3rd Annual Union Lake Regatta

Great weather, great venue, great racing.  Sound familiar?  Throw in free grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and drinks and condiments provided by Steve and Kay Brendlinger, plus a few more goodies by other participants, and you should agree we had a wonderful day!

The start of racing was delayed about 30 minutes because of dense morning fog.  Drivers had to put up with a two-inch chop after the lunch break.  The rescue boat wasn’t needed.  There weren’t even any protests.  Imagine a fresh-water version of the Nationals, just more laid back.  A really enjoyable day of CCR racing!

There were four Youth racers, four Women racers, and seventeen Men racers who drove eighteen CCRs in fifty-one races.  See racing results here and pictures here.

Two first-time racers, Rich Wood and his young son Steve, drove down from western Connecticut and drove back with awards.  Steve was also presented with the Most Promising Rookie Award.

Several CCRs were raced by mulitple drivers in four engine classes.  Steve Brendlinger’s Kamikaze was raced by five different drivers in ten races, so was the most raced boat.  But Fred Allerton’s Swamp Rocket and Smokin’ Loon, also piloted by five different drivers, raced in a total of 15 races, so Fred and family used the most gas during the day’s racing.  Smokin’ Loon garnered the most race awards with three firsts, two seocnds, and a third.

Frank Stauss, our host and the Race Director, deserves much credit for his efforts in putting on this third regatta at the Union Lake Sailing & Tennis Club (ULS&TC) facility.  (It was really the fourth CCR race at Union Lake, but Frank thinks his first race there was more an invitational race to test the waters than an official CCWBRA regatta.)  Tom Shepard, of ULS&TC, also deserves our thanks because he gave up his Saturday to man the rescue boat all day.  And many CCWBRA racers, their families and friends volunteered throughout the day to start and score races, man the pits, and assist other drivers as needed.  Thanks guys and gals, made for a really nice race day!