I’m currently flying back from a 5-day trip to Pewaukee, Wisconsin. It was one of the most enjoyable sailing experiences of my entire life, and that’s saying a lot. I was the Mystery Guest at the Blue Chip Regatta, racing in E Scows, hosted by the Pewaukee Yacht Club, and the wonderful folks who make up their sincerely committed membership base.
The Blue Chip Mystery Guest list is long and distinguished; I feel lucky to be on it. It consists of Olympians, America’s Cup winners, Round the World race winners and other champions from all over the show…and they all come to Pewaukee. Now, I know why. The event is 60 years young, and I say that because they talk about the 75th and 100th like they are right around the corner. I didn’t really know what to expect, other than everyone I talked to said: “you have to do it!”
Upon arrival, I was met at the Milwaukee airport by Mystery Guest handler and walking E Scow Encyclopedia, Jim Campbell. He grew up in Pewaukee, worked at Harken-Vanguard in the 1970s, and knows everyone who has ever sailed an E Scow, ever. From there we were off to the train station to meet up with another member of our squad, Jono Bailey, a Wisco grad and an aspiring 49er Olympian. Forty minutes later we were at the Harken factory for a tour. This is where we met Meta Simon, another Wisco Grad and a new engineer at Harken, she would be “fourthing” for us this weekend, which means she’d sail if there was enough wind, but wouldn’t if there wasn’t. I later decided she was going to sail with us all the time because we’d be absolutely lost without her.
Harken’s CEO Bill Goggins took us around and told us about the company. I was blown away by the magnitude of the Harken operation. I regularly found my jaw on the floor. The product, the passion, and the people were all incredibly impressive. They managed to turn me into a true believer, I was ready to enlist in the Harken mafia right then and there. After leaving Harken, we went to lunch at the 5-0 Club, which is where we met up with Peter Harken, the man himself. I had probably shaken Peter’s hand once or twice in my life but had never spent a significant amount of time with him. That was about to change. Jim and I were staying with Peter and his wife Edit, a dermatologist and the founder of Harken Derm, the greatest sunscreen in the world 🙂. Peter, Jim, Jono and I participated in some boating banter as we ate fried food and drained a couple Spotted Cows, a local beer that flows liberally around the E Scow scene.
The post-lunch plan was to go sailing, but there wasn’t a breath of air, I mean, total mill pond. I used the time to do some US Sailing work…which was great, because there is plenty of work to do! We said we’d meet again for a sunset cruise on Peter’s Hacker craft, Ladyhawk, a stunning 30 some-odd-foot lake boat. This ended up being one of those life moments that I’ll remember forever. At 88-years old Peter is as casual and curious as the day is long. We got in from the cruise and consumed a lovely dinner for 12. Edit and her daughter Aliz and son-in-law Alex nonchalantly whipped up a feast with about two hours’ notice. It was incredible. After dinner we decided we’d make a plan for the following day after we woke up and looked at the lake because the forecast was for more of the same.
The weather turned out as predicted, so it was another morning of laptop work and enjoying Peter’s house. We met for lunch at the Sports Dock for a patty melt and another couple Spotted Cows. After that, back to some laptop work until the breeze filled in just after 5:00 PM. We jumped at the opportunity to go sailing and were lucky to get in three laps in about 8 knots of breeze before coming back to the tent that had been erected next to the yacht club that was about to meet its wrecking ball fate. They were serving porkchop sandwiches, and you guessed it, Spotted Cows. After a couple late night drinks at Peter’s infamous home bar, it was time to rest up for the big show.
Friday was a chamber of commerce day, 10 to 15 knots from the East, right down the lake. Shifty, but nothing more than you’d expect from a lake like this. It had been some immeasurable amount of time since I last sailed a regatta with my hand on the stick and my name on the scratch sheet. I was in a new boat, in a new venue, with a group I’d only sailed with for about 45 minutes. Needless to say, I had no idea what to expect. We sailed a clean day, with good starts and no majors. We could have been a bit quicker upwind, which was probably me getting used to the boat. We missed a couple opportunities to consolidate points, but I’m sure everyone felt the same way. Except for Augie Barkow, he was the fastest and the best positioned boat on the course and finished the day with 7 points over 3 hotly contested races. We ended up in a peloton of four, with only two points separating 2nd from 5th.
