2003 Season Summary by Michael Ehnis

Club Racing Results

Flying Scot  Interlake  Laser  MC Scow  Sunfish

Regattas

Interlake Nationals  Hot-to-Trot  No Sweat

Photos

Annual Dinner Recognition Awards

The 2003 season marked the 50th year of the Portage Yacht Club (formerly known as the Huron-Portage Yacht Club). The year began at the first race committee meeting with a lively debate on one of the new additions to the race program: the Pro Start starting system. The new system was presented to the group by Tom Ehman with the bold guarantee by the sponsor that he would personally purchase the system himself if it didn’t live up to it’s hype. Even this didn’t reduce the skepticism among some that were reluctant to put our faith in an electronic device (haven’t we all been bitten by a VCR or a computer). This was never more evident with all the blank stares, repeated questions and over-all general nervousness by race managers at every briefing prior to racing. Suffice to say that everyone was very pleased with the system and the critics were silenced.

In the early spring, the new Quartermasters, Fritz Wagner (Chair) and Jim Meyer (trusty assistant) dressed up our race committee boat with a new paint job and flooring. A bright orange replaced the faded blue making it much easier to spot on the lake especially when finishing a race. The service boat, well that had some interesting moments. In general, it seemed those operating it had that same apprehension one gets thinking about computers or the pro start system. Hey, we are sailors not motor people right? Well, at least fellow sailors who moonlight motoring around the lake volunteered their boats, especially for the last race of the blue series.

This year we had 5 classes of boats racing Flying Scot, Interlake, Laser, MC Scow and Sunfish. Participation for the multi-handed boats was especially good for the week night racing.

For the most part races were run without incident, unless of course you consider the Thursday 07/17 race. Things started getting off the track at the Interlake start. A few Interlakes were announced over early. Some returned and one did not (#1380) even though he was hailed. The end of the race also was a hair-raising event with several boats crossing the line simultaneously, which a few days after the race became disputed by #1318 (who filed for redress). All of this ended up at a race committee meeting about six weeks after the fact, which proved to be very interesting in itself since most of us cannot remember what happened yesterday not alone the details of a finish involving several boats from weeks prior. After about an hour of fruitless testimony (and lots of tension) the skipper of #1318 decided the futility of his redress and dropped the request on the finish. On the other hand there was little doubt about #1380’s infraction and he was DQ’d from the race.

The club was fortunate enough to host the Interlake Nationals August 11-15. Hats off to Clark Chapin (and all those Interlake sailors whom won’t be mentioned here) for organizing a first class event. PRO Tom Ehman Jr. did an outstanding job managing the races with his crew in mostly light wind conditions. If he ever tires of (or gets retired from) running sailing races, everyone agrees he certainly can start a new career calling a football game on the radio. To the relief of all the participants enough races were completed so that one race could be thrown out. This week will be remembered most for what didn’t happen on the water: the blackout of 2003. No the lights didn’t go out in Georgia but they definitely did in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and all the way to the East coast for that matter. Miraculously the outage stopped 1 mile from the club sparing the organizers from implementing plan B (an undetermined plan B that is)

Two other regattas, the annual Hot to Trot and No Sweat, were pushed back this season primarily to keep attendance high by avoiding the Michigan-Notre Dame weekend, having the Nationals too close to the Hot to Trot, and trying to get more Scot sailors to participate from DYC. Both events had plenty of wind and good competition.

Socially, three events were held. First was the annual Progressive Dinner which had it’s own unique flavor in comparison to previous years. Our first stop on the tour was the Moody’s where we were treated to salads and a great main course featuring Lobster and Steak. Next came a sunset trip around the lake before stopping at Jack and Nancy’s for the all important dessert bonanza. The evening concluded with everyone (well except for a few party poopers) attending the Fox Pointe summer party featuring “The Kingpins” and one large bonfire. The people at Fox Pointe should be mighty glad we showed up, since I only counted sailors on the dance floor. We made their event and showed some interesting moves while doing it.

On Labor Day weekend, a group of people met at the club to look back at the past 50 years. Commodore Craig Kivi, along with past members Jan Davis and the Borton’s reminisced with both new and long-time sailors (you old salts know who you are) about the past history of the club.

The final social event was the annual dinner and awards recognition night. Club chef Brian Huff wanted to put on a special food event and he did not disappoint. After an hour of cocktails and conversing about the season gone by, we were treated to a surprise menu. To the warm applause from the hungry crowd, each dish (5 courses in all) was announced by House Manager Adam Schingeck. It was fun seeing a new dish appear and the wonderful flavor of each.

With a full stomach, the evening continued with the 2003 recognition awards with the highlight being the fabled “Broken Rudder” award (much to the angst of Tom Ehman). For the second consecutive season (a yacht club first) Dick Barker was recognized for his ineptitude with his MC Scow and trying to trim the trees with his mast in the parking lot. Seems Dick failed to check with previous sailors (like IB for instance) about meaning of “the irresistible force meets the immovable object.” Well at least the only four-time winner of this dubious award displayed his great sense of humor by quipping that “ the trusty hook for the plaque still available on the wall in his home”.

The evening was capped off with a murder mystery whodunit. Several sailors played characters dropping clues to everyone. Karen Chapin (so clueless), Tyler Cathy (the husband with many reasons), Dick Barker (the playboy skipper) and Marie Davis (the trustee friend) played their parts to perfection and made the mystery entertaining and fun. When all the questions were asked, and the cards turned in, Marie Davis was identified as the whodunit by Dan O’Haver and Colleen Hughes (their neurons were obviously working better than the rest of us).

So this closes the book on the 2003 season and we look forward to more fun and friendship in 2004.