~photos Rudy Enzmann

The Naramata Mug is officially the oldest and to some the most coveted sailing trophy on Okanagan Lake.  In reality the Naramata Mug is actually awarded to the top dinghy racer. It was not until more recent years that a separate keelboat trophy – the Bruno Leipe, was created to award to us lead dinghy sailors.

It would appear that not even local SOSA historians know precisely who the hell Bruno Leipe was. However what is known is that in keelboat circles (not unlike with dinghies) it remains a highly coveted trophy to have your name on and also one of the most difficult to win.

Why most difficult? For starters it has been and remains a one fleet race. Meaning all boats race in one fleet together creating a rating band as wide as the playlist in a decent Karaoke bar.

The legacy course typically involves a long weather leg to the upwind mark before a rare-these-days reach to the Naramata mark that veteran Leipe racers know must be found before it can be ‘round.

After the reach mark it is typically a beam/blast reach over to Trout Creek mark before the trip back to the finish line.

After the finish it is common to mathematically have no idea where you will end up on corrected time given the wide range of fleet ratings and the lengthy course that often results in lead boats serving as “don’t go there” tell tales to the rest of the fleet.

This year’s Bruno Leipe race was summarized no differently and perhaps for many of us this that is what we have come to love about this race.

Results were as follows:

Boat                                                   Skipper                                Elapsed                Corrected

BluVelvet                                           Enzmann                             1:55:44                1:54:23

The Factor                                         Trautman                           2:07:42                1:57:17

Bad Dog                                             Terpstra                              1:52:48                1:58:58

Blowin’ In da Wind                          Don                                      2:08:47                1:59:15

Mike’s Boat                                      Weiss                                  2:23:21                2:06:29

Feng Shui                                           Tilson                                  2:26:15                2:18:16

Justfried                                             Williamson                         2:38:32                2:19:53

Before I close although I was asked to summarize the SOSA Bruno Leipe race that was held on Sunday allow me to mention the new true ‘Round Rattlesnake Island Race we created on Saturday.

For the first time we started a new joint PYC/SYC race starting in Penticton at 10am on Saturday – racing around ‘Rattlesnake Island and finishing in Summerland.

For many this was the best race they have experienced in years. Many new speed records were set and a few spectacular crashes were observed as well.

Plans are already underway to stage this great race next year to occur on the Saturday prior to the Bruno Leipe Sunday Race – Do NOT MISS IT!

by Rudy Enzmann