Windmill Class Association
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| Midwestern Districts at Indianapolis Sailing Club | August 29 - 30 |
| Story |
| For the 9th consecutive year, the Windmills held their Midwestern Districts at the Indianapolis Sailing Club. As has become our custom, those who arrive on Friday gather at the Loon Lake Lodge for dinner. This year the gathering began with 2 of the 3 Columbus boats, followed shortly thereafter by the third. As the evening progressed, 2 of the 3 Kansas City groups were able to join us.
Last year’s event left us wishing for cooler temperatures and higher winds – and the forecast did not disappoint. With high temperatures in the 70’s and winds Saturday morning of 12-15mph – and predicted to build throughout the day – we were in for some great sailing. By race time, only 6 of the anticipated 7 Windmills had arrived. Unfortunately, the Lewis family had “trailer problems” on the road and were not able to compete. The cooler temperatures kept much of the motor boat traffic away this year, so sailboats ruled the water. The race committee ran 2 races before lunch, and from the first start gun, the match racing was underway! Chris and Cam Demler of Cincinnati were battling it out against Graham Alexander and Deena of Columbus for top honors while the Himmelsbachs squared off with Barry Skikne and crew Bill Smith in the middle of the pack and Coolidge (Columbus) and Wood (Kansas City) sparred for the remaining places. By the time we broke for lunch, two of the pairs were tied. The winds continued to gain strength throughout the lunch break, so conditions for the 3rd race presented 15-18 mph with white-capping gusts. After a strenuous morning of racing, Team Coolidge contemplated the winds and whitecaps from the dock and decided to retire for the day – so 5 Windmills headed to the start line for Race #3. Team Skikne capsized on the downwind leg and found themselves being towed in by the rescue boat – unable to return in time for the final race of the day. After a physically demanding 3rd race, Team Himmelsbach decided not to push their luck and returned to the dock as well. Only Teams Demler and Alexander (one young and the other fanatical!) stuck it out for the 4th race to continue the match racing for 1st place. Saturday evening the Y-Flyer fleet hosted a steak dinner with entertainment by a great band. (We all thought they were great because we knew the words to the songs!) Dan, Jan and Erin Lewis had returned (but without the boat and broken trailer which were to be picked up for transport on their return to Kansas City) – a long drive for a steak dinner! It gave us a nice opportunity to catch up with good friends on the events of the past year, share stories from the weekend and get better acquainted with the non-sailing spouses who had joined us for the weekend. Even the “younger crowd” (crews Cam, Deena and Zaida) seemed to enjoy the evening. The Windmill skippers held their annual meeting over dishwashing duty and re-elected Bernie Himmelsbach as District Commodore. About 10:30 pm we all headed back to the hotels to get rested for yet another day of “good winds” on Sunday. Sunday dawned a bit cooler than the previous day with winds again in the 12-15 mph range. All 6 Windmills ventured onto the water, but at the 1st windward mark, Team Skikne once again found themselves in the water. Apparently the tanks were still full of water from Saturday’s episode and “shifted unfavorably” - thus ending their series for the weekend as they were once again towed to the dock. The ISC race committee gave us 2 races on a course with just enough reach to achieve “planing speed” – a great way to end the weekend. As Paul Harvey always said – “now the rest of the story” . . . . . One of the advantages of belonging to an international sailboat class is being able to participate in regional and national events. The Windmill Class has 6-8 of these events each year. Last July, the Nationals were held on the east coast, and Barry Skikne headed out. During the last race, one of his stays broke and bent his mast badly. Some quick on-the-water repairs allowed him to finish and still place ninth in the nation! After outfitting a whole new mast, Barry was anxious to try it out at the Midwestern Regionals in late August, at the Indianapolis Sailing Club. Bill Smith, a Sweet 16 sailor, was drafted as crew with wife Marge coming along for moral support. Dan Lewis and Hal Wood also decided to attend and meet up with three other Windmillers from Columbus, Ohio, and one other from Cincinnati, Ohio. Thus began the weekend regatta from Hell! First, Dan Lewis, wife Jan, and daughter Erin get about