The Good Guys Come Out On Top
Detroit MI, Aug 29 — Sept 1
2019 CAL25 Nationals
The Good Guys #855
Peter & Otto Wenzler / Austin Colpaert / Dan Synowiec / David McVicker
Gallery of Champions
After three grueling days of racing, Peter Wenzler and his crew onboard The Good Guys came out on top taking top honors and being crowned the 2019 Cal-25 National Champion.
The 2019 National Championship was held in Detroit Michigan over Labor Day weekend. This event was co-hosted by Crescent Sail Yacht Club and Bayview Yacht Club. The three day regatta was attended by 16 boats competing for the championship. Tim Bloomfield and his White Cap crew came all the way from Annapolis to participate in the event.
PRO Matt Bounds and his RC volunteers did an outstanding job conducting races given the challenging conditions over the three days. Chief Judge Clark Chapin had an easier job as none of the on water protests were filed. Our regatta coordinator, Libby Schudel, oversaw all the daily activities ensuring the regatta went as planned without incident. Daily Awards were given to the top five boats for each race conducted along with two random draws for boats not placing. Special thanks to Karl Kuspa and North Sails for providing the daily awards. Huge kudos to Stu & Mary Dees and their assistants for putting on an outstanding Saturday night BBQ dinner at CSYC.
Day 1
All the competitors started the day off feeling optimistic we could get in three to four races. As it turned out, only one race was sailed after a long 2½ hour postponement. The conditions were light to no wind – oscillating 30 – 40 degrees all day long. The left side of the course paid huge dividends throughout the race. Having a huge lead initially, this race was won by Paul & Ross Nuechterlein’s Never Alone, closely followed by Bob & Suzanne Scoville’s Blew by you. Rounding out the top three was Peter Wenzler’s The Good Guys.
Day 2
Day 2 consisted of light winds and huge chop. Tacking and getting back up to speed was difficult given the challenging conditions. It was imperative boats find ways to accelerate from zero to hull speed quickly after being stopped by bad waves. Crews were frustrated thinking they were doing well and shortly later noticing they had lost several boats due to waves or wind oscillations. Nonetheless, the RC was able to complete four races. After the second day of racing The Good Guys were in first followed by Pagan Baby. Patriot was in third place with Thor in fourth and Never Alone rounding out the top five.
The CSYC BBQ dinner/raffle was a significant highlight of the regatta. Libations were plentiful and Erik Ryan’s blended drinks were a crowd favorite. Everyone enjoyed the burgers, brats and all the fixings. The much anticipated raffle was called by CSYC Vice Commodore Dave Simon with over 35 items being awarded to winning ticket holders. Again, we encourage everyone to patronize the vendors who donated to our raffle. See the Cal-25 webpage for a list of our sponsors.
Day 3
On the last day of racing, the competitors enjoyed slightly better conditions compared to the previous two days with a little more wind and better waves to negotiate. The RC was able to conduct three good races with the leaders battling it out up to the last race determining the eventual champion – The Good Guys.
Awards
At Bayview Yacht Club and starting off the awards, both Commodores, Sandy Fullerton (BYC) and Champ Glover (CSYC) acknowledged the Cal-25 fleet as being one of the most competitive and largest fleets in the area with very talented sailors. John McAllister and Erik Ryan presented trophies to the top five boats. Peter Wenzler was presented the coveted National Championship trophy and received a His & Hers engraved Cal-25 watches – courtesy of Erik Ryan.
Marc Hollerbach’s Pagan Baby took second place, only one point out of first place. John & Tracy McAllister’s Patriot took 3rd place, followed by Paul & Ross Nuechterlein’s Never Alone in fourth and Kieth Ziegler’s Thor took fifth place.
This championship was well planned and provided three days of fun and competitive sailing. All the crews enjoyed the racing and hanging out with fellow competitors at BYC and CSYC. All are looking forward to the next National Championship.
2019 National Championship Announcement
John McAllister
US466 Patriot
Detroit Cal-25 Fleet Cmdr
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