Midwestern Regatta at Hoover Sailing Club, Westerville, OHJune 5 - 6
Story
WINDMILL MIDWESTERNS 2010
Fifteen enthusiastic Windmills from around the country met at the always-outstanding Hoover Sailing Club in Columbus, Ohio for the Windmill Midwesterns June 5-6 to participating in the longest-running Windmill regatta sailed at a single location.

Sponsored as always by Windmill Fleet 60 and the host club, the event drew skippers and crews from Massachusetts, Florida, California, West Virginia, New Jersey and Ohio. Multiple-time Midwestern (and 4-time former National) Champion Craig Tovell, sailing with Jaimie Chicoine for the second consecutive year, dominated the event with 2-(7)-1-1-1-1 results to fend off an early challenge from 2009 Nationals runner-ups Lon Ethington and Meg Gimmi who placed 1-2-5-2-(6)-2 for the runner-up position here.

After some practice on Friday and a wonderful welcoming party, racing (Chaired by 505 and Windmill sailor Graham Alexander) started Saturday morning under overcast skies with moderate and shifty winds. Most courses were triangle followed by W-L.

Ethington got off well in the first race while Tovell was initially a bit behind but closed to provide a serious challenge on the final legs. Ethington and Gimmi were up to this for a solid win with Tovell moving up to the runner-up position ahead of Roger and grandson Brenden Demler (5047). Local fleet 60 and long-time Windmillers Mike and Dixie Mickelson (4804) placed 4th with Allen Chauvenet and imported California crew Jen Rovanpera (5586) rounding out the top five.

The second race brought an amazing lesson as the race committee again set a triangle WLW course. Allen and Jen jumped out to the lead and held that around the first three marks with Lon & Meg just ahead of Craig and Jaimie. On the long beat, Chauvenet became confused by the shifts and by his boat while Ethington and fleet 60 member Randy Piersall (3998) found the correct time to go to the right and make major gains to round the weather mark in that order with Tovell not too far behind. The Mickelsons rounded next with Florida sailors Colin Browning and Nicky Valentine (4481) rounding 5th. Bernie and Julie Himmelsbach (5410) also moved well on the beat but touched the weather mark and did a 360 degree penalty turn which allowed Chauvenet and Rovanpera to catch them. All the leaders promptly poled out and headed directly downwind towards “the mark” while Chauvenet was puzzled when the Himmelsbachs headed sharply upwind and actually bore off to duck under their stern.

While it was true that the leaders were headed directly downwind, only the Himmelsbachs noted that the same shift that had helped Ethington and Piersall on the beat resulted in the JIBE mark being directly downwind, while the actual third mark was now a broad reach!! By the time anyone else realized this (Ethington was so far ahead that he rounded what he thought was the leeward mark!) 5410 had taken a decisive lead! Ethington was able to come up and (thanks of course to similar errors by those astern) save second but Tovell could salvage only 7th place with Mickelson, Browning and Piersall rounding out the top five. The astonishing moral (considering the skill and experience of all these sailors) is that one should actually sail the course and not be fooled by wind shifts when marks remain where they were!!!

With cloudy skies all around, the committee pressed on with two more races prior to lunch. In the third race, Tovell sailed with great skill and determination to lead at all marks. Allen and Jen sailed their best race and were just close enough for Tovell to pay attention when taking the runner-up position. The “other” Demlers (Chris and Cam in 5045) broke through with a third ahead of Colin and Nicky while Lon and Meg were “relegated” to 5th after getting caught up in a very tight fleet. This gave both Tovell and Ethington a first and second for their best races with Ethington still leading by virtue of this 5th to Tovell’s 7th in the second race. However, this result was the harbinger of Tovell’s outstanding sailing for the rest of the regatta, as he was to close with four consecutive bullets.

The fourth race was also sailed prior to lunch and saw Tovell in a battle with Ethington; Tovell took and held the lead throughout the last half of the race which gave him the outright regatta lead for the first time. Ethington kept the pressure on with a second, followed by Chris Demler, Jim and Evelyn Ferguson (4614)—who would surely have challenged for the top 5 overall had they not missed the first two races and Colin Browning again in the top five. With four races completed and weather threatening, the RC sent the fleet in for the usual outstanding HSC lunch.

When a break appeared in the weather, the fleet went out for two more races. In the first of these races Tovell dominated completely; in a close struggle well behind Colin and Nicky put together their best race of the regatta to edge Allen and Jen for second while the outstanding local teams of Mickelsons and Fergusons rounded out the top five and pushed Lon and Meg back to 6th, their throw-out race. This put Tovell in a dominating position. The final race of the day found Tovell holding off a challenge from Ethington who likewise stayed just ahead of Chauvenet. Chris Demler’s 4th was critical in pulling him into an overall tie with Mickelson (to be broken in favor of Demler) and keeping Colin and Nicky in 5th, just a point behind Allen and Jen (who would have lost a tie-break to Colin and Nicky but instead beat them by one point!
Everyone had a wonderful time at the dinner Saturday night—prepared by club and fleet members and generally considered the best dinner at any Windmill regatta of the year, sometime excepting only the Nationals. The view across the lake as the Sun is setting is alone worth the trip to Hoover!!

Sunday saw heavy winds and threats of a tornado. Finally Colin and Nicky (see photos on class website) went out and put on a planning exhibition but the RC (having accomplished wonders with 6 races on Saturday) decided on safety and elected to cancel Sunday racing. After the awards presentation, the tornado threat had passed so Allen and Jen went out for some planning of their own! Next year we hope to see more growth in the local fleet and a few others making the trip as the class continues our quest for 20 boats at a great club that has sponsored this event for >40 years. Thanks to each and every member of fleet 60 for making this possible!
Result
PosBoatNameTotalRace 1Race 2Race 3Race 4Race 5Race 6
14200Craig Tovell and Jaimie Chicoine62(2)(7)(9)1(10)1(11)1(12)1 (13)
23886Lon Ethington/Meg Gimmi121(1)2(3)5(8)2(10)(6)(16)2 (18)
35586Allen Chauvenet/Jen Rovanpera195(5)6(11)2(13)(8)(21)3(24)3 (27)
44481Colin Browning/ Nicky Valentine20(6)(6)4(10)4(14)5(19)2(21)5 (26)
55045Chris Demler/Cam Demler257(7)(8)(15)3(18)3(21)8(29)4 (33)
64804Mike Mickelson/Dixie Mickelson254(4)3(7)6(13)(9)(22)4(26)8 (34)
75410Bernie Himmelsbach/Julie Himmelsbach318(8)1(9)8(17)7(24)(9)(33)7 (40)
85047Roger Demler/Brenden Demler343(3)(9)(12)9(21)6(27)7(34)9 (43)
94614Jim Ferguson/Evelyn Ferguson39(DNS)(16)DNS(32)7(39)4(43)5(48)6 (54)
104622Ed Yingling/Evan Hollins50(10)(10)10(20)10(30)10(40)10(50)10 (60)
113998Randy Piersall/brother519(9)5(14)(14)(28)12(40)12(52)13 (65)
123251Rendina/Ishizvka56(12)(12)11(23)11(34)11(45)11(56)12 (68)
133579Peter Rothman/Emily Adelman6011(11)12(23)(15)(38)13(51)13(64)11 (75)
142348Monica Coolidge/Roy Underwood6913(13)13(26)13(39)(DNF)(55)14(69)DNF (85)
154585Hallie Bourne/Harris7414(14)14(28)12(40)(DNS)(56)DNS(72)DNS(88)
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