Skip Kaub Ekes Out FIrst Victory at Wave Midwest Championships

Home field advantage proves too much for fellow competitors as Morse Lake Sailing Club cleans up with victories in both the Gold and Silver fleets at the Hobie Wave Midwest Championships as well as the winning the Prized Mayors Cup. 

Skip Kaub (second from the left) from Morse Lake Sailing Club won not only the First place trophy for the Gold Fleet for but also the Mayors cup trophy in a tough and tedious, light wind regatta.  Patrick Green wins Second place Gold Fleet and Third place to Mike Fahle completing the Gold Fleet. 

Doug Waugh First place finisher in the Silver Fleet, (far right) a sailor very new to the sport, had his hands full on the first day sailing in conditions we all were unaccustomed to.  The lack of wind put him and others in a virtual parking lot of boats, mid-lake, attempting to get to the windward finish line. 

Doug Waugh

He was able to cross the line not only ahead of the others in the silver fleet but also ahead of some very good sailors in the Gold Fleet.  His diligence and patience paid off as he went on to race the second days races in fine style.  Doug was joined by Bruce Stallings from Evansville Indiana who finished second place in the Silver Fleet standings.

A few new sailors joined the Wave sailors to support catamaran racing and to bring a revitalized interest to Catamaran racing on Eagle Creek Reservoir.   Chris Wessels, his son Alex (below) and Andy Larson joined the Gold Fleet racing Waves.

 At one time Eagle Creek Reservoir was home to Catamaran racing.  Significant Hobie Sanctioned races were held here as well. Over time the catamaran fleet found a new place on the lake( Hobie Beach) in favor of a growing fleet of mono-hulls needing deep water and dock space.  Skip Kaub a member of the IWSA and Chris Wessels from HCA (Hobie Corporation of America) are trying to bring that tradition back to Eagle Creek.  Central to the Midwest, Indianapolis  can draw catamaran racing of different flavors from other neighboring states.  Proof of their efforts?  At this regatta there were 6 or 7 H16s a couple of H17s and a H21.  With a total of more than 20 Cats of the 52 boats in attendance, Eagle Creek Sailing Club saw a resurgence of Catamaran racing on their lake.

Chris Wessels 16 (left), Andy Larson 03

Gold Fleet Results:

1st     Skip Kaub                 2- 3- 2           7        

2nd    Patrick Green           3- 1- 3           7
3rd     Mike Fahle               5- 2- 1           8

4th     Ray Matuszak          1- 5- 4          10

5th     Bruce Warthen         4- 6- 5          15      

6th     Steve Abbey          10- 4- 6           20

7th     Alex Wessels           9- 7- 7           23

8th     Andy Larson             6- 8- 10        24

9th     Chris Wessels          7- 11- 8        26

11th   William Mullineaux   12- 9- 11      31

Silver Fleet Results:

10th overall, First in his Fleet           Doug Waugh            8- 10- 9        27

12th  overall, Second in his Fleet  Bruce Stallings         11-13-13      37

Best last finish was the tie breaker we used but that is the second tie breaker. The first tie breaker is most number of better finishes.

From the Competitors Eye, the 2010  Indianapolis Mayor’s Cup by Mike Fahle

Competition was very mixed in the first race because the wind took a break on Saturday allowing only one race for the whole day.  It was finally sunny after days of rain and the forecast for the weekend was good with sunny skies and about 5 to 10 MPH winds forecast for both days.  Oh, to have a weather forecaster's job!  Where else can you be so wrong and not have it affect your performance reviews?!  Yes, you guessed it; two hours into the event the skies clouded over and a light rain started while we drifted from the slightest ripple to another, as we made our way around the course trying desperately to figure out where the wind would be and what direction it would take.  Of the 12 Waves racing maybe one or two did NOT lead at some point in the race!  Common sights were to see two boats on different tacks but on the same angle near each other, boats on each side passing a middle boat that never got the wind, bigger dinghies and  keel boats sucking the wind and momentum out of the Wave sails as they cruised close by, usually at critical moments such as during mark roundings.  There was a time limit of thirty minutes to finish after the first place boat and about half the class did not make it even though all tried.  After I finished fifth , with only about  six minutes to spare, I started sailing back to the starting area downwind only to have the wind switch about 145 degrees, making it nearly a beat back to the RC boat.  That is when I decided that if I made it that far I was going to keep going and drift into shore.  By the time I got to the RC boat to report that I was headed in, most of the other competitors in all the classes shared the sentiment and it was not long before the RC abandoned racing for the day which allowed us to get in, put the gear away, and get an early start on the excellent beer the regatta organizers had ready for us.

