Detroit Yacht Club Regatta

This was starboard windward start with the pin end favored with 6 knots of air. There were only 3 boats in this race. Merlin had Wally Cross on the boat and by staying to the left of them I would be able to take the pin end. Unfortunately I later found out that they had a new #1 and mainsail. Although we started to weather we were not able to point up with them and we simple had to go to leeward and a little behind. We rounded the next mark in 2nd just ahead of J. Since the apparent wind was at 85 degrees I decided to us the .75 which initially fast. towards the end of the leg it was definately downwind conditions.At the gybe point we went with the .6 with a gybe peel. I made the decision to go on the canadian shore because I felt the wind was stronger. Merlin covered us but later gybed up to Jwalker on the far right. I decided to cut the rear range light close because I thought that side would be stronger pressure. It turned out that the american side had more air where Merlin and J got more pressure to finish in front of us.

Usually the left strategy works for these conditions but they do not call it Lake St. Stupid for nothing.

Result : 3rd out of 3

Link: http://www.drya.org/race2006/Results/dyc.htm

Windsor Wednesday Race

The first leg a near fetch. The port side of the line was heavily favored. I was thinking that tacking on to starboard would give us a slow start so I tried squeezing in on port on the pin side. The net result was a bad start taking gas from Hot Ticket and Jayhawker. In order to get better air we made a short starboard tack. Fortunately by doing this we got more pressure and a slight lift to help us round the first mark in 3rd place. Also for some reason Hot Ticket tacked behind us and ended up overstanding the leg. The next downwind leg Merlin and Jayhawker went far right and we tried to go underneath both of them. Fortunately at the next mark Merlin gybed where we and Jayhawker kept going down towards the river. The current gave us enough of a boost to enable us to pass Merlin. The rest of the race we tried to pass Jayhawker to no avail. We managed to finish however only 6 seconds behind.

Result: 2nd out of 5 boats. Link:http://www.windsoryachtclub.com/regatta2005/WYC%202005%20Spring%20Race%202.pdf

Great Lakes Regatta

Race cancelled due to no wind but we did win the J120 on the water party.

Windsor Wednesday Race

For first time out I felt we sailed a good race. we were off the line right on time and upwind speed seemed good.
The only major mistake that I made was to do a jibe set at the first mark. This slowed us down enough where Hot Ticket was able to catch up. Mike got to try out as foredeck and although it was a learning experience he did a pretty good job.

Result: 2nd out of 6 boats. Link: http://www.windsoryachtclub.com/regatta2005/WYC%202005%20Spring%20Race%201.pdf

Lake St. Clair Spring Double Handed Race

Mike agreed to do this regatta with me. Although put into a PHRF class Merlin with Rob Amsler and Pete did participate in the same class. We took the pin side of the line and apparently Rob had gotten a line wrapped around the prop shaft so he missed the count for the gun. Merlin immediately put up their small spinnaker on a 55 degree reach. We attempted to put up our large spinnaker with the sock on it put had problems with the top of it. Fortunately we were able to continue with our geneoa and because the mark was much closer to the shore than the location given in the program we managed to squeeze in ahead of Merlin. Following the mark we popped our small spinnaker and managed to stretch our lead over Merlin. The following mark R18 in the channel we rounded with a barge and were not able to go over to the Crescent Yacht Club until later in the leg. Merlin attempted to stay in the channel for the current even later but fell further behind. Result: 1st out of 8 boats.

