• Omnium Champlain Regatta

• Commodore MacDonough Race

Omnium Champlain Regatta

I need to look up the winners names..

Lake Champlain's Largest Regatta

70 Boats Compete on Cumberland Bay

by Zoe Kangas (“Miss Congeniality”)

he Omnium Champlain Regatta, now the Lake’s largest, has been going strong each Labor Day Weekend for 20 years. By “strong” I mean that the organizers, a group of friends from Montreal who wanted to attend a regatta which emphasized “friendly” as much, if not more than “competition” and finally decided to throw their own, now plan for 75-100 boats. In addition to its’ unique founding principles, the regatta’s format is unusual as well: a couple of around the buoys races on Day 1, followed by quite a long distance race on Day 2.

Pardy... Pardy....

Each day of racing is concluded with a large, enthusiastic and supportive celebration and awards presentation which no participant would ever dream of skipping, because EVERYBODY is always in the running for a prize. For example: last year I “raced” with an eager first-timer in the slowest cruising class, finished just about last and won the “Miss Congeniality” award (I am not making this up!) This year I double-handed a Racing A boat and won the “Middle of the Fleet” award for our class (actually that award was rescinded after a corrected scoring error revealed that we had in fact finished second in both races, but no one fussed about it much, as I had already given away most of the gourmet cookies which were the prize). Only elapsed times are announced on Saturday to maintain a certain amount of mystery and prizes are geared decidedly towards good sportspersonship.

Out of 70 participating boats this year (118 boats are the record) there were a total of 12 entries in Racing A and B, 51 boats in 3 non-spinnaker classes and 7 boats in what turned out to be the most impressive class of the event: Novice. These crews had never entered a sailboat race in their lives. A lecture and demo was held during the Friday evening social, I mean registration, outlining the meaning of all the flag waving and gun shots coming from the Committee Boat, and during which everybody practiced pronouncing both the English and French translations for the word “starboard”. The novices were started after all the other classes and because they even SHOWED UP to race in 20 knots of breeze on Saturday were given huge rounds of applause that evening.

Lets see... The masthead fly says the wind is from the north and the smoke from the chimney on shore says it's from the west, and my politically correct cigar says it's blowing straight down...... Damn the torpedoes, where's my beer...Oh ya...... stand there and push that sail out until I finish my beer.

The Sunday long distance race included up close and personal views of both the Vermont and New York shores, Cumberland Bay, Crab, Providence, Valcour and Garden Islands. Personally, I saw WAY more of Garden Island (which was quite close to the eventual finish) than I would have preferred. Intrepid little “Sonar”, which had performed so admirably Saturday on tight spinnaker reaches in pretty stiff breezes, was visibly unhappy and reproachful in the complete vacuum our group of wannabe-finishers encountered just 50 yards shy of our destination. She ghosted around, trying to avoid contact with huge Cruising A boats (some of whose clearly spoiled crews where taking the opportunity to enjoy onboard refreshments) that were similarly stalled in the same hole. Tempers never flared, but you could smell “the rubber burning” as creative crews worked their brains overtime trying to come up with new angles on moving in no wind whatsoever. I had plenty of time for photography on the leeward rail and got a nice shot of one crew on their bow attempting to hold shape in their huge and uncooperative Genoa. Two other crews which were equally as motivated, but less acquainted with racing rules, took the plunge and swam their boats to the finish. The rest of us bobbed about staring at Race Committee who smiled and waved their encouragement 50 yards away until, finally, “Sonar” perked up in the half-knot exhale that whispered by about an hour later and snuck us over the line.

The final awards presentation Sunday evening was held at Regatta Headquarters: the gorgeously renovated Plattsburgh Marina, which features a huge wrap-around deck, live music every evening and one incredibly welcoming and flexible staff. Prizes were cosmic: first place overall was a NorthStar GPS. The (very few) participants whom didn’t receive an award this weekend were comforted by the fact that they had enjoyed free beverages for the entire event simply by wearing their Regatta T-shirts which, by the way, were just about the biggest amusement of all. The shirt prominently features the red diamond shape of the “F” (fox-trot) flag which is also flown, as you may know, as the “Disabled” signal. Just watching 375 sunburned sailors milling around all weekend in ‘em was worth the 50 bucks any day. Hey - it’s all about having fun, right?

OMNIUM 1996

AKA: The Lomnious Yum-Yum Race

"Obsession" skippered by Ed Trombley

by Rob McDowell

don’t know why the Omnium Race is called the “Yum-Yum” race by it’s organizers, maybe because one of the sponsors is a cookie manufacturer, maybe for other more interesting reasons, and one of our local skippers does call it the “lomnious”, but I do know it is one of the most popular and fun races on the lake. It’s interesting to speculate about what makes a popular and well attended race, and very interesting to realize that the most successful races on Lake Champlain have large and enthusiastic cruising classes. It seems that a good date, location, organization, race management, good courses, after race party/awards ceremony, and good weather is the successful recipe.

