July 3: Hey, I'm back. Sorry about the delay but I was having some technical difficulties! It has been a good couple of weeks on the racecourse. June 19th was a day of light and shifty breezes. Brad, Scott and Shapoor all posted top finishes with Holly H. and Brad posting their first victories of the season! With the light breezes only two races were sailed. June 26: A total of 22 BOATS raced today!! We welcomed the return of Dave G. after a 3 year layoff. He spent the day knocking off the rust and clearing the cobwebs but sailed respectably. We look forward to seeing a lot more of him on the course this summer! The day started off with a nice breeze and a good sized course was set. Unfortunately, as the afternoon wore on, the breeze faded. Shapoor and Leland went 1-2 in the first race with Fritz, Kattie and Brad rounding out the top 5. The second and third races were sailed in light and lumpy conditions with many sailors complaining about the tough conditions. It's never easy to sail in a washing machine!! The races saw the fleet split at the start with the left side being favored. In the second race Dave M. rounded first but couldn't hold his lead downwind. As the fleet spread out it was Brad and Shapoor in a close finish for first with Rich and Fritz 3-4. The last race was won by Leland as he did a masterful job of keeping his boat moving in the light breeze and sloppy seas. It was great to see so many boats out today! July 3: It was a gorgeous day to be on the lake! After an excellent Brunch on the Bluff (thanks to all who helped organize a great party!) 13 sailors hit the lake in an 8-12 knot SE breeze. (It was good to see Mory and Tony out on the racecourse today!) The winds were up and down all afternoon with some very shifty conditions late, but three good races were completed. The first race was a triangle and the breeze was a steady 8-12. There were very few shifts so boat speed was the deciding factor. Rich lead wire to wire with Fritz and Scott close behind. These two traded places several times in the last two legs with Fritz breaking away from Scott trying to gain some leverage. But it was not to be an Scott came across the line a few boat lengths ahead of Fritz. Race 2 was longer WL with the breeze building. All the sailors seemed to be enjoying the windy, wavy conditions and the first mark rounding was quite close. Fritz, Scott and Dave G. rounded in the top and headed downwind. Unfortunately, they were heading the wrong direction! As they realized their mistake, boats behind gained significantly and by the leeward mark rounding it was a tight race. Fritz and Rich traded tacks all the way up the long windward leg with Scott and Dave in hot pursuit. Fritz was able to maintain his lead as he and Rich headed for home. At the end, Rich was able to squeak out a win at the pin end. It was a close finish! Race three was the strangest of the day with the wind shifting about 20 degrees right. The fleet was very mixed up on the last leg and Holly H. pulled of an impressive 3rd place thanks to Scott's awesome roll tack/capsize and the big righty coming down the lake! All in all it was a great day of good food and good sailing. Check out the standings that have Brad in first with Scott, Fritz and Shapoor close on his heels. Come on out next weekend and race. It's your chance to move up as several of the top sailors will be out of town!
July 24: What a day on the lake!! Winds were WSW and howling at 15-25 kts!! The ride out to the racecourse alone was exciting! Today was a true challenge for all sailors and some, wisely, chose to stay on shore until another day. When in doubt of your abilities, alway err on the side of caution.
Once the racing got under way, a triangle course was called. It was a task just to keep the boat moving forward and several boats ended up in irons while others rode out the huge puffs. Rich and Brad had good speed and finished the race 1-2 with Charlie Jr close behind. The next 3 races saw very minor changes in finishing order. The last race featured a wild second reach with a gust that had to be pushing 30!!!! All of the sailors were tired but it was well worth it for some of the best downwind rides of our lives! Congratulations to Rich, Brad, Charlie Jr., Charlie, Seth, Leland, Larry and Dave on some good sailing in near survival conditions...
See you next week on the water.
August 6- Today was the inaugural John Sheppard, Jr. Memorial Regatta. 18 sailors from the area were treated to a beautiful sunny day that featured a light to moderate SE thermal breeze and 1 foot chop.
Leading the way throughout the day was Shapoor as he showed amazing speed and smart sailing on his way to a convincing victory. Also showing their light air ability was Leland and 14 year old Ben from Arlington Heights. When all was said and done the top five included Shapoor, Leland, Chris, Scott and Fritz. Thanks to Carmen for keeping us fed and watered and to the race committee for keeping the races going.
August 7- This day was almost a carbon copy of yesterday's regatta, except the breeze was 5-8 knots stronger. (Thankfully!). 14 sailors enjoyed outstanding conditions and got off four good races. "Highlights" included several encounters with the windward mark (myself included!) as the current and waves made it difficult to stay on the layline, and Charlie was kind enough to show off his (unintentional) roll tack/dunking! All in all there was some great racing on yet another great day on the water. For those of you living vicariously off of this blog (is anyone out there?), why not come out for some end of summer sailing?
