Sandusky Sailing Club
–Mike Ingham, Airwaves writer
By any measure, a 109 boat Nationals is an achievement. For that, the Thistle class should be proud. Unfortunately, I was sidelined after shattering my collar bone in mountain bike spill on switchbacks of Whistler Mountain outside of Vancouver. I was chasing my far more mountain bike capable son Sam as we were making our way across southern Canada to sail the Nationals together having fun along the way. Before I knew it, I had a titanium plate with about 20 screws holding me together and Sam took my spot driving at Nationals. So I had a nice view from a motor boat for this write up.
Let’s cut to the chase; Allan Terhune with wife Katie and Sam Parisi sailed fast and consistently to take his 2nd consecutive Thistle National Championship. He did so averaging about 8th (ordinarily the winner averages half that) and not winning a single race (I have never seen that). They did a great job of rarely getting in trouble, and from my view on a motor boat, it is hard to describe how impressively hard that was to do in such a large fleet, particularly in this venue of shifty light breezes with big holes.
Before getting into the racing, I would like to point out why we got 109 boats; the Thistle Class is social. A Thistle regatta is fun whether you finish 1st or 109th.
To help illustrate just how social…
-I think about 1/3 of the competitors were 30 and under.
-54 boats had two or more family members
-8 of the top 10 had 2 or more family members, most are couples.
-There are even boats with 3 generations of the same family on them
-Over half the fleet camped. Tent city was huge -and very fun.
-There is a fairly even mix of guys and girls
-Most everyone there are lifelong friends with each other. It’s like a huge yearly family reunion.
-There are lots of extras: babies, babysitters, grandparents all contributing to the scene.
-The Thistle class partners with grass roots venues. Sandusky Sailing Club is a spectacular volunteer family run and oriented club. They cater to the sailors -both on and off the water.
Thistle sailors know how to have fun, but rest assured, once on the water they are quite competitive. Here are my daily reports:
Thistle Nationals 2013, Day 1, (Race One)
Well, that race was a tough race to watch particularly the 2nd division which saw some fleet inversions as the wind died and filled. The good news is that both divisions completed race 1 and the Nationals is under way!
Partly cloudy turning overcast as the race progressed. Wind was at about 180 deg at 4 to 5kts. A few holes of almost no wind in the middle of the race as it shifted right to 250 deg or so.
Fleet one got off with an individual recall after one general. Regatta organizer Serge Vanderhorst with wife Cathy and son Jack rounded 1st with a nice lead! In the end, John Baker with wife Joy and Aaron Holland sailed fast and clean for the win followed by Chris LaBord and Jarred Ridder.
Fleet 2 got of clean with current National Champ Al Terhune leading. The wind died then shifted right so the RC changed course. Not such a great race as some of the leaders got stuck in a hole losing 40+ boats while some stragglers looked like heros in a classic fleet inversion. Mark Udell winds race 1 div 2. Jesse Shedden rounded out the 3rd spot
The wind did not cooperate for the 2nd scheduled race, so competitors went in.
Thistle Nationals 2013, Day 2 (races 2 and 3)
The way it works is that the championship division is chosen day 2. The fleet had been split into 4 groups to sail a round robin; each of the 4 groups racing against each of the other groups once and the Championship division keeps their scores while the President division races separately and starts over on their scores tomorrow.
Day 2 was a perfect day, starting off on time in 12kts and nice 70 deg temps. As the day progressed, the sun came out and the wind softened a little, but still great racing.
Race 2 saw Sam Ingham and Eric Gesner winning their respective divisions. Also doing well was Al Terhune, Brian Swingly, Doug Kaukeinen and Jesse Shedden.
Race 3 had Chris LaBord and Eric Gesner winning their respective divisions. Also doing well in the 2nd division was Dave Hesse, Brian Swingly Doug Kaukeinen and Steve Gruver.
With 2 firsts, Eric with wife Judy and Chris Wilson won the day. I could not help but notice that the top in each division were family boats. Eric sails with wife Judy, Sam is with mom Delia, Al Terhune with wife Katey, and Doug Kaukeinen sails with wife Deirdre and Son Britt and so on…
Thistle Nationals 2013, Day 3 (stormed out, no races)
Wed of Nationals cancelled due to heavy t-storms. Had the annual meeting, other than that everyone just mulled around.
