Wednesday Racing May 31, 2006

The day began early for Alanna Havey as she picked up her new Sunfish from Avon Sailboats in Rochester. Paul Davis sailed steadily - keeping "Sweet Pea" moving all evening.

Neil Harrison and John Fishbeck show good form on their way to the windward mark.

Alanna found her boat to be light and fast. She scored 4-2-3 in the three races she sailed.

Dennis Dudley on his way to the finish line in a nice breeze.

The master, John Fishbeck, pays attention to his telltales. He ended up with four first place finishes to show for his dedication to keeping the boat moving.

Jamie Rasmussen had an outstanding start in Race 2. This was only her second evening of single-handed racing - and is rapidly improving.

Neil Harrison put a pair of threes on the board.

Bob Miller leads this threesome. Chris Strugar-Fritch is second and newcomer Reid Peirce third in line - using a borrowed boat without a full set of controls.

Doug Carlson was the early front runner, winning both the first two races. He added a third and a second to complete a solid evening of racing.

Blaine Severin had some problems getting it going early in the evening with the wind a little fickle. But as the wind clocked and increased in tempo, Blaine scored a six and five.

Mike Moody was the most consistent sailor of the evening in terms of finishes. He had two seconds and two firsts. Here he watches boats attacking from behind in an early race.

Susanna was a little late for the start of the evenings racing, getting accross the start line about four minutes after others had gone. She still almost caught boats. She got a chance to work on her vang sheeting technique as the wind came up.

We caught Olav Messerschmidt working to right his boat. He had been sailing at the top of the fleet until this downwind disaster in the final race. Olav ended up 3-5-4-9, leading most of race three until he found himself on the left side of the course when a huge right shift came in..

With the wind up, George Siegle demonstrated good downwind technique - and passed boats.

Doug ended up with two firsts and second a a third..

George keeps his boat flat and sails fast.

The Sunfish fleet now turns its attention to Saturday's regatta while the Lasers have one more Wednesday of racing before the Great Lakes Championship at Gull Lake.