Big winds meant boats were flying out of the gate.\u00a0 The start line was long enough that a few skilled sailors (Steve\/Carla and Jean\/Frank\u00a0 in Tasars, Tony\/Annie in a Hobie 18, Ken\/Peter in a Laser 2) could start on the favoured port without being interfered with by those doing starboard tack starts (Chunshu in a Laser, Jason in a Laser, Mark\/Ellen\/Yona in an Albacore).\u00a0 The first leg was all about keeping the boat flat in the big winds and big waves, with Carla\/Steve rounding the mark first, followed by Jason (although the cat outran him on the reaching legs like he was standing still).\u00a0 The battle I was watching throughout the race though was Jean\/Frank in a Tasar vs Ken\/Peter in a Laser 2.\u00a0 Here were two quick boats, about the same size, designed by the same person (Frank Bethwaite) around the same time and each sailed by competent sailors.\u00a0 The Laser 2 had the advantage of a trapeze (with Peter hanging off it) but the trap really works best in steady winds while we were experience gusts\/lulls.\u00a0 These two boats were playing leapfrog throughout the race, with Mark\/Ellen\/Yona able to insert their Albacore into the fray downwind.<\/p>\n
Carla\/Steve finished 1st, Tony\/Annie 2nd, Jason 3rd, Jean\/Frank 4th, the Watsons 5th, Peter\/Ken 6th, and Chunshu 7th<\/p>\n
Race 2<\/strong><\/p>\n The wind started to die down, but continued its shift.\u00a0 A couple more boats joined us (Matt\/Cameron in an Albacore and Sara\/Charlotte in a Laser).\u00a0 Port tack heavily favoured by this time.\u00a0 This race was quite processional with the first leg seeing the most movement.\u00a0 Tony\/Devin had a decent start and were able to pass Frank\/Jean, Ken\/Peter, and Jason.\u00a0 The two new boats unfortunately didn’t have great starts, and were unable to catch up.\u00a0 The top 3 finishers were the same, in the same order, but Peter\/Ken held on to 4th over Jean\/Frank (5th), and Chunshu (6th) was able to beat the Watson Albacore (8th).\u00a0 Matt\/Cameron scored 9th, followed by Charlotte\/Sara (10th).<\/p>\n Race 3<\/strong><\/p>\n So here’s a question for you — in this case, a wind shift make the pin end of the start line (and port track) heavily favoured.\u00a0 But, the wind is fairly slow at the pin end (6 knots, maybe), and is stronger at the boat end (9 knots).\u00a0 Where should you start?<\/p>\n Boat A has the favoured end, and the favoured tack, but boat B has right-of-way over boat A.\u00a0 A has to either tack or bear off and duck B.\u00a0 B would likely try to force A to make a move (tacking or ducking) and then tack onto port in front of A, but if B does a sloppy tack and loses speed, then A (assuming A ducked) could pass her to leeward and get into clear air.\u00a0 C meanwhile is starting with more distance to sail upwind.\u00a0 If the wind continues to shift counterclockwise, C is screwed.\u00a0 But if the wind shift back to “head on” then C has much more wind to work with and can beat A or B.\u00a0 Tricky situation indeed.<\/p>\n Race 3 started out slow, the wind built over the course of the race, starting on the right side of the course.\u00a0 By the end of the race it was over 15 knots all over the course, probably closer to 20 on the Quebec side.\u00a0 Carla\/Steve (who took the “boat A” position in the diagram) won the race, with Devin\/Tony second (again).\u00a0 Jason had a bad start (he had planned to be boat C, but wasn’t paying attention and drifted downwind before the start) so Frank\/Jean and Ken\/Peter were duking it out for 3rd.\u00a0 Peter eventually got on the trapeze as the wind built, and the extra leverage meant they could keep their boat flatter that Jean\/Frank.\u00a0 They took 3rd\/4th respectivly.\u00a0 Chunshu showed solid skills as he kept his Laser ahead of the rest of the fleet.\u00a0 Jason was able to pass Charlotte\/Sara and Matt\/Cameron and was catching up with Mark\/Ellen\/Yona, but didn’t get to them in time.\u00a0 Mark & family finished 6th, Jason 7th, Cameron\/Matt 8th, Sara\/Charlotte 9th.<\/p>\n Lesson learned<\/strong>: once that class flag goes up, don’t start fiddling with your boat drifting downwind, make sure you’re in a good starting position.<\/p>\n After the race<\/strong><\/p>\n Remember how I said the wind was building?\u00a0 Well, some of the braver (or stupider) sailors took advantage of the big air and went to Quebec.\u00a0 That was fun — planing on a reach the whole way there, hulls screaming, spray flying everywhere, bouncing the boats over whitecaps!\u00a0 Peter was hanging off the trapeze trying to keep the Laser 2 upright, Carla\/Steve and Jean\/Frank were practicing steering-for-balance, the Tony\/Devin’s Hobie 18 was close to flying a hull.\u00a0 A couple of capsizes and some aid from kind sailors\/RC (thanks Carla, Heidi, Reese!) and everyone made it home safe.<\/p>\n Apres-sail was fun, as always, and may thanks for coming out!<\/p>\n Series\/Season Standings<\/strong><\/p>\n This was the last race of our “Summer Series 1” set of races, with “Summer Series 2” going from Aug 3 – Aug 31.\u00a0 We got 13 races in over the 5 weeks, which meant you can drop your worst 3 scores.\u00a0 Steve convincingly won the series, taking 1st place in all but 3 races (a 2nd, a 3rd, and a Did-Not-Start).\u00a0 Carla finished 2nd with a number of 1st place wins, as well as a handful of 3rd\/4th places finishes.\u00a0 Ken S rounds out the top 3, with a win, and solid 2nd\/3rd place finishes.\u00a0 For the rookies, we have Devin as the victor with some 1st\/2nd place finishes, but the weeks he missed (Did-Not-Come-to-Starting-Area) hurt his overall placement among the veterans.\u00a0 Complete results here.<\/a><\/p>\n Season wise, Carla is still in the lead by a couple of points over Steve.\u00a0 Jason has fallen back to a distant 3rd.\u00a0 Current standings here<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The wind was the big story of the night, with constantly changing (and sometimes challenging) conditions.\u00a0 Congrats to the brave souls who looked to the water, saw some big air, and said “looks like fun!”\u00a0 This was also the last race night of the “Summer Series 1” so take a look at the end of … Continue reading Race Night Report – July 27, 2017<\/span> 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