10/31/07: New Fleet
Member
The Olson 30 fleet welcomes Steve Yates, new owner
of #165, Surfer Girl. Way to go, Steve!
08/15/07 Great Lakes Championship
By
Clive Webber (Foredeck, O'ffliction30)
With
conditions as varied as the beer on tap at race
headquarters, racers battled it out in the tightest
Olson 30 Great Lakes Championship yet! Kingston's
legendary wind and water threw everything it had
(except high winds..) at competitors - ranging
from hazy dog-day duldrums to brisk 20-knot thermals.
In
the end (drumroll please)... Wrecking Havoc's
crew managed to keep the trophy nailed to the
fireplace mantel for the second year in a row,
but only by the skin of their teeth. Gary Gochal
and company (aka Slice) turned the whole ordeal
into a nail biter, and managed to tie Wrecking
Havoc overall in points!
On
her home turf, O'ffliction30 secured third place.
We
Kingstonites were happy to host our Yankee neighbours,
who seemed as eager to return as we're eager to
receive them again!
For
all the race details, go here.
03/31/07
Olson 30 Southwest Championship
By
Tom Tatum (Speedster)
Two
days of beautiful Texas Spring weather welcomed
participants to Rush Creek on March 31 and April
1 for the Olson 30 Southwest Championship Regatta.
This event was organized by Jeff Progelhof, who
in a fickle twist, was unable to compete due to
being held captive in Baylor Hospital-Plano.
Day
one of the regatta brought very shifty winds of
varying velocity. The winds ranged from 15-17
knots in race # 1 to almost dead calm by the end
of race # 3. PRO Kelson Elam and his RCYC race
committee volunteers performed admirably in adjusting
the courses to the changing conditions. Picking
a side of the course and sticking with it often
paid greater dividends than working the middle
of the upwind legs. Finishing positions of the
competitors were up and down and, by the end of
Saturday racing, the top three boats were within
five points of each other. Top three standings
were:
1st-Tom
Tatum, Speedster, 6pts.
2nd- Tim O’Connell, Fin ll,8pts,
3rd- Chris Rousseau, Get Over It, 11pts.
On
Sunday the winds were much steadier in direction
and gradually filled to 10-12 knots. Fin ll won
race # 4 with Speedster finishing second. The
points gap between these two boats was closing
and they went into full match race mode for race
# 5. It was fun to watch the two boats battle
with tight covers and tacking duels the norm.
Their tactics moved them from the front of the
fleet to the last and next-to-last finishing positions
for race # 5. Tony Collins in Overkill displayed
blazing speed and easily won the final race.
In
a somewhat Lazarus like return, Jeff Progelhof
sporting the latest in men’s fashionable
hosiery arrived to award the regatta trophies.
Tom Tatum and his all local rock star team of
Bryan Calk, David Hoye, Rick Scott and Buddy Wainwright
on Speedster hung on to take first place. Fin
ll earned second and, by virtue of the last race
victory, Overkill moved into third. Final standings
for the remaining competitors were:
4. Doyle Sherman, Barefoot (Catch 22)
5. Chris Rousseau, Get Over It
6. Jack Progelhof, Flip, Flop & Fly
7. J. Hopper/D. Smedley, Hoss
8. John Kuban, Lunch Money
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