By C. Hennon (9/7/2007)
Nate Ireland announced last week that a new regatta will take place at Hoover SC in the Columbus, OH area at the end of September. The first ever "Buckeye Blast" will take off on September 29-30 with two full days of racing on Columbus' premier sailing club.
Hoover
Resevoir park is a 4700 acre recreation area northeast of Columbus, and includes
a 3200 acre lake with over 48 miles of shoreline. The resevoir was
created in 1955 by a dam blocking Big Walnut Creek. Hoover sailing club
was founded a short time later in 1962 and had housed Thistle, MC Scow,
Windmill, 505, Snipe, Laser, Flying Scot, Highlander, and Interlake fleets.
Hoover members approached Nate at the beginning of this season
about the possibility of starting a Jet-14 fleet.
"I think sailing all across the country is on the decline over the past several years, and Hoover was looking to grow younger membership. The Jet seemed to be a great fit at the club because it is the only two person boat that would have a spinnaker there, and the other smaller boats were on the decline", Nate told me recently. "Hoover had been very welcoming and offered to let us host a regatta this year".
The newly minted Hoover Jet fleet has 5 boats - all of them are planning on attending the Buckeye Blast. They will be joined by at leat 4 boats from the Edgewater fleet and several from Mohican. Nate is optimistic that they will have over 15 boats, not counting any travelers from the east coast.
"I think if all goes well, we could see some great growth in the coming years", said Nate. With the addition of Hoover, Ohio now boasts 3 active fleets with nearly 40 active boats. It is hard to argue against Nate's prognosis with fleet leaders such as Dave and Sue Michos, Marion Zaugg, and Nate leading the way
.Posted 9/7/2007