Last CLSA race of the year and pleasant daysailing weather..9 mph wind became lighter than anticipated..the real story of the day however was the trouble "Synergy" had before the start as her main sail halyard released at the top of the mast minutes before the start and Gerry had his crewmates scrambling as the clock ticked down to retrieve the wayward shackle dangling 30 feet over their heads!

Joe and Linda Budden's star continued to rise saturday. A "Full" distance race was committeed by Rod and Eric Bussell on a partly cloudy day with winds of 10 to 15 mph.Despite Rod Mosely's efforts on his J-24 he could not shake loose of the tenacious couple on their Macgregor 26 "Makin' Thyme". The J-24 did finish ahead of Joe and Linda but only by a few boat lengths at the end of the day and with the PHRF favoring the Mac ended up in second place.Larry and Barb Bethard took third place in the cabin boats.

It was a rare day of racing Sunday as Thistles and Cabin boats dominated the racing in perfect 12 to 20 mph breezes. Bill Vokac set a perfect W/L course safely in the far southern end of "the Basin".With "the old man"[Dick Hansen] aboard, Gerry Christman was flying on his Thistle all day..

It was a day of upsets on Clinton Lake as Race Committee of Chris Wojnar and Dick Hansen ran both a "Full distance" and Windward/Leeward for those who prefered one over the other. It was great to see new faces gaining the top places at the finish. Joe Budden prevailed over the great Gerry Christman after over two and a half hours on the water sharing the honors with his wife Linda on their 26 ft. Macgregor "Making Tyme"winning by 98 seconds! In the shorter competition we saw three different first place finishers in the three races run! The winds were variable out of the south at 3 to 9 mph.

It was quite sight this past Sunday afternoon as CLSA members dawned their sqivies and waded through the shallows pulling weeds and various impediments on land and the waterline along the boat launching areas.The Commodore Joe Buddin and his fellow officers in the club[like Joe Karbarz and Gerry Christman] did not hesitate to "swing the axe and shovel" with others to clear the harbor and dock areas.Watch for pictures on line in upcoming days..it will be worth it!

Clinton Lake's very own Ben and Deb Williams WON the Challenger Division Finals at the Flying Scot North American Championship at Waveland,Mississippi. Congrats Ben and Deb and "Sophie" for putting Clinton Lake sailing on the National map!

Day one of the Annual event saw Joe Budden and wife Linda Host and Committee a committed[asylum?] group of sailors including a fleet of Scots ,a Thistle and various Cabin boats of shape and size. Two half distances were run..first to the bridge[Mascoutin] then to the West access ramp and back. The Thistle blew everyone away skippered by Craig Rost and crewed by the vaunted Russian sailor Alex Lubguditshev..doing a horizon job on everyone.However this was a dedicated "Cabin boat race" so Fist place went to Synergy" skippered by Gerry Christman and crewed by wife[Linda] and son .

The days are lengthening now and that special time has returned to Clinton Lake between 5:00p.m. and 8:oo on Wednesday evenings. With the usual concerns about potential weather threats and goofy or non-existant winds [to excuse oneself from going]..the Scot Fleet [led by Hosts Ben and Deb Williams] had a blast. It turned out there wasn't any threatening weather at all and the winds were 10 to 12 mph! Clsa even had two new visitors show up[Carole Kaufman and Terry Klintworth] asking questions about learning to sail..and boy did they get a ride they didn't expect!

Perfect match next to Hughs Hobie 16! Why not buy both for a thousand? Ready to race or cruise..in need of a younger body to sail her. Hughs Hobie is probably in better condition so if just want one Hobie..buy his!

What a gorgous day to end the CLSA racing season! 10 mph variable oscillating winds and warm sunny skies welcomed the seven boats participating.Joe Thompson and Mike Trautman ran the committee boat as has been the tradition the past few years. They sent the fleet to the west access after making the boats round a windward turning mark to star the race off. Craig Rost dominated the fleet with Alex on jib and spinnaker pulling away in their speedy "Thistle".