The 2006 EC-12 Region 4 Regatta Champion is Mark Rinehart.  Mark triumphed over a fleet of 19 skippers at the 2006 AMYA EC-12 Region 4 Championship Regatta that was held on August 6-7, 2006 at Delia Park in Sterling Heights, Michigan.  Finishing behind Mark and also receiving trophies were:  Scott Rowland, Gary Mueller, Rick West and Jack Wubbe.

 

The Regatta skippers began arriving at Delia Park on Friday, August 4th, to check in and to participate in the practice races that were held on the park’s pond.  On Saturday morning, the Regatta’s race director, Jim Grover, and his assistants from the Detroit Model Yacht Club, began setting up a windward/leeward course along the pond’s west shoreline.  The windward mark consisted of two buoys, one an ‘offset’, that were treated as a single mark.  The leeward mark also consisted of two buoys, which were treated as a ‘gate’ that the skippers had to sail through and then had the option of turning to port, or to starboard and heading into the wind.  This course layout was used throughout most of the regatta, although the course had to be relocated during the lunch break on both days to keep that course aligned with the wind direction.  22 of the 24 races were ‘two lappers’, with races 22 and 23 being a single lap of the course.

The winds on both days were light, under 10 mph, and were shifting direction frequently, which gave all of the skippers the challenge of responding with adjustments to their sail position and course direction.  The early morning temperatures were in the upper 60s and the mid-afternoon temperatures rose into the mid-to-upper 80s.  Both days were also ‘mostly sunny’.

 

Saturday’s racing consisted of 4 races in the morning and 8 races after lunch.  Mark had finished first in six of the races and Scott Rowland in four of them.  Gary Mueller and Rick West each had a first place finish.  These were the four leading skippers as the day’s racing ended.

 

Sunday’s racing also consisted of 12 races, with Scott closing the gap to Mark with 5 firsts, 4 seconds, 2 thirds and a fourth (which was a throw-out!).  Mark started the day’s racing with one of his 4 firsts and had 3 seconds and 2 thirds; the other three races were throw-outs.  Gary had another first and Rick missed the final 5 races with a rudder servo ‘problem’, but had a large enough lead over Jack Wubbe that he retained his fourth place.

 

Six skippers ended up with first place finishes in at least one race.  Mark Rinehart ended up with 10 first place finishes, Scott Rowland with 9, Gary Mueller with 2, and Rick West, Jack Wubbe and Robert Hill each with one.

 

With 19 boats on the racecourse, there were a few ‘entanglements’, but the skippers all handled the occasional protest call on the water and quietly went back to racing.  We, at the Detroit Model Yacht Club enjoyed hosting the EC-12 Regatta for such a fine group of skippers.

 

Written by Bruce Zemke, for the Detroit Model Yacht Club – 07AU06

Place               Skipper                       Sail #               Points

1                      Mark Rinehart              66                    35

2                      Scott Rowland              15                    38

3                      Gary Mueller                90                    65

4                      Rick West                    94                    94.3

5                      Jack Wubbe                 64                    104

6                      Robert Hill                    23                    122

7                      Ray Dagenais               75                    139

8                      Tom Magnusson          33                    154.1

9                      Scott Todd                   33                    162

10                    Paul Proefrock             63                    173

11                    Dave Harrington           05                    192

12                    Ole Kistler                    48                    193

13                    Frank Novak                17                    199

14                    Kerry Pebbles              44                    216

15                    Frank Vella                  89                    239

16                    Gary Garden                37                    287

17                    Tom Lenhart                 29                    313

18                    Dick Hein                     34                    318

19                    Larry Rapp                   54                    334