Charleston Race Week

This regatta because most of the crew was out of vacation time I put together a nearly all Bayview crew. This included Karl Kuspa, Jay Schmidt, Merlin owner Rob Amsler, Chuck Stormes, Bob Declerq, and near Bayview members Kathy Stevens, Ken Schram and Nancy Caldwell. The first day was about 12 to 14 knots. We took a 3rd the first race but because we overstood the windward mark we took 9th in the 2nd race. Undeterred Bob as tactician was determined to go up the left side of the course and took two 4ths. This was one the strangest race start days I have experienced. The race committee announced the boats on the radio over early 1 minute before the start. We got called over early because we were on the pin side and they could not see us go back down before the gun so we had to restart. The second day we noticed they had a RC boat on the pin side to help with the over early calls. The DSQ was really was incident that should of never happened. Before the start we tacked inside the J35 and were both on starboard and the J35 to leward. For some reason unexplained to us from astern he decided to head up way too fast and ram our stern pulpit. He threw the flag and then claimed we did not stay clear. This guy rounded up so fast that the scrape on the stern pulpit was at a 45 degree angle forward. He therefore lied when he got in the room about us staying clear and on the way out asked one of the judges, his uncle about the coming family reunion. We got tossed and the J35 did not. Without the throwout we would of taken second. This guy took almost all lasts in the regatta and his only thing he managed to do is get one of the lead boats tossed. Needless to say we did appeal it to US Sailing and we have not yet heard the result yet. The last day was pretty good where we tied for first with K2 because of his 3 seconds a mile PHRF handicap. We sailed a good regatta and it certainly added to my learning experience. We had a boat full of pretty good sailors and yet we managed to get along well. Jeff Johnstone was down sailing one of the J109's and we managed to stuff him at the start of the last race. Maybe he should of been promoting the J120's instead!

Results:
PHRF B 9 Discards: 1
Boat Name Class Sail # Bow # Helm Course State PHRF R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 Nett Rank Fleet
K2 J120 120 25 Gonzales 1 VT 54 6.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 7.0 3.0 1.5 4.0 5.0 24.5 2
Carinthia J120 25497 24 Kern 1 MI 51 3.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 DSQ 2.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 28.5 3
Cash Flow Hadley 40 83015 23 Griffin 1 NC 48 2.0 1.0 8.0 5.0 2.0 8.0 6.0 5.0 1.0 30.0 4
Pamlico Andrews 38 767 1 Muller 1 MD 69 5.0 4.0 7.0 7.0 1.0 1.0 8.0 3.0 4.0 32.0 5
Teamwork J120 51334 40 Team 1 NC 54 7.0 3.0 5.0 1.0 4.0 5.0 9.0 1.0 9.0 35.0 6
Ecclesiastes J109 37 26 Thompson 1 CO 69 1.0 5.0 3.0 8.0 3.0 7.0 5.0 8.0 6.0 38.0 7
evonne.com/2 J109 SD 142 29 Yonover 1 IL 75 9.0 8.0 2.0 3.0 5.0 4.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 43.0 8
Hoodoo J109 126 43 Campeau 1 SC 69 4.0 6.5 6.0 9.0 6.0 9.0 3.0 9.0 2.0 45.5 9
Arrow J35 32864 28 Schwenzfeier 1 SC 72 8.0 6.5 DNC 6.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 52.5
We brought Commodore Bayer's gas engine blender on the second day for the "hummer party". Invited guest were the other crews of the J120's. It made a lot of noise so even Tim Allen would of been proud.

Miami SORC

This series was very close to South Beach. Very easy to get in trouble for some of the guys. The first day we were a little short of crew so naturally the wind was around 18-19 knots. We started with a #3 but it did not do well with the standings. The second day we improved a great deal and did well the third day.

Going down wind with east coast J44 Goldbrick

Getting ready for start

 
  
Lots of Silver

The Great One

There used to be a small general hardware in Detroit near the Belle Isle Bridge. The owner named Thomas was a tinsmith who fashioned dorade vents for the passing freighters. In the 50's a couple of part timers from Detroit Edison worked there. One of them dabbled in small boats called Lightning’s at Bayview Yacht Club. Soon the owners had passed and the wife of the one remaining owner asked the boys if they would like to buy the store. They agreed and slowly the store’s focus shifted to sailing.

These were the hay days. The big three were churning out cars and profits for themselves and everyone associated with the industry. Cash was flowing and leisure time for most was readily available. Sailing was booming in Detroit in the 60' and 70's and the builders hadn't figured out that they could make more money outfitting the boats. The hulls came bare and everything was needed from winches to interiors. With the orders scribbled on his hand and the cash register in his pocket, Warren Jones would oversee the mayhem as customers would tear open the shipments, grab their orders, and write their own invoices. Don Fires would help them with their rigging needs. The little store on Lafayette and Townsend soon became cramped and the basement was used to store the line with stopper knots in the floor to keep it from slipping through.

