the PMG CanAm CL16 Regatta
 Hilton Beach, August 12-13, 2006
Sunday: Race 4.3
photos by Jake Cormier (commentary by Uncle Al)
2006 CanAm Photography is available to purchase! Please note image numbers, then contact jake@hiltonbeach.com to order digital versions ($20 each) or professionally printed 8x10s ($35 each, includes postage).


(l to r) John Hershey, Bob Tisdall, Steve Macklin, Eric Kirby, Jake Dann - only Jake has his sails out where they belong here, the others should notice that Jake's sails are so far out without luffing, and should at least try to see if their sails, too, can be eased: let them out til they start to luff and then sheet in a smidgin!!
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What's worse than "hat hair"? "Furl jib" which is developed by a jib that is left stored in the furled position for long periods of time. It's hard to imagine the wind flowing smoothly over a jib that has all those waves. I imagine they straighten out in stronger winds, but today?
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If Colin (929) is clear ahead here, he could/should afford to round "wide and close"
which would let him keep his speed better during the rounding (gradual vs. sharp course change).
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If, on the other hand, he had a boat overlapped to leeward here, however, he would only be entitled to room to make a "seamanlike rounding", i.e. close and close, as Colin is doing here (though he didn't have to!).
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Ditto for Peter Foster (r), and still ...
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... only Jake Dann (1143) has his main where it should be!!!
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Eric (2469) has pulled his main in way too soon and will go into and come out of this rounding slower than he needs to.
A mild case of "furl jib" for Bob (1237). Even Bob's sails are likely in too tight.
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A forgettable buck that had become a virtual one-tack beat on starboard after the veer in the wind direction, made it too easy for the leaders to protect their lead. Here, Marc and Al have just rounded onto the run. Having discussed the matter before they reached the windward mark, they immediately in order to escape the "dead zone" near the mark as soon as possible. Besides, this run is no longer a real run, and will need to be sailed as a port-tack broad reach, again due to the earlier wind shift.
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Kipp and Anne arrived at the windward mark a very comfortable 2nd and even lucked into an actual ...
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... gust just as they began to round. Bad timing though, since right here they can't afford to
ease the main which would hit the mark.
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Dave and Andrew continued to sail well on this beat and moved up to 3rd.
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Jim and Alice also moved up a place or two into 4th.
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What should happen here is that Jim should sail straight for another two or three feet until he can completely ease his main without hitting the mark. If he does this and stays to windward, the boat will want to bear away and keep its speed much better, something very useful when starting a run - see pic below from the 2006 Wayfarer Ontarios on the Ottawa River.
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This effort was perhaps a touch on the exuberant side as Marc and Al had been hiking and Al very suddenly let the (thin) mainsheet run all the way out and we shipped a bit of water. But this does give you an idea of what I mean.
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John and Laura round 5th. Jake took pity on us and didn't record the next leg which was in no way exhilarating sailing.
The RC, meanwhile, helped us out by moving the windward mark in time to give us a good final beat to the finish.
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No foolish risks taken by Al and Marc in this race. Note how they are positioned more or less directly
between the nearest competitor, Kipp Sylvester, and the photographer on the finish boat.
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One final roll tack and ...
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... they get the finish beep.
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In anything but a drifter, heeling like this looks fast and ...
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... pretty. But unless you want to benefit from letting the boat round up to windward briefly, fighting the extra helm to keep the boat going straight is slow. Also, your centreboard and rudder are not working at an efficient angle!!
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As Kipp and Anne finish with an impressive 2nd, far ahead of 3rd, Marc and Al heave to with the board full up, intending to drift down towards the original start area without having to do much except stay away from racing boats, and wait for the 90 minutes to go by before the big Hilton Beach Cup race starts at 1 p.m.
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I seem to recall that Kipp and I got the last of the decent breeze. By the time Dave Hansman and Andrew Haill crossed with a fine 3rd, the wind was definitely dying. Becky Sylvester and Kim Wood pulled off yet another comeback grabbing 4th ahead of Jim and Alice Hill. Mike Codd edged out the Kupers for 6th place while Jake and Jesse Dann also made a nice comeback in grabbing 8th ahead of Peter and Peggy Foster. Congratulations to Eric Kirby and Gary Gjos who were close to last near the end of the first beat and moved through the fleet like the proverbial knife through butter to take 10th.
Uncle Al and Marc, with their 1st, were assured of repeating as series champs, but the battle for series 2nd remained wide open. No fewer than six teams still had a legitimate shot at the CanAm Trophy runner-up spot as can be seen below:
Becky Sylvester/Kim Woods      3-2-(11)-4      9 pts.
Kipp and Anne Sylvester             4-3-(8)-2        9 pts.
Mike Codd/Kirk Iredale               2-(10)-4-6     12 pts.
Andrew Haill/Dave Hansman      7-(8)-2-3        12 pts.
Jim and Alice Hill                           5-4-(6)-5        14 pts.
Steve and Andrew Macklin          6-6-3-(15)      15 pts.

Except for Jim and Alice, all of the above already had fairly juicy drops, and everything remained wide open!

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