2007 Orchard Lake Cup

Note: On-the-water action shots are courtesy of Marg Crawford.
Click on most thumbnails for a larger image.

Charlotte Foran	Wayne Loescher	John LeFevre	Faith Krogulecki	Pat Dolan	Jonathan Ahlbrand
Doug Crawford	Olav Messerschmidt	Aaron Messerschmidt	LSC's Orchard Lake Cup 2007 Team	Stephen Wagner	Susanna Tellschow

The LSC Team gets it's picture taken

The 2007 Orchard Lake Cup was held July 28, 2007. It brought together four teams of nine (or more) sailors. Each team would field three Laser sailors and three "Y" Boat crews ("Y" boats are two or three person boats).

Eleven outstanding ambassadors for the Lansing Sailing Club traveled to Orchard Lake for the event, and brought home a first place Regatta finish.

The Orchard Lake facility is one of the most beautiful in our area of the country. With LSC looking at the possibility of building a new Clubhouse, it was fun to check out the fantastic facility at Orchard Lake Country Club.

Our three Laser sailors led the team. Susanna Tellschow finished first overall among Laser sailors, putting up four first place finishes in five races. Junior Sailor Doug Crawford finished second overall and Wayne Loescher was close behind. LSC went 1-2-3 in one race and we consistently were three of the top five Laser finishers.

This is the sight that greated us when we arrived at Orchard Lake

There were twelve "Y" Boats - a design that originated in Minnesota. Orchard Lake purchased the mold and made modifications in the design to fit their needs. The boats are very roomy and controls simplified for learn to sail classes.

There were also twelve Lasers. Although these wee older boats and didn't have all the latest bells and whistles in rigging, they were very sailable and our sailors had no complaints about the boats.

The grounds were beautifully don as can be seen in this pic of Stephen Wagner

Our "Y" Boat sailors didn't quite match the impressive Laser result, but also sailed well - and the combined Laser - "Y" Boat score of 103 put the Lansing Sailing Club team into first place for the Regatta. The next Team scored 112 points. Olav Messerschmidt, Stephen Wagner and Aaron Messerschmidt sailed together and got stronger as the day went on, going 7-8-11-5-3 - just missing a first in the final race by inches. Their total was 23 after the throwout.

Charlotte Foran was put to the test. In her very first race, she was given the helm. Charlotte drove well, improving with each tack.	A proud mom, Missy Foran was among the spectators watching the action right in front of the Club as Charlotte got the boat off to a great start - right at the gun.	Faith Krogulecki at the helm.	Aaron Messerschmidt, Stephen Wagner and Olav Messerschmidt between races.
Two of the LSC crews in good position after the start of race one. Charlotte is driving in her first race.	The boats are coming to the gybe mark wing and wing. Number 10 and Number 7 are LSC boats.	Wayne Loescher looking very relaxed in the Laser he was assigned.	Stephen Wagner is at the tiller of "Lucky Number 7". Aaron Messerschmidt on the main and Olav Messerschmidt on jib.
Doug Crawford work his Laser downwind..	John and Jonathan about to overtake..	John LeFevre driving back to the finish.	LSC Junior Sailors headed to the leeward mark.
Faith is driving well in close quarters sailing.	Doug passes leeward mark as Wayne approaches.	Jonathan grabs stern line as John eases main halyard.	Charlotte ready with the bow line. Faith to pick up stern line.

John LeFevre and Jonathan Ahlbrand sailed another "Y" Boat and posted the best results for our team with a 3-7-2-10-6 and a total of 18 after their throwout. Junior Sailors Charlotte Foran and Faith Krogulecki sailed the third "Y" Boat with coach Pat Dolan. This was Charlotte's very first racing - and her improvement over the course of the day was huge. By the end, she had the boat really moving and came from behind in the final race to drive her boat to pass several boats right at the finish. Faith had sailed in this event two years ago, so it wasn't as new to her - but even so, her improvement over the course of the day was also significant. Between them, the girls beat a total of seventeen boats and a score of 32 after their throwout (11-6-9-8-9). No other Junior Sailors drove "Y" Boats - so our girls were up against adults in all the other boats.

A sumptious box lunch was served at noon.

Marg Crawford captures a moment on digital.

Wayne Loescher relaxes after sailing.

Missy and Charlotte Foran.

Each team drew cards to select their color. LSC was the "Black" team and we sailed the three Lasers and three "Y" Boats assigned to the "Black" team. After lunch, we rotated and sailed the "Red" boats. In this way the potential for having a boat that didn't sail as well was shared by at least two teams. It seemed like a very good system. We had a great time and hope to be able to reciprocate to some degree by providing Lasers for Orchard Lake sailors to use if they come to the Lake Lansing Laser Regatta in late August.

Reviewing the results - and verifying that the morning boat was indeed hard to sail. It finished last twice in the afternoon when another team sailed it.	John LeFevre, Jonathan Ahlbrand and Aaron Messerschmidt enjoy some humor during the awards ceremony.	Wayne tells a story about Olav.	The Commodore congratulates the LSC team.
"Doug is ready for prime time," said Pat Dolan, introducing the LSC Team. " .	"Charlotee sailed in her first race today - and drove the boat to finish ahead of her mom."	"We asked her if she swam, and she said 'no'. She still doesn't swim."	Missy Foran was drafted to sail on the "At-Large" team in the afternoon - and made the awards platform.

Looking back on the day, it was filled with great memories: Doug Crawford's breakthrough, besting all the Junior Sailors from Orchard Lake, and scoring second overall. Susanna Tellschow easily winning four of five Laser races. Charlotte Foran's first day of racing and the amount of improvement she made in the course of only one day. Faith Krogulecki adapting to having to drive the boat after the hiking stick broke off and still picking up boats right at the finish. Aaron Messerschmidt showing that he can drive a boat in a crowd. Stephen Wagner's holding the team's attention as he described boats coming together on the water with great animation. Jonanthan Ahlbrand and John LeFevre sailing at the top of the "Y" Boat fleet all day. Olav Messerschmidt being teased by everyone and Wayne Loescher's great stories about Olav's exploits. Pat Dolan's pride in introducing all the members of the winning Lansing Sailing Club team. And many more.

Doug Crawford savors a breakout in his sailing

Charlotte mugs for the camera

One last memory before heading home.