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DAY 1:
This year the HOLY GALE started on Saturday, with everybody arriving, setting up camp and getting familiar with the race course. The LLAMA DELI opened for lunch at noon, serving fresh fish tacos with all the toppings (I had three and boy were they good). The LLAMA DELI was open everyday for the rest of the event and alternated between fish, beef and chicken tacos. That evening, we held the Mayor's Mixer, and the SASSANATOR received quite a workout as a special mix master was brought in to assist the Judge in the proper use of the apparatus.
DAY 2:
On Sunday,
after the fog cleared (in people's heads) and a nice breakfast we held the pilots'
meeting. Everybody was in attendance and the first written set of racing rules
for SASSASS and the HOLY GALE were distributed. Some new ideas were discussed,
such as umpires at the marks to watch the roundings and a penalty point system
for minor infractions against the rules (instead of disqualifying the yacht).
Some of the benefits of umpires at the marks are:
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By having a vehicle near the mark it makes the mark easier to see.
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The person at the mark can get some really good photos.
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It seems that just knowing that someone is watching is enough to make everybody sail clean as there were no penalty points handed out over the 30 races that were held.
After the adults were done racing the kids had two more races and then it was time for the salmon feed.
The salmon feed organized by the Oliveri's, Bassano's and the Bogard's was awesome as usual. Salmon cooked to perfection with a rosemary butter whip (ooh la la!).
Sunday was also the first day of the paraphernalia kiosk. Mary B., Melanie and Dez were the shirt girls and sales were Hot Hot Hot! Hot is also the word for the conditions in the shirt sales trailer. Thanks M, M and D. If you weren't there you might still be able to buy some of the exceptional SASSASS merchandise at the next event.
DAY 3:
The wind was blowing in the morning so we decided to have the Enduro at which time the wind promptly died. The wind came up again around 12:00 and we decided to start off with a couple of kids' races, to test the wind. The kids are fun to watch when they race, they all stare at each other, so when one tacks all of them tack. It's kinda like synchronized sailing.
The wind was of the puffy variety so we decided to stay close to camp and have windward-leeward courses for the adults instead of going on the Enduro. The wind in the afternoon piped up to 20+ knots and the racing was fast and furious. But the overall theme of the wind this year was, nice early in the morning and evening but a little puffy and unpredictable in the afternoon.
The racing was close, in the Kids' Class, Erik Smiley and Jared Becher were battling it out and in the Middle Class, Rod Eicholz in his Soup and Eric Graul in his DN were in a contest of heavy versus light.
The potluck dinner followed at 7:00. Everybody pitched in and made a great meal out of it. People ate and ate until they dozed off, listening to the late night serenade of MEL who had a lot of help from a cast of others, including Tara Lynn.
DAY 4:
We sailed to Dead Dog Dunes and then over to the Calico's and back a total of 25 miles on the round trip rhunb line. The trip back from the Calico's (an upwind 8 mile leg in 15 knots of breeze) was really pleasant and one of the nicer sails of the week.
While we were attempting the Enduro, Beth Gripenstraw and her assistants Rainy and Karen painted the rear wall of the Llama Deli. And I don't mean white. I'm talking the Six Cheetah Saints of SASSASS, Saint Black Rock, Saint Mayor, Saint Wind, Saint Food, Saint Party and Saint Sail. Each portrait is 6' tall and 16" wide and a beautiful example of SASSASS spirit. That night was the raffle hosted by Mel and the Assets all that attended had a great time, you might want to ask Mary Robertson about the bottle of Grappa.
DAY 5:
We put up the Course Three placard, designating a triangle windward-leeward course. The Twins were getting ready to finish and now the breeze was up to 25 knots. We shortened the course for the Singles to a single triangle and the race was dusty and scary. The Committee decided to hold one last Upper-Middle Class race so everybody would have five races for the event. When the race started the wind was up to 30+ knots. There were two large Black Rock-sized "Psycho Puffs" near the racecourse and the thought of one of them catching me on one of the reaching legs was getting my attention. I knew if I could make it to the windward-leeward part of the race I could survive most any puff.
Thankfully everyone made it around the reach mark before the puff and finished the race with no problem. It was getting windier by the minute and the puffs were more frequent. We called off the racing at 1:30 half an hour short of the 2:00 deadline for racing. Forty or so of the members made it into Gerlach for a shower and our last supper at Bruno's, followed and preceded by farewell cocktails and a game of pool at the Miners Club.
HOLY GALE SPECIAL AWARDS:
The Wrecking Ball: For doing the most damage either to yourself or to property. It was a tight one this year between Rick Labounty in "Flatlander" a triple cartwheel and Mike Grimm for rolling the "La Parisian". With the award going to Mike, because anybody that rolls a "Bedpan" and skins his knee deserves this award. By the way it looks like the "Bedpan" will get a seatbelt before the next speed run.
This year's Holy Gale was attended by a photographer from "National Geographic for Kids". Hopefully the article will come out in August or September. There were about 20 kids at our event with six of them racing in the Kids' Class, one in the Single division and three running the racing from the committee shack. Some of the others are just getting big enough to reach the pedals.
We had a great time at the Holy Gale and we hope to see everybody that was there back again. We realize that PacRim tapped a lot of people out financially and timewise this year. The next Holy Gale will be as good as this one was and we hope to see some of our friends from overseas and around the country at the event in 2001.
On a closing note, I would like to thank all that helped in the running of the event this year. The Bogard's, Oliveri's, Bassano's, Carter's, Gizmo, Gripenstraw's, Smiley's, Melanie (donated all the Martinelli's apple cider), Alan, Cousin Bert, Dale Ray, the Assets, Lyons', Dave, the Judge, Mix Master Mike, all the musicians, Ernie, Ernie, Don, Jim and Benny the dog. And lastly Mark Harris for coming up with SASSASS' new phrase "All those guys want to do is Party and Sail"
. I'm sure I forgot to mention numerous other volunteers. See you on the desert, or for some in Terschelling in October.DENNIS US2000
b a c k t o t h e t o p o f t h e p a g e
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