Update on the Fun Regatta......
First off a disclaimer, my memory is kind of blurred. All I saw was my kid, Cooper, sailing and racing a DN! The rest of the weekend was in my view irrelevant! But for those of you who are not Cooper Fans, or he isn't the center of your sailing world, I will try to fill you in on the weekend.
We headed up early Friday to check Burt Lake and then headed over to set up on Elk Friday to find the snow cover had softened under the days sun as expected. A dozen boats were set up that afternoon, the grill fired up and the usual socializing.
Saturday morning started early and the ice was nice and hard. Boats were set up including 3 Skeeters, 1 Renegade, 20 or more DN's and a Cooper's Opti. As the lack of wind and sunshine made it look dubious for much sailing, Cooper negotiate the use of Julie Richards old DN. Soon he had it rigged and asked what to do next. I pointed at the 2 Skeeter sitting in the middle of the lake and said push your boat out to the big boys and wait with them for the wind. He didn't push much as he sailed out to the middle of the lake. He was the sucker wind that got everyone out pushing. Eventually the wind came up and much sailing was done in the softening ice. The usual hard core racers (Grogen, Jones (x2), Niles, Wollam, Richards, Cutting, Gray, and others) set up a course and proceeded to race until the top surface was just too nasty or their pants were two wet. Cooper joined them for one lap to get a taste of racing. Thanks to Dick for the pointers. The late afternoon was spent around the pits and fire, listening to the guitars of Chris Stoppel and Bill Erickson, fine food and great fellowship. A few folks headed home having little faith in the healing power of Elk.
Sunday morning was again an early start with the lake hard as a rock. The slush of the previous day was solid, and a nice cloud cover was helpful in keeping it that way. Dick doled out his form of crack to Cooper in a nice set of insert runners to help him move along a little better. I screwed. The kid was sailing way nicer equipment than his old man has cobbled together. The winds finally started to come up and we were able to get 4 races in. And in case you haven't heard Cooper got a 3rd in the first race finishing right behind Dick and Julie. I think the other 8 skippers were all DNF. I was sitting in the middle of the lake on my boat along side Bob Gray as we cheer on those able to make a go of it. A nice spectator spot in light air!
The second race Cooper got a 10th place, but more importantly I got a 9th. I had to fight hard to beat the kid. And yes I was celebrating as I crossed the line. I am going to savor that moment as I suspect they may be few and far between. I think Dick may of won that one too, but as I said, this weekend was all about Coop.
The third race the wind was starting to pick up nicely and my fat arse was able to pull off a 5th. It is hard sailing a race while trying to monitor your kid as the winds are approaching his max level. Cooper got a 9th, experienced a few hikes, had a some good mark roundings and his first congo line at the leeward mark, complete with port tackers joining the dance.
We called it a day and headed to the pits at the start of the 4th race.
That is when the wind picked up and you good hear Gordon singing in the background "when the gales of November come early". The rain hit, along with sleet and snow.
Every one made quick order of getting all the boats loaded and off the ice, the party stuff packed up and the park cleaned up. All were thoroughly soaked and the award celebration was moved to the Bay View in Acme. Coffee, beer and pizza were the ticket. Dick took the Gold Fleet, Bill Cutting the Silver, Cooper the Junior, and Bobbie Cutting the Opti.
As always a fun event and a great group of people to end the season with.
Looking forward to seeing everyone on the ice next year!
David
ps Here is the link to some photos from the weekend.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58792995@N08/
