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Best
of the Blade Runner from the 2002-2003 Season KAU
CAPTURES TRIPLE CROWN By
Tuesday evening, March 11th, it became evident that the International
Skeeter Association was going to call the ISA Championship Regatta on for
Buttons Bay, Vermont, on historic Lake Champlain.
By noon on Wednesday the word was official.
The hopes of the 4LIYC, and
the western fleet, rested with Bob Kau, his Class A Skeeter Lost
Kau’s, and
Pewaukee’s Tom Hyslop and his yacht Amphetamine
II. They would be the only boats to make the long 1100 mile trek to the lake that separates upper New York from Vermont. By 5:30 am Kau was traveling to Pewaukee where his boat was transferred to Hyslop’s trailer for the trip east.
Friday, March 14 On
Friday morning a one and a quarter mile course was set on a large, clear
ice sheet measuring nearly four by three miles.
Fast, hard, snow ice, that had been smoothed by rain, and 12-15 mph
winds provided picture perfect conditions to the nine Class A Skeeters
that would fight it out for the 2003 ISA championship. After a few hot laps both Kau and Hyslop pronounced their boats fast and fit as they prepared to battle for the coveted Triple Crown of Ice Boating trophy. The
Triple Crown trophy is awarded to the Class A Skeeter skipper with the
best combined finishes from the ISA, Northwest, and Garwood regattas.
With the Garwood last sailed in the 1960s, it awards the best
results from the ISA and Northwest.
Bob Kau held a slim three point advantage
over Tom Hyslop going into the ISA. Hyslop’s
point deficit was the result of his disqualification in the Northwest
Regatta’s second Skeeter race. That
regatta had taken place on Lake Winnebago at Fond du Lac in January.
A very true wind and a big
course, set on a large area of clear, hard ice made for conditions dubbed
"ice boating for dummies" by some.
With few wind shifts to play, or any bad ice to deal with, this
race would be decided by boat speed more so than sailing skill.
Somehow the Race Committee
forgot to bring any starting blocks to the regatta.
After some discussion of starting
without any, (Kau insisted that there be some sort of marking), the
problem was solved by using a spray bomb and painting numbers on the ice.
The big decision before the
race for the eastern boats was how much ballast to carry.
Some boats opted for up to 175 pounds of lead placed as near to the
runner plank as they could get it.
At precisely 10:30 a.m. the Chief Judge
dropped the starting flag and the regatta was under way.
Both Kau and Hyslop got off to good starts, each leading their
sides for the first 500 yards. But
the three "fast back" boats, (Dan Clapp, Tom Nichols, and Bill
Stavola) so named by Kau because of their sloping rear deck line, showed
that the Eastern boys had done their homework since the last ISA held in
2001.
Both Nichols and Stavola
rolled over Hyslop by the time they reached the lay line while Clapp did
the same to Kau on the other side of the course.
By the time Clapp rounded the top mark he
held a nearly 500 yard lead over the other Skeeters.
Kau, approaching the mark on port, saw little
room for himself but remembered the advice that Buddy Melges had once
given him... " Ya got to carve yourself a hole Bobby".
Bob managed to stuff it safely in ahead of Tom Nichols and the rest
of the starboard pack.
But it mattered little as Nichols easily
passed him going downwind to round behind the leader Clapp.
With Clapp and Nichols rapidly checking out Kau battled Stavola the
rest of the way with Stavola coming out on top.
At the finish it was Dan
Clapp, by a rather comfortable margin, Tom Nichols, Bill Stavola, Bob Kau,
and Tom Hyslop followed by the rest of the fleet.
With no other classes
running, a half hour break was granted in case anyone wanted to change
sails or runners for the next race.
Despite the break most
skippers were caught with their heavier air packages on the boats when the
wind started to drop. With
only 8-10 mph of wind nervous sailors were wondering how much lead, if
any, to take out of the boat.
Kau and Hyslop had gotten
together between the races and both agreed that their yachts were as good
as they had been all season. Meanwhile
Kau had extended his lead by one point over Hyslop in the quest for the
Triple Crown.
