Recap – Petenwell 2021
Year after year the Barnum Bay Yacht Club Regatta at Petenwell Lake is a club favorite. It should come as no surprise for anyone who has been there: a great launch site and beach, beautiful camping on the bluff overlooking the lake, challenging but fun sailing, and of course the famed Lure.
Turnout for this regatta was fantastic – 17 boats pre-registered with 15 making it out on the water (Cole wasn’t able to sail with Kurt which means for the first time in two years I have the joy and pleasure of writing the recap, and Ed helped with committee boat despite rigging up his boat to sail). Beyond the sailors themselves, we had TONS of family to support and kids running around all weekend. I’m told it was reminiscent of CRAW regattas from years past – we may be in for a resurgence of the group and after this weekend it’s no doubt why.
Wind and weather were forecasted to be excellent all weekend: plenty of wind and even more heat and sun. Saturday morning a beautiful wind was blowing out of the South and after a standard skippers meeting the boats were able to make it out for an 11:00ish start time. We sailed all 5 races on Saturday which went off smoothly and with a fair bit of competition, but the fleet also encountered a number of obstacles. Fishermen were sitting on spots of the lake making it challenging to take the most advantageous tack at times, but we all soon learned that those boats were often hiding shallow parts of the lake. Those shallows were difficult to spot without finding out the hard way. On our first downwind Kurt and I found one of those spots in the middle of a jibe, nearly throwing me off the boat. We prevailed, but many others didn’t – either getting stuck in the shallows, pitchpoling, or capsizing over unexpected underwater obstacles. Beyond that, we also had reports of many large fish causing loud thuds on the daggers, particularly on a downwind run. The wind slowly built throughout the afternoon making for an incredible day out on the water.
Saturday after racing, it was the typical Petenwell experience. Many opted to tackle the wait times at The Lure and grab food and beverage there, while others cooked from their RVs. The night was a moderately tame one for most folks, enjoying some really cool fire colors provided by the Werner family and great conversation from all.
Sunday was promising to be another great day on the water. Wind in the morning was relatively tame, but as the fleet got ready the wind started to build rapidly from the south. Most of the sailors got out to the start in a reasonable amount of time, but the first race of the morning proved to be a major challenge for some. The wind was a lot puffier, and Chris Blake came screaming into the finish downwind just to capsize just before the line. Lucky for him, he sealed his first-place finish for the regatta while floating sideways across the line. An epic finish for a well-sailed weekend. After Chris, a few other boats took the same fate, capsizing while waiting for the second race. Sailors from other boats went to support, but after 3 boats tipped within a 5 minute period we decided to call the races and head in for the weekend.
The F16s proved incredibly competitive this weekend, taking 1st (Chris & Gary) and 3rd (Dan & Ally). The Selsmeyers were quite fast this weekend as well, slotting in at 2nd place.
Major thanks to the committee and crash boats – they sure did more than their fair share of work with the wind and lake conditions. Looking forward to another great year at Petenwell next year!
Kate Schnurr