Petenwell Recap 2013

I Always Win

CRAW’s sailing season this year is off to a less than spectacular start. Rock Lake, our first regatta of the 2013 rotation, was a bust. 30 mile an hour wind, 40 degree air temp and 50 degree water temp are not exactly inviting numbers, even for those of us who live in northern climates.

The Barnum Bay Regatta on Lake Petenwell was second up. With the calendar now flipped to June 1 and 2, we should be ready for racing action, even at Latitude N 42.980687. Well, we went one for two. Saturday was a great sailing day. At launch time, wind was so light that some teams were wondering why boats were even leaving shore. And temperatures were such that a number of crews were lured into bare-legged sailing. Right on cue, at just about the same time that the last boat shoved off, the breeze came in and continued to build.

It was quite evident that most of us were back out on the water for the first time this season. Teams took turns attempting to fix stuff on the water that they promised themselves they’d fix before this season. We took turns throughout the day performing pitch poles and trying to remember proper righting technique. By the time the flag dropped for Race 5, more than half the fleet decided to retire, which rewarded to boats that persevered.

By Saturday evening the wind had clocked around to the northwest bringing in much cooler temperatures, stiff breeze and overcast skies. Add to that the rain that started just as it was getting dark, which made the RV owners feel really smart, and the tent campers quite uncomfortable. Early Sunday morning most of us found out that we’d packed away our cold weather gear prematurely. No racing would take place on Sunday.

In spite of these challenges I felt like I came away a winner. Not because I did anything spectacular on the race course, but because I was reminded of what CRAW gives back to me every year. As I sat in my lawn chair Saturday night, I watched a “posse” of CRAW kids having a hoot of a time playing bocee ball. At dinner I listened as my son and daughter swapped stories of the day with the group of kids they had grown up with at these very events. They were proud of their bruises. They laughed at their missteps. They stood back-to-back to see who was now taller. It reminded me that the racing is just the collective interest that creates the community, and that the latter is far more important than the former.

I win every time I come to a CRAW event. How about you?

Postscript: Congratulations to CRAW kids, Clay and Alyx Selsmeyer, for their very first, overall first place finish in a CRAW regatta!

Daniel Hearn