Red, White & Blue Chip

Waiting for the wind

Madison sailors Will Hanson and Meta Simon competed in the invitation-only Optimist Red, White and Blue Chip regatta hosted by the Lac La Belle Yacht Club. Forty-eight sailors completed three races in light wind over the two day event, August 13-14. Full results available on La Belle's website.

A rainy day at Pram Power 2012

North Lake Sailing School's Pram Power Regatta was held on Thursday, August 9. After a sweltering summer and no rain, sailors at Pram Power were greeted with a cool, rainy day. This was surprising given the weather of the summer of 2012 up to that point and also that the three previous years at Pram Power were the hottest days of those summers. Pram Power is a mix of fun with crafts and activities and sailing -- 3 races for senior fleet and 2 races for junior fleet. Fritz Simon was the lone Madison sailor and raced in the junior fleet. Fritz was fast out of the blocks winning race #1 in a steady drizzle and finished fourth overall in the event. The highlight was the giant jar of gum balls he received for winning a race!

116 Optis at ILYA Championship

Three Madison sailors competed in the Inland Lakes Yachting Association Optimist Championship regatta on Pewaukee Lake, July 30-31. The young sailors experienced classic Pewaukee sailing in shifty conditions over the two day event.  Fritz Simon and Will Segersten competed in what might have been a record 53-boat Green fleet, finishing 8th and 12th overall after a total of six races. Meta Simon sailed in the Red, White and Blue fleet against 62 other competitors, finishing 24th overall and 3rd in the White fleet. The highlight of the event might have been the dunk tank at the Monday night party where sailors were able to send their sailing school instructors into the tank. Full results can be found at www.ilya.org/ilya-regatta-results.html

All Smiles at 'No Tears' - Quinn Senke wins Sr Fleet

Six Madison sailors competed on Monday, July 23 in the "No Tears, No Guns, No Protests" ILYA regatta on Big Cedar Lake near West Bend, WI.  In spite of the heat, the Cedar Lake Yacht Club put on a great regatta as the winds built from 6-8 mph in the morning up to 15-18 mph by the end of the day. The last race tested everyone's boat handling skills, and in the end, the senior fleet sailed 5 races and the junior fleet completed 3 races. Two Madison sailors, Quinn Senke and Will Hanson, enjoyed their first regatta race wins in the senior fleet. Quinn won the senior fleet regatta and Will finished 3rd overall in the senior fleet. Great job!  Colin Senke, Will Sergetsen, Micah Hanson, and Fritz Simon raced in the junior fleet with Fritz and Will finishing in the top ten juniors overall.  Congratulations to all sailors!  A great day for Madison Optis!

Results to follow once they are posted at ilya.org.  More photos on Picasa

Red, White and Blue Chip - here they come!

The Lac LaBelle Yacht Club will host the Optimist Red, White and Blue Chip regatta in mid-August. Like 'blue chip' events in other scow classes, sailors must qualify for an invitation. A sailor can qualify based on his or her place at a local regatta (e.g., Inland Championship, GLSS, LBSS, etc.) or through qualifying races in his or her home club. Madison sailors gathered on Sunday morning, July 22 for a series of four races to determine who will receive the two invitations for MYC. In light to medium winds, Meta and Fritz Simon, Will and Micah Hanson, Quinn and Colin Senke, and Will Sergetsen competed in tight racing that saw the wind switch almost 180 degrees in the middle of the first race.

Congratulations Will and Meta!

Place	Sailor	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Total Pts
1	Meta Simon	1	1	1	1	4
2	Will Hanson	3	2	3	3	11
3T	Quinn Senke	4	4	2	5	15
3T	Will Sergetsen	2	5	4	4	15
5	Fritz Simon	7	3	5	2	17
6	Colin Senke	6	6	6	6	24
7	Micah Hanson	5	7	7	7	26

More photos on Picasa

USODA Midwest Regional Championship Regatta

The United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) Midwest Regional Championship Regatta was held in Cleveland, OH on July 14-15. The Simons ventured east and Meta sailed with an international fleet on the big waters of Lake Erie. With this regatta only about a week before the USODA National Regatta scheduled for Sandusky, OH, several sailors from Canada and Bermuda joined U.S. sailors from various points across the country for two days of sailing in light breeze. Results at USODA.org

Optis with downtown Cleveland in the background

International and U.S. sailors waiting for the wind to fill

Geneva Lake Sailing School Regatta (GLSS)

Wednesday, July 11 four Madison sailors raced in the GLSS on Geneva Lake -- Will Hanson, Will Sergetsen, and Fritz Simon all sailed in the Green Fleet, and Meta Simon competed in the Red, White, and Blue fleet. The sailing was classic Lake Geneva - beautiful water and shifty winds. Green fleet results here and RWB here.

