2005 Western Challenge Regatta
December 4-5, 2004
Magic lake in Minnesota worth the trip
By: Randy Rogoski - DN US 4192
Over 50 boats turned out for the eighth annual DN Western Challenge
Cup, this year sailed at Lake Christina in western Minnesota, near Ashby.
The lake is three hours west of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis - St.
Paul, and only 45 miles east of North Dakota. It has about three houses
on its shores and no ice fisherman.
The lake's remoteness and distance from major population centers didn't
discourage DN ice yacht racers though. Indeed, racers came from as far
away as North Carolina and Ohio; and five Europeans made the trek to
this event, which upheld its reputation for always having ice when its
scheduled - the first weekend in December.
"
I'm super excited that people have enough faith in Minnesota to come
out and sail with us," said John Dennis, US 4691, the regatta's
chairman who also finished second in the gold fleet.
Dennis said that Mark Keifer, past IDNIYRA commodore of North America,
and his son Sam, who live in Fergus Falls, checked the ice and made the
recommendation to call the regatta on for Lake Christina.
While many other lakes in Minnesota have open water in early December,
Lake Christina has proven reliable ice. This 4,000-acre lake averages
only four-feet deep in the race area, and from the roadside launching
area on Highway 78, the ice measures 1.5 miles to the south shore. East
to west, there are 1.75 miles of racing ice.
"
I was anxious about going (to an ice yacht regatta) in early December.
But I was amazed by Lake Christina," said Matt Struble, US 183,
now living in west suburban Detroit, who traveled 15 hours each way to
win six of eight races and the gold fleet regatta his first time sailing
the event.
Struble said he relaxed when he saw the big smooth lake. He said he was
impressed by the good competition, too.
Of the 30 DN racers worldwide in the top ten ranks, 14 are from North
America. Ten were at the regatta; add three top Europeans to the gold
fleet, too.
Bernd Zeiger, G107 and Joerg Bohn, G737, ranked second and fourth respectively,
have attended this regatta before and returned in a heartbeat to Lake
Christina.
"
For meeting you guys this first weekend iceboating in Minnesota, we would
travel twice around the globe. Thank you all for organizing this world
class event," Bohn said. Also making the long flight from Germany
was his friend Uwe Bonnke, who is not an ice racer but came to watch.
Presently living in North American are Lesek Ziolkowski, P 71, who came
from Chicago, and 20-year-old Mihkel Kost, C 45, from Estonia, who finished
sixth in the gold fleet. Kost is working at UK Sails in Detroit while
preparing for the 2005 DN World Championship in North America.
"
What great training! We're way ahead of everybody else (who wasn't there)," said
Ron Sherry, US 44, who finished third.
"
It was awesome!"
During the three-day event, there was more racing than at any DN world
championship. Many enjoyed the fun relaxed atmosphere and relative lack
of pressure sailing the huge courses, racers said.
The temperature was a few degrees below freezing Friday morning as racers
arrived to find five inches of clear black ice near the unimproved launch
area and shallow sticky snow beginning about one-half mile from shore.
Many were set up and ready to race by 1 p.m., and once the wind picked
up to 6 to 8 mph, and the temperature warmed above freezing, the snow
softened and all could sail.
A one-mile course was set for tune-up scrub racing, and about eight two-lap
races were sailed. The fleet arrived at the first windward mark with
all bunched together.
That night, the temperature climbed to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and a light
drizzle of rain fell.
Saturday morning all the snow on the ice was gone. The temperature fell
below freezing to firm and speed up the ice.
And the wind blew; when the racing started it was in the mid-teens to
the low 20s.
After the first three races, there was a two-hour break to wait for the
wind to ease.
"
Somewhere in the madness you have to stay focused and calm. The scariest
part of the weekend was just getting downwind," said Struble, the
regatta's champion.
Some racers cracked sideboards from spinouts to leeward on the clear
fast ice. A few broke masts sailing to windward, as boat speeds easily
topped 50 mph.
Struble said that all the top yachts had similar boat speed, so he concentrated
on tactics; he got fast starts and stayed clear of other boats. When
he sailed into the windward mark in a wind gust, he jibed after rounding
to stay in the gust to leeward.
Strategically, he said he was "big on finding good ice, staying
in the breeze, and getting the lay lines right.
"
It was key to judge lay lines correctly, it's so common to overstand."
While banging the corners to windward, he said he took hitches downwind
because he wanted to follow the changes in wind pressure - and keep top
speed.
Boat handling wise, Struble said, "you just gotta be on your toes
the whole time playing the mainsheet. Things were really on edge, and
I wasn't making any erratic turns, just keeping things really smooth."
In the fourth race, he said he was fourth at the first mark after starting
on the right side when the left side was favored going upwind. He then
passed Paul Goodwin and closed the gap downwind on the leaders, John
Harper, followed by John Dennis. After rounding the leeward mark, the
leaders tacked left. Struble said he held and got headed on the right
side in pressure, then tacked.
He said he passed Dennis going upwind, and followed 15 boat lengths behind
Harper, the leader at the start of the last leeward leg. He got the boat
hiking and rolling along and passed Harper.
"
The last downwind leg is difficult to get by. It was a very exciting
race to win. Then to win six - amazing!"
His runners were .25 inch wide, angled at 90 degrees with flat rocker
and sharp.
But, "you have to stay tactically sharp and keep your eyes on the
course," Struble said.
