Saturday, May 4, dawned bright, sunny, and breezy, completely in line with the day’s excellent forecast, which looked perfect for our Club Championship. Just before 8AM, competitors began rolling-up to Spinnaker Point in advance of the Skippers Meeting. Underlying the morning greetings, small talk, and good natured joking was a slight but palpable sense of tension. This was the big one – the culmination of another fun year of club racing – and these were AYC’s best sailors, having won their respective fleets over the course of our Fall and Spring racing series.
Racing Captain Bruce Andress kicked off the introductions. Wendy Larsen had the big job – PRO for the day’s competition. Husband Dave Christensen was the Scorer. Race Committee was rounded out by Roger Pawley, Jo Grijalva, and Dianna and Bruce Andress. Bruce Lee, Ron Simzyk, and Bob Naylor manned the Markset Boat.
The sailors competing for the Club Championship trophy were:
- Sunfish sailor Jen Lee, the current two-time club champion now defending her title for the third consecutive year, with Joel Hurley again crewing for her.
- Kate Crowther led the Sunfish Fleet for the year, often neck-and-neck with Jen in our TTL races. New member Jordan Korss, a fast Laser sailor, was Kate’s crew.
- Mike Ferring came out on top of both the C-14.2 and PHRF Spin Fleets. His regular J-70 crew, David Newland, was crew for today’s race.
- Devon Howe is a fun, new, AYC member with a passion for MC Scows. He clinched top honors in the Lake Pleasant Portsmouth Fleet. Intently focused on redeeming his Blunder Bucket award, Devon had Erin Welker for crew – an ASU Sailing Team member just wrapping up her freshman year.
- Sean Kenealy won the Tempe Town Lake Portsmouth Fleet in his Buccaneer, and had Gillian Cate for crew. Both are also competitive ASU collegiate sailors.
- Rounding out the list of competitors was Nancy Uhl, with Neil Thibodaux crewing. Nancy took top honors in the Catalina 22 Fleet.
Missing from the starting line-up due to conflicts and other reasons were Martin Lorch, (Santana 20 Fleet champ), Paul Miachika (Laser Fleet), and Dan Scott (Thistle Fleet).
Make no mistake about it – this was a highly competitive, skilled, group of sailors. It was also one of the most diverse groups we’ve ever had racing in a Club Championship:
- one skipper (Devon) and one crew (Jordan) have been club members less than a year.
- half the skippers (Jen, Kate, and Nancy) and two crew (Erin and Gillian) were women.
- three ASU Sailing Team members were racing.
- ages ran the gamut from late teens / early twenties (college students Cate, Erin, & Sean) to a seasoned, skilled, veteran racer soon to be celebrating his eightieth birthday (Mike).
In an interesting, fun, twist, this year’s Championship was raced in Flying Juniors, a boat first introduced in 1956, and notable for its light weight, speed, and painful ride. Nearly seven decades on, FJs are still the boat of choice for most collegiate sailing programs. AYC is grateful to our colleagues with the ASU Sailing Team for lending us seven (7) FJs for the race (6-race boats and 1-spare) – they worked and performed beautifully.
Six windward / leeward races were planned around a short course, with 2-laps per race. Crews would switch boats after each race, so that each competitor raced once in each of the six FJs, normalizing results for any performance differences between boats. Each race would be about 20-minutes in duration.
With winds consistently trending out of the south shortly after 10AM, Wendy set the course, and an alternate to adjust for the occasional easterly shift – a plan that worked flawlessly for the whole day. With winds filling-in at 5 to 10-mph, the first race was started just after 10AM.
Race #1 saw Jen and Kate both get strong starts, with Mike and Sean in hot pursuit. Devon seemed to struggle to get dialed into the FJs. Nancy and Neil practiced the day before, but even so, lagged the pack. After two laps, it came down to a photo-finish, with Jen edging out Kate by mere inches. Talk about an exciting start to the races!
Adrenaline levels were up for the second race. In a surprise move, Kate crossed the start line on starboard tack, as did all the boats, but immediately tacked, heading off and away from the pack. Her strategy paid off in a sizable lead, which she maintained to the finish, taking the win, and followed by Jen and Mike. Devon improved to 4th place, followed by Sean and Nancy.
Race 3 was almost a rematch finish of the second race; but, with Jen taking first place and Kate falling to second, followed by Sean, Devon, Mike and Nancy. With 3-races left to go, it was looking like a real slug-fest between Jen and Kate, with strong pressure from the Mike, Sean, and the others.
In Race 4, Jen finished first with Kate taking 3rd, a pattern that repeated for the remaining races. Sean ran a great race, taking 2nd, followed by Mike, Devon, and Nancy.
By the start of Race, winds had increased to 7 to 12-mph, with the occasional gusts of 15 to 20-mph. Mike poured it on to claim second place just behind Jen, with Kate, Sean, and Devon following. A strong, swirling, gust caught Nancy’s FJs, and through some impressive acrobatics, she and Neil regained control and resumed racing. But, in short order, a second, stronger gust hit them, turtling their boat and resulting in a DNF, and sending them in early.
By the start of the last race, skippers and crews had been sailing for almost four hours, in a small boat not known for it’s comfort. Tired, but undaunted, it was a good race, with Jen winning easily, and Sean taking second place, followed by Kate, Mike, and Devon.
Marks were soon pulled, support boats moored, FJs loaded on trailers, and sails stowed, after which everyone regrouped back at Spinnaker Point, more tired and wind-beaten than earlier in the day. Spirits were high, the laughter and cold beer flowed easily, and the day was nearly done.
Every sailor had given it their very best, and every race was exciting, competitive and fun. Wendy and her Race Committee made the race administration look easy, doing an excellent job all day long. Their results were ready. In the end, Jen again captured the Club Championship title – her third in a row. Fellow Sunfish sailor and gal-pal Kate claimed overall second place. Sean – the youngest skipper – squeaked past Mike (the oldest) by one point to finish third overall. Mike, Devon, and Nancy rounded out the rankings in 4, 5, and 6th place.
Congratulations to Jen on her hard-earned and well deserved win. And congratulations to all skippers for winning their respective Fleets, and to all skippers and crew for sailing fast, racing hard, and giving it their very best. It was an outstanding and memorable Club Championship … the perfect end to another fun year of club racing.
For more photos of the Championship Race, click here: Championship Photos.