Chairman’s
Report
The 53rd annual Hoosier Regatta
was held September 29 & 30, at the Wawasee Yacht Club on beautiful
Lake Wawasee near Syracuse, Indiana. Twenty Lightning teams
representing nine fleets enjoyed spectacular conditions with
moderate winds and afternoon temperatures in the upper 70s. Six
races were completed allowing for one throw-out. Bill Faude, with
teammates Ernie Dieball and Jacqueline Voigt, sailed an outstanding
regatta for the victory, beating Team Klaban (2nd place) by 10
points. Faude’s name now joins those of many other legendary
Lightning sailors on the Hoosier Regatta perpetual trophy.
(Bill’s remarks can be read below)
The Wawasee Yacht Club has long
had a reputation for hosting outstanding regattas and I would like
to recognize some of those who worked to continue this tradition:
Principal Race Officer Steve Bonifas and his team conducted superb
races. Their effort and professionalism, which includes that of
protest committee chairman, Dick Tillman, was recognized by all.
Housing was made available for each visiting team courtesy of local
members. The food & beverage committee, namely Donna Schmahl and
Daphne Wagnon, once again exceeded all of our expectations.
Additionally, the door prize sponsors, Quantum Sails, Wawasee Boat
Company, West Marine, and Reynolds Farm Equipment, provided great
give-aways. Finally, I would like to thank all WYC members for
their dedication toward making this event such a special regatta.
I invite everyone to come “back
home again” to Indiana and join us for next year’s Hoosier Regatta.
Jeff Schmahl, Chairman
The Hoosier Regatta
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The 2007
Hoosier Regatta
By Bill Faude
I just got back from the perfect
regatta.
Someone was bound to accomplish
it. I mean, sailors have been hosting regattas for what…175 years
or something? So you knew it had to happen sooner or later.
First of all, can we agree
before I go two vowels farther, that even a so-so regatta is better
than almost any other way to spend a weekend? Ok, now that we agree
on that, the thank you’s were hailed in a timely fashion, and the
race committee was applauded at the finish line by the competitors,
and that all the conditions for an article raving about a regatta
have been met, we may move ahead with hearing the rave.
The 2007 Hoosier Regatta was
perfect. Oh, it was probably nothing really; simply a matter of
incredible organization, beautiful weather, willing volunteers,
power boaters who stayed home to wax their chests, global warming,
free soup on Sunday, the traditional fire in the fireplace on Friday
night, old friends coming out of inactivity, parents sailing with
their pre-teen children and still winning races, luxurious party
boats that turned up at the precise moment you wanted to go across
the lake to the Frog Tavern, mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat on
Saturday after sailing. Then there was the free housing for
everyone, the write one check and lock your wallet in you glove box
for the rest of the weekend pricing. Then there was the free beer
anytime you wanted it, the hot buttered rum that still tastes good
even in 80 degree weather, the craft contest for the kids, and the
breakfasts and the lunches. No kidding, had someone come to the
regatta and discovered they had forgotten to hook up their boat it’s
entirely possible they would still have had the finest weekend of
the sailing season. You know how companies hire the Ritz Carlton or
The Four Seasons to consult with them on customer service? It’s
rumored they were originally trained by the kitchen volunteers at
Wawasee Yacht Club.
It’s well known that I love the
Hoosier Regatta. If you don’t know how to say Lake Wawasee, let
alone find it on a map, one word: Mapquest. Syracuse, Indiana.
Start making plans to be there next year. Gush.
There was wonderful sailing this
year. Six races, each between 45 minutes and an hour were
completed. What would be the perfect way to complete six races?
Yes, four on Saturday and two on Sunday so people could get on the
road a bit sooner. Yes, in a perfect regatta, it would be a little
windier on Sunday so those with hangovers wouldn’t have to deal with
as much climatologic subtlety.
In a perfect regatta you would
sail with two people who got along fantastically, never had any
conflicts and worked beautifully together. No way they’d be married!
Ernie Dieball and Jacqueline Voigt aren’t married as I write this,
but they will be by the time you read this. They were a blast to be
with. Best wishes!
Then in the perfect regatta,
there would be two stories like these:
Debbie Probst sailing with her
two older children, Tanner and Abbie, were having a very nice race.
They were in about 4th position in a tight pack near the
leaders. As we got to the bottom, Debbie decided to soak low and
round the left gate. She wanted to give her team a little more time
to get the kite down, even perhaps time to have a discussion about
whose turn it was to take down the pole or stuff the chute…without
disturbing a few pet insects they’d discovered living inside the
cockpit. Deb took a look back at our boat and waved us around
inside the mark. Now, Mrs. Probst is the 2006 Atlantic Coast
Champion and she’s…competitive. She gives no quarter under normal
circumstances. But she’s also a better parent than I am. So we
went around in front of her, went out on port tack for awhile, got
knocked a bit, flipped and were comfortably ahead in the race. We
tacked back onto port, leading the group that had been in front and
had gone around the right gate mark back to the middle. Debbie
didn’t bang the right corner. She just got the kite down, sailed a
bit farther than we did on port. She then crossed all of us on
starboard, tacked onto port on top of the fleet and extended to win
the race. Everyone within witnessing distance cheered. It was
perfect.
Then there was Jim Allen sailing
with his wife Ann and his 7-year-old Tyler who was sailing in his
first regatta. Jim is known for going farther right than anyone
toward Point Abino in his home waters at the BCC. I’ve seen him win
races by large margins by doing this. On Saturday afternoon at Lake
Wawasee where the wind was shifting about 15 degrees every 4 minutes
Jim’s team won a race by a large margin—coming out of the right.
Everyone close enough to read their sail numbers cheered. At the
awards, Tyler won a trophy. You should have seen his little sister
cheering from the first row. You can’t have a perfect regatta,
without a scene like that to drive home on.
I’ve seen perfect. I just
wonder how next year they’re going to beat it.
You can bet I’ll be there to
find out. Thanks to Jeff Schmahl and everyone else who made it
happen.
