2010 Hoosier Lightning Regatta - Lake Wawasee, IN
Bill Faude aces the fleet with Dieball Sailing Lightning Sails. Ernie Dieball reports.
October 3-4, 2010
Syracuse, Indiana is one of the special stops that we make on the Lightning Fall Circuit. We sail on Lake Wawasee, which is in the middle of North Central Indiana, between Fort Wayne and South Bend. I have done quite a few regattas here and have always had a great time. This year was no different.
My good friend Bill Faude called me a while back and asked if I would like to hook up for Wawasee. After spending many years sailing together, we have recently been sailing with other people or just plain sailing less. I said yes and he was going to work on a third crew for us. The wheels were turning and he wanted to surprise our friend Debbie Probst by bringing in Jody Starck. It has been a while since I have sailed with Jody and that sounded great!!
Saturday morning brought chilly weather and great breeze to the fleet of 18 boats. It was a nice shifty Northerly and RC “Fuzz” used every bit of the Lake to get very long courses. Having the tradition Hot Buttered Rum waiting for us when we got back to the dock was priceless.
Sunday was a bit cooler and a little breezier at times. In total, we got 5 races in and were fortunate to win every race. Larry MacDonald, sailing with his daughter Maggie and Kevin Robinson, ended up 2nd. This was Maggie’s first regatta!! Rob Linden sailed a nice series to end up 3rd. He is our Boat Grant recipient and rumored to be looking for a boat to purchase for next year!! Geo Sipel had some bad luck going into the last race and broke a boom before the start. So, with a DNC, he dropped to 4th and has a new boom on order. MI District veteran John McCree rounded out the top 5.
Sailing with Bill and Jody is very refreshing. The conversation was always interesting and covered a wide range of subjects. But thetone of the weekend was the hospitality that Wawasee YC provides and the amazing support that Jeff Schmahl gives to this event. We almost take for granted how much this guy gives us. He is there to welcome you and make sure you have housing. He provided our Canadian friends with a Flag raising ceremony that included the Canadian National Anthem. He was in the water, helping launch boats so others did not have to. He ran a highly entertaining door prize “program” on Sat night. Get the idea?
Big thanks to you Jeff and your team that helped. The meals were great, the fire was warm and we always feel like we are at home when we spend a weekend at Wawasee. It is already marked on the calendar for next year.
