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 Alter Cup
Area E Qualifier
Catamaran Racing Association of Michigan
Caseville I Regatta
June 21-22, 2003
Great weather, good turnout, lots of
sunshine, not much wind. Well ya can't always have it all. The Area E Alter
Cup Qualifier at Caseville, Michigan on June 21 and 22nd was an unqualified
success. Thirty two boats raced for the opportunity to represent their Area
next spring at the Alter Cup. The current defending Champion Matt Struble
along with his wife Dominique Struble dominated this event with four
bullets. Who would have expected anything less. We have been in awe of Matt
here in Michigan since he began to make his mark in catamarans back in 1991
when he was still in high school. He took a leave of absence from CRAM
during his college years but after graduation he returned to his winning
ways again in any boat he chose to sail with us. Locally we have watched
Matt win in the Uni, 6.0, I 18, I 20 and the A boat and the HT. The joke is
Matt could beat us all boat for boat on a Wave. He has always been
available and helpful on the beach with answers to any questions we may ask
of him from sail shape to mast rake to tension on the rigs. Here in CRAM we
are all happy for his success.
To have so many boats on the same starting line with different sailing
characteristics was a treat. The sloop boats soon learned not to get to
leeward of the A boat and the Uni fleet. After rounding A mark for the first
time the chute boats got a chance to stretch out their legs and leave the
non chute boats behind. Due to the lack of wind (the wind range was about
3-8 mph on Saturday) there were not a lot of people out on their traps. Some
of the lighter crews got out and pulled away from their fleets. However,
light weight was generally not the deciding factor. The favored side of the
course was the shore side. It seemed there was more pressure on the inside
and after the first race most of the fleet figured this out. Matt seemed to
go slightly more out into Lake Huron and it didn't seem to hurt him any.
On Sunday we had a wind delay that stretched for ninety minutes. Most of the
fleet voted to not compete by paddling back to shore and putting their boats
on the trailers. When the RC gave notice that there would be another race it
created a mad scramble on the beach. Mark Batchelor on his I 17 and Chris
Batchelor on his F 18 both had their boats stripped and masts down when this
notice came. This was the best entertainment of the weekend watching them
rig and scramble back down the beach. They both made it in time to start the
race. Unfortunately the Sunday race was even lighter than what we had on
Saturday. On the beach it was painful to watch the fleet sail around the
course. The top three boats maintained their positions by racing on
Sunday. Congratulations should also go out to the second place finisher Mark
Bachelor on a I 17 and to the third place finisher Ron Miller on a 5.5
Uni. The RC work was handled by Tom and MJ Liston along with Ray
Fullerton. They did a great job both days in challenging conditions.
Eric Kennedy
Area E Rep
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