When the flag dropped for the
second
race neither Hyslop or Kau were able to repeat the good starts they had in
the first race. The result
was they rounded the top mark in 8th and 9th positions.
While
they were able to sail through the "pink boat and the pink boat
copies", they were unable to catch the three "fast backs".
At the finish it was Clapp, with another horizon job victory,
followed by Bill Stavola, Nichols in third, Hyslop fourth, and Kau in
fifth.
With
no other classes sailing the first day of the regatta wrapped up by 11:30
am.
In
talking with Tom Hyslop, Bob Kau’s assessment of the regatta’s opening
day was a simple "Boy, are we in trouble."
Later
that afternoon at a local watering hole, the Turkey Track Saloon, Bob Kau,
Tom Hyslop, and a few of the eastern skippers were going over the day’s
events. One of the eastern
guys let it be known that Clapp and Nichols had been consulting with a
M.I.T. engineer on the latest versions of their "fast back"
Skeeters. This prompted Hyslop to proclaim, "They’ve hired a Wizard!" Saturday, March 15 A
dusting of snow, less than a half of an inch, had fallen overnight giving
the lake a fresh, bright white look.
The snow would have little impact on the racing action but a lack
of wind would.
A
one and a quarter mile course, running north to south, was set up.
The boats would have to contend with the wind shadow of the
mountains on the New York side of the lake.
The Race Committee and the Chief Judge waited to start the race
until seven mph showed up
Two things became quickly evident, stay away
from the right side of the course, which Hyslop had dubbed the
"Sargasso Sea", and just keep your boat moving in the extremely
light air. As the right side
of the line chugged along, running parallel to the starting blocks, (a set
had been borrowed from a DN regatta being held further up the lake), the
left side jumped out to a huge lead.
Bill Stavola arrived at the
top mark with a nearly 1000 yard advantage.
Hyslop would round second and Clapp, recovering from his trip to
the Sargasso, followed in third. Kau
would round sixth.
Neither Stavola or Hyslop
could keep Clapp behind them and soon Dan and his orange boat, Insanity,
swooped by them and into first place.
By this time Stavola had fallen back to third place where he had
Kau nipping at his heels looking for a way by.
At the bottom mark Stavola failed to leave Kau room to round and
forced Lost
Kaus into
the mark. Stavola would later
withdraw from the race, saving himself from a protest hearing.
As the wind dropped to the 4-5 mph range Dan
Clapp extended his lead. At
the finish Insanity reigned by a large margin.
Tom Hyslop held on for second while Tom Nichols crossed the line in
third. Bob Kau finished
fourth, edging Pete Rochelle for the position.
All the other boats were either disqualified, (Bill Stavola), or
failed to finish within the time limit, (Rick Stavola, Jordan Glaiser, and
Peter Block).
There were two Class B Skeeter
races held on Saturday. Sailing
Yankee Class boats, (similar to a Boe-craft side-by-side), George Neyssen
and Mark Hancik traded victories. Greg
Hansa took two third place finishes. In the light air these were the only races held on Saturday. Sunday, March 16
Though it hardly seemed
possible, there was even less wind on Sunday than there had been the day
before. There would be no racing on
this day.
By noon the Race Committee
declared the regatta over. Saturday’s
standings stood as final.
Bob Kau was successful
in his quest for the Triple Crown Championship, edging Hyslop by just one
point for the trophy.
As for the ISA Regatta, Dan
Clapp swept all three races, by rather large margins no less, claiming his
sixth World Championship. Tom
Nichols ended up second over-all, with Tom Hyslop third and Bob Kau
fourth.
The battle for next year’s
ISA crown should prove very interesting as it appears that the eastern
guys have once again gained the upper hand.
Clapp promises that there will be more of the "fast back"
boats come next season. He
also has openly declared his intentions on the Northwest Regatta trophies
and his desire to return the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America back
to the east coast.
Time will tell if the western
skippers are up to his challenge. It
would appear that they have some catching up to do. [Editor’s note; special thanks to Bob Kau for his help in compiling this account of the ISA Regatta.]
