BACK TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE LYC OPENING PAGE and CONTENTS   MESSAGE ONE MESSAGE TWO MESSAGE THREE   FIRST REPORT Tuesday March 20 A quick update on the America's Cup. Ivanpah is wet this year. There is a large puddle of water covering about half the surface of the playa. If the wind blows from the north it resides on the south end. If it blows from the south (as it did Sunday) it moves north (at about 10 feet a minute). The last two days have had a north wind so life has been good on the 30% of the playa that is not wet. It is drying quickly so we expect the sailable area to get bigger as the week progresses. We currently have a 1.7 mile course. The wind was 20-plus mph on Sunday right through the pilots' meeting whereafter it dropped to less than 10 for the rest of the afternoon. The last couple days have been lighter winds however we have been able to get in a total of 13 races. Dennis Bassano is looking strong in class 3 and 4. Terry Fulbright is doing well in Class 5. Art Lang is winning 5 Square. In both Manta classes there are ties for first. Awaiting more races to sort things out. We are expecting moderate wind for the Wednesday or so followed by another push. We expect to finish up on Friday as planned. Bob Dill SECOND REPORT Saturday March 31 The following are limited results from the America's Cup. Mark Harris will send full results in a day or so (when he gets home). Steve Smith and Jim Hart (webmaster at http://www.nalsa.org) will send LOTS of pictures. Nine races in all classes, five starts. Manta Twin: Mark Harris (20 points), Randy Holmer (22), Bob Schumacher (25). Class III: Dennis Bassano (10), Nord Embroden (24), Bill Dale (26). Fed 5: Art Lang (14, Floyd White (19), Mark Harris (19). Class V: Terry Fulbright (12), Robert Webber (15), Hardy Baehni (28). Manta Single: Jim Goss (14), Art Lang (15), Curtis Obi (16). Class IV: Dennis Bassano (13), Phil Rothrock (13), Hardy Baehni (28). SAILING CONDITIONS: Sunday: insufficient wind Monday: Light wind, lots of holes for some races Tuesday: Light wind, lots of holes for some races Wednesday: spells of 15 to 20 mph interspersed with lighter spells Thursday: Similar to Wednesday Friday: three races in 5 to 10 mph, lots of holes for some races. SAILING COMMENTARY: We had a couple days with long spells of good wind but we also had lots of races with parked boats. This is typical of Ivanpah. Our being able to sail so many races gave everybody about the same amount of good and bad luck. Overall there was not a lot of running in the light wind races but everybody that could, did run some. COURSES: Mostly windward leeward with out reaching legs. Distance between the marks: about 0.8 mile. Surface: good playa, slightly softer than usual although this did not seem to slow the boats much. Located on the north end of Ivanpah dry lake. COMMENTARY: Manta Twin Close racing with firsts by five sailors with the ultimate winner not winning a single race. Class III: Dennis dominated the racing with a strong showing by Phil Rothrock who was out of two races because mechanical problems, including a spectacular double tail stand at the leeward mark when his wing control wheel came off! Fed 5: Art Lang had his day in the sun with 6 firsts. Floyd White had a slow start but came on strong in the end. Class V: Terry Fulbright and Robert Webber traded first through out the regatta. Manta Single: The top three positions were hotly contested between Jim Goss, Art Lang and Curtis Obi. Class IV: This was a race between Dennis Bassano and Phil Rothrock and was not decided until the last few minutes of the last race when Phil lost a huge lead when he ran out of wind and speed at the leeward mark. Phil dominated the last half of the regatta as he got his new boat dialed in. The only race one of them did not win was the first when Hardy Baehni found the best wind and got past both of them. Bob Dill 31/3/01 THIRD REPORT Wednesday April 4: Wednesday, March 21: Returning from Antelope Valley, deep in Central Nevada to help the farmers cope with higher energy prices and come up with a way to afford tapping into a nearby geothermal energy site or a wind turbine site on Cain Mountain. US Hwy 50 was closed to us due to 600 gals of urea fertilizer dumped in a truck and trailer accident by a farmer. Pack the landsailing trailer and rest up for the 475 mile (766 km) drive to Las Vegas from Sparks, NV. March 22: Drive to Ivanpah with Bob Richards, a Californian catamaran sailor trying to race on my wife, Pam's, Manta Single. Much hail and lightning at Tonopah on US Hwy 95 at 6,000 ft, the highest point of travel on the trip. In the evening after an exciting early dinner in Beatty, NV we arrived and spent the night in the Rio Casino parking lot next to Kent and Pat Hatch, doing some last minute organizing for the event. March 23: We arrived at Ivanpah dry lake at Primm, NV and saw over half of the lake under water. We assembled the yachts and hoped for wind. Not much to be found. March 24: Ditto with the wind but the blastoff dinner was fun and we go to sail some. Summary: The first of 9 races started in earnest March 26 (Monday). During the racing we had south winds that made "Lake Ivanpah" move north and we had to move our camp from the "River of Death" which moved about 4ft per minute and sported brine shrimp and a shark fin. Winds were always from the north for triangle and mostly windward-leeward courses. Wind speed never got above 20 mph during the week, but I did see 54.5mph (88kmp/h) on the Fed 5 during a downwind reach leg. The highlight of the week was giving some rides to some little kids visiting from Las Vegas and participating in a Japanese television travelogue segment. At least they gave me a shirt and key holder. Friday the racing was over and the awards party was interesting at the Primm Valley Golf Course clubhouse on the west side of the Interstate highway I-15. I remember how slow a Fed 5 is with poor rear wheel alignment and how fast most landyachts are when receiving some tuning. The surface this year was softer and more cracked due to the 1.2 inches of water that fell on the site earlier in March (they usually only get 1 inch of rain in an entire year). Somehow I ended up 1st in the Manta Twinjammer class and tied for second (getting third) in the Fed 5/5.0 m2 class. Finally after a relaxing weekend driving home I watch the Junkyard Wars on the Learning Channel and saw Si Holder and Mike Hampton in a rugged landsailor construction and racing segment. Nice end to a 2001 America's Landsailing Cup Regatta. Mark Harris A5A, SALA, NALSA  [  t o p  ]    [  b a c k   t o   t h e   t o p   o f   t h e   p a g e  ] BACK TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE LYC OPENING PAGE and CONTENTS