Shell Lake Recap 2011
Well, here it is, and now you know why I didn’t go into Journalism.
Another return to the hallowed tradition of the Minnesota vs Wisconsin battleground – the Broken Rudder Regatta.
The day started out looking like a pretty nice day, despite the somewhat Ominous forecast. The first race went down with beautiful, sailing conditions and a solid moderate breeze. By the time we were into the second race, as we neared the last leg, it was apparent that the squall was moving in and it was rumbling pretty good. As some of the faster boats had just finished, the squall hit, with strong sheets of rain, and winds that seemed to exceed 30-40 mph. The leaders were able to reach the beach and were taking their sails down during the squall. About 1/2 a dozen boats went over, and a few of them chose to ride out at least part of the storm on their tipped over boats. I was forced to drift in, sliding sideways down the lake beyond the beach, and landing at a property several down from Doboy, as any attempt to engage the sails and drive the boat into shore would almost certainly have resulted in capsize. Our committee boat team, led by a determined and fearless Dale, stubbornly policed the race course to ensure the safety of all sailors, despite a hearty electrical storm which was raging on at the time – thanks for your brave and committed efforts, Dale and the rest of you.
After a long lunch hour to wait out the storm, we were able to get back out on the racecourse, where we had some good racing in moderate breezes completing 3 additional races.
At our arrival back at the campsites, a few folks were surprised to find the squalls had treated their tents about the same as it had treated their boats, with several capsizes present, and a bit of wet gear.
Had another outstanding catered meal at one of the Shell Lake Pavillions, with plenty of Rum to go around and a good time was had by all, despite the results (MN grumble, grumble).
Sunday was pretty much a bust, and despite our patience the wind didn’t really fill in until after the boats were down and moving out (seen that a few times).
In the end, it was a Wisconsin romp, with a score of 117.5 – 204, a most decisive victory and not as close as many of our previous years. Congratulations to all you Wisconsin boats, but we’ll be back.
..This makes the overall score for this border battle even at 7-7, quite the rivalry.
The clear winner for the weekend was Guy and Debbie Selsmeyer, with solid bullets across the board (we’ll ignore the throwout, as that’s why they call it a throwout). I don’t recall too many races in recent years which were won by a string of solid bullets. A heavy congratulations to Guy and Debbie on some terrifically well executed sailing.
Randy Johnson