BLADE
RUNNER ISSUES RETRACTION!! From
the Desk of the BR Editor: I
am sorry to report that the last issue of The Blade Runner, Volume 7, No.
2, carried
a story that contained some erroneous information. It
seems as if the investigative reporters that make up the usually crack
staff at The
Blade Runner failed
to properly check out and confirm all the facts before running a story.
Here at The
Blade Runner we
strive for honest reporting of ice boating news and events.
We realize the awesome responsibility that we, as one of the few
sources for ice boating information, have.
We are proud of the job that
we have done over these many years.
That makes it all the harder to have to retract part of a story
that we printed in the last issue.
The editorial staff at The
Blade Runner has
taken steps to insure that all future stories and articles are properly
checked out and that at least three independent sources can confirm all
information before publication.
Further, the reporters responsible for submitting the improperly
researched article have been summarily dismissed from The
Blade Runner staff.
We will not tolerate sloppy reporting practices.
In the Vol. 7 No. 2 issue of The
Blade Runner, in
an article headlined Wildest
Renegade Race Ever?, Ron
Rosten did not "back off" in an effort to take it easy on the
boat he borrowed for the day, Don Anderson’s Easyrider.
Rather,
it turns out that Ron dropped from the lead of the race to tenth place
because his arms got tired.
Actually, Ron had little regard for Anderson’s borrowed yacht and would have gladly "beat it like a rented donkey" to the win if he hadn’t gotten tired. Changes
Needed for Regatta Scheduling? In
2003 the Madison area and the 4LIYC has enjoyed one of the best ice
boating seasons its had in many years.
Over one-hundred races have been scored, in four classes of boats,
and counted toward our club championships.
And yet, as this is being
written, we will not sail the International Renegade Ice Yacht Association
championship regatta for the second straight year.
The ISA championship regatta was finally sailed
in mid-March in Vermont.
Many of the most recent ISA
and Renegade championship regattas have been held in mid-March or even
late March, often on soft, mushy, hard to sail ice.
As the sun climbs higher in the sky and sets later in the day, and
the temperatures rise it becomes increasingly difficult to hold our
regattas. The shorelines
start to break up and safe and easy launch sites become tough to find or
non-existent. Pushing
trailers on and off the ice becomes the norm.
Consider also that traditionally late
season regattas are often poorly attended as interest wanes at the end of
another long winter.
Perhaps it is time to
consider a change in how we schedule our major regattas.
As things stand now the
Northwest and ISA regattas are first scheduled for the third weekend in
January. The Renegade
Championship is generally sailed in conjunction with the ISA unless the
ISA is sailed at an eastern site.
The Northwest takes precedence
over the ISA because it has a longer tradition than the ISA and because it
is a all fleet regatta. Since
both regattas are scheduled for the same weekend I imagine there
are conditions under which the ISA may be sailed before the Northwest, not
thick enough ice for the big stern-steerers may be one example.
I have been active in this sport for over thirty-five years and I
can’t recall a year when the ISA was sailed first.
Another point to take into
consideration is that for the first several weeks of scheduling the
regattas we will not go back-to back with the Northwest and the ISA being
held on consecutive weekends.
Only later in the season will we consider going back-to-back.
Please keep in mind I’m not
saying that these practices are wrong.
It’s just that it seems that they are more suitable to the longer
seasons we enjoyed during the 1950s and 1960s.
Even though I don’t like to use the
term "global warming", it cannot be denied that we are going
through a period of warmer and wetter winters.
Our sailing season has been shortened at both the beginning with
later freezes, and at the end with earlier lake opening dates.
To increase our chances of
successfully completing our regattas we must change our scheduling
methods.
I believe that we should propose that
the Northwest and ISA regattas be first scheduled for the first weekend in
January and that we can go back-to-back with our regattas at any time.
Let’s take advantage of good
ice when we are most likely to have it.
Let’s lessen the chances that our championship regattas will be
contested on soft, sloppy ice in late March.
