Carnies, incredibly tasty fried goodness, the clanking and spurting hydraulics of the rides… Oh yeah, the loud music and seas of people… Soon they will all be but a memory etched into your minds!  The Fourth of July in Clear Lake is always a special time!  Everyone has their own stories of great excitement and joy, whether it be from recent events or circumstances from decades ago.  I’m sure 2023 will go down as yet another year of making incredible memories during the extended celebration time the calendar has afforded us.  Denni Erickson certainly made a milestone for her books; she rode the Ferris Wheel 50 times in honor of Evans United’s 50 years bringing their show to Clear Lake!  Congrats Denni!  The forecasters finally got one right, calling for rain and storms to put a damper on the Clear Lake fireworks display Tuesday night, but a one day delay couldn’t dampen the spirits of onlookers Wednesday night!  What a show it was too!!! But now, the circus/carnival is over and it’s back to Summer business as usual for the town; that means more events and thousands of people having a great time in our story book little town!

It is rather unfortunate the DeVries family missed the 4th of July fun, however, positive news was delivered Wednesday afternoon!  After a setback last week, Easton’s surgery was delayed at the last moment.  He and the family waited for infection to clear and strength to be gained.  After several days of testing and monitoring, Wednesday morning was the time… A larger impella was placed during a nearly 5 hour procedure; this has resulted in his blood oxygen levels rising and while he’s still on a ventilator, he’s off the ECMO machine.  This is a huge step for Easton, but please remember this young man still has a long way to go!  Please continue to keep the positive vibes, prayers and thoughts flowing for the entire DeVries family.

Having a great time while locked in the heat of competition…that’s what the Melges 15 sailors of the ILYA plan to do here in Clear Lake from August 3rd -6th!  Starting August 3rd the best teams from around the Inland will gather in Clear Lake for the 2023 ILYA Melges 15 Championship. As many as 70 boats could be in attendance for the event and many volunteers will be needed!  Many members have come forward to volunteer their time toward making this a great event, we thank you all who have done so.  More volunteers are needed; if you’re able, please contact Julie Oltrogge, clyciowa@gmail.com, and she’ll find a place for you to help!

Commodore Price must have had that conversation I asked him to have with Mother Nature; though it appears he may have been slightly selfish… Did he ask for all the puffs and good shifts to be sent his way and the only good breeze of the weekend be reserved for Saturday afternoon?  Brad, many questions are being raised, you’d better prepare a good defense counselor!  All kidding aside, Brad Price and the Z-9 team killed it Saturday afternoon; they seemingly hit every shift and navigated the washing machine that was Clear Lake with ease.  After rounding the first windward mark, they got a great puff and built an insurmountable lead, taking the lone race of the weekend by a country mile and winning the Fourth of July Regatta in the E fleet.  Nice sailing Z-9! The results for the 4th of July Regatta are as follows:

The remaining fleets, well, they were skunked for the weekend… It’s not all that uncommon this time of year to have very light breezes, but it is somewhat uncommon to have North breezes this time of year. Yet another box checked for the oddity list of 2023…  Hopefully this coming weekend will turn out better for all the fleets.

Speaking of this coming weekend; the fleets which didn’t race last weekend, the X, Melges 15 and MC, will be racing for the Fourth of July Regatta this weekend. That means you should expect back-to-back races on Saturday.  Let’s hope we can get a lot of enthusiastic sailors out on the water in conditions suitable for quality sailboat racing…!

Despite Mother Nature’s shenanigans last weekend, the First Series is complete for all the fleets.  If you haven’t been paying attention to the results, here’s how things stacked up:

As always, the full results are available on our webpage – CLYC Results  Look for the results to get much tighter in all the fleets as the season progresses.  Not many races have been sailed this year and some are still working a touch of rust off.

What you won’t see on the results page is the excitement generated by the Melges 15 Developmental Fleet.  Routinely, this fleet is seeing 6-8 boats doing practice races and drills in order to foster growth in both numbers and skill within class.  In 2024 the fleet could see more than 10 boats on the starting line Saturday and Sunday mornings!

This weekend a couple teams will be competing at their class’ ILYA Invitational Regattas.  Mark Tesar will be over at Nagawicka Lake in WI racing in the MC Invitational while Brad Price and the rest of the Z-9 team will be in White Bear Lake sailing in the E Invitational.  Leif Lundberg is heading over to Geneva for the GLSS Regatta for further prep before the X Inland in a few weeks.  Good luck to all those traveling to regattas!

Early notice for the next soiree; July 15th at the Outing Club on South Shore Dr! The E and M15 fleets (both Championship and Developmental) will be responsible for hors d’oeuvres.  This is the first time in a number of years we’ll be having an event at the Outing Club; next week I’ll have some additional details we’ll need to pay attention to.

Let’s get everyone out on the water this weekend! Until then…

Stay in the Clear Air,

Dan Allen
MC 2811 – Relentless
dsallen@cltel.net
www.clyciowa.com
www.clycss.com