Schönborn & Son pull off comeback win in underpowered Around-the-Island Race

Uncle Al and his son, David, persevered in light airs to capture the Around-the-Island Race held out of Toronto Sailing & Canoe Club in summery weather but little wind on Saturday 10 July. A healthy fleet of 13 Wayfarers started the race in light easterly winds of 3 to 5 knots which soon disappeared, then slowly returned and at times got up to 10 knots before dying completely near the finish line after a clockwise circumnavigation of Toronto Island - see chart below.

Things looked bleak for the SHADES team in the early going. Having started half-way down the line with good speed, Uncle Al and David soon discovered that the boats who had started slightly further to windward were getting better pressure and were able to sail progressively higher the further to windward they had started. Kit Wallace and David Weatherston, followed by John Cawthorne with R. MacDonald, sailed off the windward end of the line into a quarter-mile lead before we even reached Ontario Place. Defending champions, Heider Funck and Tom Wharton, started just to windward of and behind Uncle Al but were soon 100 yards to windward and bow to bow with us.

By the time Al tacked out of the coffin corner west of Ontario Place, he was lying about 10th and a good quarter-mile behind John Cawthorne who was ghosting past Kit Wallace into the lead. Despite a foot-high chop, Al tacked several times on huge headers even though he was dying to get out into the lake where the breeze appeared to be less moribund. This finally began to pay off on Al's third tack out into the lake when he hit a stretch of moving air that might have been all of two knots.

Taking a leaf from his brother Mike's book, Al footed into the chop with jib and main eased for a close reach and the end of the boom as much as a foot off the corner of the transom at times. This enabled him to sail past Heider into third place and eventually past Kit into 2nd off Ontario Place.

Once in the slightly healthier breeze a quarter-mile off Ontario Place, Al tacked back to starboard on the layline to the Western Gap. John had held a starboard tack closer to shore, a risky choice what with the wind angling about 45° to the shore and showing signs of lifting over it. Slowly but surely, Al gained by being further off shore, and as the leaders entered the Gap, Al passed a few boatlengths to windward of John as the wind died completely.

But there was hope: Halfway through the Gap, keelboats were heeling to a SW breeze and tantalizing ripples were evident on the water. With shirts removed to better feel any breeze, Al and Dave caught a couple of shifts, gybed accordingly and ended up reaching the breeze about 50 yards ahead of John.

Cutting corners did not pay off for John who hit several dead spots and the more conservative Uncle Al had a healthy 200-yard lead going into Toronto harbour. On a close reach straight across the Harbour to the Eastern Gap, Al and Dave had a lovely sail that even permitted hiking a few times - a stark contrast to some of the boats who got the Western Gap breeze somewhat later. (A representative of these being Len Macdougall who said to me after the race: "Wind??!! You had wind in the harbour??!! We got next to nothing." Or words to that effect.)

Anyway, the rich got richer, as Uncle Al pulled away into a comfortable lead while John had to fight off challenges from Heider, Kit and the Armstrongs, Anne and Gary, who evidently used up most of the Harbour wind. Oblivious to the windless plight of those further back, Al and Dave romped through the Eastern Gap mostly on starboard tack and being very careful not to get close to the island side where huge trees were blocking the wind.

The leaders tacked to port as soon as they seemed able to lay the Centre Island pier but were prepared to tack further out if second-place John should do so, just in case the SW breeze was lifting over the island and there was better wind off shore. A desperation move by Heider who wasted a quarter-mile by holding starboard tack until he was under the Outer Harbour spit before tacking to port. Here he soon got a port-tack knock which left him right off Al's transom but a quarter-mile further back than he had been.

Meanwhile, Al enjoyed a nice breeze and laid the pier and Gibraltar Point without tacking, although the wind was noticeably weaker as Al cut quite close to Gibraltar Point on the turn home towards the finish off TSCC. The wind was quite obviously lifting up over the land and we were determined to sail at least as far off shore as John by way of covering, having noted some well-heeled keelboats further off shore.

But first, the spinnaker! We could sail a nice close spi reach and hold a rhumb line course towards the finish, and were having a lovely sail. Half-way across Humber Bay, we got signs of the typical Humber Bay doldrums. There was a brief beat and Dave got the spinnaker down with exemplary speed. Moments later the SW wind returned and up went the spinny once again.

Our helpful RC Chair, Mike Codd, had moved the finish line about a mile from TSCC off Ontario Place, but we could see that Commodore, Dave Allesbrook, was more or less becalmed further inshore near the finish. So we sailed as high as the spinnaker would allow and actually kept some breeze until the wind veered about 200 yards from the finish. Taking our spinnaker down smartly, we bobbed across the finish line just in time in a dying breeze. Just in time because - as Mike informed us - the time limit had nearly expired (we beat it by one minute 32 seconds!),  and because Dave Allesbrook had just finished and was cranking up the outboard on his Shark and was very kindly offering us a tow in to the club which we ultimately reached an hour before the other W's who had to wait for a tow from the RC.

John Cawthorne who always impresses in the Around-the-Island, held 2nd place but Heider who had been 3rd around Gibraltar Point gambled by going along the Hanlan's Point shore where he (predictably, in Al's opinion) got very little wind and lost Kit and Anne in the process. The fight over 3rd became very exciting in next to no wind as Kit Wallace with David Weatherston came back to pass Anne and Gary Armstrong by only a few inches right at the finish line.

By placing 4th however, the 9th-seeded Armstrongs were easily our Most Improved team of this race. Congratulations, Anne and Gary! The only other team to make it across the finish line in the prescribed half-hour window after the winners crossed the line, was W600, Heider and Tom. Everyone else was scored DNF as can be seen from the results.

Special thanks to our perennial Around-the-Island Race Committee stalwarts, Mike Codd and George Blanchard plus assorted helpers for doing yet another great job for us!