The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Model yacht skippers get ready to set sail
Reichard Kahle is a fivetime national champion at model yacht racing, but he didn’t boast or offer bold predictions when he arrived Sept. 26 in Madison Township, where he’ll make his latest bid to win a national regatta.
Instead, Kahle said he was looking forward to the camaraderie with the skippers who have gathered to compete in the 2018 Soling 1 Meter Class National Championship Regatta at Boy Scout Camp Stigwandish.
“You start out by relaxing and having fun, and once you check that off your list, the rest falls into place,” said Kahle, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina.
He’ll be seeking his second straight Soling 1 Meter Class national title, after winning the 2017 championship at The Villages, Florida.
Kahle is one of nearly 50 skippers from states ranging from Texas to Minnesota who will compete from Sept. 26-29 at the regatta, which is sanctioned by the American Model Yachting Association.
The mood at the Madison Township race site during the morning of Sept. 26 was pleasant, as many of the skippers are familiar with one another from previous national regattas.
However, regatta manager
Mike Wyatt predicted that the atmosphere will intensify starting on Sept. 27, with the beginning of fleet racing that counts toward the national championship.
“It’s really, really competitive,” said Wyatt, noting that at least five of the 46 skippers registered as of Sept. 26 were strong contenders to win the event.
This regatta will feature Soling 1 Meter radio controlled model sailboats that are approximately one-eighth scale models of the Soling — previously a 27-foot Olympic-class sailboat. The model Solings are 1-meter — about 40 inches long — weigh 10 pounds and stand about 65 inches tall from the bottom of the keel to the top of the mast. They are plastic kitbased and sail by radio control as the skipper adjusts sails and steers his or her craft.
While regatta activities on Sept. 26 consisted of competitors checking in and having their model yachts inspected, along with an exhibition matchracing tournament, fleet races will take place 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Sept. 27; 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Sept. 28; and 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Sept. 29.
A regatta staff member has been assigned to explain the racing and process to visitors. Admission is free.
The field of 46 skippers — which includes 10 local participants from the Western Reserve Model Yacht Club — will be divided as evenly as possible into three fleets for races. Races involve piloting the sailboats against time around three points in the lake, called marks — 5-gallon plastic buckets emblazoned with 10-inch numbers. On the day of a race, the race director, factoring wind direction and speed, sets which marks are to be used for that race.
Points will be awarded to correspond with each model yacht’s order of finish — such as 1 point for first place and 2 for second — with each skipper aiming to have the lowest number of points over three days’ worth of races.
At the conclusion of the regatta on Sept. 29, trophies will be awarded to
the Top 5 finishers. The overall winner earns not only a trophy, but also the title of class champion until the 2019 Soling 1 Meter nationals.
Wyatt said he anticipates tight races at the 2018 nationals based on the number of elite skippers who are registered.
“There will be finishes decided by inches,” he predicted.
While Kahle is seeking his sixth national title during his first visit to Bass Lake at Camp Stigwandish, skipper Jack Ward of Punta Gorda, Florida, already is familiar with the venue in Madison Township.
Ward said he sailed his model yacht at Camp Stigwandish in a regional regatta in 2013 as a tuneup to his winning performance at the Soling 1 Meter Class National Championship that same year.
After garnering a second consecutive Soling 1 Meter national crown in 2014, Ward is hoping for a return to the top spot this year in Madison Township. But he knows it won’t be easy.
“It may be the toughest fleet I’ve ever sailed in,” he said.
Among local competitors, Rick Lawler of Perry Township knows he’s not in the same league as Ward and Kahle, but he’s still looking forward to participating in the regatta.
“I would be happy — more than happy — if I finish in the middle of the pack,” said Lawler, who has been a member of the Western Reserve Model Yacht Club for about 1 ½ years.