WOODLAWN SAILING CLUB

Last Updated July 01, 2008
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Craig Mackey

Report written by David Eldridge USA 18: Posted on the USA IOM Web Site and shamelessly stolen by the Pirates of Woodlawn:

Well after much begging, I mean marketing by Brig North, 16 boats met the starting tape on Saturday morning. There was the usual group of Texan IOMers as well as two contestants given honorary Texan status for the weekend, namely Craig Mackey of Seattle and Bruce Andersen of Boise. I did not realize that Adelaide, Australia was part of Texas as despite having an emu and a kangaroo on the front cover of my passport I was considered one of them Texans. After a skipper's meeting and a participant photo, RD Herman Van Beek lent over and started the tape. A rigs were the order of the day as the breeze ranged around 6-9 mph. After the first few races it was fairly evident that Mackey, North and Sturla Fjoran were the top 3 in the fleet. Of the other sailors, Mike Hughes and IOM's Willie Nelson look a like, Ray Seta were sailing well. Rob Davis in his first regatta for quite awhile was trying his best but in a strange boat and rusty thumbs he was not achieving the results he was used to. He showed spurts of brilliance but must have gotten sick of hearing his number called by Herman about 2 seconds after the start. Lunch was something special as our host, Bruce Simmons produced a brisket that had the potential to turn a vegetarian into a carnivore. After lunch, the wind lightened and shifted slightly and with this we saw a couple of boats struggle. Willie Nelson and myself found the going tough but in accordance with Newton's Laws for every loser there are winners. As the wind dropped Mike Hughes in a Trinity, Bill Geisler in an SC4 and Martin Van Wolfenfinkelsteingersmith in a Forte started to put together some results. But at the end of the day, it didn't matter as Craig, Brig and Sturla had separated themselves from the fleet to be 1,2 and 3. Following Sturla I believe was Mike Hughes, Willie Nelson and Bruce Andersen. After the racing Bill Geisler's nephew cooked up a fish fry of catfish and crappy. It was pretty good stuff loaded with oil and all this stuff that some scribes would lead you to believe to be unhealthy. Now my body is a temple but when I saw Dr Bruce loading up his plate for a second time I figured the scribes were wrong and I could enjoy the grease as well. Sunday came and after a brief skipper's meeting we hit the water again. Sadly, Sturla took ill overnight and couldn't front for the day. After a couple of races it appeared that Mackey was going to run away with the regatta. Well I was getting a little steamed at this because where I grew up you just don't let people come into your own backyard and man handle you. So I was waiting for these Texans to stand up and protect their lake. First North, then Hughes, Willie Nelson, Cooper, Geisler, Simmons, et al did nothing. I knew it was time for someone to step up and take control of the situation, let our friends know that honorary doesn't mean ownership. I decided that I better let loose the speed I was saving for next years Blow Out Regatta (to be held in Dallas on the second weekend of March, NOR to be available early next year, hoping to see everyone in Dallas for a great event). I released the deliberately set bad tuning of my SkiffEater and proceeded to give a clinic on RC model yacht racing. I hope all in attendance noticed the starts in clean air at full tilt, the super tactical first beat, the unbelievable boat handling downwind, the picking of shifts up the second beat, the careful yet tactical rounding of the weather and offset marks, the picking of the shifts on the final downwind leg and then finally the immaculate beat home where I chose the correct end of the finish line to finish. If you missed it, and you shouldn't have as I performed the feat 3 times in succession and even threw in a lesson on how to come from behind to claim victory, don't worry as my instructional DVD will be available soon. Well after sending the message to our honorary Texans, I detuned my boat and proceeded to go about sucking for the rest of the regatta. At the end of the day, the results were in and Bruce Simmons read out the scores. The results have been posted by Brig in a previous thread but the podium consisted of Mike Hughes in 4th, a misfit in 3rd, Brig North in second and then Bruce Simmons announced that an honorary Texan had won the regatta. Well Boise Bruce stepped forward to claim his trophy but we all knew the winner was Craig Mackey. Overall, Craig and Brig were about 80 points ahead of the 3rd boat and really separated themselves with fast, consistent sailing. Sturla was able to push them on Saturday and if he was able to sail on Sunday I am sure the top 3 would have been different. Bruce Simmons and Bill Geisler put on a great regatta and I am sure a good time was had by all.