Doublehanded Challenge racers finish in Rogers City
The Huron Doublehanded Challenge sponsored by the Doublehanded Sailing Association completed the 19th year of competition with a trihull named ?Gamera? finishing first for the second year running. However, after the handicapping was applied, the actual second place vessel, ?High Priority II,? was given first place and ?Gamera? second. ?Gamera?s? time last year was 25:42:50 and this year the crew cut almost four hours off with a 21:45:03 actual expended time. They came in Sunday morning at 8:25:03 followed just seven minutes later by ?High Priority II,? another trihull, at 8:32:07.
?Gamera,? a F-256 trihull, was sailed by Matt Scharl and crewed by Mark Zaranski, while ?High Priority II? a Corsair F31R, was sailed by David Shneider and crewed by Bill Campbell.
?We were layin? down and we had a whole lotta action,? Zaranski said of the race as they finished tying up at the north wall of the Rogers City Harbor. ?We were about seven minutes ahead, but it was closer earlier on,? Zaraniski continued.
?WE WERE able to break out. Actually they (?High Priority II?) were in front of us until we swapped positions about 2:30 this morning. ?We were under spinnaker sail and they were under screecher ? they were goin? up and we were goin? down…it was a little bit a of a trap and we were able to fly behind them without banging beams.
?After all that time here we were in the middle of the lake (so close to each other),? Zaranski added. David Shneider said of the race against ?Gamera,? ?It was a fast ride, a slow ride, we had thunderstorms, and lots and lots of rain! ?We traded places back and forth. We were an hour behind them at the first turn…we caught up, then they caught up with us and back and forth it went,? Shneider said.
The trihulls make the longer journey, a 196 mile-course from Sarnia to Rogers City that includes many classes of vessels in the race. Others begin their race from Sarnia/shore course, a distance of 168 miles, or out of Bay City/shore course, 126 miles.
SAILING ACROSS the finish buoy at a fast pace in third place was another trihull, ?Stampede,? at 11:37:47 Sunday morning. ?Stampede? was sailed by Ronald White and crewed by James Thompson, and was given fourth place in its class behind ?High Priority II,? ?Gamera,? and ?Panacea.?
?We had a little bit of everything,? said White. ?Wind, thunderstorms, some sun…no trouble, only a few regretful mistakes.? ?We had some good runs this trip,? Thompson added. Of the particularly fast finish, while racing across the harbor entrance and whizzing past the finish buoy, White said, ?We got a real favorable lift (at the end) on that last tack.?
White said they didn?t get very much sleep this race, but that was because it was such a fast-paced event.
TOP RACE RESULTS by class for the Offshore/Goderich 196 mile distance course were: Port Huron Class, ?Sea Quell,? with an elapsed time of 37:09:19. Skipper Paul Krutty, crew Paul D. Krutty. Bayfield Class, ?Lady Luck,? with an elapsed time of 33:45:14. Skipper Paul Lady and crew Jim Hackett. Lexington Class, ?Patriot,? (30:15:06). Skipper David Lattie and crew L.J. Lattie.
Port Sanilac Class, ?In Flight,? (32:42:45). Skipper Phil LePage of Presque Isle, and crew John Covert-Sisung. ?In the Shore Course/Sarnia Start 168 mile distance: Rodgers City Class, ?Sea Wise,? (49:19:34). Skipper Charles Weiss, crew Ja
?In the Shore Course/Bay City start with a 126 mile distance: Tawas Class, ?Windswept,? (34:46:42). Skipper Ed Gottschalk, crew Rich Bass. AuGres Class, ?Bernoulli,? (27:23:09). Skipper Michael Elliot, crew Greg Martin. Saginaw Class, ?Unleaded,? (25:25:40). Skipper E.J. VanSickle, crew Barry MacGregor. The racers enjoyed a catered dinner at the Lakeside Park pavilion Monday evening and breakfast Tuesday morning before going their way.
?Out of the 54 registered boats, 44 made the run,? said race director Sandi Struble. ?Three didn?t start, eight withdrew and by Monday morning 33 had already completed the challenge.?