The GWB just concluded and again LESC Fleet 4 showed that we can be competitive!  "Local" star Scott Tillema (2107) took home the 3rd place trophy with extraordinary consistency in the widely ranging conditions from 1-15.  His light-air prowess showed his new Eustis pedigree was a pleasure to see as he took the right chances and posted a solid 11-3-6-4-3!  Rob Terry (CLYC - MI) sailing local MC 2188 was the "amateur" star of the weekend posting excellent scores in the light conditions and took on crew in the 8-15 in races 3-5 to finish 2nd overall just 2 points behind Jamie Kimball (Melges - 2359) who (suprise everyone!) won the 34-boat MC Class.  

The next LESC member was David Moring (sailing Don Fancher's 2440) who was shaping up for a top 3 finish also, but faded horribly in the 4th and 5th races to finish 7th overall.  Bob Cole (2350) was next in 8th with VERY consistent finishes in light or medium wind, and Skip Moorhouse in his new boat (!) 2407 rounded out the top 10 for LESC / Fleet 4.  That's 4 out of the top 10 from our group!  

Other notables include Dave Johnson (2100) posting his first top 10% finish in a major regatta with a 3rd place in race #1, Dave Moorhouse who shook off Saturday to take a 2nd place in Race #4.

Special thanks to Ray Laguna who chaired the record 110+ boat regatta, and to all of the PRO's, racing staff, and shoreside volunteers who made this seem so smooth and simple.  Martin Zonneberg (2270) seemed everywhere to snap the pictures and John Houck (2097) and June Howells (2307) both were critical for registration, scoring, and support.

Taken together, we had a top 5 boat in every race of the regatta and more than 1 in several.  Of course, I don't need to tell you that all of the finishers who did this are out at almost all of our weekend races, so....... the moral of the story?  You MUST sail to improve!

Below are some thoughts from GWB 2nd Place finisher Dr. Rob Terry on light-air sailing.  Terry is a regular on the E Scow circuit and has won several titles in that Class - I believe he is the current Michigan E Scow Champ.  Known as a "feel" sailor, rather than a technician, his instincts paid dividends in the ghosting conditions:

* On the beat.  Sail trim loose, loose, loose.  Speed, speed,
  speed.  The puffs were almost stationary, so you had to maintain
  enough speed to get to the next breeze.  Minimize the number of
  tacks to maintain speed.  Only tack to get to much better
  pressure.  One or two carefully chosen tacks before reaching the
  windward mark worked well Saturday.
* On the run.  Again, the puffs were moving very slowly, if at all,
  so you had to look forward for breeze to sail into as much as
  looking back for breeze coming down the lake.  You needed a nice
  roll-jibe to not lose speed when jibing toward better air.
* Equipment.  Borrow Dave Moring's boat.  Super-fast.