Olson 30 "Stella Ray" makes it a 3-Peat at Wursfest Regatta

Wurstfest has been a New Braunfels "Salute-to-Sausage" tradition since 1961. In 1968, the LCYC decided to have a Wurstfest of a different kind. The Wurstfest Regatta is the signature event of the year for the Lake Canyon Yacht Club, located in scenic hill country just west of New Braunfels, TX. Races are held over two weekends, with board boats and centerboards racing the first weekend, while keelboats and multi-hulls duel it out on the water the second weekend. Typically, 150-200 boats compete over the two-weekend event. Suffice to say, the competition, food, beer and camaraderie never lack. LCYC's Wurstfest 2014 was no different.

The forecast for keelboat weekend was variable winds on Saturday and a "no-blow" day for Sunday, so renowned sailor and Regatta PRO Mark Foster decided to get in as many races as possible on Saturday to ensure a good series for all who came from far and wide. It was looking dismal on Saturday until winds steadily built from a dead calm at sunrise to a surprising, but welcomed 18-20+ by late morning. This gave everyone the breeze needed for an exhilarating day, sailed on four different race courses set on Canyon Lake. True to form, PRO Foster, who happened to be on the Spinnaker and Sport Boat course, got off 6 races for the PHRF Spinnaker class.

It was a long day of high winds racing. Among a field of six competitive starters in its class, Olson 30 Stella Ray owned by Ray Leubner, skippered by Buddy Byington and crewed by Hauke Rauschmann, Claudia Roeschmann, Patrico Chapa, Brett Jackson and Mark Cool put together a phenomenal series of 6 hard-sailed races ([3], 2, 1, 1, 1, 1) on Saturday to win their third Wurstfest PHRF Spinnaker Fleet title since Leubner bought hull #43 in 2012.

Stella Ray races exclusively with a full inventory of Ullman sails, including Fiberpath main & jibs, and Air-x spinnaker. 

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2011 Dana Point Harbor Championships

2011 Dana Point Harbor Championships were held this past weekend.  The battle for the Howard Trueba Memorial Trophy was won over 5 races by Jason Adamson's Olson 30 White Lightning.  Jason and his crew beat out the likes of a J-125, Melges 32, Henderson 30's and a plethora of other highly competitive boats.

Saturday consisted of four windward/leeward races that started out in foggy light air conditions, perfect for the lighter sport-boats.  Howard Lewis' Melges 32 Pendragon took the first race with Biff Bunny's Henderson 30 Powerpoint close by in second.  Jason Adamson started his consistent weekend of sailing with a third place finish in the difficult and shifty conditions.  Race two saw the wind settle and increase to a pleasurable 7-9kts.  Once again White Lightning showed their good form and won race two with consistent boat speed and good tactics.  Moving up the fleet was brian Doughery and his J-105 Legacy.  Team Legacy pulled a third place finish and quickly showed the fleet that they were there to compete.  Race 3 & 4 saw increasing wind velocity and some boats started switching to smaller headsails.  At one point a 18kt puff rolled through the course much to the delight of the larger heavier boats.

Sunday's random leg race was looking like a long drifter as the boats floundered around the committee boat waiting for the wind to do something.  It eventually filled in and the Race Committee picked a good course and sent the boats on their way.  The first mark rounded was jam packed with most of the boats arriving at the same time.  Legacy was looking strong and sailed a consistent race from the outset to finish the regatta with a victory and sew up a second overall as their nearest competitor Sedona were uncharacteristically positioned towards the back of the fleet.  White Lightning once again showed their dominance with a great performance to get second in the race and essentially first overall.

Both White Lightning and Legacy are powered 100% by Ullman Sails.

Click here for full results!

Special thanks to Barry Senescue and his team on the Race Committee boat for their hard work in running a perfect regatta.

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