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