In this case, Saturday presented itself with 20 knots of steady south wind and bright sun in Cumberland Bay, with about 70 boats, and two medium length triangles scheduled. I was sailing on “Obsession”, Kjell Dahlens J-35 skippered by Ed Trombley in Racing A. Our competition was Andre Riopel and his X 119, “Rafale 1”, Chris Duley on the J-92 “Real Escape”, Paul Beaudin and Zoe Kangas in a Sonar and a couple of other boats. Kind of a diverse bunch with a very wide rating spread. After waves of cruising boats our start finally came up and we chose to take the leeward side of the line because we wanted to sail toward the “wall”, the somewhat famous and invisible easterly shift that occurs in a brisk south wind on the east side of Cumberland Bay. “Rafale 1” was over early and went west after restarting, “Real Escape” came out with us, pounding directly into the chop. We found the edge of the shift and tacked because we wanted to dig back in toward the center of the course and consolidate position on”Rafale 1" and the other westerly boats. It worked and we had the luxury of sailing the rest of the beat in true imperial big boat fashion, building up great boatspeed and angle and picking conservative tacks to the mark. The upwind mark was placed south of Crab Island in a similar position to the old Mayor’s Cup course, and we knew that the next leg would be a close reach fairing to a beam reach toward the jibe mark at Cumberland Head. I guess the conservative big boat stuff was going to our heads because we elected to wuss out and not set the chute. For awhile the other boats seemed to accept this as ok for them too, then “Real Escape” set the asymmetrical chute, and after a few round ups, began to plane and we started to worry. We set after the jibe and were able to slow their rate of closing. After the finish we thought “Real Escape” had won, us second and the Sonar in third.

After a nice, continental break for lunch, racing resumed at 1400. Miraculously the wind held, and the second race was nearly a copy of the first except that we weren’t quite the wimps as before and set the chute on the first reach. The wind had faired slightly and dropped a little and since we had no problems with the chute, we used that to rationalize our actions in the first race.

After the gun, it appeared that we beat “Real Escape”, but it looked as if Paul and Zoe could have been first in the Sonar. We settled down to party thinking we had two seconds, with our major competition splitting two firsts and thirds. Not bad and something we felt we could work with.

Now if this race can field about 70 boats and only 20 percent of them are racing boats, that proportion is certainly reversed when it comes to geared up partying. A certain joie de vivre that was going around Saturday night might make some of us rethink this racing/cruising thing. I raced on a boat that even had the paddles on the windex sacrificed to the boatspeed god, and here Plattsburgh Boat Basin and the harbor behind the breakwater was filled with boats resplendent with biminis, dodgers, barbecues, refrigeration, real heads not buckets, wine, cheese, beautiful women, and everyone was having a great time. There may be a principle here......

On Sunday there was no wind in the morning, and a long distance race over to Providence Island around Valcour Island and back up to Cumberland Bay scheduled. After a postponement, a light shifty, southwesterly breeze crept up, and we started, knowing this wasn’t going to be nice sailing. We neglected to read the instructions and realized almost too late that there were only two starts, cruising and racing. Somehow the lack of boats on the line, and our competition sailing earnestly toward the line convinced us that this was indeed our start. Yesterday we had classic breezy fall sailing, crisp, clean and delightful. Today it was classic Lake Champlain summer sailing, hot, light, slow, a diabolical powerboat chop, and nowhere near enough beer in the cooler to compensate for what was happening to us now. We got “Obsession” wound up nicely though, found a lucky swirl of air off the end of Crab Island and got out in front of the fleet on the way to Providence. We were able to open up a large lead as we approached the second mark of Garden Island and yes, the finish.

The Omnium Committee did precisely the right thing and aggressively shortened the course. However, we were 200 yards away and there was no wind. Visions of Diamond Island, parking lots, and purgatory, melted away with the ritual burning of incense and some roll tacks. Finally, a little breeze, the gun and relief. Andre Riopel finished second in “Rafale 1” about 20 minutes later, “Real Escape” and the Sonar were safely back. We swam. We drank. We swam. Back to the ‘Burgh and a packed Naked Turtle to await the results.

At about 2200 the sailors and friends and family still awake assembled and in true Omniuim Franglais the awards ceremony began. This is one of those situations that if you are not a francophone you don’t always know whether you’re sharing the joke or are the joke, but it was all in good humor. As it turned up we were saved by the time on time god in the first two races, and won, and with todays race looked good for the overall. Still we had that “Omnium Paranoia” that some avocado green Tanzer 22 from hell had won the overall. Finally, the overall result, yes it was “Obsession”.

We had a fun weekend more due to the presence of a lot of other boats and sailors also enjoying themselves than because we had done well. The courses could have been better for the racing boats, but a triangle with hot legs has to be more fun than going downwind if you can’t use a chute. This was a well run, fun race that enfranchised the largest group out there sailing. The racing boats in this regatta were an interesting sideshow, but the main attraction was a good time.

