Lake Lansing Goes "Bananas" - "Wind Dancer" Wins Three

"Wind Dancer" (left) , "Moody's Booty" and "Bananas" show how competitive Sunday 's racing was - Picture by William Davidson

There was a lot of sailing on Lake Lansing Sunday. "Spartan Singles" finished up just before 1 pm, then the Lightnings were in the spotlight. Pat Dolan, Stacy Kotecki and Gil Chesbro sailed "Wind Dancer" to three exciting come from behind wins. But a big story was also the success of Jim and Maribeth Fletcher sailing "Bananas".

The Fletchers were consistently among the leaders in the first two races, even though sailing shorthanded. When the dust cleared, they had racked up two second place finishes in the three races they sailed.

It was a wonderful day to be on the water with temperatures in the 70's, and mild variable breezes - generally from the east, but with shifts of thirty degrees (or more). In other words, some typical inland lake sailing. Eight Lightnings participated in the racing and found it easy to be behind, then thrust into a lead position with a wind shift and more pressure than other boats - and then watching while boats behind on the downwind leg catch up, riding in on a wave of new wind.

George Siegle also sailed at the top of the fleet most of the day with Ann Siegle and Laura Harvey crewing - Ann in pain from stepping on a bee earlier in the day. They claimed third place in race one and second place in the final race. Mike Moody sailed with Lisa Winters and Susanna Tellschow, the three of them getting ready to sail the Wawasee Regatta coming up in two weeks. They were also consistently among the leaders and finished third in the final race.

An amazing boat and crew is the "Oh m" bunch. Ron Marshall, Jane Marshall and Bob Hill, sailing without using a spinnaker - nevertheless always seemed to be in there scraping for a top spot. They claimed a third in Race Two, accounting for the final top three spots in Sunday's racing.

Detailed results and standings are available through links on the Racing page of the LSC web site at www.lansingsailing.org.

"Unidentified Flying Pigasus" Crew Returns From Devil's Lake

Devil's Lake Regatta Results   Name 1 2 3 4 5 T 1 George Sipel 1 5 1 2 1 10 2 Dave Laidlaw 2 1 5 3 2 13 3 Bruce Goldsmith 6 2 3 4 3 18 4 Blaine Severin 5 3 4 1 5 18 5 Hank Hodgson 3 4 2 6 6 21 6 John Heagy 4 6 6 7 4 27 7 Jeff Clemes 7 7 7 5 7 33 The “Unidentified Flying Pigasus” (Yellow/Blue spinnaker) demonstrating that pigs can fly

Editor's Note: Blaine Severin, with crew Julie Pierce and Tom Deits, sailed in the Devil's Lake Lightning Regatta last weekend. This crew has made "Unidentified Flying Pigasus" LSC's most travelled boat over the past several years and were named most improved in the District last year. Blaine provides this brief story of their participation in this year's Devil's Lake Regatta..

On National "Talk Like a Pirate Day", the LSC entry at Devil's Lake Regatta surprised the fleet with a first in the fourth race. Ending in a tiebreaaker loss to Bruce GToldsmith for third place, the "Unidentified Flying Pigasus" crew of Blaine Severin, Julie Pierce and Tom Deits said "Arggg." With only seven boats in the regatta, its time to come out and support this event. LSC sailors will feel right at home with shifty winds, weeds and sand.

Editors Note 2: There are several more Lightning Regattas close by that LSC crews may wish to participate in. The "Red Flannel" Regatta is this coming weekend in Chicago. Wawasee hosts a regatta the first weekend in October and the North Cape Fall Blowout is October 17.

Carlson Wins Spartan Singles Open Division - MSU Scores Second Among Collegiate Sailors

Carlos Abisambra of Purdue - Picture by Susanna Tellschow Casey Ray of MSU - Picture by Susanna Tellschow

Sailing in highly variable light winds, Saturday's Open Division of the Spartan Singles Regatta was very difficult for the sailors. Even so, three races were completed with Doug Carlson of the Lansing Sailing Club the overall winner. LSC Commodore Mike Moody was second and took note of the many people from LSC and MSU who worked hard to make this Regatta a success. Says Mike: "A big THANK YOU to all of you".

On Sunday, the collegiate sailors completed their part of the regatta with Purdue's Carlos Abisambra holding off Casey Ray of the MSU Spartans to take first place. Ray was second, just five points behind in the nine race series.

Junior Sailor E.J. O'Mara participated on both days of the Regatta and showed his rapid development as a Laser sailor - beating his coach of last summer in one of Sunday's Races.

This is the second annual Spartan Singles Regatta - bringing collegiate sailors and non-collegiate sailors together. It is sponsored jointly by the MSU Sailing Club and the Lansing Sailing Club. The main purpose of the regatta is to have a great regatta while creating conditions similar to those the collegiate sailors will encounter when they sail their midwest single-handed championship which is scheduled shortly after Spartan Singles. With thirty two boats participating, including some of the best Michigan Laser sailors, our goals were very well satisfied.

George Griswold again brought his camera and promises to share a disk with us. We in turn promise that a picture story will be coming soon on the LSC web site.

• September 26 (Sunday): Paul Davis, Bill Wadland, Volunteer Desired.
• October 3 (Sunday): Alanna Harvey, George Siegle, Volunteer Desired.
• October 10 (Sunday): Terry Kleiman, Ken Knight, Volunteer Desired.

• September 25-26, Red Flannel Lightning Regatta
• September 25, Pontiac Laser Regatta
• September 26, Lightning Fleet Racing
• October 2-3, MSU Cedarfest Regatta
• October 2-3, Wawasee Lightning Regatta
• October 3, Lightning Fleet Racing
• October 10, Lightning Fleet Racing
• October 16, Docks Out at LSC
• October 17, North Cape Fall Blowout Lightning Regatta

• Swedish Match Tour. Previous events shown continuously on the web at narrowstep.tv.
• Wednesdays: Annapolis Yacht Club Wednesday Night Series. On the web at www.t2p.tv each evening after racing.