Tour du Lac Gallery From October 22nd, 2006
...85 degrees and blue sky. Could this be why a few people still live in California?
 We had a turnout of 6 boats. Here is the group photo taken just before we launched. |
 There was a nice easterly breeze at the start of the race that slowly lightened and died. I jibed away towards the South and got into some new wind while the rest of the fleet waited out in the middle. It was a long wait... |
 We managed to ghost towards the marina and then to the bridge, making from 1 - 3 mph boat speed. Thistles go well in light air. |
 When we reached the 162 bridge, it was smooth sailing in about 8-12 mph breeze all the way to Sycamore Cove and back. We hiked hard upwind... |
 After we returned with Jason Smith hot on our heals on his Hobie 16, we rejoined the rest of the BSC gang and reached around the middle of the lake. All nonsense of racing was forgotten by this time. |
 This is a great shot of Paul Ritchie's Hunter 216 working upwind. What a pretty boat. |
 Wade and Bettie Ann Hough were out with Bettie Ann's Brother, Paul on the Hough's Raven "QuickSilver" |
 Wade was fast all day. He confided that a new set of sails is in the works soon. Look out guys! |
 We reached along side the Raven, our crew hiking like mad and theirs happy and relaxed. |
Wade mentioned that there are 3 more Ravens in the North Valley and they are anxious to come out and join the BSC for one of our upcoming events... |
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Dave Neilsen had his newly painted Windmill out on the water at last.
It was fast and easy on the eyes. |
 Upwind, the Windmill is normally sailed with some heal, but here it is flat, flat, flat. |
 This is the normal amount of heal for a hard chined boat. Beautiful! |
 We visited and ate a late lunch while we derigged the boats. |
 Paul Ritchie, (middle) and crew Mike Maddox (left) and Binit (right). |
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Wade Hough getting ready to lower the 31 ft. mast on that Raven. What
a stick! |
 The interior of the Raven has plenty of room for gear, food, etc. You can take out a whole girlscout troop with room to spare (and the Houghs have!). |
Paul Ritchie was gracious enough to return an empty coke can that was inadvertantly dropped over the side while the Windmill was still racing... |
 Dave was sure proud of the finish on his Windmill, "Mountain Calipso" |
Karen Cole sailed with Paul Melcon on this beautiful day. |
 Paul and Bettie Ann relaxing after another great day sailing the Raven. |
 This girl doesn't love sailing, does she? |
 Paul Thurman and Jason Smith pose next to their Hobie 16. They indicated that they are interested in buying a bigger, faster cat. We may have even more competition coming soon! |
Jason and Paul with the perpetual trophy. They will keep it this year and come back to "defend the cup" next year. |
Our GPS Route did not reach Bloomer Island, but we still covered 18.6
miles going to Sycamore Cove and back. It was a spectacular day in the
sun! |
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 Dave's crew for the day, Esmerelda, took her turn at the tiller. (Photo: Paul Ritchie). |
 What could be prettier than a pretty boat on a pretty day? (Photo: Paul Ritchie) |
Paul Melcon and Karen Cole had a great time on Paul's Prindle Catamaran. (Photo: Paul Ritchie) |
Send Photos of this event to thistle1274@sbcglobal.net |
