PHRF Spin Fleet Sails Away From Start. Photo by Will Nowak.
Article by Will Nowak.
The wind forecast for the third race weekend of the Spring series at Lake Pleasant called for winds in the 5-7 knot range… and that’s exactly what we got.
With the Santana 20 fleet on Race Committee, 18 boats from the PHRF Spin, Sport Boat, Thistle and Catalina 22 fleets came out for the third weekend of the Lake Pleasant spring series. Prior to the planned 12:30 start, the morning northerly was beginning its typical shift to the south. With most of the boats arriving to the start area well before the 12:30 start time, the 2-boat Thistle (fleet?) was able to get off a bit early, starting into the light easterly breeze which was in the middle of the mid-day shift. Immediately after the Thistle start, the breeze quickly finished its shift to the south, where it stayed for the remainder of the day. After a quick re-set of the start/finish line to accommodate the wind shift, the Sport Boat, PHRF Spin and Catalina 22 fleets all started to the south.
A short start line and aggressive 8-boat PHRF fleet provided plenty of entertainment for the race committee and the other boats in pre-start. While no fiberglass repair was needed, there was plenty of friendly “starboard” reminders as over-early boats decided to clear themselves by immediately tacking to port and sailing back through the starboard-tacked fleet to the start line.
Each fleet sailed four races in the 5-7 knot breeze. It was a clean sweep for Kurt Finie, Mike Hester and Steve Grothe in the Thistle, Sport Boat and Catalina fleets, respectively. Each skipper won all of their fleet’s four races while Paul Liszewski’s Rolling in the Deep took line honors in three of the four PHRF Spin fleet races.
Post-race festivities included an AYC-sponsored happy hour and barbeque. The happy hour was hosted by Mike and Maryellen Ferring, with chips, dips and plenty of cold beer. Immediately after, Marshall Williamson and Jim Marzano grilled up an impressive selection of delicious Wisconsin brats (by way of Tucson) and salmon burgers for the sailors. The post-race gathering was well-attended; much thanks to the Ferrings and Marshall for their efforts. Also, thanks to Martin and Cedric Lorch (as always) for their help in the set-up and clean-up of the post-race festivities.
Photos by Will Nowak and Fay Powell.