Green Fleet start

Meta Simon sailing 213 in RWB

Madison Opti Racing Week 5

Several families braved the heat for the 5th week of sailing on Friday July 6. Sadly, a dip in the lake did not even provide relief from the heat as Lake Mendota was literally like a warm bath. The young sailors practiced their skills with Will Sergetsen learning the art of holding his tiller extension like a "rock star with a microphone" in proper Opti form.

A few more photos on Picasa

Madison Opti Racing Week 4

Several families came down to Lake Mendota for the fourth week of Opti sailing but were left wondering where the wind was as the lake was calm and the only action was from a few water skiers. But, just when everyone thought it was a lost cause, some weather moving south of Madison kicked up a sudden wind (from 0 to 10 mph on about a third of the lake in seconds).  Andersons, Foghts, and Wennings set about rigging to head out for some sailing.  Sorry -- no photos tonight. We'll have to see what report might come in via email and will update the blog.

USODA Great Lakes Regional Regatta

The United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) Great Lakes Regional Championship Regatta was held Wednesday and Thursday, June 27-28 in Sheboygan, WI. Forty-three sailors from the Midwest as well as the east and west coasts competed in the Red, White, and Blue fleet in spectacular sailing conditions on Lake Michigan. Eight sailors also participated in the Green fleet.  Fritz Simon sailed with the Green fleet, and Meta Simon sailed in RWB along with 15 other ILYA sailors from area lakes including Pewaukee, Geneva, Nagawicka and North.

It was a great event -- conditions on Wednesday brought crazy swells (8 ft plus) and wind building from about 10 mph at the beginning of the day to 18 mph at the end.  Even the locals were perplexed by the waves for the amount of wind.  The kids thought riding the waves was totally cool.  Thursday there was no wind so the six races from Wednesday provided the final result.  Five ILYA kids qualified for the team trials regatta next spring to be held on Pewaukee (Henry Chapman, JP Friend, Joey Biwer, Mark Davies, and Parker Michael).  All of the ILYA kids did a great job in really different conditions than they are used to.  Meta was excited to finish 5th in white fleet and 2nd overall girl.

Full regatta results available from USODA

More photos on our Picasa page (sadly, they just don't do the waves justice).

Madison Sailors at Lake Beulah Regatta

Five Madison Opti Racers competed in the Lake Beulah Sailing School Regatta on Monday, June 25 along with 66 other young sailors from southern Wisconsin.  It was a beautiful day for sailing with winds of 10-12 mph out of the northeast.  But true to form, the Lake Beulah winds were shifty and the shorelines were a factor in the races.  Meta Simon and Quinn Senke raced in the Red, White, and Blue fleet completing four races in a 46 boat fleet. Colin Senke, Will Sergetsen, and Fritz Simon sailed five races in the Green fleet. It was a regatta full of firsts for the green fleeters: Will successfully completed his first ever regatta in his first summer sailing Optis; Colin led a regatta race for the first time; and Fritz won his first ever race in the first race of the event. It was also Quinn's birthday that day and he kindly brought ice cream treats to share with fellow sailors.

Full results on the Lake Beulah Yacht Club site: RWB fleet results and Green Fleet results.

Colin Senke leads at the windward mark

Will Sergetsen sailing downwind

Fritz Simon in the first race

More photos on our Picasa page.

Madison Opti Racing Week 3

A "tack on the whistle" drill

Friday, June 22 was another beautiful evening on Lake Mendota for the third week of Opti racing. Winds were in the 6-8 mph range from the northwest. Thirteen sailors ventured out to sail around buoys and practice their skills. New faces this week included Will Segertsen with his father Justin and iceboater Don Cain and family.  Madison Opti Racing veteran Bryn Ostby joined the group this week, and Martha Anderson came out as well for her first sail this year.

A surprise visitor appeared from the south shore of the lake in a Badger Sloop... long-time Madison sailor Dierk Polzin sailed over to say hello and then led the kids around the buoys for a lap. It looked a bit like a mother duck with a fleet of ducklings nipping at her heels.