We got ashore and headed to the social…as did everyone else, it was just understood. It was potluck appetizers supplied by the Sports Dock and members of the club. Every single boat was represented. The comradery was amazing; stories from on-the-water and regattas past were being told on a man-made beach, under picnic table umbrellas with pontoon boats in the backdrop. From there it was back to Peter’s for another casual dinner for 20 attendees.
Saturday could have been moving day, but the wind didn’t cooperate. The race committee did a great job. They kept us ashore when it looked unsailable and sent us out when they saw the first glimmer of hope. They continuously checked the wind to see if it would crest above the class limit, which it never did, so they sent us back in to wait on land. At 3:00 PM they called racing for the day due to lack of wind and a couple thunderstorms that were only 20 miles away. Their decisions were sound and logical, and the communication was on-point and appreciated. This gave me some time to prepare for the Saturday night dinner where the Mystery Guest traditionally gives a presentation about their sailing career. I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to entail, but my crew insisted it contain a couple videos, so I whacked something together.
The dinner is usually at PYC, but this year it was held at Harken HQ. The food was incredible – soy marinated filet, buttery mash potatoes, and some heavily seasoned green beans. All catered by members and served by junior sailors. This was one of the coolest parts of the weekend. The sailors of tomorrow participating in an event with the sailors of today, as well as many sailors from the past; sometimes three generations in the same room. Then there is all the family overlap, by the end I was asking for a couple different family trees. Over the course of dinner, each boat introduced their crew and shared a bit about their journey to the Blue Chip.
When it was our turn, I introduced our crew and thanked them for putting up with me, and then rolled into my presentation. Hard to fit 40 years into 20 minutes, but I gave it a whirl. I talked about my path through junior sailing, my career in ocean racing, and did a deep dive into my new position as US Sailing CEO. After some healthy Q and A, we headed back to the Sports Dock for some Bar Karate and continued banter. Traditionally, the last place boat after Saturday has to walk the bar in their underwear, but because the yacht club wasn’t available, someone dodged a bullet. After our first day, I was very relieved that wasn’t going to be us.
On Sunday, we were hoping for two races but weren’t sure we would get any due to lack of wind. The RC issued a short AP, but once again got us out on the water when the conditions looked suitable. We ended up starting in a 5-knot southerly. To say it was tricky would be an understatement. We got a great start but didn’t transition well and ended up on the wrong side. We finished a humbling 17th place, taking the podium out of play…oh well. We started a second race, but it got called off on the first beat when the breeze dropped out. Not sure if it would have helped or hurt because the situation was pretty chaotic, but that is water under the bridge at this stage. As is usually the case, the people who won, deserved to win. Huge congrats to Augie Barkow and his kids, who made up the rest of his team. They sailed a great event and should be proud to add another feather to their E Scow cap.
With that, the 60th Blue Chip Regatta in Pewaukee, WI came to a close. We lost a 4-way tiebreaker for 5th and ended up 8th place. Disappointing, but not what it was all about. I got to see a thriving sailing community that’s been doing their thing for 60+ years. They are welcoming, they have pride in what they do, and they have a volunteer culture like I’ve never seen before…organizers, race committee, judges, food and beverage specialists, housing, communications, you name it…everything was well done. I’m leaving with a smile on my face because a learned a lot, met a ton of great people and will be able to carry this experience into the future…there’s a blueprint here.
I want to sincerely thank PYC, the E Scow Class, all the volunteers, the legendary Peter Harken and his gracious family, Bill Goggins and his crew, and most of all I’d like to thank the folks who put up with me on the water, Meta Simon, a brilliant sailor and bright, young engineer, Jono Bailey, who exudes enthusiasm and froths on all-things sailing, and last but certainly not least, Jim Campbell, who embodies all things E Scow, I had a great time!