Sit back and hear the tale of the amazing submersible Albacore.

Race night got off to a great start!  We had a good number of people show up, although most elected to take double handers which reduced the number of boats on the start line.  The wind showed up as well, with steady winds of about 12 knots and gusts in the 16-18 knot range, from the East.  A fairly short course set by Sydney and Reese let us get three races in.

Race 1 was all about figuring out the course.  A shift in the persistent wind meant that most people figured out that port tack would be favoured for most of the leg.  Tony and Jason (Tasar) decided to roll the dice and try a port tack start near the pin end.  With only about 5 seconds before the start, Norm and Carla (Albacore) were coming up to Tony/Jason on starboard, and it looked like Tony/Jason would have to cross early or tack (screwing their start), but Norm/Carla elected to tack onto port right as the gun went (giving Jason/Tony a repreve).  Chunshu and Tom (Albacore) decided to not repeat Tom’s OCS start last week, and gave the start line plenty of room.  The positions held through the race, with Jason/Tony winning, followed by Carla/Norm.  Tom/Chunshu ended up taking on some water and decided to abandon the race to bail their boat.

Race 2 found us joined by Ray (Laser).  By this time most of the sailors had figured out that the port tack start was the winner, but it seemed that Tony/Jason had the favoured pin end all to themselves.  They were able to make the windward mark first, but a battle between Ray and Carla/Norm meant it was neck-and-neck through for second.  Bad judgement on Jason’s part during a shift meant that both 2nd and 3rd place boats gained on Tony/Jason during the downwind leg, with Carla/Norm just a few feet away from establishing overlap around the mark.  Tony/Jason held on for 1st, while Carla/Norm took 2nd and Ray 3rd.

The final race, the game was on!  Norm/Carla won the start with Ray and Chunshu/Tom close behind.  Tony/Jason mistimed their start and had some catching up to do.  But what’s this?  Why is Carla/Norm on starboard tack?  A mistook mark and, the Carla/Norm Albacore was off the course, and had a lot of catching up to do.  Meanwhile, Tom/Chunshu had some trouble at the upwind mark!  Oh no, it looks like their tipping!  Capsize!  Jason/Tony went on to win the race, followed by Ray and Carla/Norm.

The amazing Albacore U-Boat

The real fun was at the upwind mark where Chunshu/Tom were still having trouble.  When the boat was righted, it was sitting rediculously low in the water and would capsize again immediately.  Three capsizes later, we find that their tiller has broken completely off from their rudder head.  They were towed to safety by our intrepid RC (thanks, Reese & Sydney!) with a special shout out to Tony who jumped in the power boat to lend a hand if needed as well.  When the boat got back to the shore, we found that not only was the rudder head busted, not only was the boat full of water, but 3 of the 4 bouyancy tanks were filled as well.  No wonder it was so hard to right!

Race 1 Results: 1st Tony/Jason (Tasar), 2nd Norm/Carla (Albacore), DNF Chunshu/Tom (Albacore), DNS Ray (Laser)

Race 2 Results: 1st Tony/Jason (Tasar), 2nd Norm/Carla (Albacore), 3rd Ray (Laser), DNS Chunshu/Tom (Albacore)

Race 3 Results: 1st Tony/Jason (Tasar), 2nd Ray (Laser), 3rd Norm/Carla (Albacore), DNF Chunshu/Tom (Albacore)

A thank you also goes to Jean and Frank who tended the BBQ and great beer/burgers were had by all.