2012 Penguin Internationals

Summary:

The 2012 Penguin Class championship was held on August 16 and 17 at the Sheridan Shore Yacht Club in Wilmette, Illinois.  15 teams, 10 from the Chicago area, 4 from the Chesapeake region, and one from Ohio competed.  A passing thunderstorm on Thursday morning delayed the registration and measurement, but the rain stopped and after being treated to a Subway lunch, the 15 boats were launched and headed out on Lake Michigan.  Unfortunately, a strong cold front was passing through, and while we were waiting for the committee to set the race course, the wind built to well over 15 knots with puffs in the mid 20’s.  The committee decided to send us in for the day.

Thursday evening, Sandy and Marilyn Rapp hosted the sailors, and a large contingent of Penguin sailors from the Chicago fleets who weren’t sailing , at their home for dinner.  Friday’s forecast seemed a bit better, with strong breeze in the morning, but expected to calm down as the day went on.  However, Lake Michigan (it’s a great lake) takes a while to settle down once the swell builds, so after a brief harbor postponement, the fleet headed out in what turned out to be a beautiful sailing day with winds from 5 -12, although there was still a significant swell, and some chop on top of that.

Sandy Rapp with crew Margaret Bodnovich jumped off to an early lead in race 1 and never looked back.  Charlie Krafft with Donna McKenzie followed around in second, but misjudged the effect of Sandy’s wind shadow on the final beat to the finish in the one lap windward leeward course, and Steve and Erin Lavender  passed them.  Race 2 saw Sandy and Margaret jump into the lead again, with Steve and Erin taking another second.  Jack Rickard, who rounded in third was caught off-guard by one of the swells and managed to capsize.  Getting the boat righted turned out to be an exhausting exercise, so he called it a day.  In Race 3, Ross Adams had a great start and sailed the first beat well to round in first.  Jonathan and Annie Bartlett, rounded the leeward mark in 6th, in the tightly bunched pack, but a quick tack toward the shoreline paid off, as they went on to win the race.  Bob and Jenna Findlay, also capitalizing on better pressure on the left side of the course finished second.

In race 4 the wind had moderated a bit from the previous two races, and Charlie and Donna rounded the weather mark first, followed by Bob and Jenna Findlay.  Findlay headed toward the shore on the run, found better pressure, and got to the leeward mark first, and held on to finish.  After four races, Rapp and Findlay were tied with 11 points, Lavender and Bartlett were tied with 13, and Krafft had 15.

For the final race, the wind had moderated a bit more. Charlie Krafft started near the pin end of the line, well away from the rest of the fleet and took advantage of more favorable wind on the left side of the course.  He rounded first, closely followed by Findlay, and then Rapp, Lavender and Bartlett.  Krafft extended his lead on the run and went on to win handily.  Findlay covered Rapp on the final beat to take second in the race, but sole possession of the lead.  As it was nearing the 3:00 PM cut-off, the fleet was sent in by PRO Tom Adams.

Although the top five boats had only five points separating them, it wasn’t as one-sided as the scores would indicate.  Ross Adams sailed to a third in Race 3 and was never far from the leaders, to finish 6th overall.  Jeanne Ehrenberg, sailing with her mother, Jeanette Krstolich sailed smartly and finished 7th.  Jeannette was acknowledged as being the oldest crew.  Martin Krafft, the youngest skipper, with crew Daniel Sage, after a 14th in race 1, came back strong with  a solid performance to finish 8th overall.  Bill Perley sailing in a classic wooden boat with water bottles for crew finished 9th.  He reportedly had good music on the boat.  Rich Blatt sailing with Bill Richards with their distinctive mylar sail rounded out the top ten.  Steve Pratt with his son,  Leo Pratt-Thomas sailing Frank Flaherty’s Innovator  had misfortune in the last race, when a shround pin came loose, and the mast came down, requiring a tow in.  Dan Hilliard sailed a classic Penguin and was also one of the four boats that sailed single-handed.  Amy Krafft with Brooke Edgecombe finished 13th.  Jack Rickard after a 6th in race 1, and a top five course position in race 2, was unable to complete the rest of the series due to his capsize.  Tom Provencher sailing with Katie Watkins did a commendable job sailing in the challenging conditions, both on Thursday, and also on Friday.  Katie gets special mention for not letting  go of the moored boat she was told to hold onto while waiting to get to the dock, even as the Penguin she was on starting drifting away.  Gravity won, and Katie ended up in the water.  Katie was very good natured about it, and enthusiastic about going sailing again.

Jeanne Ehrenberg received the Flo Drill award for the top Female Skipper, Sandy Rapp received the Dick Tennerstedt Grand Master’s award for the top skipper over age 60.  Bob and Jenna Findlay, in addition to the Class championship perpetual were awarded (JB says he will mail it) the Lawson Family trophy for the highest placing family team.  It is worth noting that 3 of the top 5 boats were family teams, out of 5 total family boats.  Charlie Krafft was the top classic boat, out of the 4 that competed.

A special thanks to Tom Adams, who served as PRO, and was ably assisted by a number of helpers including Terry Glenn.  Also to Marilyn Rapp, who took care of getting lunches, hosted a dinner party for the fleet.  Also thanks to Ross Adams for working with the Sheridan Shore Yacht Club to make this event happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 International Penguin Championship

 

 

 

 

 

 

PL

Sail
No.

 

 

Race 1

Race    2
PL Pta

Race 3
PL Pta

Race   4
PL Pta

Race    5
PL Pta

All
Races

Skipper

Crew

PL Pta

1

9740

Bob FINDLAY

Jenna Findlay

5  5

3  3

2  2

1    1

2  2

13

2

9730

Sandy RAPP

Margaret Bodnovich

1    1

1    1

5  5

4  4

3  3

14

3

9478

Charles KRAFFT

Donna McKenzie

3  3

4  4

6  6

2  2

1    1

16

4

9724

Steve LAVENDER

Erin Lavender

2  2

2  2

4  4

5  5

4  4

17

5

9576

Jonathan BARTLETT

Annie Bartlett

4  4

5  5

1    1

3  3

5  5

18

6

9628

Ross ADAMS

 

7  7

7  7

3  3

8  8

7  7

32

7

9750

Jeanne EHRENBERG

Jeanette Krstolich

8  8

6  6

11  11

7  7

6  6

38

8

9575

Martin KRAFFT

Daniel Sage

14 14

8  8

7  7

6  6

8  8

43

9

7050

Bill PERLEY

 

13 13

11  11

9  9

9  9

9  9

51

10

9714

Rich BLATT

Bill Richards

11  11

10 10

8  8

13  13

10 10

52

11

9727

Steve PRATT

Leo Pratt-Thomas

9  9

9  9

10 10

10 10

DNF  16

54

12

9042

Dan HILLIARD

 

10 10

12  12

12 12

12 12

11  11

57

13

9028

Amy KRAFFT

Brooke Edgecombe

12 12

14  14

13 13

11  11

12 12

62

14

9709

Jack RICKARD

 

6  6

DNF  16

DNF  16

DNF  16

DNF  16

70

15

9145

Tom PROVENCHER

Katie Watkins

15  15

13 13

14 14

DNF  16

DNF  16

74