Hot To Trot Report and Results
September 17-18, 2005
by Michael Ehnis
Photos by Ela Sliwerska

This years Hot-To-Trot Interlake Invitational Regatta brought 11 sailors willing to battle the light and shifty conditions very typical of the 2005 sailing season. In race one Steve Wiseman found some very good air and took off on the fleet. Even with a few course changes by the committee Steve navigated it very well getting his first bullet of the event.

Race #2 saw the committee boat move from the southeast corner to the southwest corner as the winds moved East
This particular race was both challenging and a bit frustrating for both the competitors and the committee. It should be noted that the committee (Forest Rogers, the author and Ela Sliwerska) ran two races with both hands literally tied behind their back. First the committee boat engine decided to take the day off which made course changes (moving to the upwind mark , for instance, to set a finish line) impossible . Also two of the handheld radios didn’t cooperate. The committee had lots of fun trying to gage the wind and water depth at the windward end of the lake from Andy Ingall with one way communication. As a last resort they were going to plan “S” and use smoke signals, but alas not even this would work with such light air.

PRO Forest took the advice of his assistant and put up a long seven leg course based on wind at the end of the previous race (which was four legs). It was painful watching the boats head to the reach mark with no air. The committee quickly decided to shorten the course by two legs as the lake went from disturbed to mirror like conditions (even with an abundance of clouds moving in). Much to the committee surprise (embarrassment??), when it came time to drop the finish mark to they quickly discovered that it was left behind on the other side of the lake where race #1 concluded. SB operator Barb Johnson and Roy Toth quickly retrieved it and got it situated for the final crawl. After considerable discussion on when the shorten course flag was to be raised a few minutes later Tom Ehman came floating across for the win. Kudos to Dave Moody who beat the 30 minute time limit by 1 minute and 40 seconds.

Without any more wind the competitors retired to the club for an evening of snacks, socializing and a terrific dinner put on by the PYC kitchen. The TV and the MSU – Notre Dame game, aptly supplied entertainment. Everyone held their breath as they watched MSU build a surmountable 38-17 lead late into the third quarter. In classic choking fashion they let the game slip into OT but somehow found enough courage to pull it out. No SOS (Same Old Spartans) this time.

Sunday greeted the sailors to left over conditions from day one so entertainment consisted of reading the Sunday paper, eating bagels and donuts and a mean game of Boci ball. When the wind did fill in around 11:15, race #3 of the series turned out to be one of the most exciting. Taking advantage of wind shifts and spotty air, Bill O’Donnel #836 took a big lead coming into the downwind mark. Suprisingly, Tom Ehman #1318 rounded last on the first beat but quickly pulled a “Hail Mary” by going left (when everyone else went right) and catching half the fleet at the downwind mark. The last leg saw Steve Wiseman catch some air pull ahead of the pack to claim his second bullet of the event with a shoot out between O’Donnel (placing 2nd) and Ehman (3rd).

Race #4 and the final race looked more like a parade as the wind shifted from due South all the way to Northwest. It didn’t seem to matter how much the committee kept moving the marks the wind would keep moving again and creating a lot of reaches. This didn’t seem to bother Tom Ehman as he sailed to his second bullet of the event.

Post race activities included some very tasty chili, lots of liquids and fleet captain Brook Smith’s dolling out recognition of everyone that made the event go so smoothly (note: he appropriately recognized all the off-the-lake contingent). Congratulations to Tom Ehman and his crew Andy Nixon for capturing this years event.

HOT-TO-TROT RESULTS
RANK	SKIPPER	CREW	CLUB	SAIL	POINTS	1	2	3	4
1	Tom Ehman	Andy Nixon	Portage	1318	6.50	2	1	3	1
2	Steve Wiseman	Pam Detullio	Portage	1278	10.50	1	5	1	4
3	Bill O'Donnel	Brian Hawkins	Portage	836	14.00	3	2	2	7
4	Brook Smith	Colleen Hughes	Portage	1380	19.00	4	7	6	2
5	Tyler Cathey	Felicia Cathey	Portage	1341	20.00	10	3	4	3
6	Joe Smyk	Michele Smyk	Portage	1322	25.00	6	4	7	8
7	David Moody	Carole Moody	Portage	867	28.00	8	10	5	5
8	Clark Chapin	Gordon Chapin	Portage	1317	35.00	11	9	9	6
9	Jack Coleman	Ann Taylor	Portage	1286	36.00	7	6	11f	12c
10	Tom Marriott	Scott Frissell	Jolly Roger	909	37.00	5	8	12c	12c
11	Steve Schewe	Nancy Schewe	Portage	1160	38.00	9	12f	8	9