2013 Thistle Lake Erie District Championship Results & Report
By Airwaves contributor Terra Lee Berlinski
The 2013 Thistle Lake Erie District Championship was hosted in July by Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland, Ohio. During the two day regatta, five races were held and 57 boats competed.
Most boats arrived Friday night to rig and take advantage of the noon start on Saturday for some guilt free pre-race shenanigans. Race committee was adamant about not waiting for boats to reach the starting line before the first gun would go off; no time to delay, get yourself on the water!
A big fleet made it vital to have a good start, if not you were stuck eating dirty air making it hard to have any kind of rebound.
The Saturday breeze was pretty consistent in direction and pressure around 8-10 knots with big rolling waves in the Cleveland downtown brown. At the far end of the course the honest blue of the great lake surfaced.
On our way out to start the regatta we witness a boat drop their rig while someone swam to retrieve what we guessed to be a skied halyard. It’s hard when your day is threatening to end before it begins.
Sunday was scheduled for a 10 am start. When one of two hoists broke RC took notice and raised the AP allowing all competitors to get to the course. Breeze was lighter at the start, growing towards the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth race with it dying down at the finish.
There was a youth incentive offered to promote the class and regatta. It was a great push to get plenty of juniors on the water.
St. Petersburg, Fla. was representing with Stuart Grulke, bow number 870, taking home the long distance award; traveling from one end of the country to the other, but only a couple more miles then the winner of the regatta, Chris Klotz.
“Because comfortable and safe sailing in St. Petersburg, Florida in the summer is not very likely and the racing of sailboats including Thistles is great in the northern climes in the summer, I decided to take the month of July and come to northwestern PA and northern OH, for some Thistle racing where all the action is!” Chris said.
It’s worthy of noting that Klotz is bow number one. You don’t often see those low numbers on the water, let alone still competing.
Chris continued, “My wife Antoinette and I were fortunate to pick up an advancing junior star, Ryan Milani, as our third crew. We were able to mesh as a team right away and I was fortunate this weekend to be in the right places out on the course to get most of the favorable wind shifts and win the regatta out of 56 boats. It was memorable win for me and hopefully I can follow through with continued success of some sort at the Nationals in Sandusky, Ohio in a couple of weeks.”
For Antoinette, the weekend was about good times. “It was a great venue, and a fun regatta! I guess you could say that our middle, 13 year- old, eighth grader and future engineer, Ryan Milani, was our lucky charm! All three of us were laughing and had so much fun on our downwind legs,” she said.