Ray Matuszak 71

This event is one of Eagle Creek Sailing Club’s big annual events so they are O.K with taking a loss if it means spending to make a memorable regatta.  They charge only $30 and give a T-shirt with that.  They put on a great BBQ supper featuring lots of beer, big steaks or chicken breasts, corn on the cob, salad, roasted sweet potatoes, plenty of beer, soft drinks, beer, apple and cherry pies, and did I mention the beer?   Good beer, too, not just the Lite beer crap!  Later on they have a live band for entertainment to party well into the night and then feed you again on Sunday morning and after the racing.   Everyone from the club is friendly and genuinely glad you came to the regatta.

This is a mixed class regatta where any and all sailboats are welcome and one designs are encouraged.  The C class scows and Hobie 16s were new classes this year, Highlanders returned as a class, and keel boats as big as 26 feet were racing.  The Hobie Waves started in the middle of these classes so there was a lot of action on the course with almost all the other boats being bigger and faster in the light breezes (I think that only the two Lasers had smaller sails than the Wave).

Sunday was cloudy again but at least the rain held off (remember that sunny forecast?) and we got enough breeze to actually race.  There was even just enough wind for a very brief period to fly a hull!   The wind was clocking the whole time which required resetting the course after the first race of the day but the race committee was up to the challenge and got two races off for a three race regatta.   The other challenge for the RC was that the wind was now coming across the narrow part of the reservoir so that the weather mark had to be tucked in pretty close to shore to get enough room for a decent weather leg.  Actually this was more of a challenge to the racers as the trees were blocking the wind and it was pretty tricky trying to find enough “fuel” to power around the weather mark.   Adding to that challenge for the Wave class was dealing with the bigger boats on this more compact course.   It was easy to lose several places in a race just from being blocked at marks or from maneuvering around the other boats at critical times regarding your competition.   It was important to anticipate the effects of these other, larger boats so that you could either benefit from them in relation to your competition, or at least not lose too much.

Perhaps because I was so busy looking for the breeze and anticipating the kinds of situations described above, Sunday’s racing seems blurry to me (surely it was not the beer?).  I barely remember what happened to me so it is hard to describe the racing for the Wave class as a whole.  My first race involved the mainsail uncleating at a critical moment as I was trying to keep my bows out from Skip Kaub who was trying to pass me to windward near the first weather mark (it was agreed that Skip had the best boat speed of any Wave).  That allowed him to roll me causing me to round in fifth.  The four boats in front of me jibed right away but I rode a puff out from shore before jibing and that helped close the gap at the leeward mark.  Again, everyone tacked away quickly and I rode port tack toward shore a couple minutes before tacking.  It was lighter breeze but with a much better angle and I caught a boat to round the second weather mark fourth.  Again riding the puff out into the lake before jibing allowed me to catch two more boats before the finish for a second place.  The last race found me waiting just behind Patrick Green near the RC boat with less than a minute to go so I jumped into the hole to leeward of him and controlled the start at the RC boat.  That forced Patrick to tack away after a minute or so and I led around the course.  Unfortunately, Patrick recovered after rounding the weather mark in fifth and scored well enough to salvage a tie with Skip Kaub for first in the regatta, a point ahead of me.   Skip won the tie breaker and it was an emotional moment for him at the awards ceremony to take first, ahead of the two guys who have helped teach him.  Nothing like winning your first regatta at home, especially one that you have put so much effort into.  No one likes to lose on a tie breaker, especially someone as competitive as Patrick Green, yet Patrick was glad Skip won and, as always, handled the situation with class.   The organizers provided really nice fleece jackets for prizes and Skip added trophies for the Wave class, including ones for the less experienced Silver fleet to further encourage them to continue racing.

To repeat what I wrote last year about this regatta, if you are looking for a fun event to kick off your racing year it would be tough to beat this event.   I think the Hobie 16 class plans to be back with more boats next year, too.

Gold Fleet Results:

1st     Skip Kaub                 2- 3- 2           7        

2nd    Patrick Green           3- 1- 3           7
3rd     Mike Fahle               5- 2- 1           8

4th     Ray Matuszak          1- 5- 4          10

5th     Bruce Warthen         4- 6- 5          15      

6th     Steve Abbey          10- 4- 6           20

7th     Alex Wessels           9- 7- 7           23

8th     Andy Larson             6- 8- 10        24

9th     Chris Wessels          7- 11- 8        26

11th   William Mullineaux   12- 9- 11      31

Silver Fleet Results:

10th overall,   First in his Fleet        Doug Waugh            8- 10- 9        27

12th  overall, Second in his Fleet  Bruce Stallings         11-13-13      37

Best last finish was the tie breaker we used but that is the second tie breaker. The first tie breaker is most number of better finishes.