Windmills at Lake Yosemite – Scott Rovanpera

      Four ‘Mills showed up on May 14 & 15 for the 13^th Lake Yosemite Sailing Association’s Annual Regatta.  The lake was incredibly full, the winds unpredictable, and the rain held off until the final race.  The notable sailors included Darrell Sorenson, Larry Krause from Delafield, WI, David and Cory Ladd, Armand, Bryce, and Kelsey Petersen, and myself.  By Sunday, we scrambled the teams in order to make the all-up sailing weights more equitable.

      Lake Yosemite is an irrigation reservoir, so you never know if the lake is going to be full or not full.  Regardless, it is a nifty place to sail with a wonderful spectator environment for the shore crew.  This year, the lake was filled to the gills but the winds were fickle on both days.  Saturday’s racing started in very light to non-existent winds, so the lightest crew (Scott and Kelsey) had a definite advantage.  But Larry, a scow sailor from the land of cheese, had his game face on and was sailing Darrell’s Second Wind as if they had their own second wind.  Actually, Darrell had brand-new North Sails on board and the boat was motoring quite nicely in the light airs.  Scott and Kelsey were able to drift faster than the rest of the fleet and managed to pull off the first win.  In the second race, Larry and Darrell jumped out to a commanding lead in a slightly building breeze and never looked back.   David and Cory were minding their own business sailing to the finish line in 3^rd place when a gust from nowhere capsized them and they paddled into shore with a full boat of water.  Without floatation tanks in the borrowed pink boat, they never made it out for the next race.  In the 3^rd race, Kelsey and I swapped positions and she was made skipper.  We decided that our huge lead at the island mark was not very democratic, so we turned around and sailed past Larry and Darrell in order to work on Armand’s boat speed.  This paid off, for after some sail tuning and weight distribution, Armand and Bryce in the red boat started sailing to its potential and left us in their wake.  A weather front was closing in from the west and we weren’t sure if it would overtake us at the finish.  But it held off long enough to allow the LYSA to host a fun BBQ with an impromptu band playing inside the clubhouse.  David and Cory had to head back to Woodland so we were down to three boats for the rest of the regatta.  By 2 AM, the front arrived and rained solidly for the next three hours.

      By the end of the first day of sailing, the results looked like this:

      Come Sunday morning, Larry and I decided that it was time to even out the crew weight distribution.  Since Kelsey was driving my boat with a natural skill, I suggested that Larry jump into Jonathan Livingston as crew and I would jump into Second Wind as skipper with Darrell crewing.  On the way out to the starting line in a fresh breeze, the rudder jumped out of the gudgeons on Jonathan Livingston because the tiller was placed over the traveler.  This gave Kelsey a real test trying to secure a bobbing rudder onto the transom with the boat out of control, so Larry jumped into action and re-secured the helm.  I also realized that my agility would make me a better crew, so Darrell took the tiller and I became the tactician.  Armand remained in his skipper position and now all three boats looked like parity had arrived (equitable crew weight, relatively new North sails, and actual wind).  But as would be expected, the wind died just before our start and we sailed the first race in very light winds.  Armand and Bryce jumped out to a fast start and rounded the weather mark first, but sailed into a hole and couldn’t recover.  Kelsey and Larry rounded next and headed right while Darrell and Scott headed left.  Kelsey rounded the next mark in the lead but sailed into lighter airs, allowing Darrell to pass on the right side, never giving up the lead.  In the second race, the winds were nearly non-existent after rounding the weather mark, so Kelsey and Larry decided to throw in the towel and paddle back to the docks.  Armand was thinking the same thing when unexpectedly, a squall blew in and everyone left on the course were now sailing in a building breeze.  Darrell held off Armand and sailed in first for the second time that day. 

      By the end of the second day of sailing, the results looked like this:

      Overall, the regatta served as a great tune-up for the crews and a wonderful chance to equalize the sailing capabilities for each boat.  Though the sailing conditions were frustrating, the chance to work on boat speed in light airs was well worth it.  Some of the more important things to consider when sailing in light airs are 1) set the mast nearly vertical, 2) flatten out the sails using the outhaul to reduce drag, 3) move the jib leads forward to tighten the leach, and 4) move crew weight forward.  Darrell also learned that the higher aspect V-7 rudder doesn’t turn the boat very well in light airs due to its smaller surface area.  The original “whale tail” rudder is actually more efficient in these winds during tacks.  And I can’t emphasize the need to have a wind indicator on the top of the mast.  It is critical in locating the wind when the breeze is dying – or beginning to build.  Telltales on the shrouds just don’t cut it when the winds are light.