Antoinette pointed out that Chris had won this district regatta about four times in the past, so it was a nice come back for him to return, after 20+ years and win it again.
To get involved with the thistle class, click here and check here for more detailed results.
| Pos,Sail, Boat, Skipper, Yacht Club, Results, Total Points 1. 1, Paukie, chris klotz/Antoinette Klotz Bill Allen Antoinette klotz, St. Petersburg Sailing Center, 7-2-3-2-10- ; 24 2. 3945, Bananawind, Jack Finefrock/John Riddle Kathy Finefrock, Berlin Yacht Club, 1-6-10-7-1- ; 25 3. 4028, , Craig Koschalk/Lauren O’Hara Toni Peterson, None, 5-10-2-10-2- ; 29 4. 1055, The Sled, JOHN LOVETT/Mike Lovett Kathleen Duckworth, CLEVELAND YACHT CLUB, 2-11-6-8-3- ; 30 5. 3655, Mojo, Lee Ferber/Mark Ferber Tim Zacher, Vermilion Boat Club, 10-4-8-3-7- ; 32 6. 3948, the pearl, Kyle Finefrock/jackie Finefrock ben weible, none, 4-20-18-1-17- ; 60 7. 3717, , Ben France/Brooke France Jason Hubbard, Leatherlips Yacht Club, 11-16-5-25-9- ; 66 8. 3652, Grey (doesn’t) Matter, Tom Hubbell/Charlotte Bauer John Yingling, Hoover Sailing Club, 9-1-14-24-19- ; 67T 9. 3893, , Steven Lavender/Rachel Lavender Erin Lavender, HSC, 23-12-15-5-12- ; 67T 10. 1784, , Jesse Shedden/Nicole Shedden Scott Finefrock, N/A, 18-15-16-17-4- ; 70 11. 870, logjammin’, Stuart Grulke/Matt Brink Kate O’Brien, St. Pete Sailing Center, 22-25-13-4-11- ; 75T 12. 3433, , Mike Gemperline/John Shockey Emily Schneider, Edgewater Yacht Club, 16-17-23-14-5- ; 75T 13. 3838, , Kit Holzaepfel/Noel Thurber Laura Douridas, LYC, 6-7-25-12-27- ; 77T 14. 3875, 3875, Kevin Shockey/Tyler Andrews Abby Freeman, Vermilion Boat Club, 8-9-9-28-23- ; 77T 15. 3525, , Nikolas Lintunen/Brandon Noland Christina Williams, Lasalle Mariners Yacht Club, 3-23-22-18-18- ; 84 16. 3144, Gandalf, Will Weible/Evan Graves John Salisbury, Cleveland Yachting Club, 12-8-4-58/RET-16- ; 98 17. 3863, Made in Taiwan, Steve White/Nora White Robert Thompson, Pymatuning Yacht Club, 58/OCS-3-11-22-13- ; 107 18. 3572, , Conor Ruppen/Charlie Essi Lauren Myers, Berlin Yacht Club, 17-40-17-6-29- ; 109 19. 3993, AIRO, KEVIN ARROW/BLAIR DRYDEN KAITYLY ARROW, IBYC, 58/OCS-14-20-13-6- ; 111 20. 3464, , Kevin Tschantz/Christy Tschantz Mike M, Hoover, 14-19-12-37-35- ; 117 21. 3616, , Richard Bartz/Annette Bartz Michele Buck, Leatherlips Yacht Club, 35-21-35-16-14- ; 121 22. 1014, Just the Tip, Karl Bradley/Elizabeth Bradley Gus Everson, NCYC, 19-5-7-33-58/DNC- ; 122 23. 3744, Dejavu, Warren Duckworth/John Duckworth Ryan Miller, Berlin Yacht Club, 13-24-39-31-21- ; 128 24. 3603, , Ryan Lashaway/Olivia Beck Chloe Beck, Port Clinton Yacht Club, 39-28-33-23-8- ; 131 25. 1619, Windlassie, Charlie Yingling/Henry Grierson Colin McDowell, CYC, 31-34-21-32-15- ; 133 26. 3879, Blind Pig, Brian` McDonald/Andy McDonald, Indianapolis Sailing Club, 20-18-40-29-31- ; 138T 27. 1947, Blue Ribbon, Adam Gilbertson/Tim Vining Wesley Wallace, Edgewater Yacht Club, 27-37-27-19-28- ; 138T 28. 