2022 Mills Trophy Winner: Roadkill - N.

Lintunen & B. Naysmith

Roadkill

Owners/skippers: Nick Lintunen / Blaic Naismith

Navigator: Blaic Naismith

Crew: Brian Dawse, Denny Meagher, Brandon Noland, Christina Noland

On-shore Support: Heather Naismith, Brandy Tower

After a two year hiatus due to border closures it was amazing to get back to North Cape Yacht Club, Toledo Yacht Club and Put In Bay. We missed our friends and the fantastic racing we have available in western basin of Lake Erie.

The team this year on Roadkill is a long-term group of friends. Although we don’t all race regularly together on the Olson 30, over the last 15 years we’ve all logged a lot of racing miles together on a variety of boats. Onboard we had co-owners Nikolas Lintunen and Blaic Naysmith, friend and fellow Olson 30 owner Brian Dawes, and our “American friends” Denny Meagher, Brandon Noland and Christina Noland. I believe the group has somewhere in the neighbourhood of 80 years of combined Mackinaw race experience. Our shore crew this year was our third co-owner and regular bow person Heather Naysmith, Brandy Tower and the next generation of crew in tow. As some of us have decided to become adults and start families, I’m quickly learning that shore crew and babysitting logistics are a critical part of racing success.

The first leg started off with a run and ended with a light and fluky beat. Our boat excelled in the light conditions and we rounded East Outer in the lead pack. The 2nd leg to West Sister produced more light and fluky conditions before turning into a moderate air pole on the forestay spinnaker reach. This was not our time to shine and we were promptly passed by the majority of the fleet, rounding with eventual runner up Wizard. Jeff Mackey and crew have been close competitors of ours since we purchased Roadkill in 2015 and it was good to see them out there. West Sister to Sandusky was upwind in a 10-15 knot shifty easterly. Our pre race plan was to try and stay leveraged to the south of the fleet in anticipation of a shift in that direction. After rounding Scott Point Shoal we got onto port tack towards the southern shoreline. After digging in we flopped onto starboard and over the next 7 miles were lifted about 30 degrees, bringing us within 3 boat lengths of laying R2. The remainder of the race was more running and beating, crossing the finish line at first light. Motoring into the harbor we didn’t see any familiar masts, which is always a good sign. Things were starting to look up, but for the moment thoughts turned to a post race rum followed by a nap.

Our appreciation goes out to the Mills Trophy Race committee and the army of volunteers that it takes to run the premiere race on Lake Erie. Good luck and good sailing to all 2023 competitors.