2005 Tulip Time Tuneup

Place Boat Skipper Crew Fleet 1 2 3 Total   1 7905   Rob Maine   Darius Barkauskas   WH   1 5 7 13 2 8184   John Maccausland   Rick Burgess   CR   2 7 10 19 3 8037   Peter Wright   Steve Ticknor     17 2 1 20 4 7640   Arthur Anosov   Dave Caesar   TB   11 1 8 20 5 8168   Jim Vandermolen   Mike Wolfs   GL   4 13 6 23 6 7333   Chris Nielson   Mickey Nielson   WLM   14 11 2 27 7 8111   Rick Brethorst   Bob Carson   LS   6 14 12 32 8 7995   George Szabo   Tom Vandermolen   SDB   29 4 3 36 9 8012   Greg Smith   TC Belco   GL   9 8 19 36 10 8214   Larry Whipple   Jon Vandermolen     18 3 18 39 11 8077   Tom Londrigan Jr   Chris Wallner   LS   25 6 11 42 12 7634   Jeff Schaefer   Matt Pederson   WLM   8 20 14 42 13 7986   Hyde Perce   Cary Keigher   WH   16 19 9 44 14 7602   Pat Londrigan   Ashley Boeyen   LS   7 22 17 46 15 8148   Skip Dieball   Geoff Ewenson     3 DNC 5 47 16 8143   Brian Cramer   Steve Cutting   LOC   10 9 29 48 17 7515   Ross Adams   Stewart Hall   WH   28 12 13 53 18 8036   Jack Rickard   Mike Welsh-Phillips   WH   15 17 22 54 19 7670   Gene Mccarthy   Glenn Mccarthy   PPL   21 21 15 57 20 8175   Jim Babel   Bill Hawk   GL   30 24 4 58 21 8217   Todd Gay   Jon Klerk   LS   5 15 OCS 59 22 7718   Tick Ticknor   Patrick Murphy   GL   23 16 21 60 23 7866   Dan Wright   Nathan Quist     24 25 16 65 24 8215   Bill Allen   Brad Lichter   WH   22 10 OCS 71 25 7713   Bill Babel   Craig Tallberg   GL   12 30 31 73 26 7933   Mark Lewis   John Wysockey   LS   13 DNC 23 75 27 8017   Fred Einspahr   Steve Bigelow   GL   19 29 28 76 28 7957   Kent Heitzinger   George Chilpala   WLM   DNS 18 20 77 29 7078   Rick Rundle   Tom Cuber   JP   27 23 27 77 30 7739   Roger Turner   Tony Collard   GL   26 26 25 77 31 7478   Michael Ulbrich   Bill Sikkema   GL   32 27 24 83 32 7996   Chris Pesch   Dan Pesch   WH   34 28 26 88 33 8125   Don Parfet   Brad Vandenberg   GL   33 33 30 96 34 7664   Mike Pick   Gill Cole   LS   20 DNC DNC 98 35 7464   Chuck Barnes   Andy Belco   GL   31 34 33 98 36 7501   Art Riley   Geoff Lindenberg   GL   35 32 34 101 37 8044   Dave Hatfield   John Jackson   GL   DNF 31 32 102 38 7533   Al Covington   Glenn Zipp   IR   DNF 35 DNC 113

Report by Tom Londrigan Jr. 

Skip Dieball likes to refer to Gull Lake as Pleasantville.  I call it Fantasy Island.  Life is good at Gull Lake and the daily struggles seem to fade away upon arrival.  Tom and Jon Vandermolen stay up late to greet their visitors and, as each boat arrives, their little friend Pat Londrigan dances around like a spider monkey tugging at their coat and yelling “da plane, da plane”. 

38 boats arrived, Pat was spent  The Gull Lake Fleet finds housing on the Lake for all who ask.  The Lake is beautiful and clean. It is spring.  It is May, a new season, a rebirth, a clean slate, and by July anyone could win the 4^th District Championship.