At the Cut, here are the top 10:
1. Doug Kaukeinen
2. Eric Gesner
3. Chris Laboard
4. Jesse Shedden
5. Al Terhune
6. Brian Swingley
7. John Baker
8. Kit Holzaephel
9. Brad Thompson
10. Rob Spring
Thistle Nationals 2013 Sandusky Ohio. Day 4 (Races 4, 5, 6)
PRO Jim Tichenor had his work cut out for him. After successfully completing the qualifying series on schedule, day 3 (Wed) was stormed out. So he had to catch up, and he did just that quite well.
It was a long 3 race day. Winds were 8 to 13kts with lots of chop. Half the chop was from the Sandusky bay being so shallow (~6ft deep), with the remaining chop from the wake of 109 Thistles and all the support boats related to the regatta.
The wind was from the left of the Cedar Point roller coasters mostly oscillating between 35 and 45 deg. Sure there were a few outlier shifts out of that range, but not too many.
After a rough start in the qualifiers, Sam Ingham with Delia Ingham and Dan Fien won the day convincingly with a 2, 2, 1. I spoke with Dan after the racing and he said there were a few keys to success today. First was deciding whether a shift was really a shift of whether it was a velocity shift. For example, when getting a header, they had to be patient and decide if it is really is a header or if they were bearing off because of the lull. And if it was a lift, the key was to decide if it was a lift or just good pressure
But he said the real key was to ignore all but the biggest shifts and if in doubt, head to new pressure. That and they were fast, they focused on keeping the boat moving super fast through that chop.
With one race to go, Chris Laboard and Al Terhune are tied for first. 11 points out is Steve White. Skip Dieball is in 4th followed by John Baker.
The Presidents division got to start over in the scores. The Joyce brothers are winning the division followed by Conor Ruppin then Craig Smith
Thistle Nationals 2013, Day 5, (final day -final race)
This is the highest scoring Nationals I have seen. Going into the day, the co-leaders are averaging about 8th per race: it is tricky out there. There are big shifts, big holes, chop from a shallow bay/ 109 boats and no lanes left for those that don’t get a perfect start.
So going into the last race here is the scoop:
Chris LaBorde/ Ryanne Gallagher/ Doug Touney are tied with Allan/ Katie Terhune/ Sam Parisi. 9 points behind them are Steve/ Nora White/ Robert Thompson. Just 2 points back from them are Skip Dieball/ Jeff Eiber/ Abby Freeman. Rounding out the top 5 is John Baker/ Joy Martin and Aaron Holland yet another 2 points back. Paul Abdullah was 6th, Eric Gesner 7th, Chris Murphy 8th, Brian Swingly 9th, and Sam Ingham rounding out the top 10th. The top 10 are 25 points apart -and with all the craziness out there, that is not much.
It would prove to be a difficult day with lots of movement on the scoreboard, here’s how it played out:
PRO Jim Tichner postponed for a few minutes as the wind was unsettled. It was shifting through about 20 degrees and only blowing about 5kts with lower lulls. This sure is tricky for the PRO, and undoubtedly nerve-racking for the competitors –it was even tough to watch.
The start was off with Al winning the pin clearly rolling dice for the championship on the left. Chris too was on the left but he did not get a good start. It was light and choppy and Chris went for a while left in some dirt, but then once he saw the right working, he took a lot of sterns to get right. But then the right died and the left was the last move to coming into the windward mark. In the meantime, we watched several different strategies from the leaders unfold. Skip too bet the farm on the left and did a really nice job getting there and ended up rounding just behind Craig Koschalk who sailed a great beat to round first. Of the top 10 going into t
he last race, Skip, Allan, and Steve bet on the left, while Sam played the middle; they were the only 4 of the top 10 that rounded in the top 20. John, Paul, Brian, and Eric were over on the right, and Chris went left early then right late. Nobody on the right was looking good.
It was tough for those behind because the distances were huge as the fleet spread out. By the top mark it was 5kts at most and not much happened on the reaches. The next beat was light and shifty, but in the end the beat was pretty square though the wind had shifted left. Throughout the race, there were not too many major changes in places. By the 2nd top mark Skip rounded first followed by Sam. Besides being light, there were place changes but few major gains or losses for the final lap. The finish was moved a bit left and the wind was now down to about 3kts -painful but still sailable with a Thistle’s big main.
