Thanks to Ben Stauber, Fleet 165 Captain, for this report.
Day 1:
Race 1 – Course 290, wind at start of race 270. Pin was also upwind from boat. Hundo won the pin. Insatiable was to windward of them. Both boats sailed out to the left side of the track. Insatiable tacked for better pressure 400 yards up the beat. The right side began to pay really well, with Blur leading the right, followed by Blondie and Kraken. Blur were first around the top mark, followed by Hundo and Insatiable. The front two boats split gybes; Insatiable stayed in the middle. Blur was first around the right gate followed by Insatiable . The next beat was mostly left favored. Blur extended a bit on the beat hitting the pressure and shifts first. Hundo got pushed back a fair amount while Blondie closed the gap on them. A bad set onboard Insatiable allowed Blur to further extended. They went on win race 1 followed by Insatiable, then Hundo.
Race 2 – Pin was even more favored as boats struggled to make the pin end of the line on starboard tack. Olson sailing Bow 9 port tacked the fleet using a set of sails from 1990. Amazing start to the race for them! They were all smiles. Insatiable sailed out to the left again. Half way up the beat, they were again engaged in a battle with Blur, each boat planting lee bows with Insatiable clearly favoring the left. Very tight race, wire to wire. Bork were very close behind during this race. On the final run, Insatiable were able to maintain positioning on port gybe and squeeze across the bow of Blur with 50 yards to go on their way to win race number 2.
Race 3 – Z Flag start. Blur OCS. Insatiable, Bork and Hundo had a nice battle for the left. Midway up the beat, there was a massive line of pressure coming out of the right. Insatiable were first to head that way. They rounded first, followed by Bork and Hundo. Blur was very close behind the front pack after coming back from an OCS. They chose to take the left gate, which was hugely unfavored at the time. It was a wise choice as they were able to pass Bork on the second beat. Insatiable went on to win race 3, followed by Hundo and Blur.
Race 4 – With 15 seconds to go in the start sequence, the wind pushed really hard left. Hundo and Insatiable set up to late on the line and weren’t able to cross on starboard. Insatiable tacked to port at the gun and were still able to cross three boats. Hundo got buried. During a dockside chat, Hundo inquired as to how Insatiable were able to get out of jail. Bork led the race with fleet newcomer Malacky Tobin as helm. The wind was all over the place. 200 yards from the first mark, Bork were owning the inside starboard position with Blur 75 yards to leeward. Insatiable were behind them by about 50 yards. Blur took a massive lift from the outside position, then Bork got it as well. Insatiable got a huge header. Then suddenly, Insatiable were lifted 50 degrees while Blur and Bork got headed. Bork tacked to port. Bork and Insatiable were three boat lengths apart on opposite tacks and both pointed directly at the upwind mark. Bork auto-tacked, and their bow never changed direction. They rounded first, followed by Insatiable and Blur. Both Blur and Bork gybed after the offset mark. Insatiable continued on starboard. Two thirds of the way down the run, the wind went forward 60 degrees, and Insatiable were able to generate a comfortable lead. It became a loose cover game from that point. Blur was able to pass Bork about halfway up the second beat. Insatiable rounded first, Blur was close behind, and they gybed immediately at the offset. Insatiable gybed to cover and push Blur out to the left. Blur gybed to gain starboard advantage, and Insatiable reacted by gybing as well. It was a photo finish with Insatiable taking the win by maybe five feet. Bork finished third.
Race 5 – The wind had built to around 12 and shifted to the right a fair amount. Most boats setup near the committee boat end of the line. Insatiable setup high in the box holding the fleet up at the start and continued in high mode forcing the pack to slow and tack out. They continued on starboard for the majority of the beat due to the right shift. From there, it became a game of loose covers and immediate gybes at the offset mark. There weren’t many passing lanes in this race. Blur gave Insatiable a scare on the first run when one gust of around 15 pushed them quickly down the course. Insatiable went on to win the race followed by Blur and Bork.
Day 2:
Race 6 – You can’t really tell the story without the build-up. On the morning sail out to the racecourse, the wind was light (around 6 knots), and it slowly built to around 10-11 knots. The wind died as a few rain showers began to develop on top of the hill in Duluth. As the rain approached, so did the breeze—around 25 knots of it. Local stations reported gusts well into the 30s. Boats found shelter on the sea wall. There was fear of another cell coming through so the fleet hung out on the wall until things settled down. Racing then got underway. Wind at the start was around 13 knots with gusts touching 18. The course length was very short as the RC were trying to squeeze two races in before the time limit. Bork won the start with Insatiable under them. The other story at the start was the snapping of a lifeline on Kraken. Insatiable put their boat in high mode and were able to squeeze free enough to get clear air. Blur tacked out first, followed by Bork; Insatiable played a cover game for the remainder of the first beat. There were some nice puffs on the downwind legs and happy grins on the faces of all crewmembers. Insatiable sailed smart and extended their lead on the second upwind leg. They went on to win the race, followed by Blur and Bork.
Race 7 – Due to the throw-out, Insatiable sat out the last race. Kraken had an excellent first beat as they were the first boat to tack after the start. Then it became a game of everyone following them out to the right. The breeze had built to a steady 15 with some gusts around 19. It was great racing. The other game being played was who would tack first for the windward mark layline. Blur were first to tack, but all boats had sailed 150 yards or more beyond the layline. Blur rounded in first, followed by Bork and Hundo. The RC shortened the course to two legs. Hundo were able to pass Blur on the short run to the finish and won the final race of the regatta followed by Blur and Bork.
Winning team: Insatiable
Helm – Joshua Bone
Trimmer – Ben Stauber
Middles – Jamie Kumbera and Sarah Priest
Bow – Adam Youngman
Pictures are available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ marshallnordic/albums/ 72157683144742631