But as with all fantasies, there always seems to be a catch.  This year the weather threatened the event.  On Friday, it was sunny and windy.  We played golf in the morning and raced in the afternoon.  Jim Vandermolen and Mike Wolfs won the race and the Michigan boys fantasized of being the first locals to win the regatta, but there was a catch.  Sure, Mike is Canadian but lets not ruin a good story.  Besides, Michigan borders Canada, we import Canadian prescription drugs, Jim and Mike both like Labatt’s and bacon; and the Vandermolens are willing to adopt Mike.  Let’s embrace the common ground here.  They finished fifth in the regatta, and maybe a fifth as well.

Saturday brought blue skies and temperatures in the seventies… but there was a catch, no wind.  We played croquet and enjoyed the day.  Skip Dieball and Geoff Ewenson played golf.  At three o’clock, approximately the fifteenth hole, a gun was fired and the postponement flag as dropped.  The gun was loud enough to be heard on the golf course and Skip and Geoff, both shot a three on the 15^th hole, sprinted to their boat, and shot a three in the first race behind Rob Maine/Dar Barkauskas and John MacCausland/Rick Burgess.  The wind was light and extremely variable.  Peter Wright went from first to 17^th . George Szabo and Tom Vandermolen were in 10^th when they watched 15 boats slither by only a few yards from the finish. 

That's life, that's what all the people say.
You're riding high in April,
Shot down in May

We finished 25^th.   However, on a nice note, Class President Bill Allen went out of his way to remind me that I failed to sail around the offset mark.  I returned to the scene of the crime and thanked Bill.  25^th is better than DSQ and we learned a valuable lesson.  I am sure we will never miss that offset again.

But I know I'm gonna change that tune,
When I'm back on top, back on top in June.

38 boats, lots of talent, loads of fun and Skip and Geoff decided to take a swig from the fun jar on Saturday night.  However, this time the Race Committee’s warning gun failed to penetrate their peaceful dreams.  No sprinting to the dock, and finishing third.  Instead, they stumbled to the harbor and missed the race. 

While they slept, we raced.  This time we had wind, but there was a catch, we also had rain.  At the windward mark, my crew Chris Wallner and I were winning the race.  As we started heading downwind, the second place boat kept sitting on my wind.  I exchanged courtesies with Greg Smith and TC Belco and thereafter apologized as I realized that they were sailing high to fetch the offset mark.  I missed the offset mark… again.  I’m sure I will never do that again.

Each time I find myself, flat on my face,
I pick myself up and get back in the race.

 Downwind Arthur Anosov and Dave Caesar sailed past us easily and won the race.  Peter Wright and Steve Ticknor were second with Larry Whipple and Jon Vandermolen in third.  We finished sixth and six is a good number.  Besides, first place is so overdone.  Now sixth, that has some style to it.

 Between races I asked Arthur about my downwind speed problem.  The next thing I know the Ukrainian was boarding my boat.  Arthur emerged from below my deck with my aft mast pin in hand.  Afterwards, my set up and speed were much better.  Arthur and Dave are constantly helping others and reflect the spirit of the Star Class.  Not many competitors would adjust another sailors boat on the water, thanks again.

 In the third race, Peter Wright and Steve Ticknor took first, Chris and Mickey Neilson were second, and George Szabo and Dave Jackson were third.  Todd Gay and Jon Klerk led most of the race only discover that they were OCS.  But the story was all about Rob Maine and John MacCausland.  Rob and Dar held their position in front of John and Rick to win the regatta.  Rob Maine heads into the bulk season as the favorite in the 4^th District and primed for his second District Championship in July.  But the rest of us, as Sinatra sings, still have high hopes.

 Many times I thought of cutting out
But my heart won't buy it
But if there's nothing shakin' come this here july
I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die

Well, maybe not die, but the beer won’t taste as sweet.