39 boats gathered on Cedar Lake, WI for this year’s event. Wednesday
afternoon Melges Performance Sailboats sponsored a mini Zenda University
and Andy Burdick started with a dry-land seminar emphasizing boat
preparation, tuning, boat handling, and course management. An hour
later students hit the water for some short starts and practice racing.
Andy coached from a motor boat and provided go-fast tips to everyone.
Afterwards the participants were awarded Melges belts and enjoyed the
free beer and munchies provided by MCSA.
Day 1
The forecasted 15-25 mph North winds built continually during the first
day of racing. This is a good direction for Cedar which runs
approximately North-South.
The first race started with winds at 12-15 mph. Rick Trester took
advantage of a port end wind shift and jumped out to a commanding early
lead. As the winds increased to 15-20 mph, Rick maintained his position
until the final run of the W3+. After clamping down his vang on the
third downwind leg to ride the strong puffs, he noticed his mast was
heading off in interesting new angles. While he steered to keep his
bent mast functional and upright, he was passed by Byron Beasley. By
the final leg, many boats had capsized, resulting in 11 DNFs for the
race. Byron won the race, followed by Rick, Peter Toumanoff , Debbie
Ziegler, and Ron Curio.
The winds grew heavier in the afternoon with maximum gusts clocked at 25
mph. Racing was abandoned at 3:30 p.m. Tom and Anita Hauske hosted a
wonderful cocktail party and dinner on Echo Point where everyone was
treated to a panoramic view of the lake.
Day 2
Friday morning the wind dropped to 5-12 mph out of the northeast. The
race committee set a W2+ that ran the length of the sailing area. In
this race Cedar started to show its shifts and sailors had to play one
side of the course or the other. The middle was always wrong. The East
shore was favored during the first leg and the West shore on the
second. The last leg was more balanced until the last 1/3 at which
point large gains were made by those that played the East shore.
Bill Best led around the first mark, but was caught downwind by Peter
Toumanoff. Peter led Bill for the remainder of the race that yielded
big shifts and saw boats evenly spread across the lake. C-scow skipper
turned MC Master, Dave Baldus, placed third followed by Jack Kern, and
Bill Biersach.
After lunch, the winds diminished and the fleet alternately sailed and
went ashore during a long postponement. A fresh easterly finally came
through and the race committee started race 3 at 4:30pm. Bob Miller led
for the first half of the W3, but was caught by Terry Mestan who had
successfully port tacked the fleet at the start. Terry sailed the final
run to the win, followed by Bob, Bill Biersach, John Spargo, and Hardy
Will.
The evening social event was a well-attended traditional Wisconsin fish
fry and raffle with proceeds going to the CLYC Sailing School. Bill
Best won a 50% discount on a new North sail and Art Kletti won the grand
prize, a new Quantum sail.
Day 3
Saturday morning brought a light northeast wind that was enough for the
race committee to complete two races back to back. The first race
featured big shifts and occasional lulls that often drastically changed
sailors’ positions. The course was a W3+, and won by Debbie Ziegler,
followed by Byron Beasley, Tim Fredman, Harvey Schaefer, and Art Kletti
using the sail he won in the previous night’s raffle.
The second race was a W2+ under identical conditions. Steve Rotier
superbly played several downwind shifts to win the race. Dave Abbott,
Peter Toumanoff, Bill Biersach, and Walter “Salty” Schwarting finished
second through fifth.
Keeper trophies went to the top five Masters, three Grand Masters, three
Mega Masters and one Old Salt. All five scheduled races were
completed. The final results were:
Masters
- Peter Toumanoff – 2189
- Rick Trester – 2246
- Byron Beasley – 2012
- Debbie Ziegler – 2077 (1st Woman)
- Terry Mestan – 2277
Grand Masters
- Tim Fredman – 2353 (6th overall)
- Bill Biersach – 1904 (7th overall)
- Bill Best – 1930 (9th overall)
Mega Masters
- Harvey Schaefer – 2038 (12th overall)
- Bob Miller – 2384 (13th overall)
- Jack Kern – 2433 (15th overall)
Old Salt
Salty donated a perpetual trophy recognizing a new MCSA classification,
“Old Salt”, for sailors 80+ years. Salty won this trophy, placing 16th
overall.
(click on picture for larger version)
(L to R): Salty Schwarting, Bob Miller, Byron Beasley, Terry Mestan, Peter Toumanoff, Debbie Ziegler,
Bill Best, Tim Fredman, Harvey Schaefer, Bill Biersach, Dave Bedau, Rick Trester.