September 12-13
Our Development regatta at Cowen Lake went very well. Six Jets joined a fleet of 22 Thistles for their two day regatta. Cowen Lake is a beautiful lake set in the bucolic landscape of southwestern Ohio. Slightly larger then Mohican but with a little steeper topography surrounding the lake so the wind was, if you can believe this, even more variable than Mohican! The Clubhouse and grounds are very inviting, with a remote launch ramp that we shared with the local fisherman. Plenty of parking for cars and trailers and beautiful scenery.
The weather was nearly perfect, 75 deg. low humidity, and winds maybe 3-8 knots Saturday and 3-10 knots Sunday.
In race one everyone was getting use to the wind. Fall frequently has wind in Ohio that is unsettled shall we say. First the jib luffs, then you are in a 30 deg. lift and then not and then it dies, all in about 5 seconds. Boats 20 feet away are in twice as much wind and then not. Big wind appears on the water to the left up wind and then the ripples arrive but no wind? And that is what we got. A Zen approach was pretty mandatory.
Being not unfamiliar with this kind of sailing, Carol and I squeaked out a win. Bryan and Tiffany Parker were just a couple lengths behind and #217 with Dave and Sue Michos were just behind them. Bringing up the rear was the team of Bridget Ireland and Joe Minerd, back in #1147 for the first time since the Irelands added Vince to our Jet family. A little rusty, but not for long as you can see.
By the start of race two the Parkers were appearently mad at us or thought if they just finished 20 minutes ahead of most of the Thistles that they could leave early to see the OSU Buckeyes play USC and not be missed. The rest of us came poking along sometime later.
The Michos’s led around the course for most of race 3 only to find one of the many no air zones just long enough for #1132 to sneak through. Nate Ireland with Nate Owens crewing sailed a very solid race, right at the leaders heels right across the finish. The Parkers, Bridget and Joe, and Brad Koinis with Katie Berman back on board keep it close and up for graps right to the finish.
The wind was holding, so off we went on race 4. Not the Parkers however ( see above). The Jet fleet stayed close together again for this one. Avoiding the bad air from the fleet of Thistles started to be an important part of the game.
That was it for Saturday, in at the ramp the Michos’s had to pack up and head back to Cleveland for a Browns game on Sunday, and everyone else save Carol and I headed for a watering hole with a big screen tv to watch the game. We enjoyed many home made snacks and then a chilie cook-off at the clubhouse with many very kind Thistle folks.
Sunday and the wind was forecast to be lighter and not available until afternoon. Not a leaf stirred at the motel. Never mind, when we got to the club there was a beautiful steady breeze. We managed two more races. Tiffany was a little grumpy after the late loss by OSU and took it out on us, the Parkers were so far ahead at the finish we couldn’t tell them from the distant Thistles.
It is always great to end a regatta on a high note and we did. The wind was building a little and the committee called for a twice around long course. Carol and I worked out a little lead but no one would let go. On the long beat to the finish the fleet just slowly collapsed with Bridget and Joe playing the shifts to perfection and came from 4th to win right at the finish with the rest of the fleet all or nearly overlapped with them on the line for a photo finish. What a blast!
This is a beautiful venue and next year we will have Mike Brock here as our first local Jet owner in his brand new Allen. Nate and Bridget have made many contacts that have expressed interest in the Jet. So we will be back with a bigger turn out next year and hopefully continue to build interest from there.
Thank you to every one that made the trip, and to Cowen Lake Sailing Assoc. for all their hospitality. Carol and I had a wonderful time and look forward to next year.
Marion Zaugg
Pictures (None Yet)
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|
Race |
|||||||||
|
Place |
Sail |
Skipper |
Crew |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
Total |
|
1 |
1132 |
M. Zaugg |
C. Zaugg |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
|
2 |
1135 |
B. Parker |
T. Parker |
2 |
1 |
4 |
DNF |
1 |
3 |
17 |
|
3 |
1147 |
B. Ireland |
J. Minerd |
6 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
21 |
|
4 |
1134 |
N. Ireland |
N. Owens |
4 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
22 |
|
5 |
1157 |
D. Michos |
S. Michos |
3 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
DNS |
DNS |
23 |
|
6 |
1091 |
B. Koinis |
K. Berman |
5 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
33 |
Results Posted 9/17/2009
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