Fishbeck Wins 2002 Sunfish Season Championship
Holding off a final charge by challenge Gil Chesbro on the last night of Sunfish racing (Wed, Sept 4), John Fishbeck has won the Sunfish 2002 Season Championship. John ends up with 243 points to 241 for Gil.

On the last night of Sunfish Racing, Chesbro scored three first place finishes and a second in a final valiant effort to overtake Fishbeck. The key race turned out to be race two, won by John Fishbeck, a win in that race for Chesbro would have made the difference.

Ten Sunfish sailed on their final race night for 2002. In all nine Sunfish sailors qualify for trophies this year. For details on finishes and season standings click on "Race Results" and follow the appropriate links.

For the season, Doug Carlson was the winner with close competition from Mike Moody who finished second, Olav Messerschmidt who finished third and George Siegle who finished fourth. In all, nine Laser sailors qualified for trophies this year. Click on "Race Results" and follow the link for complete season results and standings.

It was a great day for racing on the last day of Lightning racing on Lake Lansing for 2002. A little cool - but a nice wind and lots of sun. Siegle began the day in second place for the season, down 38 points to Mike Moody. To win the championship, Siegle needed to win all three races and have at least five boats racing. The five boats were there - so it all rested on taking three first place finishes.

In race one, Siegle got off to a good start. With crew Ann Siegle and Gil Chesbro, "Fins" led from beginning to end. Mike Moody, sailing "Moody's Booty" with Kim Knight and Ken Knight, finished second. Pat Dolan, with crew Anna Hamilton and Stacey Kotecki, was third.

Race two was almost a carbon copy of the first race with "Fins" leading all the way and "Moody's Booty" coming in second. Blaine Severin, with Julie Pierce and John LeFevre crewing, was third.

It came down to one final race. This time however, it was Moody that led the way. Then the unexpected happened - a capsize for "Moody's Booty". Sielge sailed "Fins" into first place and never looked back. Anna Hamilton was helmsman on "Wind Dancer" in this race and finished second with Dolan and Kotecki crewing. Severin finished third. It was an exciting finish to a great season of racing. Click on the title for standings and details on finishes for all races.

Awards Galore at 2002 Annaul Banquet
LSC's Annual Awards Banquet was held November 22nd at Signatures. A good time was had by all - thanks to the excellent planning of Bob Miller and Stacey Kotecki.

The magic number this year was nine. Nine skippers qualified for recognition in each of the three fleets. Doug Carlson led Laser sailors Mike Moody, Olav Messerschmidt, George Siegle, Pat Dolan, Ann Siegle, Blaine Severin, Ken Knight and Bob Miller.

In the Lightning Fleet, George Siegle came from behind on the last day of racing to win the championship. Mike Moody was second, followed by Pat Dolan, Ron Marshall, Blaine Severin, Neil Harrison, John LeFevre, Jim Ault and Don Baron.

John Fishbeck was the Sunfish Champion. Gil Chesbro finished second followed by Doug Bohl, Dennis Dudley, Maribeth Fletcher, Dave Vietti, Neil Harrison, Sandy Bryson and Alanna Harvey.

Don Baron passed the Flying Wedge trophy on to Jim Ault. George Siegle passed the Particularly Peculiar award on to Alanna Harvey.

Siegle Going to North American Championship
By Ann Siegle
Three Lansing Sailing Club boats competed at the Michigan District Championships this past weekend. Forty-one boats competed for top honors at the 2002 District Championships, sailing on Tawas Bay, at the Tawas Bay Yacht Club. The crew of FINS, George Siegle, Gil Chesbro and Ann Siegle, the crew of UFP, Blaine Severin with crew Larry Koster and Tom Rasmussen, and the crew of Moody's Booty, Mike Moody, Helio Vogel and his friend Matt crewing.

Sailors enjoyed "spectacular" racing conditions. Saturday's racing began in light, but steady southerlies, and as the day went on, the seabreeze brought the wind around to southeast, and up in velocity to over 15 by the fourth race.

The FINS crew took a deck-washer wave over the bow on one upwind, and was both surfing down waves and planing in the windy conditions of the fourth race. The big fleet and close competition made for some exciting mark roundings. Imagine 40 Lightnings all converging on the leeward mark at one time, and you'll have some idea of what it was like. The windward-leeward courses make the offwind legs just as tactical as the upwind, with boats sailing on either side of the course, and some boats gybing down the middle.

Most sailors put a premium on getting good starts and a big fleet regatta like Districts it's especially important. The crew of Moody's Booty put it together for a good aggressive start and got an 11th in one race Saturday. FINS and Moody's Booty actually had a tie on Saturday night, after four races in a fleet of 41 boats! The crew of FINS posted a 28th place finish overall, Moody's Booty a 30th and UFP a 36th in the regatta. Michigan District Championships are a district-wide qualification regatta for the North American Championships, to be held in mid-August at North Cape Yacht Club, sailed on Lake Erie. Before the non- istrict boats are dropped of the roster, there are 28 slots open for the boats to move up to compete at North American Championships, so the FINS crew went home with their signed qualification papers and are planning to race at NAs.

The crews also enjoyed post-racing barbecue at Ann Siegle's parents' summer house north of Tawas.

Congratulations to all our sailors who represented our group well at the District level.