The party last Saturday, may have been one of the best attended parties in some time!  Commodore Casey Callanan, Vice Commodore Dan Allen and the Board of Directors would like to thank everyone who attended.  A very special thank you to the new members who joined the rest of the Club; your presence was fantastic and I think we can all say, it added further excitement to the wonderful atmosphere of the evening!

Casey gave us an update on the various renovation/renewal projects the Yacht Club building has undergone through the winter. A huge thank you goes out to John and Carolyn Hanson, the Hanson Foundation and all the members who donated, making these necessary upgrades possible!  Dan Allen gave away his “prize” to Todd Tesar for the answer to his quiz regarding the “Black Saturday” of 1978. As of Sunday morning it had already been mounted above the fireplace…Or was it in the fireplace…? Mark Tesar who is the CLYC rep to the ILYA presented Margaret Oz, officially, with her award for ILYA Volunteer of the Year (2023).  Those who know Margaret are astutely aware of her volunteerism within the world of Inland Lake and CLYC sailing; this is not a new “thing” for her, in fact this is the second time she’s won this award, her first in 2011, and has been giving her time and energy since the early 80’s!

I would personally like to thank everyone who helped set up and tear down Saturday night; it was a huge help, especially when we had a rental Sunday morning!  We got Margaret’s stamp of approval!

If you weren’t at the first party or forgot your yearbook, Julie Oltrogge has mailed them out and you should be seeing it soon!

The next party is Saturday, June 15th at the Callanan/Hanson Compound; the food and beverage will be provided, all you have to do is show up for a great time! The Commodore asked that I include a friendly reminder that these are considered adult social events.

As a small local club we understand and share the same values as our local businesses.  We should all continue our commitment to shopping local and supporting those folks who also call Clear Lake and the surrounding area home!  We have many great sponsors and advertisers who choose to use a portion of their marketing dollars with us; the Board of Directors would like to thank all of them; the entire CLYC should thank them not only with words, but with our patronage.

1st Insurance                                                 Freedom Boat Club
Air Care, Inc                                                   Larson’s Mercantile
American Solutions for Business                   Mason City Powersports
APCL                                                             Master Floor Carpet One
Bergland & Cram                                           MBT Bank
Clear Lake Arts Center                                  Moorman Clothiers
Clear Lake Adventure Rentals                      Mossycup Farms
Clear Lake Bank & Trust                               North Shore Chiropractic
Clear Lake Boats                                           Papa Everett’s Pizza
Clear Lake Coffee Roasters                          PM Park/Tiki Bar
Clear Lake Family Dentistry                          Pritchards Lake Chevrolet
Edwards-Brandt & Associates Insurance      Raymond James
Farmers State Bank                                      Rookies Rockin’ Sport Bar
First Citizens Wealth Management               Schoneman Realtors
The Fox Den                                                 Sevens Restaurant & Steakhouse
Grunwald & Kiger                                          Sukup Manufacturing
Hall Realty                                                     Surf Museum & Gift Shop
The Hungry Mind                                           Tap’d Taphouse & Cocktail Lounge
Lake Design & Co                                          University of Clear Lake
Lake Dental Associates                                 Wade Associates
Lake Fireplace & Spa                                    Weathered Elements
Lake Iowa Realty                                           Winnebago
Lake Time Brewery                                        Woodford Lumber & Home
Lakeside Brokers

Great party weather isn’t always the best of sailing weather… While Mother Nature was truly kind to us for the party, her “flat attitude” was less than ideal for racing Saturday.  Both the morning and afternoon sessions were abandoned due to a lack of wind.  A lack of wind isn’t something we often endure during May and June, but there it was.

Sunday morning started out tame with a 10-12 mph breeze from the SSE… As the racing progressed the wind clocked further to the East and the velocity increased, eventually gusting to 19 mph during racing according to the airport.

Jude Sorensen has been leading the way in the X boats so far this year and Race 1 Sunday was no exception.  Leading from start to finish, Jude put on a clinic in both speed and tactics, winning by quite a margin.  The real race was a bit further back between the Z-15 team of Thea Sorensen with Brynn Tidrick, the Harris Boys (Griffin driving and Grayson crewing) on Z-53 and Z-5 Alida Lundberg with Oliver Thompson crewing. Back and forth they went; some with gritty scowls, others with exuberant grins, competitive sailing and personality at its best.  At the finish, the Z-15 took second, Z-53 in third and Z-5 in fourth.

The second race was more of the same with the same results.  Most of the grins had faded to an exhausted sigh of relief at the finish line.  As I mentioned the wind piped up, the waves kicked up and sailing fast became difficult!  Ease, hike and trim; the mantra we’ve all had ingrained in our heads was the name of the game for the youth and it wiped them out!

Some of you may be wondering why our favorite young giant, Brady Amble, hasn’t been on the water… The explanation, an unfortunate one; multiple rolls of the ankle in basketball and soccer led to a necessary surgery to repair the injury.  Now that the repair is complete comes the rehab and lack of weight bearing ability…We’re all hopeful Brady will be able to make some sort of appearance this summer.

Melges 15’s really can fly when the wind comes up! It didn’t take any of the teams long to shake off the winter rust in the breezy, wavy conditions.  It seems the 15 fleet wanted to start in the same area in Race 1 as they were bunched in the middle of line and flew away…The first beat was just a regular old windward leg; then the turn…Kites up and flying downwind was amazing to watch! Wil Finstad showed the fleet the way around the course winning the first race.  Riley Cooney started her year in fine form finishing second with young guns Finley Nyhus and Matt Doane in third.

After a disappointing first race, Brad and Mary Thompson kicked it in gear for Race 2… Mad, sad, determined, I don’t know, but it worked.  The Thompson’s led from start to finish, taking the bullet in Race 2.  Second was Finley Nyhus and third was Race 1 winner Will Finstad.

Race 1 Sunday in the MC fleet was competitive from start to finish.  Oz made his 2024 debut in fantastic fashion leading the first beat, attempting to hold off Mark and Todd Tesar.  In the building breeze, Mark Tesar was able to get around Oz to take the win; Oz finished second and Todd Tesar third.

Race 2 in the increasing breeze saw Stu Oltrogge with Deb Tesar jump out to an early lead and manage to stay ahead for the race win just ahead of a charging Mark Tesar.  Oz once again showed his lack of rust, finishing third.

The forecast for this weekend looks amazing, at least for now; get out and join the fun on the water! As a reminder for this weekend; E and C Fleets, you have Sunday afternoon races! That means back-to-back races both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  C boats, you’d better get the practice time before C Nationals in Okoboji; that’s coming up very soon!  June 13-16!  Mark Tesar will be your PRO for the event; I heard through the grapevine a few boats from Clear Lake may be in attendance!

The Sailing Center has opened for business! In just the first week a ton of kids are busy learning new skills on the water and having more fun than they could have ever imagined!  The instructors are working hard to make the student’s experience an amazing one.  If you haven’t already registered your young one for sailing lessons, don’t wait, go out to the website, www.clycss.com, now and get them enrolled.

So much excitement this week, more to come next week!  Until then friends…

Stay in the Clear Air.

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