Runner up Dennis said that because he lives in Minnesota he gets to sail
on hard fast ice all the time.
"
I went to the settings (to rake the sail plan) I know work for that condition,
although I had to stiffen the rig when (the mast) was overbending. I
just footed off and went for speed," Dennis said.
He said his runners were 440c stainless steel, .270 inches wide, with
18 inches of .008 rocker.
Dennis said he wanted to thank everybody who attended the regatta and
that it was the Minnesota Iceboating Association's chance to payback
those who've run regattas they've attended. For helping to manage the
races and keep score he thanks Will Foster, Jon Monson and Mark Christensen
from his club, and Ken Smith from Illinois.
"
We're getting more ice than 15 years ago because it's warmer now. The
Nites (an iceboat class popular in Wisconsin) are going to Lake Christina
this weekend (Dec. 11 and 12)," Dennis said.
Gold Fleet
points sail ------Saturday------- --Sunday---
pos w/TO no skipper 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 10 183 Matt Struble 4 1 1 1 1 4 1 1
2 19 4691 John Dennis 2 3 2 3 3 6 2 4
3 21 44 Ron Sherry 1 7 5 DNS 2 1 3 2
4 27 4379 John Harper 6 5 4 2 4 5 4 3
5 34 46 Paul Goodwin 5 4 3 7 10 2 5 8
6 59 c45 Mihkel Kosk 13 8 10 12 8 3 7 11
7 59 4926 Steve Orlebeke 10 DNS 6 4 12 8 6 13
8 81 g107 Bernt Zeiger 12 6 9 DNS DNS 7 8 7
9 86 45 Wendell Sherry 9 11 11 14 14 13 19 14
10 89 5144 Mike Rehe DNS 14 8 24 11 11 16 5
11 94 4975 Rob Evans 8 DNS DNS 10 7 15 12 10
12 101 g737 Jorg Bohn 11 2 DNS DNS DNS 9 9 6
13 103 294 Lou Lonneke 7 9 DNS 15 13 14 13 DNS
14 105 4755 Rick Lembergh, Jr 16 DNS 12 9 18 16 17 17
15 110 3 Jim Grogan 15 16 15 13 17 DNS 15 19
16 116 4824 Mark Christinsen DNS DNS DNS 8 6 12 11 15
17 119 5014 Mark Isabell 19 17 18 5 15 24 DNS 21
18 123 3283 J. Bruce Williams DNS 12 13 11 DNS 19 20 16
19 127 4155 Rick Lembergh, Sr 24 13 14 18 DNS 17 23 18
20 129 3662 Greg Smith 3 10 DNS 6 DNS DNS 14 DNS
21 140 4811 Markham Chatterton 17 19 16 23 20 21 25 24
22 141 5214 Jim McDonagh 14 15 21 22 21 25 27 23
23 144 2000 Leon LeBau DNS DNS DNS 16 DNS 10 10 12
24 144 610 Don Jones 23 20 20 21 DNS 22 18 20
25 153 4923 John Loomis 25 21 17 17 22 DNS 26 25
26 157 4192 Randy Rogoski 18 DNS DNS 20 23 20 22 22
27 166 4974 Stan Jones 22 23 19 19 19 DNS DNS DNS
28 174 445 Bob Cave 21 18 DNS DNS DNS 18 21 DNS
29 192 4137 Ken Smith 20 22 22 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS
30 207 602 Tom Meyer DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 23 24 DNS
31 224 4695 Mark Keifer DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS
Silver Fleet
points sail ------Saturday------- --Sunday---
pos w/TO no skipper 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 11 1059 Michael Ulblich 10 1 2 1 1 1 1 4
2 19 5285 Chris Teal 1 3 1 DNS 3 5 3 3
3 27 3936 Eric Wilson 4 5 DNS 6 4 4 2 2
4 31 5290 Pat Huttner 2 9 5 9 7 3 4 1
5 48 4882 Dick Wollam 11 4 3 4 2 2 DNS DNS
6 59 50 Will Foster 7 10 10 10 10 10 7 5
7 69 p71 Jessek Ziolkowh 17 6 4 DNS 5 7 6 DNS
8 69 5156 Geoff Sobering 13 11 6 2 6 9 DNS DNS
9 72 1277 Hal Bowman 14 DNS 9 5 11 6 5 DNS
10 79 1313 Bob Rast 5 2 8 12 8 DNS DNS DNS
11 80 5169 Al Lizee 8 13 11 16 12 12 8 DNS
12 86 824 Steve Kennedy 3 7 7 3 DNS DNS DNS DNS
13 88 497 Randy Johnson 16 16 13 15 15 13 10 6
14 91 2452 Harry Allen 12 15 14 8 DNS 11 9 DNS
15 110 494 Andy Foster 6 12 15 11 DNS DNS DNS DNS
16 117 3909 Don Williams 9 8 12 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS
17 118 46B Catherine FirmBach DNS DNS DNS 13 9 8 DNS DNS
18 134 5251 Bryon Teizloft 15 14 DNS 17 DNS DNS DNS DNS
19 139 5172 Glen Betzoldt DNS DNS DNS 7 DNS DNS DNS DNS
20 140 3687 Jon Monson DNS DNS DNS 14 16 DNS DNS DNS
21 154 4868 Julie Richards DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS
*** DNS is a Did Not Score, we didn't really keep track of DNS vs DNF,
a DNS is the number of boats in the fleet+1
Updated December 12, 2005
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