The first Hobie regatta of the 2016 sailing season kicked off this past weekend at beautiful Cultus Lake in BC. Cultus is about 1/2 hr. east of Vancouver and is a destination resort just outside of Chilliwack. The beautiful mountains surrounding this lake are reminiscent of Yale Lake in WA.
Both days had good breeze. PRO Steve Brunson from Kelowna rattled off nine races over the two days and did a superb job. Conditions were tricky as the breeze was quite unsettled and would vary in both direction and strength. Peter & Laura dumped early on Saturday in a gust that simply blew them over!
There were holes and passing lanes and it was lake sailing at its finest. Three boat lengths would sometimes mean the difference between hero and zero. There was a huge premium on crew work, and that was reflected in the results. We had about 7 18’s, about the same number of 16s, as well as a couple of 17s and even a 20.
What was really fun to see was the mix of sailors. Several ‘newbies’ came out to check out the action — including one on a 17 and another on the 20. We’ll hopefully see them next month at Jericho. Plus there was a ton of ‘shore crew’ getting in on the Hobie action. Anyone who thinks Div. 4 is aging out got an awakening at Cultus with a plethora of youth sailors taking to the water.
I am sure to miss someone, but in the 18s Tawnya Fox was crewing for Paul Evenden. In the 16s you had the ubiquitous youth team of John Ped/Alex LeBlond (who were tuning up for the 16 Worlds in China next month), plus JJ Hoag trading helm with dad John, Sarah Isaak crewing for Tim Webb, Josh Markowitz crewing for Paul Carter, Josh’s sister Jessie crewing for J Rosenbach, and Daniel Hollinsworth crewing for dad Martin.
That youthful energy spilled over on to shore with some great food and conversation Saturday night. Many thanks to Paul Evenden’s wife, Debbie, for creating some tasty home fare!
On the water Peter & Laura weren’t the only “splashies”. John & Alex augered in rounding the weather mark in a puff, and at least one other boat I can’t remember went for a swim.
Dave Wilder won the 17s while in the 18s it was: 1) Evenden/Fox; 2) Paul & Vanessa VonStubbe, and; 3) Gillian Thomson/??. In the 16s it went to: 1) Nelson/Sullivan; Ped/LeBlond, and; 3) Carter/Markowitz. It was fun seeing perennial 17 all star Paul Carter trophy in his first regatta after crossing over to the 16. Paul made short work of a steep learning curve.
Both the 18 and 16 fleet showed a tightening up with a lot of boats getting in on the action. In the 16 fleet the last two races were particularly tight, with the difference between 1st and 5th being a matter of 2 boat lengths and inches separating places. Exciting stuff!
Next up: Kelowna Springtime regatta May 21-22 for the Northerners, and Fernridge June 11-12 for the Southerners.
Hobie Division 4 