NorthStar Games 2004 - Results |
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White Bear Yacht Club Last weekend D21 held our 2004 Grand Prix regatta on White Bear Lake in Minnesota. Twenty six competitors from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Canada and Italy came for a great weekend of 10 races. It was great to see all the Minnesota fleets out competing in our great Corinthian sport. I was very glad to see representation from Wayzata, Calhoun, Bald Eagle and White Bear at the event. Saturday started out very slow, with cloud, no wind and some light drizzle. Luckily our fortunes changed by the start of race 1 of 6. Kurt Holtze, Erik Hegstrom and Bruce Martinson started off strong finishing one, two and three while other top sailors faltered. Kurt slipped in races 2 and 3 finishing out of the top five while Bruce pulled two bullets out of his hat. Meanwhile in the rest of the fleet, Susie Pagel, Mark Dunsworth, and Andy Heckl were setting up a battle for the rest of the day with relatively consistent finishes around 5th place. The day became more pleasant as each race passed. The clouds cleared, the rain stopped and the wind filled to 10 to 12 kts. By the end of racing there were three clear fleets in the top ten. Kurt and Bruce were within 1 point, 3 rd through 6th were within 4 points while 6th through 10th were separated by 5 points. We were off the water after a cool 6 ½ hours of racing and off to Andy Heckl’s house for guacamole, chips, cold beverages and live-giving Carbone’s Pizza. After the mosquitoes chased the weak away, the remaining stuck around to catch some taped Olympic sailing, cookies, tequila and couch-time. Sunday dawned with 10 to 12 knots of breeze, clouds, and a race committee dedicated to completing four more races before our 1:30 cut off time. Kurt, Andy and Mark all faltered in the first race of the day while Bruce, Dave Schmitt, Susie Pagel, and Andrew Keane all finished well in the first race on Sunday. Kurt continued to falter throughout the event while Bruce seemed to hone his sights and never finished out of the top 4. At that point the real race was between 3rd through 6th place. Mark covered Andy, Mike Bowers covered Susie, Susie covered Andy, and Andy covered Mike….or something like that at least. After everything shook out, consistency and throw-outs (Sorry Mike) were key in the event. The top five in the event were: Bruce Martinson, Kurt Holtze, Andy Heckl, Mark Dunsworth, and Susie Pagel. Thanks go out to White Bear YC for hosting, Louis & Pattie Newell for running all the races and General Recalls, The Keane’s for running the mark boat & filling the fleet with several loaner boats, and Andy Heckl for organizing the event and putting on the party. Keep an eye out for the Calhoun Classic and NUMB regattas coming up in the Twin Cities this fall.
30 Aug, '04, 17:56 |
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