Race Report
Week 12, 2010
Parker and Michelle sailing at the Cork International regatta Aug. 16-21.
Cork International Regatta
Kingston Ontario August 16-21, 2010
During the week of Aug 16-21, Parker and Michelle sailed their 29’er in the North
American Championship at the Cork International event in Kingston. Over 500
competitors sailed in 11 fleets with close to 60 29’ers in the event. The highlight or
dominating factor of the event was the wind. Monday, qualifying day, saw average
winds of 25 gusting to 30knots (50-60 kph) and swells in the 4 to 6 foot range. Ripped
sails, holes in boats and injured sailors were the order of the day. Parker and Michelle
were on the water but did not complete a race due to tears in their brand new jib, although
their boat survived. One boat broke off a wing and was a complete right off. Michelle’s
cousin sustained an injury to her foot and could not compete. Tuesday saw the winds up
again as the fleet was broken into 2 groups, gold and silver. Parker and Michelle were
entered into the silver fleet. Although an overall 21st finish was the result, some good
signs were seen. Lauren, who volunteered at the event, was on the start boat as the
apprentice Principal Race Officer, reported that even though their starts were not as good
as they could have been, their off wind sailing was excellent as seen by them passing 2
boats just before the finish. Their biggest disadvantage was their lack of body weight
during the big wind days. All in all, it was great experience for the young team in a
major event on the North American Sailing schedule.
Connor approaching the windward mark on a light wind day.
Ontario Summer Games
Aug 10-13, 2010
During the week of Aug 10-13, the club was invaded by a group of the best junior sailors
in Ontario. Ten Laser Radial sailors and 11 Club 420 crews arrived to compete for
Ontario Summer Games medals and the title of Ontario Junior Champions. Racing was
held from Wednesday to Friday with Tuesday being a practice day. A total of 11 races
were held, with winds varying from 3-5 knots the first 2 days to 5-8 knots on the last day.
The dominating feature of the 4 days was temperature, which hovered around the 30degree mark all week. Club results varied: Parker and Michelle sailed in the 420 class
and finished 8th overall, a good result considering their lack of training in the boat.
Connor, 10th in the Radial fleet, also showed promise considering his lack of competition
at this level. Konrad Davy from the Etobicoke Yacht Club won the Radial event while
Will Jones and Kevin Wiersma from the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club won the 420 event.
A number of club members are to be thanked for their work during the games: Rob as
event manager, Pierre as venue manager and Judy as race officer were the main
participants. Many other club members gave their time as well to make sure this event
was first class.
Club Racing
Club racing over the last 2 weeks saw either feast or famine, with light wind days and
heavy wind days.
Tuesday the 10th saw winds of 5-8 knots with and 5 Lasers out and 3 races run. Indrek
lead the way with a 1,1,3 finish followed by Mike at 1,2,3. Dave was next at 3,2,2; Scott
was next at 4,5,4 followed by John at 5,4,5.
Thursday the 12th the wind pulled a no show so racing was cancelled much to the relief of
all those who were working at the Ont. Summer Games.
Sunday the 15th saw rain in the morning with little wind changing to sunny skies and lots
of wind. Five races were run in building winds on a windward leeward course. Out for
the afternoon was Bradley, a sailing school Bronze student and head instructor Elijah.
Brad and Elijah were sent off early to gain experience, while Dave, Norm Indrek, Jeff
and Scott’s races counted. Norm, 3,1,2,2,1 on 9points won the day followed by Indrek
1,4,3,1,3 12points and Dave 4,2,1,3,2 12 points tied for second. Scott was next with a
2,5,5,5,4 19 points and then Jeff 5,3,4,4,5 21 points.
Tuesday the 17th brought cloudy conditions with a 8-10knots of wind. Seven Lasers were
out for the racing. Judy set a windward leeward course with the start line before the
leeward mark, a new style of course. Indrek, Norm, Dave, Gary, Jeff and Scott were out.
Three were races run in southwest breeze. Indrek was fastest on the night with 2,4,1
followed by Norm 1,1,5 and Dave 3,2,2 tied for third.
Thursday the 19th saw light winds and 5 Lasers out in, what I might call a light breeze.
Two races were run with Mike going 1,1 followed by Indrek 2,2 then Dave 3,3 followed
by John 5,4 and Jeff 4,5.
That’s all for now, Sunday the 22nd will be reported when I hear what happened on that
day!
Remember, “ Judy rules!”
The Not So Anonymous Laser Racer.