Results: Omnium Champlain Regatta

Commodore MacDonough Race

The fast J-92 is in the slow fleet and the slow J-92 is in the fast fleet.....PHRF, gotta love it!

LCYC End of Summer Classic

by Mark Gardner

ive classes competed for the coveted Commodore MacDonough trophy on Saturday and Sunday September 7-8. Hosted by the Lake Champlain Yacht Club, the long distance classic has a tradition that dates back to the late 1950’s. The faster boats in classes A & B sailed a 73.6 mile course from Shelburne Bay north to Point Au Rouche, south to Diamond Island and finishing in Shelburne Bay. The remaining boats in Classes C, D and non-spinnaker sailed 48.2 miles, rounding Valcour Island to the north , Diamond to the south and back into Shelburne Bay skipping the long trip to Point Au Roche.

As Hurricane Fran turned into a low pressure area and started traveling north there was some hope that the predicted southerly winds would give MacDonough a brisk start. Because of a high pressure over Canada, the remnants of Fran were stalled over the southern portion of the state and had the reverse effect on the race. Five to twelve knots from the northwest greeted the fleet of twenty six boats.

Four boats started in the non spinnaker class at 1030 Saturday morning. John Camm sailing “Solaris” got the jump on the fleet at the start heading north to Valcour. With ratings from 111 to 222 the non-spinnaker class spread out quickly. Two boats raced for Class D honors; “Carina” and “Swan Song”. Missing this year was “Celerity”, sailed by Alex Nimick. The rumor is that Alex may not race as actively next year. He will be missed.

"Why Not?" and "Ragtime"jocky before the start.

Class C fielded six boats. Tony Lamb got “Sto Lat II” wound up quickly while leaving Shelburne Bay, followed closely by Bob Goodwin in “Legacy”. The moderate winds of Saturday morning favored the larger displacement boats, taking advantage of their long waterline.

Class B was the largest with nine boats. “Evoked Potential”, a John Kimura owned Melges 24, used the maneuverability of his little pocket rocket at the start to blast into the lead. The Melges led the class up to Providence Island. One look at the windless conditions all the way to Au Rouche and John turned and set his chute for home....guess he knew something that the rest of us didn’t.

"Frankly Scarlett"awaiting her turn.

Six boats competed in Class A. The team of Brush-Horton aboard the J-33, “Peregrine”, jumped into an early lead. Working the shifts for all they were worth, “Peregrine” lead the fleet at Appletree Point. Tacking close to shore they took advantage of a stronger shore breeze and bolted even further ahead as they approached Colchester Point. All during the day on Saturday, the distant gray clouds to the south gave a promise of wind. As the northerly began to die, low wispy clouds began crossing the lake from east to west but the low pressure was still stalled. In these confused conditions the fleet divided with most of Class A and part of B managing to escape the doldrums of the broad lake north of Stave Island. Classes C, D and non-spinnaker drifted across the lake to Valcour while the tail end of B struggled to make it to Au Rouche. Those holding up the rear were quickly loosing hope that the new southerly breeze would fill in and bring them up to the rest of the fleet.

“Peregrine” led at Point Au Rouche having sailed a flawless race. Unfortunately for them the predicted winds filled in shortly before evening and the larger boats managed to overtake them. The 10-15 knot southeast wind brought overcast and darkness to the lake. With little ambient light, the lake seemed to close in around you making judging distances difficult. Around midnight, a rain squall engulfed the fleet. Aboard “Bark Ode” we struggled with a headsail change in a driving rain and gusts up to 30 knots. Actually going bare headed for a few minutes during the worst of the rain storm we struggled to keep our cool. Unfortunately a half hour later the wind calmed and we were forced to make another headsail change. Those boats that managed to tuff it out during the storm made significant gains.

MacDonough is a famous race for a variety of reasons one of which are the stories that have been told by those skippers and crews about their adventures rounding Diamond Island. Even the best have been stung by the “narrows”. Although always different, the stories have one common thread, the unpredictability of the wind below Split Rock. Many competitors consider Split Rock to be the “second start” with a sprint to Shelburne Bay as the final race.

A different surprise awaited us at Diamond..... wind! We sailed right up to and around Diamond Island having to tack only three times after passing Split Rock. The entire crew sat on the rail in disbelief. What had always been the great equalizer was now just another “mark of the course”. Over the years there has been a continuing debate on whether or not this short section of the race should be eliminated. Proponents for eliminating the narrows claim that it diminishes the race, often penalizing those boats that arrive first, while those who enjoy the narrows like the challenge of negating the tricky winds around Diamond Island. Regardless, the stories continue, and so does the mystique of Diamond Island. “Them narrows, boy I’ll tell ya, they’ll get ya every time.”

The sprint to Shelburne Bay proved to be a easy spinnaker run and a slow final beat up into Shelburne Bay. Crossing the finish line shortly at 0430, the crew aboard “Bark Ode” were excited to have survived another Commodore MacDonough and glad it was finally over.

Results: Commodore MacDonough Race