Aug. 18, 2008

Fair weather or foul, Lido 14 Champs ready to go

EUGENE, Ore.---One sailor's mast blew down, others worried about that or worse, and Walter Johnson's crew-wife Terry said, "We were going so fast that water was shooting up through the centerboard [housing]."

So went a weekend practice race for the 51st Lido 14 Class Championship scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday at Fern Ridge Lake, hosted by the Eugene Yacht Club. The storm winds of 18 to 20 knots were just what you don't want for this basic family dinghy, but the three-by-five-mile, horseshoe-shaped reservoir nestled in the Willamette Valley of west-central Oregon may have other ideas.

"We had a hard time keeping the boat under control," said Mark Schroeder, a local veteran sailing with his wife Sheena as crew. "It was a little more than a Lido would like to see."

 

 
Tom Jenkins - Lido #6244 Need inspiration? 9-time Lido 14 champion Dave Ullman (r) dropped by Racers in qualifying series
 

Conditions for Monday's three qualifying races to split the fleet into Gold and Silver divisions were much more manageable with south winds of 5 to 10 knots after morning showers, but when someone like Schroeder who has been racing on the lake for 20 years says, "This is unusual for us to get rain in August, but this year has not been very normal," who knows what to expect? 

The forecast was for rain to return late Tuesday afternoon and continue through Wednesday.  

Whatever the conditions, the best sailors have a way of rising to the top, a habit that makes favorites of four-time winner Stu Robertson and daughter Erin of Fountain Valley, Calif.; recent High Sierra Regatta winner Tom Jenkins of Arroyo Grande with crew Andrew Brown, and frequent contenders Freddie and dad Fred Stevens of Long Beach.

Not all of the above raced one another in Monday's divided fleets, but the top boats were Robertson, 1-1-1; Steve Schupak, 1-1-3; Jenkins, 4-3-2; event co-chairman Jim Sterner of Bainbridge Island, Wash., 2-4-3; Bob Yates of Newport Beach, 2-3-5, and Eric Heim, Newport Beach, 4-2-4.

Mark Gaudio of Newport Beach, another four-time winner and current champion, is not competing, nor are usual contenders Kurt and Anne Wiese of Newport Beach, who had entered but withdrew because of a late business conflict.

Dave Ullman, the biggest Lido 14 winner of all with nine titles from 1969 through 1986, is here but not to sail. He was the featured speaker at Monday night's luau dinner.

Racing will be on a 1 1/4-mile-long windward-leeward course starting at 11 a.m. each day---conditions, of course, permitting.

Veterans Roger and Anne Hinton of San Diego will have their mast back up after Sunday's collapse when a shroud chain plate tore loose in the blustery breeze.

Schroeder said, "Normally in August you'd see very light winds with a high-pressure system sitting over the area, and when the land becomes warmer than the ocean the wind comes in from the sea (Fern Ridge Lake is about 40 miles inland). That's normal. This year has not been normal." 

All together now: "It's … never … like … this … here."

MEDIA CONTACT

Rich Roberts

310.835.2526

cell 310.766.6547

rivhsail@earthlink.net 

 

The following tables how the rankings after the three round robin races of the Qualifying Series.  All competitors were grouped into four different (seeded) groups with each group racing the other three groups once.  Total points were accumulated for each boat to rank the boats with the top half being assigned to the Gold Flight of the Championship Series that starts on Tuesday.  If sailing continues on schedule, none of the Qualifying Series scores or rankings will be used.

Gold          
Sail# Skipper Crew Boat Name Points Rank
3113 Stuart Robertson Erin Robertson Snopy 3 1
6262 Steve Schupak Anne Schupak 14 Karat 5 2
6244 Tom Jenkins Andrew Brown Snafu 9 3
5110 Jim Sterner Carolyn Sterner Fin 9 4
5051 Bob Yates Pat Kincaid Just In Time 10 5
4732 Eric Heim Aimee Graham One Love 10 6
2614 Freddie Stevens Fred Stevens War Zone 11 7
6300 John Papadopoulos Stacie Brandt   14 8
6310 Stephen Orsini Ginger Orsini Greased Pig 16 9
3979 Gereald Skeen Jaxon Skeen Beagle 19 10
6131 Ron Runyan Nicole Runyan Kitty 21 11
6288 Walter Johnson Terry Johnson My Bad 23 12
4870 Garrett Johns Tracy Johns Runaway Pig 23 13
4790 Sarah Ryan Madd Max Mark Ryan Cruisin' N Losin 26 14
6284 Steve Potter Christina Potter Isis 26 15
4960 Dave Carroll Tabatha Lasater PU 26 16
3906 Roger Hinton Anne Hinton   27 17
2351 Chris Lofgren Miles Lofgren Sweaty Marshmallow 30 18
4284 James Mackey Sarah Mackey Electric Schock 31 19
127 Leeanne Bale-Fish Ron Fish White Trash 31 20
4430 Kenney, Tracey Robin Tams Shenanigans 32 21
5071 Allan Stults Terry Sellars Water Witch 33 22
22 Total Competitors        
         
Silver          
Sail# Skipper Crew Boat Name Points Rank
6127 Roger Patterson Kathy Dryden   34 1
6195 Tom Estlow Karmen Estlow Cat n the Hat 34 2
4300 Grant Williams Barbara Williams Capt's Fancy 35 3
4803 Victor Lund Ed Stevens Flow 36 4
2681 Hank Erbele Bernie Lentz Lil' Juan 37 5
4633 Mark Schroeder Sheena Shroeder Leapin' Lido 37 6
6025 Joe Damico Steven Hopkins   38 7
4115 Peter Rasco Bernard Saggese Fine Swine 41 8
3997 Lorin Moentenich Avis Newell Cocopuff 46 9
1952 Bill Crutchfield Kaylee Brown Tumblin' Dice 51 10
6156 Richard Chase Blanche Chase Chaser Too 52 11
6313 Ellen Collins Lenore Collins Delores 53 12
158 Ted Walkup Ed Emrick Orange Crush 54 13
3720 James Clevenberg Neil Peterson Slippery When Wet 54 14
3391 David Ispas Richard Joyce Libido 56 15
2304 Becky Barker Marti Kersh Curious George 57 16
4226 Everett Hobson Jonathon Hobson Hillarity 57 17
6263 Michelle Wood Bill Howitt Zephyr 60 18
4543 Matt Nolan Maggie Nolan Logic 61 19
4205 Kathy Muenz Stefanie Carroll   62 20
2963 Kay Sterner Anna Misenti Malarkey 67 21
21 Total Competitors        

Rich Robert's Pre Regatta Report