Let’s increase regatta attendance by holding our regattas when
interest is high.
And if we are fortunate to have a long ice boating season let’s
make it possible for the various clubs around the country to have the time
after the regattas for their club racing activities. Whitehorse
Captures World Ice Boat Speed Record!!! On
Sunday, January 19th, 2003, 4LIYC member Harry Whitehorse streaked to a
new world ice boating speed record on Madison’s Lake Monona.
Whitehorse’s yacht Das
Boot,
(also known as the Crippler),
recorded
a speed of 155.84 mph as he negotiated the downwind legs of the one mile
race course in 23.1 seconds.
The time was recorded by the
Club’s Chief Judge and was verified by a GPS that Whitehorse carried
with him as he made his record run.
"I knew I was riding a
tremendous wind shift as I rounded the windward mark," remarked a
champagne soaked Whitehorse. "I
was able to sail almost straight downwind to the bottom mark."
"The runner was just
dancing, barely off the ice. The
boat really accelerated. Man, it was like a carnival ride!"
His hands danced thru the air as he described the wild ride.
Harry’s
specially designed boat, a sleek needle-nosed, neon red, front-seater is
the smallest of the three world wide contenders in the quest for ice speed
supremacy.
With a boat only 18 feet long, 12 feet wide, and a mast 16 feet in
length, Harry is hoping that aerodynamics and streamlining make up for
sail size.
"It’s easier to make
something small go fast than something big.
That’s why a bullet is small, not the size of a bread box,"
he explained.
The record that Harry
Whitehorse broke had stood since 1977 when Harry’s nephew, Ken
Whitehorse, sailed his Skeeter, Warrior,
to
a speed of 148 mph.
That speed run had also taken place on Lake Monona.
Ken Whitehorse’s speed was
recorded by a City of Madison police officer’s radar gun on Jan. 27th of
that year.
When asked if he would rest on
his laurels Whitehorse replied, "I think I’ll kick back and see
what the others will do.
If they go faster I’ll just bring out the Das
Boot
and break the record again."
"I always had faith in
this project.
I guess this just proves it,"
he said.
"This should be
considered the official record, heck, I didn’t even need to be pushed by
a truck 100 mph first.
I’ll probably have to put a sticker on my truck saying Worlds
Fastest Ice Boat.
After all, my claim is as good as anyone's."
And that can’t be argued
with. Submitted
by The
Blade Runner’s
fine
journalistic staff writers. Over
half a century has passed since Elmer Millenbach first set up his ground
breaking design, Renegade
II, on some frozen surface near Detroit, Michigan.
And it is safe to assume that the Renegade fleet has staged some
fairly wild and woolly racing action over the years.
Stories of the big wind and the hard ice of
the fifties and sixties are still told time and time again at ice boat
shops and watering holes throughout the realm of hard water sailing.
Stories of Elmer dominating regatta’s, and
Free-For-Alls, and Challenge Pennants.
Stories of Renegades being able to beat the Skeeters up until the
mid-sixties, (when better sail designs and taller mast poles pushed the
Skeeters ahead of other classes).
These stories were listened to attentively by all who heard them.
But in the 55 years since
Renegade numero-uno took its maiden voyage, anyone would be hard pressed
to come up with wilder (dare I say better?) race than one which took place
January 18th, 2003, on Madison’s Lake Monona.
Perhaps this story should have
been set on Lake Kegonsa, a favorite 4LIYC early season track that
generally freezes fast and hard weeks before either lakes Monona or
Mendota.
The club had been enjoying a
great
season on Kegonsa.
A successful Grand Slam Regatta had been held in December along
with several club races for Four Lakes collection of Skeeters, Renegades,
Nites and DNs.
But a week long "heat
wave", combined with the guv’ment boys allowing millions of gallons
of water to be released downstream, was having a peculiar effect on the
Kegonsa ice sheet.
That was pointed out at the
most recent Wednesday night meeting and social hour(s) of the 4LIYC by
Renegader Greg Whitehorse.
