19,000 of those. That’s about 50k meters (31 miles) of reaching around. That’s a lot of non-race miles, not sure that ideal but it is what it is. I hope we get a better ratio today!
Final results after 5 races here
Day 3 conditions a little lighter, hopefully more favorable consistency wise, fingers crossed anyway.
Petey Out
*Editors note - Day 3 No Racing
