Recap-The Dam Distance Race 2017
The fourth edition of the ‘new and improved’ Dam distance Race was held Saturday, 15 April. We say “new and improved” because the ‘old and not improved’ version lacked assigned race committee, NoR, SIs, lake map, course and buoy list, pursuit start, Beginner’s Guide, coffee and Danish at the skipper’s meeting, event logo on the three-deep, two-division awards, and a theme playlist during the after-race Bar-B-Que dinner. (Did I forget anything?)
By design, the event again drew entries from the Club racers and entries from that group of members that doesn’t regularly, or at all, participate in WCSC racing. Of the boats that registered, the majority of skippers described themselves as non-racers (16). Good! It has always been the organizers’ intent to offer the non-racing member a gentle introduction to competitive sailing.
As always, racing or day sailing, the weather is of great concern. In the past few years this event has experienced too much wind. In 2014, of the 13 registered boats, only 7 left the harbor; only 4 finished the race (sails on 2 boats damaged). More often this event has experienced too little wind. As the event organizers, we watched the NWS website intently the week leading up to the event. It was promising.
So, it was not unexpected to arrive at the Club early Saturday morning and see a very calm lake surface. After all, the forecast didn’t predict wind till late morning. By skipper’s meeting, the lake was still very calm. By the time the boats arrived at the starting area, the breeze had increased to maybe 5-6. Not good, but better. By the time the first boats were beginning to start, the wind has increased a little more, perhaps 8-9. Good. The forecast might actually be accurate. Affirmative, starboard (yea, right). By the time the last boat had started, about 35 minutes after the first boat, there was breeze across the race course, and all the boats were making way towards the turning mark, buoy 17) in the Big Water area of the lake. It was rather cool to see so many sails headed down lake. And if you want to see just how cool it looked, check out the drone footage that Marc Bailey provided.
But as so often happens in lake sailing, the wind began to diminish at midday. We had hopes that the noon slump would last only 30 minutes or so; after all, the forecast was for 10 all day into the early evening. Didn’t happen. All the boats slowed down. The lead boats were approaching the most distant mark of the course, buoy 17, but they were barely making way. Race Committee had a difficult decision to make. They could shorten the race course at buoy 17 and finish boats as they arrived there. Or they could allow the race to continue, and hope that the forecast wind would re-appear. With sails stretching all the way back to Andersonville Island, RC felt that many boats might not have time to make it to buoy 17, let alone farther. RC signaled “Shortened Course” and recorded the boats’ finish times as they reached the ‘new’ finish line. By this time, several of the competitors had seen the proverbial handwriting on the bulkhead and contacted RC to declare their retirement from the race. It’s hot, there’s no wind, and after all, there’s an after-race party to attend! A few dauntless souls persisted in their attempts to complete the race before the time limit expired-some made it, some did not.
At the end of the day, the stats looked like this.
Total Boats Registered: 25
Boats started race: 23
Boats finished race: 14
Skippers, Crew, Guests socializing: 50ish
Congratulations to the prize winners.
In the Non-Racer division 1st Ben Gibson on the San Juan 21 “Full Tilt”
2n Alan Hippensteal on the Tartan P 270 “TARTANIC”
3d Cyril Guerin on the Capri 30 “Jus’ Chillin’”
In the Racer division
1st Rick Fontenot on the Corsair 24 “Cowardly Lion”
2nd Brent Benson on the Impulse 21 “Hurricane”
3d Mike Harrison on the Cape Dory 25 “Miranda”
As advertised, the Dam Distance Race and After Party is an attempt to motivate non racers and novice racers to participate in a ‘race’ event. Many racing conventions are ignored, and a great effort has been made to include a social element. By design, this event does not award a finish place or a trophy to a boat unless the crew also participated in the after-race social. It was humorously suggested that boats that raced, but did not remain for the party, would be scored “DNP”. Yep, Did Not Party. And that is what happened. The boat that was the fastest on the race course did not attend the after-race party. George Masson and crew on Ealu were not awarded a trophy. We want to thank them for their good sportsmanship and graciousness in accepting the terms of this event.
But even more congratulations to the participants that ventured out of their comfort zone to try something a little different with their boats. I hope they gained a little confidence. I hope they were able to bond a little with fellow club members-especially the members that are relatively new at WCSC. If you weren’t there, or even if you were, click here to view the photo album.
So…What about next year? As the event organizers, we’ll leave you with this: If you had a good experience, talk it up with your dock buddies. More boats, more people, more fun. If you have issues with the event, contact us. We’d like to have a dialog about the possibility of improving this event, The Dam Distance Race (and After Party).
