“I have never seen it blow as hard”

as it did on the way home from this years…

Madcatter!

 This was the 28^th version of this annual regatta held near Syracuse, New York on Lake Oneida, the largest of the five “finger lakes”. This regatta has a reputation; developed through years by the sailors who have taken part in it. With the event date in early to mid May, they have seen it all…sun, snow, warm, and cold. While the weather is always uncertain, one thing is for sure…Madcatter is one heck of a party. 

Fleet 276 has its share of Madcatter veterans: Matt Bounds, John Bauldry, and Gregg Kittinger. These guys have shared their Madcatter stories with fleet members over many a lager. They have shared them as comparison stories…you know, when its snowing at Cass Lake and they say, “you think this is cold, you should have been at Madcatter two years ago…we were all in the men’s locker room with a salamander kerosene heater! ”  

Madcatter is a point of reference; a regatta to which you compare all other regattas. No, it’s not a National Championship. But it has all the ingredients of one: excellent venue, great sailor turnout, superb race committee, and some of the best off-the-water fun you will ever have! The influence of our previous Madcatter “survivors” was enticing enough to fire up a few Madcatter virgins: the Vander Jagt’s, the Krutty’s, the De Boon’s, Andy, and of course, me. 

The weather.com website took a beating in the week leading up to the event. Not that they are ever right, but my thought was, if they were forecasting 70 degrees, they are usually within + or – 20 degrees. With that in mind, I knew I could handle 50 degrees, and 90 degrees would be a bonus! The forecast called for what has become the springtime norm for this year…scattered thundershowers. There is a term that allows them to be right and wrong…they are scattered, so you may get them, you may not. If only we all could be so vague at our jobs. 

FRIDAY A.M. 

With my boat riding piggy-back on John’s double-stack trailer, already in Syracuse (he left Thursday morning), all I had to do was get my butt to Gregg’s house by 6:45 A.M. Gregg had the Escalade packed to the top, with all of the Kittinger gear, Andy’s stuff, and my stuff just filled in the last spots. Slamming the rear door, we were on the road, with Gregg’s 20 in tow. We pulled off the Crooks Road exit and met up with the Krutty’s, who had their Tiger in tow. When Paul handed over one of the brand new VHF walkie-talkie’s he had bought…just one thing came to mind…

<Ah, breaker one-nine, this here's the Rubber Duck. You got a copy on me.
Pigpen? C'mon.>
<Ah, yeah, ten-four, Pigpen, for sure, for sure. By golly, it's clean clear to
Flagtown. C'mon.>
<Yeah, that's a big ten-four there, Pigpen. Yeah, we definitely got the front door,
good buddy. Mercy's sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy>

It was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
And a Kenworth pullin' logs
Cab-over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs
We's headin' for bear on Eye-one-oh
'bout a mile outta Shakeytown
I says "Pigpen, this here's Rubber Duck"
"And I'm about to put the hammer down" 

Thanks C.W. Mcall !!! 

Eastbound on M-59, we are all feeling pretty good…we’re going to Madcatter! I’m running through the list in my mind: shoes, wetsuits, dry tops, tent, etc. John’s got the boat. It’s all good. Just another 8 hours of driving and jabbering on the walkie-talkies and we will be there. I am psyched.  

At the first border crossing, we use the John Bauldry rule: “stay left going into Canada, stay right leaving Canada.” He swears it’s faster. The rule falls apart after the border patrol orders us to visit Immigration, since it had been over a year since some of us had been through Canada…or more likely, because he felt like making us go to Immigration. Moments later, we’re all back on the road. The obligatory: “Are we there yet?” comes from the backseat…ah yes, road trips. 

The drive through Canada is without incident. We make the requisite stop at the Service Centre to deposit our previously consumed coffee and then continue on past Niagara. The second border crossing is swift…after all, we’ve got immigration clearance!  Hours later, we arrive in Syracuse. Gregg’s GPS was solid. That computerized female voice was perfect…giving directions without the whining. 

Once inside the park, two things became obvious: 

1.    This is a great venue

2.    It has rained as much here as it has in Michigan 

The beach area was excellent; complete with locker rooms with warm showers. With the sun shining brightly and a good steady wind of about 10 mph, many boats were out on the water, taking advantage of the Guest Expert Program, which was hosted by Stephanie O’Connor. Practice starts and mark roundings were just a part of their focus.  