After the riots, the owner’s wives would not make the trek to Detroit so they decided to move to Grosse Pointe near Lake Saint Clair. The store expanded to 4000 square feet in 1969 and the racing scene boomed with CCA and IOR boats arriving yearly. Warren and Don rode the wave running things with the same loose fashion of the original. Boxes piled in the aisles with customers finding their way through the maze to discover what they were after plus a few things more. This was an "experience", not a shopping trip. If the items could not be found, the orders of "blue aisle, down two racks, on your right, waist high, you'll find it" were barked out by Warren. Every item in this vast space filled to the gills was in Warren's head, simply amazing.

During this period in 1972 Warren and his brother Burt built a custom 42’ racing boat at Tartan Marine. Rumor has it this boat never was on the production line and Charlie Britton at Tartan received a cash payment and the boat “disappeared.” A spar and sails were bought from a Canada’s Cup contender and the turbo Tartan 42 “The Great Whisper” was born. The boat traveled to the SORC that winter and returned to the great lakes to be campaigned for 30 years. The boat and the brothers that sailed her are legends. Their booming voices yelling at each other could be heard like thunder across the lake. Through all the yelling they managed to win a few races. The crew list compiled by the “Whisper” over the years is staggering. The boat has sailed over 1000 races and won local, DRYA, Mills and Mackinac championships. The half hull hangs proudly in the Bayview bar and all of her crew consider themselves lucky to have been able to sail with Warren and Burt on a sailing legend.

Through the 80's Thomas Hardware enjoyed the explosion of IOR in Detroit and now the even more complicated racing machines needed specialized attention. The focus of the store switched to more performance based products. Racing in Detroit was a scene with 300 keel boats out on a Saturday afternoon. As the 90's approached a storm cloud was on the horizon.

The cost of the sport and ever increasing demands on people’s time had started to erode participation. The low lake levels didn't help either. The sport was in a decline, but there was still a constant. Seventy hours a week Warren could be found at the store. If that wasn't enough, his home phone was on the back door for emergencies. He saved more than one boat in his day with a vast inventory of products and more important the knowledge to get the job done.

In 2005 Warren was in his late 70's and still working full time. On February 25th he drove his 79 year old brother Burt to the airport at 6:30am for a ski trip, went to the grocery store and dropped off some things for his ailing wife (broken leg.) As he headed to Thomas Hardware he had to have been happy. Spring was on the way, his wife was mending and he was going to the one place that truly made him happy. As much as his gruff exterior and attitude turned people off, that was his way of showing affection. He truly loved people and his customers. He would do anything for anyone, talk at length to anyone about nothing, and forever give the people he liked the hardest time in the world.

We all need constants in our lives and one of them in now gone. Thomas Hardware will live on, but there is no way to keep it the same. Warren touched thousands of lives through the years. Through all the customers, suppliers, employees, sailors and competitors it would be hard to find anyone with a bad thing to say. Please don’t get kicked out heaven before we get there, we all need to get yelled at one more time.

...Todd Jones

Key West Race Week 2005

Today there was only one race of five legs starting at about 12 mph winds and moderating to 8 mph out of the west. At the start Crosswave went left on the course and was the first to the windward mark. They were followed by El Ocaso, Avra, Carinthia and K2. Crosswave managed to hold the lead the rest of the race with Carinthia, K2 and Perrigrine changing places for the the below results.

I wish to congratulate George Petrides of Avra on a well executed campaign.

1 AVRA 1 1 1 3 3 5 2 1 2 14
2 Crosswave 5 4 5 4 2 1 1 3 1 21
3 K2 2 2 4 1 4 4 3 2 4 22
4 Carinthia 3 3 3 2 1 2 4 7 24
5 El Ocaso 4 5 2 5 3 3 5 6 3 36
6 Mad Max 6 6 8dns 6 7 6 6 4 7 48
7 Perigrine 8dns 7 6 7 6 8raf 8dnf 5 5 52

Web link: http://www.premiere-racing.com/keywest/2005_KW/KW05_index.htm

Pictures link: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/fkern/windnite17.htm , http://www.sailingsource.com/j120class/j120kw05.htm , http://mywebpages.comcast.net/fkern/windnite18.htm

Key West Race Week 2005

Today the race committee set off two races under clear skies with wind at about about 12 mph out of the north. Again Roger Elliot's Crosswave was first to the first mark and finished with a bullet. Avra continued with its excellent performance by being second over the finish line. The second race was started in lighter variable winds at about 8 mph. Avra and Carinthia were called over early but Avra managed to fight her way out of the hole by getting to the upwind mark first and continuing to lead the rest of the 5 leg race in light winds.

