photo credit to PRL Photographics

Annual Rite of Summer Gets Rave Reviews

 South Bass Island, Ohio (August 13, 2008) –  With the conclusion last week of the 2008 Inter-Lake Yachting Association (I-LYA) Bay Week Sailing Regatta, presented by Progressive and sponsored by GMC, an annual rite of summer on the Great Lakes has been marked by hundreds of competitors aboard 90 sail boats of varied sizes.  This is not a typical regatta – the Monday to Wednesday race schedule virtually ensures that the racers have planned their participation to coordinate with some vacation time.  And the location, Put-in-Bay, the quaint Victorian resort on South Bass Island, Ohio, is also a significant factor in attracting high caliber sailors who enjoy the tactical racing among the surrounding islands on Lake Erie.

“I can’t remember how long we’ve been sailing in this event . . . since the ‘70s at least,” said Heidi Backus Riddle (Vermilion, Ohio).  The 1985 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year competed in the Tartan 10 class, with a crew on Nuts that included sister Susan Backus (herself a nationally-known sailor), son John and some good friends.  “This is so different from a normal regatta venue.  One day you race around the island, another around the buoys.  When racing is done the island is a great place to spend your time and relax.”

Riddle won the 12-boat T-10 class, the largest of the five one-design classes competing, after seven races.  “The first two days were blowing 10-15 south-southwest, steady,” said Riddle citing good crew work for finishes of 4-1-2-1-3-2.  In a light shifty breeze on the final day of racing, despite posting her worst finish of the series – a tenth which became her drop score – she secured the win by just  two points over Gary Disbrow (Avon Lake, Ohio) against whom she has sailed “many, many times.”  Disbrow had earlier won the I-LYA Deepwater Race from Sandusky which is one of the optional feeder races (Cleveland, Port Clinton, Toledo and Detroit are the other starting points) that has the respective fleets navigating the challenging waters around the Bass Islands to assemble at the bustling waterfront of Put-in-Bay in time to participate in the Sailing Regatta. 

Nine yachts raced in the PHRF Casual Cruising class, while a total of 41 boats raced in various PHRF fleets and 40 raced in the five one-design classes.  In the five-boat Crescent fleet, David Hume (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.), sailing with his teenage son and daughter, beat older brother Stephen Hume (Detroit, Mich.) who finished four points back in second overall.  “You can buy a completely stocked Crescent ready to race for $5000, and for $500 for food and entry fees you’ll have an experience you’ll never forget,” said Stephen Hume of the event he has competed in since 1984.  “The Put In Bay Yacht Club is so nice to us, the I-LYA runs a professional event, and I love sailing around the islands where the war of 1812 was fought.  There have been people sailing here who have quit their jobs for this event!” 

“No one got killed by the lighter winds” said Ed Skoch the ILYA Sail Regatta Chairman about the change in breeze strength and direction on the final day of racing.   “It did not really affect the standings.  The one-design centerboard fleet did not race on the final day because the air was too light, but they had [completed] seven races and so they did fine.  PHRF did not have significant changes.  They raced around the island and the wind did come back a little.  The Crescent fleet moved from the one-design keelboat course to the PHRF course in order to participate in the race around the island.  And it was the first time windsurfers participated in the event after someone from Middle Bass Yacht Club got the idea –they said they would be back next year.  We had a very successful regatta, with very few problems.”

Third Annual Tri-Area Challenge - For the third consecutive year, the Tri-Area Challenge – open to all classes participating in the I-LYA Bay Week Sailing Regatta – has been won by the Western Lake Erie Basin team.  Boats registered for the regatta automatically became eligible and were included in the scoring with the winning area receiving a cash prize of $1000 to be distributed to their Junior programs, along with a case of Captain Morgan Rum for the sailors.  The Western Lake Erie Basin covers Vermilion, Ohio to North Cape, Michigan, with representatives from the Jolly Roger and Sandusky Sailing Clubs, Perrysburg and Vermilion Boat Clubs, and Put-in-Bay Yacht Club racing in the regatta.

Top three results for each class follow at the end of this release.  Complete results can be found at http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=208

I-LYA - Formed in 1885 to promote the interest of boat owners and other members, the Inter-Lake Yachting Association is not only the oldest yacht racing association in the country but also one of the largest, with 146 member yacht clubs located in the states that surround Lake Erie: Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and the Canadian province of Ontario.  For more information visit www.i-lya.com

Progressive - The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies, in business since 1937, is the country’s third largest auto insurance group and largest seller of motorcycle and personal watercraft policies based on premiums written, and is a market leader in commercial auto insurance.

Progressive is committed to becoming consumers #1 choice for auto insurance by providing competitive rates and products that meet drivers’ needs throughout their lifetimes, superior online and in-person customer service, and best-in-class, 24-hour claims service, including its concierge level of claims service available at service centers located in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States.

Progressive companies offer consumers choices in how to shop for, buy and manage their auto insurance policies.  Progressive offers its products, including personal and commercial auto, motorcycle, boat and recreational vehicle insurance, through more than 30,000 independent insurance agencies throughout the U.S. and online and by phone direct from the Company.  Private passenger auto products and prices are different when purchased directly from Progressive or through independent agencies.  To find an agent or to get a quote, go to www.progressive.com.

GMC - GMC, a division of General Motors Corporation, markets vehicles in the U.S., Canada and Mexico through a network of approximately 2,200 dealers with a focus on trucks and SUVs engineered to deliver enhanced capabilities, unique design elements and innovative features to fit every active lifestyle.  The GMC Professional Grade lineup of trucks includes the Canyon, Envoy, Savanna, Sierra, Yukon and crossover SUV, Acadia.  GMC will expand its lineup in the fourth quarter of 2007 to include the 2008 Yukon Hybrid which features the world’s first 2-Mode hybrid system.  More information on GMC and its products can be found on the division’s website at www.gmc.com, and in Spanish at www.gmc.com/espanol.

Supporting sponsors for 2008 are long-time sponsor West Marine, as well as La-Z-Boy and Lakeland Boating.

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