2000 Inland Lakes
Regional Sunfish Championship
During two days of very different wind conditions, the nine sailors in the Year 2000 Inland Lakes Regional Sunfish Championship regatta enjoyed the hospitality of the Blanche Lake Sunfish Fleet and Woodlawn Resort. They completed seven races on the weekend of August 26-27, four on Saturday in winds very light to non-existent, and three on Sunday in winds of 15 to 20 out of the south. Mild temperatures and sunny to partly cloudy skies prevailed.
The predicted winds of 10 to 20 for Saturday failed to materialize, and at times it was touch and go whether the racing could continue. But always a puff would materialize just when needed to start another race. Then die off. At one point, the winner crossed the finish line just four minutes before the hour limit would have canceled the race.
After the four Saturday races, Joe Richardson had a solid hold on first place with three bullets and a third. Bud Narveson held onto second with two seconds and two thirds. Tom Raster scored the win in race 2, but struggled in the middle of the fleet otherwise. High school senior Dustin Hartwig, by far the youngest skipper in the fleet of seasoned veterans, found the groove in race 4 to register a second, his highest finish of the regatta. The other second on Saturday was captured by Brian Harris in race 1.
Sailors awoke on Sunday to the satisfying sound--to everyone except Joe the master of light air--of waves lapping the shore. The three races went off in quick succession between 9:30 and noon. Reveling in the brisk wind, Tom Raster captured two firsts and a second, but Bud stayed close behind him, taking a first and a second, and then, having no way to improve his score in the last race, dropped out and took a dnf for his throwout (actually, he didn't plan this--he thought he was done after crossing the finish line on the first upwind from the leeward mark). In the last race, Jason Raster posted his best score of the series, coming in second behind his father.
As he feared, Joe Richardson struggled in the heavy air and saw Bud Narveson and Tom Raster pass him by in the standings. The final totals, after the throw-out, showed Bud in first place by a scant half point over Tom, 12.75 to 13.25, very likely the narrowest margin in Inland Lakes Regional history. Joe ended in place third at 18.25.
On Saturday in the quirky light air, Joe finished as much as two and a half laps ahead of the last finisher. But each race on Saturday showed the close match in quality of all the sailors, with everyone on the final upwind leg when the first boat crossed the finish line.
At the Saturday night banquet, Inland Lakes Representative/Blanche Lake Fleet Captain/Regatta Organizer Joe Richardson presented recognition plaques to Joe Lightowler for captaining the race committee (helped by wife Joyce) and to Phyllis Narveson of Woodlawn Resort for presiding over the food and beverages at breakfasts and lunches (helped by Virginia Hunt, Cheryl Aune, and Teresa Hartwig).
Pl. Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total (after throwout) 1. Bud Narveson 3 2 2 3 1 2 DNF 12.75 2. Tom Raster 7 1 4 5 2 1 1 13.25 3. Joe Richardson 1 3 1 1 5 8 DNF 18.25 4. Brian Harris 2 6 3 4 7 3 3 21 5. Jason Raster 5 4 6 6 4 5 2 26 6. Louie Hunt 4 5 5 9 3 4 DNF 30 7. Dustin Hartwig 6 7 8 2 6 9 6 35 8. Dick Treptow 8 9 7 9 8 7 4 43 9. Mark Kiefer 9 8 9 7 9 6 5 44
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Robert (Bud) and Phyllis Narveson
Woodlawn Resort
Rt. 2 Box 365
Battle Lake, MN 56515 Ph. 218-864-5389