Rick and Allison Fontenot
cowardlylion@charter.net
334-332-2025
Drone Footage Photo Album
Overall Fleet |
Skipper |
Boat Name |
Design |
Corrected
Time |
Place |
George Masson |
Ealu |
Ultimate 24 |
1:45:10 |
DNP |
Rick Fontenot |
Cowardly Lion |
Corsair 24 |
1:59:11 |
1 |
Brent Benson |
Hurricane |
Impulse 21 |
2:00:50 |
2 |
Ben Gibson |
Full Tilt |
San Juan 21 |
2:20:18 |
3 |
Mike Harrison |
Miranda |
Cape Dory 25 |
2:30:26 |
4 |
Alan Hippensteal |
TARTANIC |
Tartan P27 |
2:35:33 |
5 |
Cyril Guerin |
Jus' Chillin' |
Capri 30 |
2:46:08 |
6 |
Keith Schrecengost |
Interim |
Catalina 30 |
2:48:14 |
7 |
Kirk Brutosky |
Windlass |
Hunter 27 |
3:04:11 |
8 |
Curt Rubenstein |
Hang On Sloopy |
Catalina 30 |
3:04:57 |
9 |
Hugh Vantleven |
Pir-A-Sea |
Hunter 25.5 |
3:38:17 |
10 |
Wayne Cheser |
Starling |
Bristol 34 |
3:48:02 |
11 |
Spencer Mathews |
Happy Camper |
Precision 23 |
3:54:11 |
12 |
Ron Sanga |
Wind Horse |
Cape Dory30 |
3:56:13 |
13 |
Eric Seymour |
Serenity |
Seaward 26 |
DNF |
|
Mike Miros |
|
Flicka |
DNF |
|
Timothy Bunch |
Mimi |
Helms 25 |
DNF |
|
Chris Smutzer |
Lucinda |
O'Day 26 |
DNF |
|
Dave Oldstrom |
In Balance |
S2 8.0 |
DNF |
|
Richard Curry |
Great Escape |
O'Day 27 |
DNF |
|
Carolyn Edwards |
Jus' Chillin' |
Islander 32 |
DNF |
|
Dick Johnson |
Big Easy |
Catalina 30 |
DNF |
|
Dan Marett |
Dream Weaver |
S2 27 |
DNF |
|
Mark Miller |
Exodus |
Santana 20 |
DNC |
|
Paul Harder |
Lucky Lindy |
Lindenburg 22 |
DNC |
|
Non-Racer Division |
Skipper |
Boat name |
Design |
Corrected
Time |
Place |
Ben Gibson |
Full Tilt |
San Juan 21 |
2:20:18 |
1 |
Alan Hippensteal |
TARTANIC |
Tartan P27 |
2:35:33 |
2 |
Cyril Guerin |
Jus' Chillin' |
Jus' Chillin' |
2:46:08 |
3 |
Keith Schrecengost |
Interim |
Catalina 30 |
2:48:14 |
4 |
Kirk Brutosky |
Windlass |
Hunter 27 |
3:04:11 |
5 |
Curt Rubenstein |
Hang On Sloopy |
Catalina 30 |
3:04:57 |
6 |
Hugh Vantleven |
Pir-A-Sea |
Hunter 25.5 |
3:38:17 |
7 |
Ron Sanga |
Wind Horse |
Cape Dory 30 |
3:56:13 |
8 |
Mike Miros |
|
Flicka |
DNF |
|
Timothy Bunch |
Mimi |
Helms 25 |
DNF |
|
Chris Smutzer |
Lucinda |
O'Day 26 |
DNF |
|
Dave Oldstrom |
In Balance |
S2 8.0 |
DNF |
|
Richard Curry |
Great Escape |
O'Day 27 |
DNF |
|
Carolyn Edwards |
Jus' Chillin' |
Islander 32 |
DNF |
|
Dick Johnson |
Big Easy |
Catalina 30 |
DNF |
|
Dan Marett |
Dream Weaver |
S2 27 |
DNF |
|
Mark Miller |
Exodus |
Santana 20 |
DNC |
|
Racer Division |
Skipper |
Boat name |
Design |
Corrected
Time |
Place |
George Masson |
Ealu |
Ultimate 24 |
1:45:10 |
DNP |
Rick Fontenot |
Cowardly Lion |
Corsair 24 |
1:59:11 |
1 |
Brent Benson |
Hurricane |
Impulse 21 |
2:00:50 |
2 |
Mike Harrison |
Miranda |
Cape Dory 25 |
2:30:26 |
3 |
Wayne Cheser |
Starling |
Bristol 34 |
3:48:02 |
4 |
Spencer Mathews |
Happy Camper |
Precision 23 |
3:54:11 |
5 |
Eric Seymour |
Serenity |
Seaward 26 |
DNF |
|
Paul Harder |
Lucky Lindy |
Lindenburg 22 |
DNC |
|