See the rest of the photos on the Picasa page.

Madison sailors at LOPN Regatta

Fritz (213) and Colin (21) on the first upwind of race #1

Madison sailors Meta and Fritz Simon and Quinn and Colin Senke competed in the LOPN (La Belle, Okauchee, Pewaukee, Nagawicka) Opti Regatta on Thursday, June 21 on Lac La Belle in Oconomowoc, WI. Meta and Quinn sailed in the senior fleet and Fritz and Colin sailed in the junior fleet. Conditions were great for sailing but did test the fleets for the first regatta of the year with steady 15 mph winds in the afternoon.

Quinn received the sportsmanship award for the senior fleet. Full results can be found on the La Belle Yacht Club website.

Other photos on the Picasa page.

Madison Optis Week 2

It was another great evening for Opti sailing on Lake Mendota this week. In spite of the popularity of this week for vacations for several of our families, a nice sized group of sailors enjoyed the conditions -- especially first-year sailors with lighter winds this week. Emily Newquist and Olivia and Jaymo Foght all sailed solo this week and did a great job. Greg ran some of the more experienced sailors through a series of practice starts and everyone worked on sailing up and down the course.

The wind eventually faded, and with hunger setting in for the kids, it was time to start the grill. But, there was almost no cookout! The Simons forgot the gas cylinder for the grill. Luckily, Jay Foght had thought to throw his camping box in his van so voila! The grill was fired up and everyone enjoyed a mosquito-free dinner.

See you next week!  More photos on our picasa page.

It was a Picture Perfect First Evening!

Friday, June 8 was a beautiful evening on Lake Mendota (well, except for a few weeds) for the first week of the 2012 Madison Opti Racing season. Past participants welcomed many new families.  We're not sure if it was a record, but with 42 people (sailors, parents, grandparents, and siblings) and 14 boats, it sure was pretty close. The kids practiced making their way around a small race course and working out the kinks in a nice 8-12 mph breeze from the southwest. On shore we fired up the grill for hotdogs.

Returning sailors included:

Oscar and Martha Anderson
Will, Mica, and Cora Hanson
Kelsa and Kylie McCormick
Meta and Fritz Simon
Gus Wenning



Welcome to new sailors:

Stefan and Sorin Caldararu
Emily Newquist
Jamo and Olivia Foght
Lev and Talia Kerlow

More photos on our picasa page.  See you next week!

Opti Regatta's

Listed below are local area Opti regattas.

LOPN June 14th Lac LaBelle
Beulah Sailing School Reg. June 25th Lake Beulah
Lake Geneva Sailing School Reg. July 11th Lake Geneva
Kazuba Cup South Shore YC July 12-13th Milwaukee
No Tears ILYA Mon. July 23rd Cedar Lake WI
ILYA Champ. 29-31st Pewaukee
Red White and Blue Chip Aug. 13-14th Lac LaBelle

Regional and National Regattas in our area:

USODA Great Lakes Champ. June 27-28th Sheboygan
USODA Midwest Champ. July 13-15th Cleveland
USODA National Champ. July 25-29th Sandusky OH
USODA Great Plains Qualifier Aug. 25-26 Clear Lake IA

Dates for MOR 2012

Hello Opti Sailors: Dates are listed below for the Madison Opti Racing. Sailing location is at Burrows Park.

Friday June 8th. 5-8pm
Friday June 15th 5-8pm
Friday June 22nd 5-8pm
Friday June 29th 5-8pm
Friday July 6th 5-8pm

Blue Chip Qualifier Regatta July 22nd 10:00am Burrows Park

Ice Optis on Wingra

Six-year-old Fritz Simon and nine-year-old Meta Simon enjoyed their second outing in new ice Optis today. It was a beautiful day on Lake Wingra with a morning low of 20 degrees that tightened up the ice surface after the yesterday's high of 40. Nice light winds of 3-7 mph were perfect for summer Opti sailors learning to iceboat. Parents and master boat builder and grandfather, Jerry, also took the optis for few laps. To add a bit of excitement, Fritz let a hike get the better of him and tipped the boat over, and Meta spun out coming into the launch.

A special thank you to Jeff Russell for making ten sets of opti runners -- they worked great and were a little too fast at times!

More photos on picasa and more videos on youtube. See you on the ice!

Showing off for Grandpa Simon

70-year-old Jerry takes the opti for a spin -- you're never too old to sail an opti!