Huntington Lake Commodore’s Cup / Joel Verutti Memorial
Hi all, Marina Fennell here, first timer at Huntington and first time doing a write up! Ok, so… technically I have been to Huntington before, but I was too young to remember, and I’m sure I wasn’t racing.
I knew I wanted to come to the lake, as my friends the Cooks invited me to stay at their campsite and eat their food, how could I say no? I managed to get a ride with Watts Moore, when I ran into them at a different Santa Cruz regatta, and I got a ride from my cousin.
Driving past Shaver Lake and seeing all the pontoon boats, motorboats, and jet skis, I wondered what the heck? That’s no fun. But then we kept driving, rounded a bend, and there she was! Huntington in all her glory, with not a motorboat in sight.
On Friday we did the milkshake run in honor of Joel Verutti. I did the sail with Sydney, Mackenzie, and Maddy on Nobody’s Girl. The upwind was my tour of the lake, Mackenzie pointing out the burned down boy scout camp, the yellow buoys that we’d be racing around, the dam, and sharing lake tactics. A total of seven (maybe 8) boats sailed up for lunch and milkshakes. It was a fantastic family affair, with many kiddos in attendance.
We took a leisurely spinnaker-only run back to the docks. After landing, I hopped onto Watts Moore for a practice turn around the lake. Karen Loutzenheiser on bow, Chris Watts driving, John Mellnik trimming, and Henry Fourchy in pit, that left me at the mast. Karen quickly explained the few tasks that I had as we sailed upwind, rounded mark 4, popped the kite and threw in a couple of practice jibes before rounding the gate (mark 8). Our crew work fell together nicely, and I was happy I’d landed a spot on a boat with such a well-oiled team.
Saturday we were off to the races! The Fresno Yacht Club race committee were short a few volunteers, but the expert scoring team of Kelli Cook and Hilary DeGroot from SCYC stepped in to save the day. There were five fleets in total, with 17 Moore boats competing.
Day 1 proved to be tough racing, with huge lead changes between races 1-4. Scott won the first race by a mile, then Morgan Larson took the second race, Dave Gee the third race, and we took the fourth race. Staying left upwind seemed to pay, tacking to stay in the puffs (many of them were lifts), and then finding a puff to get you across the middle to the weather mark. The tacking duels upwind really reminded us all that we were at 7,000 feet elevation! Staying in clear air and on the lifted tack was key. On our boat, Karen would call the puffs, John would watch the compass headings to see how lifted/headed we were from base, and Chris kept his cool, calm, collected self driving us fast and flat.
At the end of day 1, our boat had the most consistent day, with our throw-out being a 4th, tying us for first with Morgan’s team. Ron Moore made it to the lake in the afternoon. He got to watch some of the racing from shore and then joined in on the Saturday night party at the Saloon.
Packing up the morning of day 2 before racing left me feeling a bit sad, like I’d have to leave prematurely…I’d only just settled in and gotten to know the place! But we sailed out Sunday morning hoping to continue with our consistent speed and nailed it with a bullet on the first race! During that race, when we were rounding the leeward gate in a solid first, three boat- lengths before the douse our boat started heading up and up and up! We (the crew) all looked back to see what the heck was going on with the helmsman, to find Chris taking a selfie with the whole fleet behind him. “Put the phone away and drive!” Karen or John yelled at him, although we were all quite happy to let Chris revel in his victory for a few seconds.
The second race, though, we got a less-than-ideal start and battled our way back to 4th, mainly because on the last upwind leg the boats in 4th and 5th got into a weird port/starboard tacking situation and slowed themselves down enough for us to sail over the finish line ahead of them. Chris said mildly that he’d tacked later (farther right) to avoid such a P/S entanglement, and I must admit I was impressed with his forethought! I always love it when I learn from new people that I sail with, and Chris and team were great teachers.
The most impressive race at the end of the day was to the boat ramp, and Morgan schooled us all by zipping his boat out of there from the middle of the ramp (no dock to help straighten) and on the first try! It took our team maybe four or five tries and I finally felt us all trying to learn a new skill together…pulling the boat out at the ramp! Everything else had come so naturally to our team and I am so grateful that they gave me the chance to sail with them this past weekend!
Overall, the weather was colder than I anticipated (again with the 7,000 feet), the sail changes were easier than I expected (we just kept the #2 up all weekend), and the Moore family was more welcoming than I could have asked for (it’s always good to see Ron there). Thank you all for keeping the spirit going as the newer generations start to fill in for the older generations. I look forward to more Moore sailing in the future. :)
