by Scott Reed

Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise on the lake… Unlike last year, there was no rain, no clouds, and no wind. All the teams started to arrive at the boat launch around 9am. Still no rain, clouds, or wind. Chad Weisensel took over the job this year as event coordinator, arranging for five teams to participate, t-shirts for all participants, lunch for the teams afterward, and live DJ entertainment in the evening.

Everyone gathered on the shoreline to pick lanes and go over the rules of the event. Then one by one, the boats headed out to take their place in line out in the open water.

The starters all jumped in the water and our drivers anxiously awaited the sound of the horn symbolizing the start of the race. Finally it was time, with four time Footstock champ Aaron Schoelzel in the water and three time Footstock champ Chris Van Zeeland behind the wheel, we took off at the sound of the horn. About five seconds later, I had to lean over to tell Chris that Aaron was down. We quickly whipped a power turn to get him the rope since we both knew there was no way he was going to leave it at that. We look over in the lane next to us to see that another team lead by Mark Mahan was also circling back to get their skier. Later when asked, both skiers stated that they tried to stand up too fast.

After Aaron's recovery, he took us out about six minutes and next on the water for our team was first time racer Lucas Twelmeyer who successfully mastered his first deep up in his racing career. With Lucas looking strong, he was able to hold on for about five minutes, which led to our next new teammate and first timer Jamie Kumlien. Jamie popped up instantly to start his five minute run which took us around the halfway point and into the straightaway. With all teams heading to the halfway 11 mile marker, Luke Bruckner was the last man standing after about 8 minutes. The first team to reach the turn around boat was the team led by Bob Mahnke in his brand new 2010 Master Craft. Following close on their heals was the team led by Mark Mahan in the Beaver Dam Mustski Hydra dyne with a Evenrude 200 outboard on the back. Next was the team led by Mike Peterson driving a yellow/black Ski pro, then Team Barefoot Central driving a 2005 Master Craft (owned by Terry Schuller), and bringing up the back was the team led by Tommy Schmidt driving a Malibu Sportster.

The turn around boat gave a call to the fans back at shore letting them know that the boats were on their way back after 13 minutes. When Jamie fell on some rollers, it was my chance to hop in the water. With the adrenaline racing, Chris’ last words to me as I jumped in the water were “Get me in striking distance!” I held on for dear life as the boat took off at top speed. While I was footing, we were able to pass the Ski Pro which put us in third place. As my feet heated up, I tapped out after a six minute run. This left us neck and neck with the Ski Pro as our last skier took to the water.

Chris took to the water knowing he had to make it to the end to give us a chance to take over second place. We got a good lead over the Ski Pro, heading into the home stretch we could see a team in a transition right near the opening of the bay heading to the finish line. With the throttle as far down as it would go, we held our breath to see if they would get up before we could pass them. With a difference of 11 seconds they successfully were up and past the finish line ahead of us leaving us with a well fought third place time of 28 minutes and 24 seconds.

The winners of the race with a time of 27 minutes and 12 seconds, was the team led by Bob Mahnke which also consisted of Luke Bruckner, Chad Mietz, Paul Stokes, and Mark Donahue.

Second place team with a time of 28 minutes and 13 seconds was the team led by Mark Mahan which also consisted of Rob Christensen, Chris Mcwatters, Jon DeBelak, and Mike Miller.

Third Place "Team BFC" (Scott Reed, Jamie Kumlien, Chris Van Zeeland, Aaron Schoelzel, and Lucas Twelmeyer)

Fourth Place went to the team led by Mike Peterson (Mike Peterson, Gary Slawny, Dan W, Marci Holtz, Dave Strobel)

Fifth Place went to the team led by Tommy Schmidt.

The tournament paid out for first and second place, with the promise to pay out more next year depending on an increase in attendance.

Big thanks go out to Chad, Dawn and Woody (owners of the Moonlight Bar), all the ski show members that took to their boats to help guide us, Terry Schuller for the use of his boat, and to our team sponsors Barefoot Central and Ace Precision Machining Corporation. Great race and great start to the ski season

Scott