The top 9 were close with a huge gap after. Here is what happened:
Allan finished 5th for the regatta win.
Skip Dieball held on for the race win and moved up to 2nd overall
Steve White finished 15th but still hung onto his 3rd overall
Chris Murhpy caught up to 10th and moved into 4th overall
Sam Ingham finished 3rd and moved up to 5th overall
Paul Abdullah came back to a 17th for 6th overall
Chris LaBorde came in 33rd finishing 7th overall
Craig Koschalk ended up 2nd in the race and 8th overall
Eric Gesner was 20th for a 9th overall
John Baker rounded out the top 10 after a 26th
It was a tricky day to be sure! Congratulations to Allan and team for a well sailed event.
Tips of each day:
Thistle Nationals 2013 Tip of the Day, Day 1 light air management
First, even in light air/ die-fill conditions speed matters. Sure you might say that if someone takes a flier and gets new wind that you don’t have they will be way ahead. But if you have speed, you can get out in front of your group and that allows you to find wind.
2nd, wind is king. Suppose you are going 2kts in 4kts of breeze. Then a puff comes in at 6kts and you go 4kts. That is double your speed -alost no shift will make up for that.
So there is no guarantee of success, but if you use your speed to take you to whatever wind starts to fill in.
Sure there was luck today, but many of the usual suspects did well. From what I could see, they used there good speed to get to the new wind.
Thistle Nationals 2013 Day 2 Tip of the Day:
More discussion today on how to handle large fleets at the start and soon after the start.
My take on it is you need to not try and be too clever. The line is long so you can’t be at the opposite of the favored end because you give up too much. But fighting for the favored end is too risky. You either get out clean and you are a hero, or you are in a mess.
So I prefer to start just near enough to the favored end that I don’t give up too much. What is “near enough”? It is the first less populated area on the line nearest to that end. For example, if the boat end is favored, I look for a place where there are not too many boats maybe 1/4 of the way down the line. I look for a hole so I can put my bow down a bit to accelerate at the gun.
Then if I get off the line well and have a lane, I focus on speed for at least a minute. If I can hang on to that lane for a minute, then I know the fleet has thinned enough I can start looking around and deciding if I want to tack. In a small fleet, lanes open quickly and you can tack almost at will. But in a big fleet not so.
So don’t over think it: look for a hole at the start, use it to accelerate and go fast for at least a minute, then re-group and decide what to do next.
Thistle Nationals 2013 Day 3 had no Tip of the Day –rained out.
Thistle Nationals 2013 Day 4 Tip of day, knowing when to go to pressure take a lift
How do you know when to head toward pressure or take a shift?
I have a few favorite rules of thumb: In light air, you go to pressure -almost no exceptions because the boat speed differences are so big. In medium and heavy wind shifts are more important because you are already at hull speed and shifts are VMG to the mark.
But today at the Thistle nationals, the wind ranged from 8 to 13kts, and it was not so clear. The shifts were 10 deg, so it was not so they were tempting to take. So the answer is to err on heading toward pressure because the speed difference between 8 and 13kts in pressure is still significant. But sometimes if the shift was big enough and the pressure difference on one side or the other was not obvious, then priorities change and you need to take a shift. I know that is not the crisp clean answer you all are looking for, but sometimes there is not
always that clear answer and you have to change priorities. To sum it up, as you get closer to hull speed, shifts are more important, but if the lulls take you below hull speed, you have to find pressure.
Thistle Nationals, Day 5 Tip of the Day: How to avoid the digger score in die and fill conditions
My favorite kind of race is one I can control my own destiny. I like the race I can get a good start near a favored end then use my speed to get to the first shift and then manage the fleet. But the wind does not always cooperate! In the last race of the Thistle Nationals it was light with large shifts and big holes -in other words, if the other side came in you could not get there. So what to do?
Unfortunately there is no guarantee, but from my observations of the last race, here is what worked -and what did not.
First, if it is die and fill, usually one side works and the other does not. As I watched this last race two things were clear: in the end one side would win, and that there was no way to tell which one ahead of time. Early in the race the right looked awesome. But eventually the left came in and the right was in trouble. I was in a motor boat and had the luxury of getting up to the windward mark well. Yes I saw the left coming in, but not until half way up the leg and by then the competitors had long ago established their position (left, middle, right). I can tell you this with some certainty: nobody “knew” which side was going to work. All this is a long way of saying that in the end, those that ended up on the left were lucky, those on the right were not.
