National Championship

Hosted by Indian Lake, OH from 9/29/2001 to 9/30/2001

The 2001 National Inland 20 Scow Championship Regatta

Posted by: John Spargo and Jim Brust

Indian Lake, Ohio was the site of the I-20 Scow National Championship Regatta, held on September 29th and 30th, 2001. Al and Sandy Pezoldt were the I-20 Indian Lake Representative hosts.

Indian Lake is over 5000 acres in size and is located about 40 miles northwest of Columbus, Ohio. The Yacht Club is an older ranch-style house converted into a very inviting and usable facility located on the south end of a large bay. Next to the Yacht Club is an island used by the club for slip storage of about 100 member boats.

As competitors arrived Thursday and Friday, they were met by I-20 crews and Indian Lake members. Everyone was extremely gracious and helpful.

Out of town boats were dry-sailed and launched by crane. To sail from the launch to the large bay and the lake, boats had to sail from a very small bay through a channel about 30 yards wide and 120 yards long.

After a delay due to a heavy morning fog, racing started on Saturday with two races scheduled before lunch, and another two after lunch. The first race was a W-2 1/2. The wind was fairly light at 5-8 mph from the north. The entire racing area was filled with pressure, and most boats started on starboard tack at the pin end. The fleet stayed reasonably close together on the first windward and leeward legs. After rounding the leeward mark the first time, three leaders emerged and finished the race as follows: Steve Scheck and Leigh Leonard, John Spargo and Jim Brust, and Tom Klaban and Jane Tompkins on their brand new I-20. At some point during the race, Grant Frautschi and John Hayashi capsized.

The second race was a W-2, and otherwise a repeat of the first, except that all boats started on starboard tack as the wind dropped to about 5 mph. The clouds were breaking and bright blue patches of sun were emerging. The results of the second race were the same as the first for the first three boats. After the first three boats had finished, seven or eight boats finished essentially overlapped on each other. Very exciting!

After lunch the third race started as a W-2 1/2 in very light air which had large shifts from the east/northeast. The race started with most of the fleet tight to the committee boat end of the line. After the start, with most of the fleet on starboard, the pressure filled in much heavier on the right side of the course. Spargo and Brust tacked to port and went behind the sterns of most of the fleet, going a good distance to the right. After tacking to starboard, Excalibur took the lead to the windward mark with Tom Ewing and Bill Monsma on ID-4 close behind. On the second leg there were large holes, and at times many boats had unfilled spinnakers. As Spargo and Brust neared the leeward mark, they were joined by Ewing and Monsma, who came in from the far left side without achute. After the two boats rounded the leeward mark, the wind filled in from the right, and with most of the boats with chutes being on the far left, the fleet split even more. The finish of the third race had boats spaced out a lot more than in the morning. As the first boat finished, the last place boat was just rounding the windward mark. Spargo and Brust finished first with a large lead over Ewing and Monsma in second, and Klaban and Tompkins some distance back. The rest of the fleet was yet further back. Reading the wind direction and watching for pressure made the difference. Steve and Leigh, who had won the first two races, initially went out near the left layline and were almost totally without pressure. They did a great job of working their way up from about eleventh place to finish fifth.

The wind increased and steadied for the fourth race. The start was aggressive, but all boats started cleanly. In this W-2 race, the lead was held by various boats until ID-5 and H-677 stretched out in front and met at the windward mark. Shortly after rounding the windward mark, and as chutes went up, Spargo and Brust shot ahead. The wind continued to have large shifts from the east with heavier pressure. Recognizing this, both boats jibed partway down the leg, and at that moment in a puff, Tom and Jane managed a dramatic capsize, chute up and all! On the last downwind leg, Steve and Leigh caught and passed Spargo and Brust in a spinnaker race to the finish. The finishes for the fourth race were Steve and Leigh first, Spargo and Brust second, Mary Kay and Paul Bates third, with Kyle and Liz Metzloff fourth.

Saturday evening there was a terrific buffet banquet, which followed the National I-20 Class Meeting.

Sunday came in with a heavy fog shrouding the lake. The sailors assembled and waited for over two hours for the fog to lift. The Race Committee then called for the fleet to hoist sails and head out to the race course. As the boats made their way to the bay, what little breeze there was totally vanished. About an hour later, Sunday’s racing was cancelled. The regatta was over. Indian Lake was a wonderful venue with great people! All sailors enjoyed the weekend, and would look forward to sailing on Indian Lake again in the future. The regatta was competitive, fun, and a great event for the continued promotion of a growing and exciting two-person boat!

Regatta Results

Sail #	Skipper	Crew	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Total
H-677	John Spargo	Jim Brust	2	2	1	2	7
H-652	Steve Scheck	Leigh Leonard	1	1	5	1	8
H-42	Mary Kay Bates	Paul Bates	5	6	6	3	20
ID-5	Tom Klaban	Jane Tompkins	3	3	3	14	23
H-1	Kyle Metzloff	Liz Metzloff	4	5	10	4	23
ID-3	Mark Bucheit	Kevin Turner	11	4	4	10	29
H-216	Grant Frautschi	John Hayashi	7	8	11	5	31
ID-326	Stefan Schmidt	Kay Goetz	9	9	7	7	32
ID-8	Nicole Koeppen	Derek Herring	8	7	9	9	33
ID-4	Tom Ewing	Bill Monsma	10	11	2	11	34
ID-1	Adolph Pezoldt	Sandra Pezoldt	6	10	12	8	36
ID-77	Jeff Patten	Alex Patten	12	12	8	6	38
WA-24	Kelly Queisser	Mary and Robert Queisser	13	13	13	12	51