I took advantage of the afternoon to do the lazy, hops-assisted assembly. Heineken, proud sponsors of this regatta, as well as the Hobie 16 Nationals (to be held at the same venue in September), provided a trailer with 2 beer taps coming out of the side. Free Heineken and Amstel Light for the weekend; that’s called Regatta Insurance; no matter what the weather is, you’ll still have happy sailors! 

With the help of some Amstel, I assembled my 16. It was great to see some of the friends that I made through my attendance at last year’s regattas. Best of all, despite our two weekends of racing in less than Spring-like conditions, this weekend was looking like the weather.com website predictions: low 70’s. 

Tom Korz, from Div. 16., made an offer to Gregg that he couldn’t refuse. If Gregg would go pick up Tom’s Tiger that he has had for sale on our website, Gregg could sail it for the weekend. No arm twisting was required. Gregg and John headed off to Tom’s car wash and picked “the kitty” up. Some borrowed sails from John made the boat complete. Gregg and Andy would now by riding in style for the weekend. Rocio had chosen the beach for the weekend, opening the door for Andy to come along. Gregg was fired up! He had been longing to take a ride on John’s Tiger, but instead, his first ride would be as a skipper!  

Speaking of first time Tiger skippers, Matt Bounds took delivery of his “new” Tiger right there on the beach! I profess that the greatest thing about Matt getting a Tiger is that I won’t have to look at the sterns of his 16...at least when he’s sailing the Tiger.  He will sail the 16 on Wednesday nights and at certain events, as we all prepare for the return to Lake Oneida for the Hobie 16 Nationals!  

Once the boat was set up, it was time to go set up the accommodations. The grassy area of the park had become a floating carpet of sod. Searching the area for the driest spot, we settled on an area near some trees. It had some slope, and with the possibility of rain overnight, the trees might provide a bit of additional shelter. With enthusiasm, I pulled the tent out of the bag for its first spring assembly. Carefully unfolding the tent, I came to a distressing realization: nice tent…but no support system…the poles and stakes were sitting comfortably in the garage at home. Niiiiiiice. Luckily for me, John Bauldry’s friend Caroline had brought along an extra tent and I threw that up within minutes. 

The welcome party Friday night was an appetizer feast. Fleet 204 members walked around with trays of treats: meatballs, egg rolls, etc. Buffet tables filled with vegetable trays, chips and salsa, and other finger foods. This became the practice session for Saturday night...like this group needs a practice party!! 

SATURDAY 

After Friday nights festivities, Saturday morning came fairly quickly. As I rolled over in the tent, I listened for the rustling of the trees. Nothing. I unzipped the rain fly and looked around. Very little rain had fallen and there was not a breath of wind. I made my way to the race area and enjoyed a warm cup of coffee. The cobwebs were clearing. Fleet 204 members were actually cooking up eggs and bacon on 2 portable burners. Throw in a few donuts or bagels and you have a better morning meal than most of us have all week! Like I said, these folks do it up right!! 

Soon we were greeted by the race committee and the red and white flag…postponement. The lake was like glass. Great for photos, terrible for sailors. It was quite a site seeing over 70 Hobies on the beach. (See photos section). Beer drinking resumed as the delay continued into 11 o’clock hour! Conversations took place as sailors sat on their boats. Fluffy White took advantage of the situation and brought her pillow and blanket to her boat. Within moments, the trampoline became her mattress, and a morning nap commenced.  

Early afternoon brought more of the same. Winds fluctuated between non-existent and mild flatulence. At about 2 P.M., sailors scrambled as the wind went from nothing to 12 mph within seconds. Some of us, on our 16’s, hit the water quickly, while the Tiger sailors casually went about their business. My crew, Alicia LaPorta, and I hit he water as the wind was softening just a bit. By the time we were a couple hundred yards out, the water was turning shiny again. We jibed and headed back to shore; barely making it back in before the wind completely subsided. The Tiger sailors, most with much more experience than I, filled us in on the phenomenon: fools wind. Anything that comes up that quickly usually leaves that quickly. 

There would be no sailing on this day. Even with the prediction of the oncoming front and thunderstorms, the wind abstained.  This gave us plenty of time to prepare for the evening’s festivities. We practiced consuming beers, we showered and put on our best sailor duds: flip flops and shorts, and we lowered our sails while praying for Sunday wind. 

