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Uwe Hale – Thoughts for the
2014 Mutineer National Championship.
Update for Tuesday Oct 6, 2014.
We had 3 practice races today. One was a triangle, followed by couple windward/leeward courses. That gave us a great chance to iron out the wrinkles, or break some gear. I have mixed feelings about running the spinnaker on the triangle course. It's different than what we normally run and presents its own unique challenges.
The official skipper’s meeting was held Big Daddy’s, the marina outdoor restaurant. Michael Lipari, the PRO and did a great job in going over the changes to the sailing instructions. He has a ton of experience and I'm looking forward to some well run and fun races.
The raffle of the Mariner Sails jib and main was won by Taylon Starr. Dinner and refreshments followed the skippers meeting. Many in the group went to Big Daddy's to watch the sun go down and the full moon work its way into the sky. Real racing starts tomorrow, Wednesday. There is always room for volunteers to help on the committee and chase boats. Be on the dock by 8:30, racing starts at 10.
Race Day 1 Oct 8, 2014, Results are at the RegattaTech link below.
Combined scores are at the top but those don't really count. The silver and gold classes are listed after that. Those are the important ones since we have two classes racing in our fleet. The points in the brackets are the 'drop' scores.
Racing was good. The winds are shifty and gusty, making for lots of lead changes and 'incidents'. One boat capsize, turtle and fill up with water. It didn't sink but had to be towed back to shore. There were two collisions that I know of. One just cost time but the other did some damage. After racing we had the traditional "Cheeseburgers in Paradise" cookout at the swamp. There were lots of refreshments and tall tales told. The party was still going on even after dark.
Race Day 2 Oct 9, 2014, Results are at the RegattaTech link below.
I didn't get much sleep. My mind was racing all night over today’s racing. . Not too sore but muscles are a little stiff. Finishing coffee, eggs, bacon, and we're off to the lake. Looking thru the scores, we know who we have to beat to try to get 3rd. First and 2nd are pretty far ahead of us and unless they break or have issues (like we did) are out of reach.
Had a great day racing on Day 2 of the Mutineer Nationals. Winds were extremely gusty with huge shifts. We had the usual problems with the spinnaker hour glassing in the first race. We had a good morning with a 5th and a couple of 3rd place finishes while our nearest competitors had problems. That moved us from 5th to 3rd place total in the gold fleet. We decided to play it safe to maintain the lead. We didn't use the spinnaker anymore that day due to the gusts. We ran wing on wing or broad reaches on the triangles.
We had six races total and followed up with a 5th, 4th, and another 4th and managed to extend our lead even further. 1st and 2nd is pretty much locked up and way out of our reach (16 pts).
Colleen has really picked things up as crew. We figured out routines and are really gelling as a team. We know what works for us and what we need more practice on.
No major changes in 1st or 2nd in gold fleet. Gib Charles and Mike Ruwitch (9pts) have a 10 point lead over Ty Mcaden and Taylon Starr (19pts). That'll be a long shot for Team Muttley with only one day of racing remaining. Uwe and Colleen Hale (36pts) are looking steady in 3rd. Fourth thru 7th are in a close battle with only a 3 point spread, 42.5-45.5. Silver fleet is led by Mutineer 15 rookies Michael Glanton and Nathan Neighbors(10pts) with a string of bullets giving them a 5 point lead over veteran Randy Polson and his son Daniel Polson(15pts). Team High Cotton finished with a couple of bullets at the end of day 2 and may be on a hot streak coming into the last day of racing. Ken Knecht and John Fraser are sitting on 3rd.
Fourth through 7th is following the gold fleet's tight midpack racing with a 5 point spread, 39-44.
Race Day 3 Oct 10,2014, Results are at the RegattaTech link below.
...and the large boned lady has sung. The 2014 Mutineer 15 Nationals are in the bag. Sixteen races over 3 days.
First, 2nd and 3rd in gold fleet remained the same as yesterday.
Gib Charles and Mike Ruwitch extended their lead and finished 1st with 15 points.
Ty Mcaden and Taylon Starr raced to an impressive second place (29 pts) on a boat they only got about a month ago.
Uwe and Colleen Hale hung on to their 3rd place with 55 points running a conservative race in challenging conditions.
Greg Reed and Tommy Byres (66 pts) managed a runaway 1st place on the last day which was good enough for them to pass Peter Way and Paul Culnan(67.5 pts) for a 4th place finish in gold fleet by 1.5 points. That's some very close racing after 3 days and 16 races.
Jerry Thompson and Bob DeRoeck had boat problems on the first day and missed 2 races. They still took 6th place with 69 points. Rounding out the gold fleet in 7th was Jim and Margaret Davis (74.5 pts) on the beautifully refinished Radio Flyer and right behind them was Team Red Fish's Chris Rousseau and Eileen Blute with 90 pts.
Silver fleet was dominated by Michael Glanton and Nathan Neighbors (15pts) with more bullets on the last day. Randy Polson and his son Daniel decided to take a swim right before the finish line. That DNF and DNS ended their chance at catching Team Flipper but left them with a very solid 2nd at 30 points.
Jason Stevenson and his son Nathan worked their way up in the fleet to capture 3rd with 54 points.
Yarda and Marian Solc (60pts) captured 4th with a tie breaker over 5th place finishers Greg Larson and Chris Mueller. Chad Harris and Lisa Adams hung on to 6th with 71pts.
Now on to the awards ceremony, some good BBQ, and then a weekend of laying around recuperating and doing nothing.
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