This is Avra’s first appearance at Key West and owner Petrides pulled out all the stops, bring America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Chris Larson aboard as tactician. “It’s a huge educational benefit to have quality coaching, a great return for the dollars spent,” Petrides said. “My first priority is that every member of the crew learns something and goes away with a higher level of skill.” Petrides already has a strong crew, having been able to hand-pick among acquaintances from the Long Island Sound region after 30 sailors applied for eight spots. “Everyone is good at their respective position and our teamwork has been spectacular,” said Petrides, adding that none of the crew had ever sailed on the same boat together before.
With today's standings with throwouts Avra leads the J120's and K2 and Carinthia are tied for second.

Here are the standings below:

Boat R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 PTS.

1 AVRA 1 1 1 3 3 5 2 1 12
2 Carinthia 3 3 3 2 1 2 4 7 18
3 K2 2 2 4 1 4 4 3 2 18
4 Crosswave 5 4 5 4 2 1 1 3 20
5 El Ocaso 4 5 2 5 3 3 5 6 29
6 Mad Max 6 6 8dns 6 7 6 6 4 41
7 Perigrine 8dns 7 6 7 6 8raf 8dnf 5 47

Key West Race Week 2005

The third day of racing produced moderating winds with morning speeds of 18 knts to 14 knots in the afternnoon. The race committee started the first race of 4 legs. K2 took the first race with a number 1 and full spinnaker. The second race of four legs was taken by Carinthia.

The third race of five legs was taken by Crosswave with an exciting finish leading Carinthia by only four seconds by tacking under her. Major cudos to El Ocaso for lending Crosswave one of their spare spinnakers after Crosswave had lost both of theirs on Tuesday.

Current Standings:

Boat R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 PTS.

1 AVRA 1 1 1 3 3 5 14
2 Carinthia 3 3 3 2 1 2 14
3 K2 2 2 4 1 4 4 17
4 Crosswave 5 4 5 4 2 1 24
5 El Ocaso 4 5 2 5 3 3 27
6 Mad Max 6 6 8dns 6 7 6 39
7 Perigrine 8dns 7 6 7 6 8raf 42

Key West Race Week 2005

With the winds again at about 22 knots AVRA again carried the day. Even though the races were delayed until 11:30 the race committee managed to get off two races, the first being 4 legs and second being 5 legs. The first race AVRA led but K2 and Carinthia changed places on the last leg with K2 finishing 12 seconds ahead. The second race began with K2 taking the 1st mark in front with Avra passing on the second leg to hold the lead the rest of the race. Both races were sailed with #3's.

Boat R1 R2 R3 PTS.

1 AVRA 1 1 1 3
2 K2 2 2 4 8
3 Carinthia 3 3 3 9
4 El Ocaso 4 5 2 11
5 Crosswave 5 4 5 14
6 Mad Max 6 6 8dns 20
7 Perigrine 8dns 7 6 21

Key West Race Week 2005

Key West Race Week 2005
Because of high winds the first race was delayed until 13:30 pm. With clear skies the J120's started in 20 to 25 knot winds with the J109's in division 2. With the finishes close after 5 legs here is the unofficial finishes.


1 AVRA
2 K2
3 Carinthia
4 El Ocaso
5 Crosswave
6 Mad Max
7 Perigrine (DNS)

Only one race was started today.

Pictures from Key West 2004

Baker at Key West 

Lets go sailing!
    

  Rod & his girlfriends

           

Henry Mistele "the definition of happiness"
 

 

Crew

No caption needed

Pictures from 2003 season

Lets go sailing!
    

I love the rain
           

In the straights of Mackinaw
  

Recipient of the 2003 "New Skin" Award

 

Rob - spinnaker trimmer

Oh captain my captain!


Attention all single ladies--he is still available!

2002 Season Pictures

Rodney giving Mike steering advice
 
    

Colleen giving Mike navigational advice

Crew on the rail 

 
 
Got to have a long hair.

Pictures from 2001 Season

These are highlight pictures of the the year 2001 season.

Rodney does the Canada's Cup. Or is it Canadian Club?  
  
 How come I can't drive?

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    Mackinaw crew 2001
Baker in the morning