2008 Class Championship Regatta

August 18th – 20th

Competed at Fern Ridge Lake – Eugene, OR

Organized by Lido 14 District VI and hosted by

Eugene Yacht Club

 

 

 

 

Robertson licks the chop for 5th Lido 14 title

 

EUGENE, Ore.---The swallows skim over the top of the choppy waves on Fern Ridge Lake swiftly and smoothly, the envy of sailors in little boats.

 

"The biggest problem for most people coming in here is they aren't used to sailing the Lido 14 in chop," said Stu Robertson, who with daughter Erin as crew won six of the seven races of the 51st Lido 14 Class Championship, including all three in a misty drizzle Wednesday, to claim his fourth title in five years and fifth overall dating to 1975.

 

Robertson, 59, of Huntington Beach, Calif., was hardly pressed in the 22-boat Gold fleet, leading runnerup Tom Jenkins of Arroyo Grand, Calif., and crew Andrew Brown by 13 points after discarding his worst race---second to Jenkins in Race 3 Tuesday.

 

The third- and fourth-place finishers, Eric Heim and Aimee Graham of Dana Point, Calif., and Steve and Anne Schupak of Costa Mesa, Calif., sailed consistently well enough to avoid any double-digit finishes, and former champion John Papadopoulos and Stacie Brandt bagged two seconds Wednesday to finish fifth overall, but there was no reeling in the Robertsons.

 

They have been a Lido 14 team for most of 20 years---she started at age 8---but their skill wasn't the only problem for their rivals. Many of the Californians, to whom summer rain is only a rumor, arrived ill-equipped for wet weather so could only soak up the local atmosphere in the skimpy clothes on their backs. A few settled for oversize trash bags with holes for their heads and arms cut out.

 

Then, although the forecast of 19-knot winds evolved into only half that, it was steady and strong enough from the deep south of the lake to churn up a two-foot chop with waves not much farther apart than the lengths of the boats.

 

A few competitors chose not to go back out after lunch, and after two local boats fell out at the start of the seventh race---Bill Crutchfield/Kay Lee Brown were dismasted and Mark and Sheena Schroeder capsized---and the Robertson had the title clinched, principal race officer Rich Johnson decided to cancel the scheduled eighth and final race and call it a regatta.

 

Few competitors complained.

 

"The chop was huge," said Grant Williams of San Diego, who with crew/wife Barbara came from one point behind Joe D'Amico and Steven Hopkins in the last race to win the Silver fleet. "It was like sailing in the ocean. But this is still a lovely place to sail. Their [Eugene YC] race committee did their job."

 

Schupak, fourth in the Gold fleet, said, "It was a challenging day. We had more water coming in than we could keep out." 

 

Meanwhile, Robertson revealed one secret of his success: a new, special set of sails.  

 

"They were full and soft," he said, "just what I needed for driving through the chop."

 

The rest of the Lido 14 fleet can only long for the day when he retires from the class, but he had this to say about how long he plans to keep doing it: "As long as I can."

 

Rich Roberts
Press Officer
Lido 14 Class Championships

• Class Championships Picture Book

 

Gold Skipper Crew Sail # R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Discard Total
1 Stuart Robertson Erin Robertson 3113 1 1 2 1 1 1 1   2 6
2 Tom Jenkins Andrew Brown 6244 2 2 1 8 14 3 3   14 19
3 Eric Heim Aimee Graham 4732 4 3 3 6 4 5 4   6 23
4 Steve Schupak Anne Schupak 6262 3 6 9 4 3 4 9   9 29
5 John Papadopoulos Stacie Brandt 6300 5 13 6 16 2 8 2   16 36
6 Freddie Stevens Fred Stevens 2614 10 8 5 2 20 12 6   20 43
7 Bob Yates Pat Kincaid 5051 8 12 14 3 6 6 8   14 43
8 Garrett Johns Tracey Johns 4870 18 9 16 7 5 2 12   18 51
9 Sarah Ryan Mark Ryan 4790 13 4 10 19 12 13 5   19 57
10 Jerald Skeen Jaxon Skeen 3979 6 18 7 11 7 9 DNF   23 58
11 Jim Sterner Carolyn Sterner 5110 7 10 15 5 8 15 15   15 60
12 Stephen Orsini Ginger Orsini 6310 9 15 8 12 9 14 10   15 62
13 Steve Potter Christina Potter 6284 19 7 4 14 16 7 17   19 65
14 Walter Johnson Terry Johnson 6288 11 5 19 18 10 18 13   19 75
15 Tracey Kenney Robin Tams 4430 12 16 13 10 13 17 11   17 75
16 Dave Carroll Tabatha Lasafer 4960 16 11 17 9 15 10 DNS   23 78
17 Ron Runyan Nicole Runyan 6131 20 14 20 13 18 11 7   20 83
18 James Mackey Sarah Mackey 4284 15 17 11 17 11 19 DNF   23 90
19 Roger Hinton Anne Hinton 3906 21 21 12 15 21 16 14   21 99
20 Allan Stults Terry Sellers 5071 14 19 21 22 17 21 16   22 108
21 Leeanne Bale-Fish Ron Fish 615 17 22 18 21 19 20 DNS   23 117
22 Chris Lofgren Miles Lofgren 2351 22 20 22 20 DNS DNS DNS   23 130
Silver Skipper Crew Sail # R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Discard Total
1 Grant Williams Barbara Williams 4300 6 4 2 1 1 4 2   6 14
2 Joe Damico Steven Hopkins 6025 3 2 1 6 4 1 6   6 17
3 Hank Erbele Bernie Lentz 2681 4 3 10 3