4026, She’s the One, G Mark Udell/Ken Hatfield Lynn Pytell, Crescent Sail Yacht Club, 28-22-31-35-25- ; 141 29. 3899, Soggy Bottom, Paul Kreitler/Erin Sherer Mark Hess, Leatherlips YC, 24-33-28-27-32- ; 144 30. 3854, , Surge Vanderhorst/Jeff Eiber, Sandusky Sailing Club, 15-13-1-58/DNC-58/DNC- ; 145T 31. 3095, Gunga Galunga, Ryan Kyle/sam Logan A.J Boissoneault, Sandusky Sailing Club, 34-32-19-26-34- ; 145T 32. 2575, , Bryant Walker/Sheena Walker Jen Irwin, CLSA, 38-27-36-30-22- ; 153 33. 779, Sneaky Uncle, Kevin Bradley/Geoff Speelman Patrick Swayze, SMSC, 29-29-24-15-58/DNS- ; 155 34. 3738, Aphrodite, Jim Beard/Kathleen Beard Alexandra Werley, Pymatuning Yacht Club, 25-26-42-41-26- ; 160 35. 2680, , Brett Freeman/Kate Freeman TBD TBD, Cowan Lake Sailing Association, 36-47-30-20-38- ; 171 36. 3901, Ike, Chris La Borde/Ryanne Gallagher Ryanne Gallagher, Nashville Vanguard fleet 77, 21-58/DNF-58/DNF-11-24- ; 172 37. 2621, thistle, Marcus Myers/Jaqueline Corson Devin Chapman, Leather Lips, 33-39-43-42-20- ; 177T 38. 3937, Ménage à Trois, Michael Trebilcock/Audrey Sheehan Ellen Snyder, Put-in-Bay Yacht Club, 32-41-29-36-39- ; 177T 39. 1911, Tim vining, Nathan Harris/Will Harders Darby Lansdowne, Cleveland yacht club, 42-38-32-34-36- ; 182 40. 3866, 3866, Ron Fiedler/Barry Leven Haley Carman, Berlin Yacht Club, 30-36-44-40-33- ; 183 41. 1842, , Robert France/Eddie Duckworth Suzanne Kissel, Hoover Sailing Club, 37-35-26-38-58/DNS- ; 194T 42. 3194, , Colleen Mooney/Scott Vining, Put-in-Bay Yacht Club, 41-31-38-44-40- ; 194T 43. 3720, Circulate, Corinne Sackett/Devin Copfer Taylor Sackett, Mentor Harbor Yacht Club, 26-42-41-45-41- ; 195 44. 3431, Checkmate, Mike Stacey/Diana Stacey Jeff Borisch, Hoover Sailing Club, 47-58/DNF-34-21-42- ; 202 45. 4020, Elaine, Mark Andrew/Matt Calore Antonia Johnson, Hoover Sailing Club, 44-58/DNS-37-39-30- ; 208 46. 1234, 1234, Colin Mackay/Andrew Rush, NCYC, 43-30-58/DNS-43-37- ; 211 47. 3614, , Paige Qua/Bradford Qua Tyler Parsons, Vermilion Boat Club, 49-44-58/DNF-9-58/DNC- ; 218 48. 2887, Bee Gee Bee, Todd Bogumil/N/A N/A N/A N/A, Rochester Canoe Club, 51-43-46-46-44- ; 230 49. 3612, Kracken, John Hill/R.J. Megesi Halle Senger, Berlin Yacht Club, 52-49-48-47-43- ; 239 50. 3657, , Emma Werley/Christian Proctor Natalie Maras, Pymatuning, 48-46-45-58/DNC-58/DNC- ; 255 51. 3983, , Louis Chicoine/Courtney Chicoine None None, Hoover Sailing Club, 50-45-47-58/DNC-58/DNC- ; 258 52. 3560, , Tom Cliffel/Charile Cliffel matt cliffel, Edgewater Yacht Club, 53-48-49-58/DNC-58/DNC- ; 266 53. 3903, Emmy Lou, Robert Spring, Berlin Yacht Club, 40-58/DNS-58/DNS-58/DNC-58/DNC- ; 272 54. 3764, Your Mom, Elizabeth Barker/Kate Keane Bella Kline, Vermilion Boat Club, 45-58/DNF-58 /DNS-58/DNC-58/DNC- ; 277 55. 3191, , Josh Mallett/zach anderson zane accord, vbc, 46-58/DNF-58/DNF-58/DNC-58/DNC- ; 278 56. 4024, The LFB, Joy Martin/Joy Martin Aaron Holland, Seneca YC, 58/DNC-58/DNC-58/DNC-58/DNC-58/DNC- ; 290T 57. 3833, , Duane Van Dyke/Candace Van Dyke, Lorain Sialing and Yacht Club, 58/DNF-58/DNS-58/DNS-58/DNC-58/DNC- ; 290T |