Whitehorse observed that while
negotiating, (in 56 degree comfort), the rolling fairway, the deep
bunkers, and the undulating green of the Stoughton Country Club’s ninth
hole (located on the shores of Lake Kegonsa) in a early January round of
golf, he was surprised to see that about a third of the lake was open
water.
What wasn’t open had that scary late March, early April, grayish
look of ice that wasn’t long for this world.
Needless to say, the Club
would have to scout out a new race course.
Thankfully, Ol’ Man Winter
returned, and by the weekend of January 18th and 19th Lake Monona had
firmed up quite nicely.
Temperatures in the mid-teens,
brisk 15-18 mph winds, and ten to twelve inches of hard ice would make for
a great day of sailing.
The only thing to keep an eye out for (besides the expansion cracks
and the open water west of the race course) were the predicted snow
squalls that would pass through the area during the afternoon.
The morning series of races had run off in short order after which
grateful skippers made their way to either Bob Kau’s or Dick
Lichtfeld’s lakeside homes for food, drink, heat, and smart talk about
ice boating.
The first indication that anything unusual was going on was when
the Renegades lined up for their first afternoon race.
A squall was moving through with gusting winds and swirling snow.
Madison’s beautiful Lake Monona skyline disappeared in a snowy
haze.
The Renegade sailors called a quick vote at the starting line on
whether to race or postpone a few minutes.
In an eleven to one vote we decided to wait.
Minutes later the snow squall passed over, and the Renegades,
Skeeters, Nites, and DNs all completed their third race of the day.
When the Renegades lined up for their fourth and final race they
did so under darkening skies and building winds.
But the snow held off and Chief Judge (for this race anyway) Bob
Kau dropped the starting flag for the event.
Six boats tore away from the starting blocks on port, another six
blasted away on starboard.
Then the snow came.
Approaching the windward
lay-lines skippers found difficulty seeing much of anything, let alone the
yachts sailing around them.
The boats on the other tack were far of, (for now) invisible in the
blinding snow.
Where did the mark go?
No one could see it yet everyone was heading for the same spot.
As six boats approached what
they hoped was the windward mark one large Menard’s plastic tarp could
have been draped over all of them.
S
Boats were wildly hiking, others were
skidding on runners dulled by a hard day of racing.
And all were looking for a way to round the mark and remain in one
piece.
When it looked like things couldn’t get any
tighter, in rushed four more Renegades on port in front of the starboard
dog pack.
Ron Rosten, sailing Donny
Anderson’s regatta winning ride, Easyrider,
found room at the mark, stuffed her in, and rounded the mark in
first place.
Behind him, (in no particular order) followed Greg Simon, Mike
Ripp, Dan Hearn, Gary Sternberg, Jack Ripp, Jeff Russell, Jerry Simon,
Greg Whitehorse, Jim Nordhaus, Tim Stanton, and Mike Redmond. Twelve boats somehow managed to round the mark in thirty mph winds and blinding snow.
Now came the fast part.
Kicking the pedals hard,
everyone rounded the mark and headed downwind for a quick ride to the
bottom.
It’s true what Bill Mattison says, everyone is
fast in a blow.
It was one of those deals
where you [round the mark] count to three, jibe, and find out you
overstood.
The boats were only slightly
more spread out when they reached the leeward pin.
Three, sometimes more, boats, all over-stood, would skid around the
mark in a shower of ice shavings and head back to weather.
This mayhem went on for three
more laps.
Each mark rounding was not only crowded, but an adventure.
Finally, the lead boats came
down for the finish.
The race was over.
Twelve Renegades started the race and somehow twelve survived to
finish.
Greg Simon, sailing Simonized
II, must have figured that the safest place to run was up front.
After he won the race he would say all he thought about was wanting
to see his new-born daughter and wife again.
Gary Sternberg gained enough control over his bucking steed to come
home second.
I think he was mad that we didn’t sail the earlier race in a
squall. Mike Ripp, steering Apogee, hung on to finish third, barely crossing the line ahead of his dad, Jack Ripp in |