an hour out of Indianapolis late Friday night and began to notice people passing them, waving wildly, and pointing back to the boat. A closer look reveals sparks flying out from under the trailer, followed by a quick swerve to the interstate shoulder. An inspection finds a broken leaf spring freeing up the axle. Needing to release tension to pull the spring back in place, Dan backs up, which causes the rear sleeve to slip out, collapsing the whole assembly. Using his toolbox as a prop they jury-rigged the damage enough to proceed a treacherous 11 miles to a trailer company that Jan found on her i-phone. With hope for an early repair tomorrow and a strangely U-shaped tool box, they left the boat and trailer, headed on in, and got to the motel about 3 o’clock in the morning! The Lewis family heads out the next morning with a borrowed trailer in hopes of fetching their boat and getting in some races. Arriving back at the trailer company, they are informed that the trailer cannot be repaired because of LSOUS (leaf springs of unusual size). Their attention now turns from racing to just getting back home on Sunday, and they returned to the yacht club to at least enjoy some social activity and a great steak dinner and party. Two races in the morning were uneventful in winds 12-15 mph. After lunch, the winds had built to 15-20+ mph and midway through the third race, a big gust going downwind death rolls Barry and Bill. They recover quickly, but with lots of water in the boat. With poor control, the next gust knocks them down again. This time the boat recovers with gunnels barely five inches above the water. Frantically trying to get up speed for the bailers to work, they persevered until the next gust forced the bow under water, and the Windmill takes on all the characteristics of a diving submarine. Crew Bill is almost submerged, and Barry is riding high with the rudder completely out of the water, Titanic style. Oh, for a camera to send a picture to Dr. Crash! As they somehow level out, the rescue boat approaches, evaluates the two exhausted sailors, and orders them under protest onto the rescue boat to be towed in. So ended day one of the regatta from Hell! Sunday morning finds the Lewis family renting a U-Haul trailer and stacking onto it their damaged trailer with Windmill still attached, never having seen the water. As if enough hadn’t happened, en route, a demonic doe sacrifices herself to inflict considerable damage to the Lewis’ van. Limping home, they begin to evaluate this wonderful weekend. $300 for new brakes, gas for 1,000 miles, two nights in a Hampton, two days of meals, one-way trailer rental from Indiana to KC, a collision deductible, and future repairs on the trailer’s LSOUS. That’s about $1,800 for some social interaction at a dinner party. Their coping skills were amazing, and their attitudes remained pleasant throughout! Meanwhile, back at the lake, Barry and Bill are back out on the water for the two Sunday races on a beautiful day with 12-15 mph winds. They get a good start, but both realize that the Windmill isn’t responding properly. Unbeknownst to them, water had seeped into the floatation tanks during the previous day’s submersion. On a tack to round the first mark, the boat heels, and all that water shifts capsizing them right at the first mark. They recover, riding low in the water, but determined to round the mark. By this time water is probably going into the floatation tanks through inspection ports and hull seams, and it becomes evident as they slog around the mark that this boat is sinking! The rescue boat arrives and latches on to barely save the boat and tow it in again, with the boat barely visible. The main sheet block was ripped out of the keel in the process. Barry beat himself up verbally on the water, but at the shore, his calm rationale took over to deal with the situation. Skipper and crew worked hard to somehow get the boat drained and back on the trailer, having only completed two of the six races. After lunch, they pack up and head out for a long, quiet ride home. Just east of Columbia, in the dark, an evil spirit burns up a wheel bearing. All they could do is unhitch, abandon, and go on home. At this writing, the Windmill is still there awaiting yet another rescue. So ended day two of the regatta from Hell! Oh, what about the third KC guy? Well, that’s me, and there were no incidents in travel, I happily competed in all six races, and had a great time! Perhaps it was the exorcism and blessing dance that I performed on the car, boat, and trailer before departure. Thanks to Julie Himmelsbach and Hal Wood for this report |
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