Upcoming events: Labor Day- Commodore's Cup. A one day regatta culminating in the traditional drinking from the silver bowl (aka-Commodore's Cup). September 10-11- Racing clinic with 8 time world champion Eduardo Cordero. September 17-18- Regional Championship at Devil's Lake, MI
There is still plenty of sailing left in the season and all scores start over after Labor Day.
August 21 Well, if you stayed home today, you missed one of the clearest, most beautiful days of the year! The sailors even had the pleasure of seeing a few of the planes from the Chicago Air and Water Show flying overhead.
Winds were from the WNW at 5-15mph with big shifts. A total of 10 boats raced today. Holly, Larry, Doug, Aki, Tony, Cottie, Rich, Scott, Charlie and Bill all enjoyed 4 races with Scott and Rich posting firsts. Charlie had a really great day with 3 seconds and a third. As we approach the end of the summer series, the points race is tight with several sailors within a few points of each other. Throwouts will be the key to seeing who will end up in the top 10! Stay tuned for the last 2 weekends of sailing to see who finishes where!
P.S. Hi, Mom!!
August 28 Another sunny day in Lake Bluff! We have been really fortunate with the good weather this summer and have not missed a single weekend! (I hope I don't jinx the fleet!) The wind today was very fickle and the theme of the day seemed to be "what can we run into"! The fleet left the beach in a fading and shifty WNW breeze. After several course resets the sea breeze finally started to come in. As the first race started the wind was still quite unstable and several boats had trouble clearing the pin end of the line. I was a victim of the shifty winds and strong current and found myself bumping up against the pin and spinning a circle. As the boats approached the windward mark the wind was coming from several directions at the same time. Boats on the right were coming in on a right hand shift and the boats on the left were being victimized by a dying left shift. A large pile up at the mark ensued with a few people touching the mark (me again!!) while Fritz got away to an insurmountable lead. At the end of the race, Frtz crossed the line first with Cottie, Rich and Shapoor battling it out for the next 3 spots. The second race was a 1 1/2 WL as the breeze picked up a bit. The fleet split sides on the first leg and Rich and Shapoor came in from opposite sides to round 1 and 2. With 14 boats on the course and close racing in the middle of the fleet, mark roundings were always interesting and, again, some circles were spun for mark and rules infractions! (I see a theme developing!) As the race wore on the fleet began to spread out with Rich, Fritz and Shapoor taking the top three spots. The battle for fourth and fifth was tight as Cottie and Brad finished within seconds of each other. The final race was the same as the second but, since the breeze was getting lighter, it was a long one! Cottie continued her excellent day with a 3rd, completing a day of all top 5 finishes! Other notables in this race were Scott moving up to fourth and Frtiz tangling with other boats at the windward mark, thus being pushed back to sixth! All in all, at least three people did 720's and seven marks were hit...The theme is complete!
We have one more weekend to go with regular racing on Sunday and the Commodore's Cup on Monday. I hope to see as many of you out there as possible! The standings are still close. Come out and defend your place!! Until next week...
Sept. 5-Commodore's Cup: Well, once again it was a great day to be on Lake Michigan. The breeze was a nice 10-15 from the SW with some really good sized waves. We have had a great summer of sailing and haven't missed a single Sunday of sailing! The summer series has ended with a record 54 races having been sailed! Today's racing included 11 of the regular sailors who sailed 4 races in great conditions. Wee missed those of you who couldn't be there. Please join us next week. The top 5 sailors today were Rich, Fritz, Scott, Brad and Charlie. Next week we are excited to have Eduardo coming in for a racing clinic and the beginning of the fall series. So come on out. September is a great time to sail and all scores are back to zero!
September 10-11. We were very fortunate to have Eduardo Cordero in attendance this weekend for a weekend clinic on boathandling and tactics. 13 sailors arrived early Saturday morning and were treated to a morning long discussion of boathandling techniques. After a leisurely lunch, the sailors departed for the water were many new skills, tricks and techniques were learned. After a debrief on the beach, everyone went home tired and full of new information! An informal get together at Rich's house Saturday night was a chance for us to get to know Eduardo better and pick his brain about all of the things that have made him an 8 time World Champion!
Sunday morning brought very warm weather, a nice breeze and flat water. The morning was, again, spent on the beach with the topic being tactics on all legs of the course. The sailors hit the water after lunch and were coached around the course for about an hour. We then ran a series of practice starts to give everyone a chance to try some newly learned techniques. Everyone seemed to get better as the session progressed! Finally, several races were run on a short windward leeward course. There were many chances for the sailors to utilize their new skills, their rules knowledge and their new boatspeed! The sea breezed filled in around 2:30 and some great races were hotly contested. After hitting the beach and packing up the boats, Eduardo ran one last debriefing session before running off to catch his flight back home. All in all it was a great weekend of learning and sailing. I think all of the participants had a good time and came away with some new ideas that will help them improve!
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