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C-15 - 1999 NORTH AMERICANS, UNION RESERVOIR, COLORADO

It was the best of shifts -- it was the worst of shifts

by Wes Prisbrey

In every human life, a few events occur that can bring total humility to an individual: a failure of a business, a divorce, death of a close friend or family member, a major wind shift. We all had our share of the latter at the recent North American Championships at Union Reservoir, Colorado. Wind shifts were the order of the day. A few times you benefited, others were disasters. The individual race scores reflected these shifts, with my finishes jumping from 11th to 5th to 1st to 5th to 3rd. One exception was a local sailor, who seemed to sniff out each shift in advance. Call it LOCAL KNOWLEDGE, dumb luck or d---- good sailing, Steve Cornwell and his wife Jan, put together amazing consistency to win the 1999 North American Championships. Steve and Jan accumulated a total score of 7 points, after five races, with one throw out. A remarkable achievement, considering the conditions. Jim and Jeff Holder finished 2nd, Wes & Patty Prisbrey 3rd, Dave & Geoffery Newton 4th, Karen Kubliski and Tom Forgue 5th. Tom Forgue introduced his "crew" at trophy presentations, as "Not his wife and not his girl friend". Karen Kubliski responded that "she was indeed those descriptions, but not his crew". She is in fact "one heck of a skipper".

The Cabrillo Fleet results showed Colorado Sailors predominating with John Harvey and Dave Hustvedt as winners, followed by Peter Watts and Pascall Lemay of Canada, Stuart and Laura Waterbury, 3rd; Don Stehle and Bob Ligget 4th and Marge and Dave Benning 5th.

The event, held over Friday, September 10th to Sunday, the 12th, was attended by 23 boats, with 3 from Cranbrook, Canada, 2 from California, 2 from Texas, 14 from the local Colorado Fleet 25, and 1 each from Virginia and Georgia. Fridays competition, with four races, was sailed to divide the Fleet into the Championship and Cabrillo Fleets. The last race was started at 6:30 in the evening. Winds for that race were perhaps the best of the series, with a steady 10 to 15 knots, out of the West. There were more than a few stiff bodies after that day.

Every one was forced out of bed early Saturday morning for the C-15 Class Association Annual Meeting. The event was held in the historic Dickens Opera House, located in the City of Longmont, Colorado. The building dates back to the 1860s and is in the National Register of Historic Buildings. After breakfast, Jim Holder presided over the Annual Meeting and election of new officers (reported elsewhere). The Syd Corp Trophy was presented, representing the winner of the competition, to divide the competitors into two fleets, for sailing in the Championship and Cabrillo Fleets. The results were an omen, as to what was coming, as Steve and Jan Cornwell, walked away with the Trophy. Saturday nights barbecue dinner was a celebration of the Colorado Coronados, Fleet 25's, 25th Anniversary. Three of the 5 original members, Craig Pierce, Bill Hines and Steve Williams, who filed for the Fleet Charter, were present for the celebration. The Fleet Charter was granted on August 23, 1974, with 5 C-15s in the Fleet. Several others in attendance, including Steve & Jan Cornwell. Larry Kline, Wes & Patty Prisbrey, Wayne and Linda Graham, John and Barbara Harvey, Dave Newton, Dick & Donna Kane, Don Leoni, Adele Williams, Sharon Hines, and Vicky Pierce, have 20 or more years in the Fleet. It was indeed a great opportunity to visit with old friends and great competitors. Then we were reminded of Bob Williams call for greater emphasis in promoting juniors into the Fleets to sustain growth of the Class. We "Old Timers" agree!

Fleet 25 was thrilled to host the 1999 North Americans, our 4th time as host, and the last C-15 North American Championships of this century and we look forward to next years event, NAC 2000, to be held at Alamitos Bay, California.

Link to 99NAC Photos