Executive: 
Chairman:   Jim Clelland 
Hon. Treas.:  George Blanchard
Measurer:  Bob Thompson 
Imm. Past Chairman:  A. Lowenthal
Publicity:  George Wilson
Secretary:  Tom Johannsen, 2531 Lakeshore Blvd West,  Apt. 302, Toronto 14, Ontario
 

FROSTBITE REGATTA, BROCKVILLE, May 16 and 17
As far as the spectators were concerned this may have been a “Frostbiter”, but for the sailors 25 mph winds gusting to 35 mph meant that there was too much work to be done to feel cold.  The total number of Wayfarer entries was somewhat disappointing, two from Brockville, W322 and W460, and three from Ottawa, Britannia Yacht Club, W614, W287, W855.  Four races were sailed, and the cup was presented to Ben Rusi and Mike Pringle, in W-614, and to John Hain from Brockville in W-322 second.

There was one capsize in the series, which occurred when Peter and Avis Jefferson in W-827 tried to jibe and went over.  (Some thoughts about this later, because Peter and Avis are in good and plenty of company in this respect).  An interesting idea was observed of how to keep your feet dry: Avis Jefferson put on a pair of plastic carrot bags, over her socks.  When the rescue boat fished her out of the St. Lawrence, Avis turned to her lady rescuer and remarked: “A lot of use my carrot bags were!”  Whereupon her rescuer promptly dropped her back into the river.  Avis kept quiet on the second attempt of rescue until she was safely in the boat.

The final race on Sunday was sailed under ideal conditions and developed into a great struggle for first place between W-460, Dick Roffel, and W614, Ben Rusi.  Ben Rusi and his crew, Mike Pringle showed their skill by just scraping over the finish line ahead of the Brockville boat.

We should like to thank the host club for the excellent arrangements they made.  The race committee was first class, and the Brockville members did everything in their power to make our visit enjoyable.  Brockville is roughly equidistant from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, and this event is worthy of much more support from Wayfarer fleets in these cities.  Thanks to Doug Arrol from Ottawa for this report.

CHICAGO REGATTA, May 23 and 24
Chicago is called by sailors the windy city, and to enlighten the doubtful minds, it blew like H….!  25 to 30 mph on the Saturday, and that was a light breeze against the Sunday (35 mph gusting to 50).  There were 17 entries, and 13 boats sailed, 4 stayed dry.  Three boats entered from Canada, George Blanchard, W-283, with Leader Skipper crew, Laurie Oxenham (Al's note: the Leader was a 14’ racing dinghy also imported by C & L), Alec Lowenthal, W-151 with Wayfarer skipper crew, Mike Schoenborn, and Harry Jones, W-720, with Wayfarer skipper crew, Tom Johannsen.  The series was won by two American boats, with George Blanchard coming in third.  Some records were broken in this event.  For instance, the number of capsizes on the weekend among the 13 boats was seventeen.  Harry Jones capsized three times in one race, Alec Lowenthal twice.  The third time, Harry lost his bailer, which wasn’t tied to the end of the halyard, and bailing out a boat with a paddle and your hands is not too successful, but possible nevertheless, if you have suction bailers and can sail out the rest of the water.  This happened on the Saturday, when it wasn’t blowing quite as much as on the Sunday.  Winds were lighter when the race was started, but it soon blew up.  Eight boats went over, and the rescue boat started to have motor trouble.  Add an off-shore breeze, and when the Coast Guard boats went out, the newspaper men had a drift of the story (and that with an off shore breeze).  By the time the first boat sailed into the harbour, TV cameras and several reporters were getting busy.  And it sure made the headlines in the Chicago papers.  The 4 boats that finished both races without going over were experienced Wayfarer skippers, and this certainly divided the men from the boys.
 

KITCHENER REGATTA, June 13 and 14
Let’s get the details over with fast.  23 boats, several from the U.S.A., 3 races on Saturday, twice around, and 2 on the Sunday.  Winds between 15 and 25 on the Saturday, around 12 to 15 on the Sunday.  Several capsizes.  First: Peter Bassin, W-421, second A. Vandermay, 763, both from Kitchener, and third Harry Jones, W-720, from Toronto.  Weather: mainly sunny.
This was a beautiful week-end.  The Conestoga Sailing Club is quite small, about 45 members, and they just built a nice clubhouse last year.  The lake curves around corners, and so do the legs of the course, - add shifty winds, and that makes interesting racing.  Quite a few of the visitors camped near the water in front of the clubhouse, and the protest committee made their appearance at the skippers meeting in crash helmets and guns, looking absolutely frightful.

On the Saturday night the hosts had arranged a dinner and dance at the Conestoga Motel, which was a culinary delight with a Kitchener specialty: barbecued spareribs and pigtails, with sauerkraut.  The party dissolved after taking over the lounge to watch this event being shown on TV (for about a minute) on the late news, drinking beer out of steins.
 

At this point
some remarks are in order to gather the experiences of heavy weather sailing and jibing, and capsizing. 

First, here is: How to Capsize without really trying
1. Cleat the jib in a blow.  (Now you can go and buy your crew a pair of leather gloves, and a double pair if the crew is female).
2. Let the jib catch on something while coming about.  (No trick to that!)
3. Jibe with your board all the way down.
4. Jibe, and round up immediately unto a reach, or which is the same, jibe around the mark in a blow.
5. Jibe, with your spinnaker, and if you let your sheet and guy go, having tied knots in the ends, the spinnaker will form a beautiful balloon way up in the air, and it is a sight to see the boat go over slowly and gracefully.
6. Let the boat heel too much, the wind will get under the hull and push her over.

Now here are some hints from the experts: (and I better not quote who they are) –
Don’t jibe around the mark.  Jibe before you approach, so you just have to harden in for the next leg.  Get the crew to sit in the center of the boat.  Board between up all the way and 1/3 down, (here opinions vary), sail exactly before the wind, slightly by the lee.  Weight aft.  Now, jibe-ooh and the crew swings over the boom with her hands, this way controlling the boom initially and knowing when to duck.  The skipper steers the boat to a dead run again at that moment, thereby counteracting the boat which wants to go closer to the wind once the boom swings around.  When you are settled on the new tack, still running, not reaching, slowly harden in.

Some books say that in a jibe you should haul in your mainsheet and let it out again, but this doesn’t seem to work on this boat.  Sailing in these heavy winds early this season certainly taught us a few things.  The boat is definitely seaworthy, if she is sailed right, and properly equipped.  All equipment should be tied down, especially the bucket which is vitally needed once you go over.  It is a good idea to tie the bucket to the end of the halyard.

Buoyancy bags help under the seats.  They prevent the boat from turning mast down, and you can right the boat easily without taking down the sails while standing on the centreboard.  Experienced capsizers know that all that should be wet after going over are your legs up to the knees.  Then start bailing out, go on a reach, and suction bailers will take care of the rest.

(Al's note: board should be full up and sails luffing while you bail as much as reasonably possible – there is a direct relationship between the odds of capsizing again and the amount of water left in the boat as you start trying to sail it dry – when sailing the boat dry, crew weight should be a far aft as possible to get the bow up where it cannot dig in and overpower your rudder!)

Also, we found that the forward compartment is not absolutely watertight.  This should be checked annually as the regulations require.