Dave Shneider Makes the Mills His Highest Priority!!

June 8-9, 2001

Defending Multihull Class Champion, David Shneider came back with his F-31R, High Priority II, to properly defend his title at the 78th running of the Mills Trophy Race. But, after a year’s hiatus, Lou Young got his feet wet again, brought his winning team back on board his F-28R, Kan Za, and to challenge David early in the race.  Then Bruce Geffen, on his Crowther 38 Catamaran, Nice Pair, turned it into a horse race all around the 75 nm course.

            The Multihulls had the 5th and last start on the Long Course in a light, very light, southeasterly breeze.  At first, it looked like a reach to Niagara Reef, some 15 nautical miles ESE of the starting area.  But the breeze shifted aft, and most of us set up for a chute start.  Doug Young had his team set up for a start with the screacher up and Mike Fahle on the helm.  Mike set up the F-28R, Kan Za for the perfect start at the RC end of the line.  Kan Za was off to an early lead, dusting us all at the start.  

            Then F-31R, High Priority, over ran us close to weather.  Ron White’s F-31R, Stampede, was to leeward of us, and Bruce Geffen’s big cat, Nice Pair, was just to leeward of us and ahead of Stampede. High Priority dove down deep in front of us in hot pursuit of  Kan Za. 

            20 minutes into the race, the breeze shifted forward once again….another sail change for us….up with the screacher.  And High Priority was trying to run over the top of Kan Za, but Mike Fahle took him up hard and wouldn’t let him pass. So High Priority dove down low, still carrying their chute, and Kan Za stayed high.  By this time we were 250 yards aft of the leaders and 100 yards aft of the other F31R, Stampede. High Priority doused their chute and put up their screacher.

            Right from the start, Bruce Geffen, made the conscious decision to steer his big cat, Nice Pair, clear of the ensuing battle between the trimarans and sailed through the monohulls in an effort to reach the mark first. There were still a couple monohulls ahead at the mark rounding.  Amongst them was a PHRF-A boat, a Henderson 30, called Say “Uncle”.

            Meanwhile, at the breakneck speed of 4.3 knots, Big Storm was slowly gaining on Stampede.  We were able to draw even with them during their sail change, which gave us some slight hope of keeping in contact, up until the moment they had their screacher set and drawing.  They took off once again.  With 13 nm to the first mark, this was gonna be a slow Mills Race for us.

            At 8:00pm, we could barely make out the High Priority and Nice Pair far ahead in the lead. We watched with interest as Kan Za was luffed Stampede to Kingdom Come and held off the bigger, faster boat.  When they called a truce, popped their chutes and bore off for the mark, Kan Za was still ahead.  

            At 9:10pm, we could still make out Steve Utrup behind us on his Stiletto 27, Cat Calls, silhouetted by the setting sun.  The breeze shifted right and we popped the chute as the breeze filled in. 

            Nice Pair lead the pack into R”2” at the Sandusky Harbor Channel, but High Priority was closing fast. According to Bruce, his team screwed up and dove down to the wrong mark, allowing the F-31R to scoot by. Nice Pair was able to catch High Priority and passed them half way up the 23 mile leg to RW “X”. They had issues finding that mark too, but they managed to hang onto their scant lead.

            Meanwhile, on board Big Storm, we were enjoying one of the most beautiful starry skies in Mills Race History. At 1:30am, we enjoyed a most spectacular red moon rising over Lake Erie.  At an average boat speed of less than 5 knots, we had plenty of time to enjoy the view!!

            We finally rounded R”2” at 2:30am. We jibed at the mark and I took over the helm.  As we could no longer make out the leaders, I made it my mission to pass every monohull on Leg 3 to RW “X”.  I relished each small victory!

            Two hours ahead of us, in the dawn’s early light, the three leaders, Nice Pair, High Priority, and the leading PHRF-A boat, Say “Uncle”, had just rounded RW “X” were making their way through Pelee Passage, when a freighter gave them 5 blasts from his horn as a warning of imminent danger. Bruce Geffen sailed his cat into irons to avoid a collision and Dave Shneider skee-daddled his way out of danger too.  Neither skipper had seen the freighter bearing down on them.

