Last week, many of the students of LBSS travelled to Lake Geneva where they competed in the Geneva Lake Sailing School Regattas.  On Monday and Tuesday, nine Beulah X boats took to the water where four races were completed.  The crews found the event to be a challenging one as many found it difficult to get off the 58 boat starting lines cleanly.  The regatta started off great for Beulah in five to ten knot winds from the west.  Click here for results.

In race one, Charlie Kutschenreuter and Alex Keck sailed a great race in which they finished a strong third while Kate Klement and Teresa Westin fought through a competitive fleet to post a sixth. In race two of the regatta, Beulah had a strong showing with many crews in the top positions. Unfortunately the race was abandoned due to a large wind shift. After the lunch break two more races were sailed in about ten knots of breeze. Cullen Barr and John Barr had a great two races in the afternoon posting a fourth and a ninth.

Day Two came with the Beulah fleet hungry to move up in the standings. The conditions for day two were very challenging with light and variable breezes from the east. The young fleet of Beulah has shown that they can be very powerful at some points. The conditions of the Lake Geneva were challenging to our X Boaters who are definitely more comfortable sailing on the smaller shiftier Beulah. Quad Lakes winners Kate Klement and Teresa Westin again led the Beulah charge, closing out the regatta in tenth place overall.  They were closely followed by Cullen and John Barr and by Charlie Kutschenreuter and Alex Keck in 12^th and 17^th, respectively. George Kiernan and Patrick Schmidt finished in 19th, followed by David Sullivan and Andrea Sullivan 25th, Mary Claire Kiernan and Sarah Kubicek 26th, Michael Barr and Gregory Westin 31st, Sammy Davenport and Nora Kiernan 40th, Scott Sullivan and T-Money Garber 43rd.

On Wednesday, the Optimists, Laser Radials, and Club 420s took to the water.  Here Beulah sailors fared much better.  In Optimists, Andrea Sullivan finished fifth overall, winning one of the four races sailed.  John Barr continues to impress the spectators with his consistency, finishing 7^th.  He was closely followed by Riley and Patrick Schmidt, Alec Bischoff, Charlie Kutschenreuter, and Tommy Garber in 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, 12^th, and 13^th, respectively.  Alex Keck and Mary Berg also finished in the top 20 of the 34 boat fleet and were pushed by Erin Sullivan and Nora Kiernan.

Cloudy skies, light wind, and soggy sailboats were the challenges that greeted the Green fleet.  After postponement due to projected storms that never came to fruition, a whopping twenty-six Green fleeters completed four races.  It was a good morning for Beulah, with John Berg taking two fifths, Brigit Barr with a third and tenth, and Jacquelyn Komas with a twelfth and a twenty-third.  After a break for lunch, the Green fleet went back onto the water to sail another two races.  Beulah's best finisher overall was Bridget Barr, finishing 3rd overall.  John Berg finished 12th overall and Jacquelyn Komas took 20th.  In all, it was a great day for our Green fleeters to get experience in a large fleet on bigger water.

In the Radial class, instructors William Haeger and George Kutschenreuter took home first and second, respectively.  Their students Michael Barr, Mary Claire Kiernan, Cullen Barr, and George Kiernan also sailed strongly, finishing 5^th, 6^th, 7^th and 11^th overall in the thirteen boat fleet.  In 420’s, Geneva and Minnetonka sailors dominated the action.  Michael and Melinda Lee finished first with all bullets!