Weta 2021 North Americans are in the books. The 8 sailors that made the trip had a most fabulous weekend. We had a few late cancelations due to health, weather and covid, but the show must go on.
The event was held at the Muskegon Yacht Club on the east end of Muskegon Lake on Michigan’s west coast. The facilities were excellent, even though they are mostly a keel boat sailing club they had a section of sandy beach that accommodated us nicely. They were warm and welcoming with many watching from shore and coming over to admire the boats and chat with us.
We had 3 local sailors from Michigan, Mike Boks, Sean Fidler and Tim Wieringa. Richard Stevens and Keith Rice drove in from New York, bringing along Tom Reese a very accomplished trimaran sailor. New Weta owners Bill Swanson from St. Louis and John Harrop of Nashville also made the trip. The racing in this event was as tight as I have seen in any Weta event I have been too. There were many tight mark rounding with 3-5 boats fighting for postion, and the occasional fishing boat tangled in the fray. I don’t recall any race where the first boats crossed the line before all the boats were on the final leg.
The weather was typical early September in Michigan. Sunny, most of the time, warm enough and windy. We had something for everyone. Friday started slow with difficulty setting the course with very light and shifting winds. They eventually settled in as a 5-6 knot southerly and slowly built to the low double digits by the time we got 4 races in. Saturday the build continued, starting in the mid teens and building all day to the low 20’s, but with flat water is was just FUN! At least for the larger sailors. Sunday continued the variety show starting at around 6 and building to less than 2 as we finished the second race. A long slow drift and paddle to the shore followed.
We tore the boats down and put them away. We then had a short awards ceremony with very nice duffle bags and backpacks from Zhik for 1st thru 3rd donated by Weta supporter Mike Krantz. This was followed by a length discussion on how to build Weta fleets, with most of the group ready to travel to demo the boats at clubs that may be searching for a new one design boat.
The Results
1. Sean Fidler #1297 - 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 12
2. Bill Swanson #1256 - 2 4 2 1 7 2 3 4 1 6 32
3. Keith Rice #254 - 4 5 3 4 2 4 2 2 3 5 34
4. John Harrop #1313 - 6 2 4 7 4 7 4 3 4 2 43
5. Tom Reese #437 - 3 8 DNF 3 6 3 7 7 6 3 55
6. Tim Wieringa #1194 - 8 6 7 6 5 5 5 5 5 8 60
7. Richard Stevens #362 - 7 3 6 5 3 8 DNF DNF DNF 4 63
8. Mike Boks #18 - 5 7 5 8 8 6 6 6 7 7 65
Tim Wieringa
Thanks Tim. Great job running the event!