            According to Bruce, once clear of Pelee Light, all three boats had to tack to clear the shoals of Lighthouse Point at the northern most tip of Pelee Island, but the F-31R and the monohull came out better on the angles. Bruce recalls, “Dave trounced us upwind here, and as he was able to get reaching first and was gone. The Henderson 30, Say “Uncle”, also aced us at this point, but we were able to catch and blow by him a couple of miles or so before the turning can to the finish line.” Nice Pair was finally able to achieve the same fast reaching angle as High Priority and Say “Uncle”. “We were probably reaching along anywhere from 13 to 16 knots for the majority of the leg.”

            Back on board Big Storm, we never saw any speeds close to that! At daybreak we could see the F-31, Stampede, dead ahead and barely visible, we saw Kan Za, making their way up and across the Pelee Passage. Stampede rounded RW “X” at 6:25am and we rounded just ten minutes later.  For the moment at least, he did not have time on us. Ron White was not having a good race. Then Mother Nature dealt him yet another cruel blow as we got the lift and Ron ate a header on the approach to Pelee Passage Light.  When the breeze shifted back, Ron was way out in right field. When we pinched our way around Pelee Light, we were so close that we had to watch that our rig did not make contact with the platform above us.

            As the breeze filled in and shifted aft, we cracked off for Sheridan Point to sail across the North Bay of Pelee Island.  The breeze was imperceptible and the water was choppy.  We tried the screecher for a time and our boat speed dropped from 3 knots to 1 knot.  UGH! Stampede gained distance on us. At 8:40am, we heard Dave Shneider check in with the RC on the radio when he passed Ballast Island. We slogged along in light air for another 4 hours before we passed Ballast Island. The last leg was interminable. No Frosty’s breakfast for us!

            When the Hospitality Tent opened at noon, but here we were, creeping along at less than 5 knots.

        At the 8:48:55am, it was Dave Shneider on High Priority II that took the line honors for the Long Course with an elapsed time of 14 hours 38 minutes and 55 seconds. Bruce Geffen’s Nice Pair finished next with an elapsed time of 14:51:30. Kevin Lemons’ Say “Uncle” led the Monohulls with an elapsed time of 15:18:00. Louis Young’s Kan Za crossed the line 4th with an elapsed time of 15:33:19. Ron White’s    F-31R, Stampede, crossed the finish line almost 3 hours later at 18:17:16. And then it was Big Storm finishing with an elapsed time of 18:53:52, 4 hours behind the leading boat.  That was disheartening, but there was almost an entire fleet of monohulls still out there, and they would take up to 25 hours to finish the race!  That’s one of the advantages of sailing a multihull.  Mike Fahle put it best following a slow Mills Race two years ago, “The moral of the story is to always sail these races on fast boats.”       
        We made our way over to the Crescent Pavilion where the Mills Race Party was already in full swing! We drowned our sorrows in the endless supply of beer and rum drinks.  Sailors had congregated at the hospitality “tent” to renew old acquaintances and share tall sea tales with other competitors, monohull and multihull alike.  When our thirst was sufficiently quenched, we made our way to the taco bar and  chili dogs. 

            The Highlanders, dressed in their kilts, entertained us with their bagpipes at the Crescent Patio.  Besides the usual array of flags, there were many overall flags awarded. As the 1st boat across the finish line, Dave Shneider’s High Priority II was awarded the Mack Truck Flag donated by Columbus Truck and Equipment for First Multihull to Finish.  High Priority also won First Place in the Multihull Fleet with the best corrected time of 15:08:59. They also qualified for the Highlander Perpetual Trophy to be awarded at the 2002 Mills Trophy Presentation Dinner. Louis Young and Team Kan Za won Second Place with a corrected time of 15:14:32.  Bruce Geffen and Team Nice Pair won Third Place with a corrected time of 15:29:05.  Jim Frederick and Team Big Storm was out of the money with a corrected time of 18:08:47.  Ron White and Stampede finished a disappointing fifth place with 18:39:49 and Steve Utrup did not finish at all.

            The Highlanders, dressed in full regalia, led the parade of thirsty sailors into the Crescent Pavilion for the Mimosa Awards Party which followed immediately after the trophies....a fitting end to the 78th running of the Mills!