So if you buy that one side will work in this light stuff and that you can’t predict which side, then the obvious question is what to do? I like the way my kid Sam sailed it. Here is what he did: He got a good start in the middle half of the line. He went left for a while, but hipped up (tacked a few times to get away from the far left). Now he was in a position to take advantage of either side. About 1/3 of the way up the beat the right started to look good, because he started in the middle and had hipped up, he was not locked into the left, so he headed right. Then about 2/3 of the way up the leg, the wind faded on the right and started filling in on the left. By now he was in the middle of the course, and still able to tack back over to the left to take advantage of the last shift to the mark.
Sure he guaranteed that he would not be winning, but he also guaranteed that he would not be out of the game. My opinion is too many of the contenders tried too hard to pick a side. Half looked like hero’s and the other had terrible races. Only a few played the smart middle.
Of course things can go wrong: If you have a bad start and are not fast, the middle can be death. And occasionally both sides work. But statistically, it works.
2013 Thistle National Championships (top 26)
Place Sail # Skipper – Crew Total Race 1A Race 1B Race 2A Race 2B Race 3A Race 3B Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7
1 3839 Allan Terhune, Katie Terhune & Samantha Parisi 54 8 2 4 8 16 11 5
2 4034 Skip Dieball, Jeff Eiber & Abby Freeman 61 4 22 6 1 10 17 1
3 3863 Steve White, Nora White & Robert Thompson 73 17 10 10 7 1 13 15
4 3921 Chris Murphy, Jessica Murphy & Brian Kitchin 76 27ZFP 11 4 5 17 2 10
5 3969 Sam Ingham, Delia Ingham & Dan Fien 78 47 1 22 2 2 1 3
6 4035 Paul Abdullah, Geoff Becker & Marie Thompson 79 5 4 26 13 7 7 17
7 3901 Chris LaBorde, Ryanne Gallagher & Doug Touney 82 2 9 1 16 13 8 33
8 4028 Craig Koschalk, Lauren O’Hara & Karl Feigal 83 37ZFP 7 13 15 4 5 2
9 3782 Eric Gesner, Judy Gesner & Chris Wilson 85 8 1 1 26 15 14 20
10 4024 John Baker, Joy Martin & Aaron Holland 88 1 17 5 9 5 25 26
11 3876 Daniel Hesse, Brad Swett & Kaite Harris 90 36 11 2 14 3 10 14
12 4033 Brian Swingly, Jess Bradburn & John Stork III 97 11 3 3 4 21 24 31
13 1784 Jesse Shedden & Nick Turney 102 2 3 8 38 33 9 9
14 3838 Kit Holzaephel, Noel Thurber & Laura Holzaephel 112 9 7 11 30 14 37 4
15 3765 Doug Kaukeinen, Diedre Santos-Kuakeinen & Britt Kaukeinen 113 3 2 2 42 37 19 8
16 3953 Rob Dexter, Bill Dexter & Molly Dexter 115 26 8 14 29 9 4 25
17 3854 Sjoerd-Jan VanderHorst, Kathy VanderHorst & Jack VanderHorst 115 7 9 19 17 11 39 13
18 3945 Jack Finefrock, Andy Russell & Kathy Finefrock 120 32 19 6 24 8 15 16
19 3948 Kyle Finefrock & Allison Gillum 128 24 24 23 12 6 3 36
20 4016 Brad Thompson & Charlie Bailey 133 5 13 12 32 26 21 24
21 3993 Kevin Arrow, Scott Dalin & Katie Arrow 139 20 5 10 10 42 34 18
22 1 Chris Klotz, Antoinette Klotz & Randy Rice 141 10 18 16 35 18 16 28
23 3860 Lloyd Kitchin, Gereg Kitchin & Augustina Dickinson 143 10 31 25 22 27 6 22
24 3721 Steve Gruver, Kristin Barnard & Jay Mueller 144 18 21 3 34 22 23 23
25 1014 Karl Bradley, Elizabeth Bradley & Gus Everson 146 16RDG 21 11 11 23 30 34
26 3875 Kevin Shockey, Tyler Andrews & Wilson Stout 155 40ZFP 12 14 3 20 22 44
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