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     Scott Corder Moderator Username: Scott_corder Post Number: 12 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: N/A |
RESULTS FROM 2005 NORTH AMERICAN ONE DESIGN CHAMPIONSHIP While schedule and work conflicts resulted in a much lower turnout than originally confirmed for this year's NA Championship, the boats who did travel to Holland Michigan on July 10-11, 2005 experienced a full weekend of newsworthy events. Saturday morning, crew members gathered on the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club lawn awaiting word from the Race Committee regarding wind (or the lack thereof) out on Lake Michigan. As the Class mingled, the quiet morning was suddenly shattered by the sound of several Coast Guard rescue boats racing out of the harbor. Word quickly spread that a high-speed powerboat had crashed and was sinking just off shore with rumors of fatalities. As rescue boats exited the channel, dozens of cigarette style boats began circling in/out of the channel as part of a nationally reknowned "Poker Run" event being conducted along much of the Lake Michigan shoreline that day. It quickly became clear to all at the YC that the delay on shore was now a bit of very good fortune. By 12 noon, Saturday's fleets finally pushed off the docks and headed out into Lake Michigan in hopes of finding enough wind to race. Classes on Saturday strongly represented S2/Tiara's factory presence on Holland with four S2 9.1 Meters and eight S2 7.9 Meters being joined by seven Etchells. As the boats exited the channel, it was clear that search/rescue efforts were still in full effect. While the Race Committee worked to establish some sort of race course, there was plenty to watch as divers and other rescue personnel worked feverishly to find the missing power boat crew members. Meeantime, the power-boat race had continued to another port south of Holland and was now returning up the lakeshore to ports north of Holland. The noise and traffic from these high-speed power boats only exacerbated the fact that no wind was in sight... and the crowd of rescue boats was becoming a navigational issue. In the end, no wind ever filled in and the Fleet returned to the docks. While all were disappointed in cancelled sailboat racing, it was general concensus that it was probably for the best. Sunday's forecast did not at first offer much optimism, however the S2 9.1 and Etchells fleets left the dock at 10am anyway on reports there was wind filling in on Lake Michigan. The crews were greeted out on the water with 6-14 knot breezes and racing began promptly at 10:45am. Despite a low turnout, racing was very close as all four competitors were overlapped at nearly every mark for the first three legs of each race. Starts were close, lead changes were frequent on the early legs, and two of the four races brought almost too-close-to-call overlapped finishes. Race one was very close as the lead changed several times, the last lead change was brought on by a rogue wave that caught Entropy and Spectra in light breeze while Scooter jibed inside. Race two saw Tenacity finish mere inches ahead of Spectra for third place. Race three saw Spectra again lose out by mere inches to Scooter for second. A huge thank you goes out to the Race Committee from Macatawa Bay Yacht Club who expertly managed square lines, wind shifts and very quick turn-arounds between races to complete four very nice four-leg races before 3:30pm on Sunday. Their efforts easily made up for the lack of racing or wind on Saturday. The Macatawa Bay Yacht Club was a very generous host to our Fleet, providing a very nice venue, a beautiful swimming pool and free, front row dockage for the weeekend. In the end, Dick Daniels and his seasoned team aboard Entropy repeated their 2004 NA Championship. As was the case in Holland just a couple years before, Scooter again finished second to Entropy while former NA Champion Greg Young and Spectra placed third. Fourth, but by no means out of the hunt, was former MORC Champion and veteran Class member Dick English aboard Tenacity with an obviously re-tuned rig and renewed boat speed. Dock-side conversations included word that several parties on Lake Michigan are currently active in their search to purchase 9.1 Meters and that attendance at upcoming Lake Michigan Class events should again be strong. Footnote: As of this writing, one member of the power-boat mishap remains missing. One was pronounced dead at the scene, one is hospitalized and another was treated and released. RESULTS: 1. Entropy, Dick Daniels, Waukegan, Illinois 1 1 1 1 2. Scooter, Scott Corder, Rockford, Michigan 2 2 2 3 3. Spectra, Greg Young, Muskegon, Michigan 3 4 3 2 4. Tenacity, Dick English, Holland, Michigan 4 3 4 4 Dutifully submitted by Scott Corder Class Commodore July 12, 2005 |
