Draheims close strong to win MC Scow Masters

The 2014 MC Scow Masters Nationals on June 13-15, at Rush Creek Yacht Club in Rockwell, Texas, finished in colorful action. Bill Draheim, with son Stew, took the title after coming back from a tough start at 9th place after two light air races.

Big breeze likes color, as Bill Draheim had plenty of upwind speed with his son doing most of the hiking and trimming.

On the first leg of the first attempted race on Day 1, Stew turned to his dad and laughed, “Dad, you aren’t playing the main!”. Bill responded with a smile, “I know son, my arm hurts.” Stew grabbed the mainsheet and trimmed in the big breeze races for the remainder of the regatta. That’s when the real motor turned on.

Day 1 saw no completed racing with local lightning threatening the race area. Day 2 showed light breeze with big wind shifts up to 60 degree swings and two races were finished. Bill Draheim was not so lucky on Day 2 with a tie for 9th place and only one day left in the regatta. Fortuantely, more breeze was in forecasted for Day 3. Two races were completed in gusterly, almost survival-mode conditions. Half the fleet did not complete the 4th race of the regatta. The championship came down to the last race with Greg Gust and Bill Draheim battling it out downwind until Greg Gust had an unfortunate jibe that left him capsized at the leeward mark.

Rush Creek Yacht Club hosted an amazing event making 14 loaner boats available for out of towners, super cool evening parties with live music both at the club and private homes, a large group of junior sailors made available for crew in heavy air, as well as a professional fireworks show on Friday night provided by Gus Sails. A true first class event from the host club in all areas.

Bill Draheim, maker of Gus Sails, Rockwall, Texas, believes in making the sport more appealing through color. “We always support fun and wild colors to excite the sport”, says Bill Draheim. “More people will seek out the sport of sailing with more color.”

Gus Sails built a special MC Scow Main with XP design for this Masters Nationals using three color panels in the middle of the sail. The 4 ounce dacron with color is quite unusual for racing boats. Color dacron is available, but it is not resin dipped like most white racing dacron, so the color was only used in the middle panels with the least amount of load to minimize material stretch.

Results: http://www.rcyc.org/2014/2014-mc-masters-results/

Report by Billy Self