Washington Yacht Club's Snowflake Regatta - Jan. 11/12, 1997

On Jan. 11/12 the Washington Yacht Club http://weber.u.washington.edu/d51/sailing/ held it's second annual Snowflake Regatta on Lake Washington in Seattle. There were four classes, Lasers(8), 420's(3), Hobies(3) and 505's(5).

Rainer Leuschke, the WYC 505 fleet captain and Dave Stienmier dominated the 505 class, winning all seven races. The teams of Courter/Linde and Johnson/Ernst managed to lead at a number of marks, but Leuschke/Stienmier were first to finish every race.

The biggest news of the weekend was the weather. On Saturday, temperatures skyrocketed to near 50f degrees! Winds were out of the north, 3 - 10kt. Sunday was completely sunny, temperatures reached 40+f. Winds on Sunday were out of the east/northeast 3 - 12. After the weather we've been having, no one dreamed we could get excellent sailing weather like this. I'm serious!

Leuschke, WYC 505 fleet captain, claimed Kyrwood 6477 for himself and Stienmier; 6477 is the pride of the WYC fleet. John Courter and Rebecca Linde sailed Parker 1515. Rebecca and John, usually Hobie sailors, sailed a 505 in this event and did an excellent job, taking second place. Alan "one L" Johnson and Billy Ernst sailed Parker 1615. Johnson and Ernst switched places for this event, Johnson helmed for the first time while Ernst got his first shift up front. Sue Athmann helmed her boat, Parker 1911, this was Sue's first regatta, with her was 505 owner (Parker 4019), Paul Von Grey. Peter Serafin brought what I'm certain is the oldest 505 still sailing. Peter's boat was made by Clark, here in Seattle, it looks much older than our numbered club boats. Crewing in Peter's boat was another new 505 owner (Kyrwood 67XX), Terence Spies.

The recent bad weather made it difficult for anyone to find crew, pairing up boat owners kept three 505s from sailing. The third boat being John Dean's Rondar 5518. John attended the event, but without crew or a spinnaker halyard, he didn't sail.

The races:
Race one - At the skippers meeting we were told about the triangle course we would be using, a secondary windward leeward course may be used. Johnson/Ernst got a great start and led by 75 yards at the windward mark. Following the Hobie ahead, Johnson/Ernst proceed toward the reach mark... You can guess the rest. I thought the big W on the board was to signify "Washington Yacht Club." Windward/leeward, duh. Leuschke/Stienmier cruised to a first place finish after pulling away from Courter/Linde on the run.

Race two - Leuschke/Stienmier lead at the first mark and never looked back. Johnson/Ernst rounded the leeward mark ahead of Courter/Linde, however a near windward capsize and subsequent inadvertent 360 with a boat full of water took them out of contention. Serafin/Spies finished third. Athmann/Von Grey's spin halyard simply wouldn't go up or down without major effort. Half their run was spent getting the chute up, the other half getting it down.

Race three - Almost a duplicate of race two. Leuschke/Stienmier lead from start to finish. Courter/Linde and Johnson/Ernst battled for second on the final leg. Courter/Linde took second by "about two feet." Serafin/Spies fourth, Athmann/Von Grey fifth.

Race four - Leuschke/Stienmier lead from start to finish. Again Courter/Linde and Johnson/Ernst battled for second on the final leg. This time Johnson/Ernst won out. Serafin/Spies finished a much closer fourth. Athmann/Von Grey now have a chance to do something about their spinnaker problem.

Sunday morning Bates McKee gave an excellent talk about Seattle area wind patterns, specifically in the two places we sail the most. Thank you Bates!

Race five - Leuschke/Stienmier went right, good decision. Athmann/Von Grey, now using a makeshift external spin halyard, are in contention for a while but don't seem to have the boat speed to hang in.

Race six - Surprise! This race was all Johnson/Ernst. Johnson/Ernst push Courter/Linde over early and lead around all marks of the shorter, twice around triangle course. Courter/Linde recover nicely and keep Leuschke/Stienmier blanketed downwind. Johnson/Ernst round the leeward mark 100 yards ahead. Johnson/Ernst continue in a southeasterly direction on Port tack, stopping in one of the few complete holes of the weekend. Ernst reassures me that the others will also be without wind. Leuschke/Stienmier round, followed closely be Courter/Linde and Serafin/Serafin. A gust comes in from the north, about a thirty degree lift pointing them straight toward the finish! By the time the wind reaches Johnson/Ernst, they are behind all three boats. Subsequent swearing in both english and spanish didn't seem to help.

Race seven - Courter/Linde lead at both marks, however trouble dousing allows Leuschke/Stienmier sneak by while they are busy. A clean sweep for Leuschke/Stienmier.

The regatta was very well run. Thanks are due to Dave Banks and the rest of the race committee. The local Hobie fleet deserves thanks for loaning us their marks.

Hopefully this is the first of many regattas the Seattle area 505 fleet attends this year.