Mayhem in the Mountains With South Lake Tahoe Windjammers YC
On Saturday, June 6, the South Lake Tahoe Windjammers Yacht Club (SLTWYC) hosted our first-ever Mountain Mayhem Regatta — a doublehanded distance event where competitors got to choose which order to round the marks and which direction they wanted to start.
As with any good Tahoe doublehanded regatta, the wind showed up in full force. Our fleet of five boats, including four Express 27s and one Alerion 28 (which sailed down from Tahoe Yacht Club to compete), saw a consistent breeze of 15–17 knots with gusts up to 30 knots throughout the race.
All our competitors ended up with a similar course, knocking off Tahoe Keys mark first, followed by a ripping downwind run to Zephyr Cove and a long beat back home around Edgewood and to the finish.
After two-and-a-half hours of racing, the local legends Steve Katzman and Randy Parker managed to turn a third place into a first by going against their local knowledge (bang the shore and get lifted to the finish) and opting to go for a better breeze farther from shore. Congrats to Dianne for their hard-fought win!
“Windy, warm day lived up to the forecast of gusting 30,” Katzman says of the race. “Tuning up, getting ready in the start area, there were a few gusts, but it was very warm. So we didn’t get dressed, thought we’d put on warmies going downwind. Didn’t happen. We were too busy surfing and planing, mixing it up with New Wave and Expressway.
“The Alerion Osprey was first to weather mark, had to keep a close eye on boats rounding both port and starboard,” Katzman continues. “We took a short jibe on port to get in more stable air and watched the polished work of Ashley and Eric set and leap out to a lead. Dianne set her chute and took off surfing and planing downwind.”
“Choppy waves cooling us, and we were wondering if we were going to get wet going back upwind,” Katzman adds. “Sam and Dave in Expressway pulled into a comfortable lead as we followed them looking for Edgewood mark. Dianne duking it out with Northwest until Eric and Ashley found another lane. We never saw Edgewood until it was behind us and to weather. In Dianne then we set about grinding them down on the beat. Randy Parker’s expertise in picking the shifts and coaching this helmsman brought us back into the hunt. New Wave had to slam-tack away from Dianne in a tight crossing. We caught Expressway and lee-bowed them, after a close match of ‘we’re close enough.’ Expressway tacked to starboard as Dianne continued being lifted on port. Dianne then prevailed in better wind on the right and finished in first.”
See the full results here.