1998 North American Championship - Lake George, New York
Regatta Report by Donna Wotton
Practice Day:
We had an excellent practice race today with about 35 boats on the water. Winds were 10-16 mph from the Southeast with substantial gusting. The race went off on time with one start. John MacCausland Jr. from New Jersey had the best start and held it through the entire course (two windward/leeward legs, 2.5 miles each) to finish first. He was followed by Mark Reynolds (San Diego Yacht Club) and Ross Adams (Wilmette Harbor). Good time had by all. So far we have had three days of good wind and the sailors are very encouraged by the prospect of more tomorrow for the first official race. Top local sailors in the practice race were Rick Dhein (7th), Hank Rowan (12) and Peter Marshall (16) Very exciting and an armada of spectator boats out to watch some fast and exciting sailing.
Day One- Races #1 and #2
We had a great first day of racing. Wild, strong, gusty west wind “corker”. All the ocean sailors that thought they were going to be drifting around a little lake got their money’s worth today with black gusts shifting up to 80% without warning. Two broken masts (both boats will be back on the water tomorrow – each only missed one race which will be their throw out), two “knockdowns” with the keels in the air, and lots of hairy mark roundings. Some fabulous jibe mark excitement with sailors screaming for room, thundering jibes, and rudders out of the water. Mark Reynolds gave us all a lesson in handling the shifts with two first places (1/2 leg on the 2nd place boat in the first race). And a lesson for crew’s from his crew Magnus who pops in and out of that mini-hike position like a shot and tacks without notice. John MacCausland hung in there with two 2nd places and consistency was the name of the game for the rest of the fleet. Most of the top 10 boats in the standings are consistently in the top 10 (including Rick Dhein from NLGYC currently 6th place with a 9th and 10th).
Day Two – Races #3 and #4 (Tuesday, September 29)
A magnificently clear crisp fall d ay on Lake George allowed for fabulous photo opportunities, if not a perfect star sailing breeze, with a seasonal steady South wind 12-15 mph. After one general recall, and a 3 mile long windward leg (the course was a windward-leeward, twice around), the fleet rounded very tight on the windward mark the first time around. Some gusty port tack approaches weaving through the oncoming fleet made for an exciting rounding, and the mark took a little beating from several boats on the inside. True to the competitive spirit here, the penalty 360s were done skillfully – almost in stride- with hardly a boat length lost in some cases. The first leeward leg stretched the fleet somewhat and Mark Reynolds (San Diego) and Peter Bromby (Bermuda) changed position on almost every leg of the rest of the race.
Ultimately it was Bromby on the final run, who was victorious. However, the most excitement at the finish was in the rest of the fleet, when 10 boats in places 12-21 crossed the finish line all together and the scoring teams at both ends of the line were consulted to finalize the placements.
To paraphrase Club Hall-of-Famer Ernie Banks, “Let’s race two!” With such beautiful wind, the race committee was not about to send the fleet in at the end of the first race a second race started 30 minutes after the first one finished, and with a freshening breeze, they sailed another beauty – this time finishing to weather (two windward-leewards, with a final beat to the finish). This time the fleet spread out a bit more, but Bromby and Reynolds fought it out again. They split tacks the last time up, and Bromby came out on top again by 100 feet. At the end of the day Reynolds still leads the regatta by 4 boats, but Bromby is coming on strong. Don’t count out John MacCausland (Cooper River, NJ) who had two third places today. After two second places in races 1 & 2, he is tied with Bromby for second. Rick Dhein still leads the Lake George contingent in 7th place overall, with 10th and 9th places in today’s races. Now that we’re ahead of schedule on races, Wednesday will have only one race instead of the scheduled two.
Day Three- Race #5 (September 30, 1998)
It’s all over but the shouting! Mark Reynolds capped off an impressive North American series today with another first place finish, bringing his total to three firsts and two seconds. With one throw-out race, no other competitors can catch him and it is likely that he will be a spectator tomorrow as the remaining contenders battle for second place. An easterly wind this morning delayed the start of the fifth race as the fleet bobbed around for 3 hours waiting for the wind to shift to the south and settle in. When it finally did, it came in strong and gave us another fine race. Jock Kohlhas (Biscayne Bay, FL) led the first time up the #3 course (two windward-leewards, plus the final beat) but was caught at the leeward mark by Reynolds and Ross Adams (Wilmette Harbor, IL) with Adams rounding first. Adams stretched the lead on the next two legs, but had to settle for second place when he sailed too deep into the west shore on the final beat and Reynolds easily walked away with the win.
Once again the strong winds took their toll on the fleet, with two broken forestays (Page from Southern Lake George and Wotton from Lake George), one broken main sheet (Atkinson from Sunapee, NH) and one broken mast (Dave Watt from Puget Sound, WA). After five races, Mark Reynolds won, Peter Bromby (Bermuda) and John MacCausland (Cooper River, NJ) are tied for second. Local favorite Rick Dhein slipped to 10th place. We’re expecting heavy air again tomorrow and possible thunderstorms for the finale as MacCausland and Bromby battle it out.
Day Four – Race #6 and Grand Finale
Our reports of great wind in the past few days pale in comparison to our Grand Finale today. The statistics speak for themselves: 6 broken masts, 2 sheered off booms, 3 completely swamped boats (one boat with their bow underwater, sailed it home on only the jib and bailed it dry by the time they got in the harbor!), 2 men overboard, 1 exploded mainsail, 10 or more busted vangs, shrouds and lots of breaches, broaches, knockdowns, spills and thrills and NO INJURIES!!!
