Mills splits longtime crew
6/12/2003Together, they won the Sears Cup quarterfinal series at the Inter-lake Yachting Association Regatta four years in a row, from 1990-1993. In 1993, a big year for the young sailors, they teamed up again to win the Associated Yacht Club junior championship for the Carson Cup.
In all those races, Stange was the helmsman.
So when Foeller's Menace sprinted to the top of the Hobie 33 class at the Mills Race, it felt kind of strange, he said. For the first time, Aaron was steering another boat - Rich Potcova's Purple Gerbil - which finished third in the class.
“I've been racing with Aaron about 12 years and only raced against him once,'' Foeller said. “This is the first time I ever beat him.''
Foeller, Menace's co-skipper Mike Deye, Kent Baker, Stange, Kolling, Nick Turney and Karl Bradley are some of the new kids on the block. Young and aggressive, they take competition seriously, but they also hang together.
“It's all about family on our boat,'' Foeller said. Average age of his crew is 25.
For the “now'' generation, who grew up with computers, GPS and high-speed digital transmission, it's also all about technology.
“Kent Baker, our navigator, relies on an electronic chart plotter,'' Foeller said. “Otherwise we wouldn't know where we were [in the dark] or when the boat was lifted.
“Everything is digital. Menace doesn't even have a magnetic compass on board.''
Skippers who weren't quite ready to race the Mills will have another opportunity next week to see how they stack up against other area competitors.
The 16th Annual Lake Erie Race Week is expected to draw about 35-40 boats from northwest Ohio and southeastern Michigan, according to John Glanville of the race committee. Participation is not limited to yacht club members and all sailors are encouraged to compete in the events.
Race Week will feature 4 races this year, instead of the usual five. The midweek round-the-buoys race at Monroe Boat Club has been eliminated due to “time constraints,'' Glanville said.
“Everyone is so busy and it's so hard to find crew, we decided to drop the Monroe race,'' he said. “By shortening the series, we can finish it up in a week.''
The series will open Wednesday with a Modified Olympic Triangle Race at North Cape Yacht Club. Starting time is 7 p.m.
Thursday (June 19) will be a layday, followed by Ottawa River Yacht Club's TI-MI Race on Friday (June 20.) The 10.3-mile sunset race will start and finish at North Cape's West Mark. Turning points are the Toledo Harbor Light and the East Mark.
Jolly Roger Sailing Club's Buccaneer Race, scheduled at 10 a.m. Saturday (June 21), is race No. 3. The 25-mile course starts at the North Cape's South Mark and rounds the Toledo Water intake crib and the Toledo shipping midchannel buoy.
The final event will be Detroit Beach Boat's Club's 18.5-mile Brest Bay Cup, starting at 10 a.m. on Sunday (June 22). The fleet will start at the East mark, turn buoys in Brest Bay and wind up at the west mark. Awards will be presented at North Cape Yacht Club after the finish.
Entry forms are available at the sponsoring yacht clubs or by calling race chairman John Greiner, 419-726-2933 or Glanville, 734-241-2824.
LOGBOOK:
Tim Mambort and David Barone, members of the St. John's Jesuit High School crew, are among 60 high school rowers who will attend the National Rowing Team Selection Camp, in Boston.
In other rowing news, Danielle Davis, of Southview High School and the Toledo Metropolitan Rowing Club, was selected for the 2003 US Rowing Honorable Mention Scholastic Honor Roll.
JUNE EVENTS:
It's regatta time at Toledo Sailing Club and , along with a beauty contest, dock poker runs and duck races, the events include sailboat races on Saturday. A skippers meeting will be held at 11 am, followed by the first race at noon.
For more information, call Anne Gilsdorf, 346-9010, or Roger Van Gunten, 385-2152. Gilsdorf promises starts for any three sailboats or sailboards in a class as well as a Universal class.
Glen Blohm, George Webb and Mike Fahle will be among the beachcat skippers competing in the 2003 Round the Bay Race on Saturday.
Open to any multihull with a Portsmouth rating, the 24-mile course around Maumee Bay. starts and finishes at the North Cape Yacht Club beach, with marks at Grassy Island and the Toledo Harbor Light.
Registration will be open from 8-9 a.m. Saturday; followed by a skippers' meeting.
Contact: Mike or Carol Fahle, 419-729-996
The Spirit of Detroit Thunderfest APBA Gold Cup will not be run as scheduled on Saturday. And unless organizers find a sponsor or other financial backing to dig the event out of debt, it may be deep-sixed entirely.
Also on this weekend's busy boating schedule: the Chicago NOOD Regatta, at Chicago Yacht Club, tomorrow through Sunday; the USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival at Crescent Sail Club, Grosse Pointe, Saturday and Sunday and the J/24 Class Silver anniversary Regatta in Newport, Rhode Island, Sunday through June 19.
CLASSES: The Toledo Power Squadron will teach BoatSmart, a class for sail and power boaters on Saturday, June 14, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m, in Building 1, at Anchor Pointe Marina, . To pre-register, call 419-893-9528.
Personal Watercraft (PWC) Training, including slow-speed maneuvering, off-throttle steering and maintenance , will be offered by the Toledo Boating Education Center, Walbridge Park tonight from 6-9 p.m.