Well, the wind didn’t cooperate for 12-Mile-Island, and the very light air meant that we were forced to sail with a shortened course (many thanks to instructor Heidi for dropping a mark out by Pinhey’s Point to act as the “Island” for the day). The 11:00 start (monohulls) saw several boats out for more of a “float” than a sail, and it didn’t look like they had much of a head start by the time the Hobie 18 (12:00 start) was approaching.
The wind did pick up a bit (especially on the Quebec side of the river) as the day went on, and perhaps the course was shortened a little too much. The target time for the regatta is 4 hours for monohulls, and 3 hours for catamarans, but the first monohull completed the course after about 2.5 hours (Frank and Jean crossed the finish line at 1:26:07pm after an 11:00am start). Still, I’d rather have a fun 2.5 hour race than a boring 5 hour one…
Actually, the shortened course translated into a close race — all boats (including the cat) finished within a window of 22 minutes, and the adjusted times were even closer. Although Richard in the Laser finished about 10 minutes behind Norm and Monica in an Albacore, the adjusted times were less than 2 minutes apart. Similarly, the Tony and Ken E in the cat (1h 37m 42s elapsed time) were very close to Frank and Jean (2h 26m 07s ET).
The adjusted times (AT) are calculated by taking the elapsed time (ET) and multiplying by a handicapping factor called the Portsmouth Number (PN). The formula used is
AT = ET * (1000/PN)
Okay, now the moment you’ve been waiting for… remember, it’s the adjusted time that determines your placement…
| Ranking | Class/Sail | Skip | Crew | ET | PN | AT |
| 5 | Laser 196258 | Richard | – | 2h 47m 20s | 1095 | 2h 32m 48s |
| 4 | Albacore 8034 | Norm | Monica | 2h 37m 58s | 1045 | 2h 31m 10s |
| 3 | Albacore 8033 | Robert B | Tom N | 2h 34m 17s | 1045 | 2h 27m 38s |
| 2 | Albacore 7485 | Frank | Jean | 2h 26m 07s | 1045 | 2h 19m 49s |
| 1 | Hobie 18 | Tony | Ken E | 1h 37m 42s | 765 | 2h 12m 56s |
Congratulations to 2016 12-Mile-Island Regatta winners, Tony Hendrikx and Ken Eaves!
A special thank you goes out to Heidi who dropped the rounding mark early in the day, Annie and Emily for assisting on shore (and on the water) to make the day run smoothly, Robert for having the foresight to bring a few packages of bottled water for the sailors sitting in the sun, and Darren and Annie for pressure washing the upstairs deck on their duty day!