2007 SEASON SUMMARY HOME CLARK LAKE

PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS

Interlakes Send Two to Clark Lake Regatta

What a difference a week makes! One week after a sub-par finish in the Hot to Trot, Brook Smith and Colleen Hughes #1380 found their groove as they skillfully managed to place 2nd amongst a field of 14 competitors including previous national champions Scott Savage and Steve Aspery at the annual Clark Lake multi class regatta.

Also sailing was #1318 with guest skipper Andy Nixon and his trustworthy crew Kirsten Petro who finished 6th over-all. Their achievement was fueled by taking (2) third places in the second and third races on Saturday. This was quite an accomplishment considering a) the competition b) it being only Andy’s second time skippering the Interlake and c) that his bed sheet quality sails certainly didn’t give him any edge over his fellow competitors.

Some of the best lessons about race management can be learned by venturing off the lake and seeing how other PRO’s handle a crises when is arises. Both skippers had plenty to talk about after the first race of the day which had one of the more bizarre general recalls in memory. The confusion centered on the start and finish line that was designed to have the start to port of the committee boat and the finish on the starboard side. Apparently some competitors thought either side was the start line and thus when the horn went off they really hadn’t started, much to the glee of 1318 and 1380 who knew exactly which was which and thought they had just positioned themselves better than their opponents.

With clean air and a commanding lead on the first leg our two sailors and their crew felt very good about their chances of doing well until off in the distance they heard two sounds and then the general recall flag. What made this recall unusual was that it was initiated approximately three minutes after the start, thus without a doubt qualifying it for the longest delayed general recall in the history of the sport. It appeared that a vocal group of skippers who were on the wrong side of things was able to put a large guilt trip on the committee getting them to start the race over. Both our skippers seemed to go with the flow and chalk it up to the “anything can happen at an off-lake regatta” experience.