Thirty seven boats started in a gusty west wind at about 18-20 knots. It continued to build until a front came over the western hill blasting in excess of 30 knots just as they rounded the weather mark the second time. As boats peeled off to leeward, the shifting winds hit the fleet full force with boats “auto-jibing”, breaching, broaching and bedlam ensued. As fast as we could get a patrol boat to one demisted boat, another stick would explode. Most of the “survivors” temporarily abandoned the race for about 20 minutes, trying just to keep their boats intact. Some even sailed into the islands to wait it out. When the dust settled, twenty boats finished the race, led by John MacCausland and his crew, Phil Trinter (Cooper River, NJ). Rob Maine and Ross Adams, both of Wilmette Harbor, IL, hung on for second and third place. Local favorite Rick Dhein finished 11th. Hank Rowan and Steve Rottier also finished.
1998 NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP - LAKE GEORGE
Place No. Skipper Crew Fleet Daily Places Pts.
1 7929 Mark Reynolds Rick Peters SDB 1 1 2 2 1 dnc 7
2 7936 J.A. MacCauslandPhil Trinter CR 2 2 3 3 7 1 11
3 7834 Peter Bromby Lee White BER 3 5 1 1 6 dnf 16
4 7905 Rob Maine III Andrew Higgs WH 5 6 12 5 5 2 23
5 7515 Ross Adams Chuck Nevel WH 6 20 7 6 2 3 24
6 7791 Peter Vessella Tom Dendy WSFB 18 4 8 4 4 4 24
7 7838 Ben Mitchell Bill Stump LB dnc 7 4 11 12 5 39
8 7350 John Finch Ruari Duffield LOC 8 14 9 8 8 9 42
9 7604 Terry Neilson Doug Brophy LOC 4 3 ocs 10 15 15 47
10 7663 Rick Dhein Keith Gardner LG 9 10 10 9 9 11 47
11 7585 Jock Kohlhas Jason Hastings BisB 25 17 40 12 3 7 64
12 7911 James Freeman Bruce Horton Ith 7 15 13 13 24 dnf 72
13 7830 Andrew Ivey Reid Krakower Sun 13 9 24 24 22 6 74
14 7225 Hyde Perce Tom Hyde WH 30 13 16 14 27 10 80
15 7713 T Vandermolen Steve Tickner GL 17 8 34 29 16 14 84
16 7265 Josh Phypers Ted Lavery CA 21 24 6 21 14 dnf 86
17 7555 Charles Beek Rick Peters NH 11 26 18 27 25 8 88
18 7824 Rick Burgess Gary Schneld GrL 23 29 14 33 10 17 93
19 7462 Dave Watt Rick Sassara PS 22 11 5 7 dnf dnf 95
20 7192 David Cook Paul Skarin Sun 10 19 21 22 28 dnf 100
21 7734 Hank Rowan Glen Suplee LG 19 25 26 20 32 19 109
22 7471 Chris Rogers Bob Carlson BisB 16 28 32 18 23 dnf 117
23 7784 Bill Burtis Peter Beam Mid 24 37 17 37 26 13 117
24 7729 David Ivey William Falcone Sun 15 16 20 17 ocs dnf 118
25 7899 Tony Hermann Rick Henning WLM 20 27 25 19 30 dnf 121
26 7731 John Chiarella Terry Fletcher Sun 36 18 19 32 17 dnf 122
27 7565 Jack Button Chris Batchelor Mid 12 33 31 28 18 dnf 122
28 7627 Jerry Davidson Jeff Davidson NH 29 dnf 15 15 19 dnf 128
29 7127 Rob Krahulik Jon Krahulik LG 35 12 30 31 20 dnf 128
30 6890 Brad Anderson Ryan Smith LOC wdr 31 23 23 13 dnf 140
31 7498 Peter Marshall John Barth LG 14 30 29 36 34 dnf 143
32 7463 Werner Holtze Erik Holtze SL 32 dnc 22 40 33 16 143
33 7726 Gene Murphy Kevin Murphy LH 38 36 35 16 21 dnc 146
34 7765 Bill Allen John Upton WH dnf dnc 11 25 11 dnf 147
35 6756 Steve Andrews Sarah Andrews HB 31 34 39 30 35 18 148
36 7095 Steve Rottier Rick Rottier LG 28 22 38 43 40 20 148
37 7628 Steve BravermanHoward Davis BH 34 21 27 39 36 dnf 157
38 6961 Tim Delaney Mike Mondroe SLE 26 38 28 26 41 dnf 159
39 7835 Dick Atkinson Bruce Pariseau Sun 27 dnc 33 41 dnf 12 163
40 7737 David Edwards Eamomn O'Brien Sun 39 32 37 34 31 dnf 173
41 7271 Rob Westcott Kurt Holtze SL 33 23 ocs 38 38 dnf 173
42 7078 Richard Rundle Barb Rottier JP 40 35 41 44 44 dnf 204
43 7220 Dave Wheeler Dick Sands KL 43 dnc 42 42 29 dnf 206
44 7710 David Jackson John Nicewick GL dnc dnc 36 35 37 dnf 208
45 5946 Jan Lawrence Libby Lawrence LG 45 39 46 48 42 dnc 220
46 7012 David Bolles Alejandra Bolles Sun 41 40 47 49 43 dnf 220
47 6419 Peter Abell Edward Hicks LG 44 dnf 43 47 39 dnc 223
48 6631 Richard Page Gabriel Zandy ISO 37 dnc 45 45 dnf dnc 227
49 6416 Robert Wotton Arthur Hatfield LG 42 dnf 44 46 dnf dnc 232