Saturday’s party was focused on a couple of sailors’ birthdays: John Bauldry’s and Fluffy White’s. Friends of John had gathered some funds in order to buy John a new jib for his Tiger. A decal was set aside for people to sign, which could be applied to the sail for display. The decal could then be removed and the sail used…to kick people’s butts on the race course. We all had a great time enjoying a huge barbeque style meal and, surprisingly, more beer.  

As the tables were cleared in the beautiful lodge-style building, the folks from 204 brought in the rum bar. Never has there been a better use for the hull of an old Hobie 16. With a piece of wood across it, and with the hull supported by some custom saw horses, this was as fine of a piece of equipment as the weedwacker-engine-powered “daiquiri whacker” we see used at the Ontario Open in Rochester. Fleet members behind the bar over served us with rum concoctions of the pop or fruit juice variety.  

The dance floor became more and more crowded as the deejay pumped out every wedding reception favorite from the electric slide to the Macarena. Young and old tried their best to look like they had a sense of rhythm…most did not. But it just didn’t matter. With over 20 kids ranging from probably 6 to 18 years old, and adults not acting their age, we were all having a great time! It was indeed the Madcatter I had heard so much about. 

I even took a turn at the bar, hosting for the final hour and a half of the party. I did my best Tom Cruise imitation, pouring drinks with Cruise like height, with weather.com forecaster accuracy. I think the bar had as much rum on it, as the cups had in it, every time I poured! Fleet 276 members got special treatment from their commodore-turned-bartender…a few would regret this later. Spirits were dampened as we closed down for the evening and walked out to find that the skies had opened wide. Rain was coming down in buckets.  

Upon our arrival at the campsite, everyone scattered for their tents. Since the Krutty’s had left the party prior to the rain, I now considered them the lucky ones. As it turns out, the Krutty’s let me know that the people who really got lucky, were the couple in the neighboring tent. Evidently there was more moaning going on in there, than there was at the skippers meeting when the postponement flag went up earlier that day!

SUNDAY 

Sunday morning began with some optimism. A light mist greeted the groggy sailors as we made our way to the eggs and coffee. A soft breeze was blowing with some consistency out on Lake Oneida and many skippers took the opportunity to throw up the sails. The race committee soon pulled down the postponement flag, to the applause of the ashen-faced crowd. 

Boats were pushing off from the beach and heading out to the line. Finally; after all the driving, all the Heinekens, and the hours of waiting for Mother Nature to breathe hard, there was going to be racing! With winds probably in the 7 - 8 mph range, we were all able to make steady progress toward the committee boat and the start of race #1. 

The Tigers had the first start, along with the 18’s, followed by the Hobie 16 “A” Fleet, then the 16 “B” and “C” fleets started together. The wind was fairly steady, allowing the Tiger’s to throw out a single trapezer most of the time, while those of us on 16’s pretty much stayed on board our boats.  

Alicia and I had a pretty good start, hitting the line on time, but without maximum speed. We were rolled by a few boats before our first tack, and my lack of light air skills became apparent over the next three legs. We ended with an 11^th place finish out of 18 boats in “B” fleet. One good thing to come out of the race was Alicia, a 15-year-old daughter of a Division 11 sailor out of Pennsylvania, was an excellent crew.  

Often times in light air, it’s hard to remain focused on trimming the sails, or keeping the skipper and crew weight positioned most effectively. Alicia has obviously had a lot of experience and did a great job for me. I was thankful to have received the forwarded email from Matt Bound’s, with Alicia’s dad offering crew for the regatta. 

In race 2, we again hit the line right on time, this time with some good speed. On the way to “A” mark, the wind began to weaken. By the time we rounded the mark, we were holding the sails out ourselves, trying to get some downwind speed. We rounded through the gate at “C” mark and began what would be a very slow journey upwind to “A” again. With this little speed, I wanted to make as few tacks as possible, to try to maintain our momentum. 

However, as I tacked for the mark, I soon realized that I wouldn’t make it. Another 2 tacks put us back on track and since “B” fleet had been sent off first, I could see that we were doing pretty well, with just a few 16’s around us. We saw the committee boat at the “A” mark and were pleased that they had decided to shorten the course and finish us there. Alicia and I moved way forward on the boat to get the sterns out of the water for more “speed”. 

 In fact, for the last 200 yards, I was on my back, lying on the leeward hull of the bow. I would glance over my shoulder to make sure we were on track for the finish line and we just milked it for all we had. Another 16 was coming from behind with more speed, sailing with better angle to the finish. We managed to finish a split second before them; however, we still didn’t know exactly where we stood. 

