Olympic Cup 2008
IT'S COLLABORATION AT THE OLYMPIC CUP(Friday, May 30, 2008) On Sunday, May 25th, Bob Vickery's Collaboration won the Olympic Cup Regatta for the Beneteau 40.7 section. This event, the first regatta of the year that is included in any season series, counts for both the LMSRF Best 40.7 on Lake Michigan series and the Area III Buoy Boat of the Year series. The winds for the first race of the regatta were SSE at about 12-15 knots with sunny skies and 1-2' waves. The course was called at 170°, 4 legs at a distance of 2.25 miles.
Collaboration won the 2nd race, which started in higher winds of 20-22 knots. At the start, most of the 40.'s had changed headsails to their #3 jibs. Bob had this to say about the 2nd race, "We had a good start for the second race and good trim. Boat was going fast and we never lost the lead. I almost killed my bow guy with exhaustion before the second race start because we did 3 jib changes before the start. We finally settled on the #3 and I thought it was the right choice for the first beat. "We had our share of clumsiness, this being our first day on the water, but we have finally found a good crew nucleus and they worked through all of the mishaps very well. "I continue to be impressed on how even the boats are. While my hands were full trying to get used to the feel of the helm again, we did have the rig tuned properly for the conditions of the second race, tight lowers and headstay. We sailed with major twist in the main leech to balance the helm and it proved to be really quick. As we made our way up the first beat the wind velocity lightened a bit and we were able to power up with backstay and outhaul ease." Coming into the 1st windward mark of the 2nd race, Clem Boltz Cancan deux protested Ron Buzil's Vayu regarding a port/starboard crossing issue, Cancan being on starboard. At a protest hearing at the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club on Thursday, the finding was in favor of Cancan. Also heard on Thursday by the CCYC committee was a request by Tsunami for redress in the 2nd race. Tsunami was over early but felt that the proper signals for an individual recall were not made by the race committee, hence delying their return to cross the line. According to the RRS, the proper signal is flying of the "X" flag and a second sound signal. Skipper Don Hayes and tactician Tory Enerson appeared at the hearing. In the end, Tsunami's request for redress was denied. The 2nd place boat in the regatta was Tom Weber's La Tempete with 4th and 2nd places in the races. The 3rd place boat was Jay Muller's Das Boot with 3rd and 5th places. Collaboration's crew for Sunday: Laura Olsen on main trim; Scott Bolin and Lisa Getta on jib and spinnaker trim; Mike Barry, grinder; Scott Laudick at pit; Megan Vickery on the backstay; Mark Pawlikowski at mast; Eric Jochum on the bow; Matt Luzadder, floater; Chris Jungmann, partner, gourmet cook, motor specialist, spinnaker packer and alternate trimmer; and Bob Vickery, skipper/helmsman. For photos of the Olympic Cup 2008 go to: FINAL RESULTS OLYMPIC CUP REGATTA (40.7 SECTION)
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Vickery, acknowledged that Collaboration made big gains on the second upwind leg of the first race. He had this to say about the race, "We started the second beat and noticed that we were on the favored tack, sailed it about 3/4 way up the leg when we found a 10 degree knock to tack on." Collaboration finished in 2nd place in that race behind Don Hayes' Tsunami.