GREEN BAY'S 50th ANNIVERSARY REGATTA

Green Bay Sailing Club, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Fleet 112, June 14-15, 1997

A total of 18 boats converged on Green Bay, WI, June 14-15 to participate in the 1997 Evans Regatta. Marking the 50th anniversary of Fleet 112, we were ready for a great time and the turnout was fantastic. Two boats from Thunder Bay, Ontario, made the trip to Titletown as well as a strong showing from Sheboygan and Chicago. Terry Phelan, GBSC President, was pleased by the number of boats for this yearıs regatta. ³The last couple of years we have had only about 10-12 boats. This yearıs numbers illustrate not only the renewed interest of our club but also the strength of the Midwest district.² With the word out that Green Bay was the place to be, the weather gods smiled upon our corner of the world and delivered outstanding weather for five races and a festive gala.

Saturday morning was cool with a 15-18 mph breeze from the NE, creating a small chop of one foot offshore. The first race was scheduled for 11 am at which time the temperature had risen to the low 70ıs under clear skies with a wind of 14 mph. The race committee, led by Tom Phelan and Jane Stannard, picked a four-legged windward-leeward course for the first race which was also held for the next two. The first race was led by our own Brian ³Grahaddock² Grahovac sailing Flounder to the first mark. The down wind leg however proved to be a little troublesome for Flounder. Having been passed by a number of boats and then missing the gate and having to complete a 1440 because of rule violations, Flounder was out of contention. Gaining the lead, Paul Wurtzebach and crew Bonnie Hawkins and Doug Nickel would not give it up and went on to capture the win followed by Ric Larson and crew Eric Larson and Christina Leiterman. The second race the wind had diminished slightly to 11 mph from the NE tending to move left. Race two was a flip flop of the first two places with Ric coming out on top, followed by Paul. The stage was set for a heated battle between Ric and Paul.

The wind continued to fall to 8 mph for the third race. With two boats swapping wins it was time for someone else to challenge. After losing out in race two, Paul went back to work and triumphed in the third. A new face showed up in second place, David Stix, and out of the blue, sailing with a novice crew, was Bill Dean for third. Ric fell back into fifth place leaving Paul alone at the top. Race four was sailed in a light breeze of 4 mph from the north and flat seas. The race committee also changed to an olympic course. This time the Phelan brothers of Green Bay, Brian and Terry, were in first and second around the first three marks followed in hot pursuit by Ric, David, and Paul. The leaders all headed to the left side of the course while Ric went to the far right, With a shortened course, Brian Phelan, the leader, could smell victory which was desperately needed after a PMS in race 2. As the boats converged at the top of the leg, Ric had stolen the lead from Brian by a length. Behind, Terry had fallen to fifth with Paul coming up in the third spot just ahead of David. So with four races completed, Paul lead by 2 points over Ric who was 6.5 points ahead of David followed by Terry and Dan Reichelsdorfer to round out the top five.

Next up on the agenda was the Evans Regatta Party, hosted by GBSC member and past president Bill Dean. Billıs remodeled shack on the bay provided a perfect setting to sit back and sample Doug Hiskesı culinary skills and party planning. After dinner, the participants enjoyed a beautiful sunset followed by a bonfire and a fireworks display. Later in the evening, we all moved inside to catch the news coverage of the dayıs racing and to watch the weather report. Forecast for Sunday . . . ³DAMAGING WINDS.²

Sunday morning the winds had come back to 16 mph from the south gusting to 20. With a south wind the waves donıt have much room to build and stayed in the one- to two-foot range. Race 5 got off under another windward-leeward course. The first leg was lead by Dan Reichelsdorfer who seems to thrive in these conditions. The bottom of the second leg proved costly to a number of boats when six boats got involved in a little bumping trying to go through the gate. The final downwind leg saw Paul catch a puff and go on to finish first once again.

Race 6 was set to begin in a steady breeze of 18 mph gusting to 22. The 10 minute gun was fired and having race 6 in before the storm hit looked like a reality. In the next few minutes the winds jumped to a steady 25 gusting to 30. Our race committee did a fine job realizing safety is of the utmost concern and abandoned the race.