The sent all the 16’s directly to the beach and made the Tigers finish their original course. The spinnakers allowed the Tigers to maintain some speed downwind and their upwind efficiency made it possible for them to finish despite the light winds. I found that my on-the-back position also worked very well for paddling us to shore. With a foot on the tiller, both arms in the water, and Alicia paddling on her side, we made good time to the beach.  

I tore down the boat and helped others do the same. John and I loaded up our two boats on the double stack and secured everything. We headed over to the trophy presentation area and took advantage of the huge barbecue spread that had been laid out. Raffle prizes were given out and then trophies were awarded. 

One of the great things about Division 16 is the amount of kids they have sailing. Some sail as crew, while others team up to sail their own boats. It is something that we need to aspire to. They took the time to recognize all the kids and gave awards out to many of them. They even found a way to score the kids who sailed as crew on the various boats.  

Our 4^th place finish in race 2 helped Alicia to earn 2^nd place among the junior sailors. She took home a monogrammed fleece blanket for her efforts. John Bauldry ended up with a 5^th place finish in the Tiger class. Matt sailed to a 3^rd place finish in the second race, having sniffed out the wind, while others were drifting in style. Gregg and Andy finished at the bottom of the Tiger pack, since they were unable to finish race 1. Well, actually, they couldn’t finish race 1 because they couldn’t start race 1. I guess proper wording is the key. 

They didn’t start race 1 because the keys got locked in the Escalade. You would think that an engineer for GM, who has OnStar as a focus, wouldn’t be in this predicament. Well, there they sat, waiting for AAA to arrive. They made it out to the starting line for race 2, but since it was the first time they had really sailed the Tiger, they weren’t able to exactly dominate the field. But they had a great time sailing the Tiger and that’s key. Sorry. 

Henk and his crew sailed a couple solid races aboard the 16. They took an 8^th in race one, and a nice 2^nd place in race 2. That proved to be good enough for 4^th place overall in the 16 “B’ fleet and Henk and crew took home a monogrammed blanket. It was great to see Henk’s entire family at the event…they had great fun sailing with Dad on Friday, and playing around with all the kids all weekend! That is what Hobie fleet sailing and regattas are all about! 

After awards, it was time to pack up the tents and all the stuff and hit the road. While some would argue that our ride over with 2 vehicles was something short of a convoy, we had 3 vehicles going back, and that is most certainly a convoy. (Refer back to song lyrics if necessary.) 

We filled the gas tanks and hit the road.  We had a pretty uneventful trip through New York, across the border, and along the first stretch of highway through Canada. We have good speed, lively chatter on the VHF between 2 of the vehicles, and despite the lack of breeze, a good feeling from the weekend at Madcatter.  

We stopped at a Service Centre for a dual fill up…gas and food. We enjoyed some international cuisine…Wendy’s. Ah, yes. Here we are in international territory, with all the comforts of home. As we left the restaurant, we were greeted by some fairly significant raindrops and a lightning-filled horizon.  

Within a few minutes, we were driving through sheets of rain. The storms would build, and then they would die off, turning back to sprinkles. Twenty minutes later, another wave would hit. The wind was blowin’ hard…something we hadn’t seen all weekend! John was having a wrestling match with the steering wheel of the Avalanche, fighting the crosswinds that were trying to push the double-stack trailer and the truck into the starboard ditch. 

At one point, Gregg, who was right behind us in the Escalade, called up John and said that he had seen the double-stack trailer rise up at least 20 degrees, to the point where the crossbar of the Tiger was nearly touching the shoulder of the road! Something as simple as having mesh tramps on our boats might have been the difference between staying upright and losing our boats and/or vehicle in the ditch. Wow.  

We later heard on the radio that there were reports of tornadoes in the area through which we traveled. With the skies as black as they were, the only chance we would have had of seeing them was with perfect timing from a lightning bolt. We were thankful to make it through the storms. We clicked our heels together twice, and repeated “we’re not in Kansas anymore.” 

Despite the storms, we made great time coming home. Best of all, we have some of the best stories to share about Madcatter. No, not hanging out with a heater in the men’s locker room. No snowflakes or wind chills; just flying 2 hulls through Canada, while still on the trailer. I look forward to next years Madcatter. It’s not just the sailing…it’s the event.