JB00 Race 5 & 6 Synopses

Race #5:

course: start at mark B>4>6>1>4

overcast, considerably cooler (about 20ºC)

winds W at about 4-8 knots

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Sunday morning: The RC promised to try for 3 races, none to start after about 1:00 p.m. A fine early morning SW breeze that had been rattling the deBoers’ awning as we had sat over morning coffee, etc. was unfortunately fading fast as we dawdled out to the course. There had also been a postponement of about 30 minutes to accommodate that Canadian National Rowing Team speed trials which were to end about 9:50 a.m. This little relaxing break gave us all lots of time to consider the state of the series.
After Saturday’s 4 races, there was a virtual 3-way tie among 3 boats: Peter and Scott were each counting a 1-2-3 while Uncle Al had a 1-2-2. Adding interest to this scenario was the fact that of these top 3, only Peter was not yet availing himself of a juicy drop! And this being Fanshawe and its always flukey west wind, Bob Kennedy, Jens Biskaborn, Brian Jeffs and Roger Shepherd all retained a very good chance of finishing “in the money”.

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SHADES race plan: Go off on port right after the start, start on port if possible. Hold port until well clear of the Race Hut cliff effect, then try to pick a port tack header to move to tack towards the left side of the course which regularly gets a series of port lifts. Avoid going too far left due to continuing intermittent wind shadow from cliff. If Scott or Peter head left early, go with them – preferably from in front! On the third-leg run, stay off east shore since the wind coming across the lake will be weaker near the shore as it begins to lift over it. Final beat: Avoid going too close to moorings and Race Hut cliff, i.e. stay fairly well right until past the Race Hut! Then go middle left to get inside the fleet for the port tack lift.

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Race #5: In conditions very similar to those for race #1, Uncle Al and Frank decided to take a page from Brian Jeffs’ book. They started on port tack, about ¾ of the way down from the favoured pin end, but at full speed! This allowed them to pinch out over boats that had started nearer the favoured pin end but had tacked and lost a bit of speed after the gun in the light winds. After this it was simply a matter of waiting for a port knock which never came. In fact port intermittently lifted and it became clear that we were beginning to sail the great circle route on port. Thus, the first time port went back to what we had at the start, Frank and Al decided that would have to be good enough and threw in a quick tack to put their lead between the fleet and the mark! None of the leaders went way in under the shore so that it was a pretty relaxed approach to the (buoys to starboard) windward mark where Uncle Al held a fairly comfortable lead over Bob Kennedy who in turn was closely pursued by Jens Biskaborn and Roger Shepherd. Both Peter and Scott were a bit buried and would have to make serious comebacks to get back near the front.
The new position of mark 4 again left us with an unpalatable close reach to #6 before we got a long reach/run back to #1. (see photos below)

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Not much wind as the Wayfarer leaders round #6 but note that
the Cats, the "cruiser" and especially the Laser have nice wind!
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Frank and Uncle Al (red spi) are free to sail "their own race" but 2nd-place
Bob Kennedy has to be a bit nervous with 6 Wayfarers right behind him!

While Uncle Al had clear air and was free to go up in the lulls and down with the puffs, Bob had the rest of the fleet right behind him, breathing down his neck. However, with Steve’s capable hands on the spinnaker, Bob held ‘em off.
Up the final beat, Frank and Al played it super conservative by simply staying between the nearest pursuers and the #4 finish mark, and they won this race by a considerable margin. Meanwhile, a most exciting finish was shaping up as Bob was being closely pursued by Roger, Peter, Jens and John. And suddenly, Scott Town who had gone pretty far left under the cliff/shore came zipping along to put in his two cents’ worth – possibly three, with inflation! As luck would have it, Scott was able to throw a perfect lee-bow on Bob and cross the finish line without any further tacking. Scott ended up tacking and crossing a (briefly) square line on port and in 3rd place. Roger Shepherd and Joanne Kumpf completed a fine race with a 4th while Peter Rahn recovered to 5th. Jens Biskaborn, coming in on port, briefly looked very good for 2nd or 3rd just 100 yards from the finish but then he had to bear away for starboard Roger which lost him Peter as well. Finishing a very close 7th and 8th were Al Nichols with Mike Miethig and John and Dolores deBoer. And the usually speedy Brian Jeffs collected the first DFL of his Wayfarer career. I think it’s safe to say that Brian and Scott would have preferred more wind from a different direction!!!

Interlude: Right after this race, the west wind mostly died for about 15 minutes but the clouds were showing good movement from the SW. Sure enough, a nice 8-12 knot breeze filled in from the SW in short order and the RC moved to mark #1 to set up for race #6. But the bad news was that the sky looked awfully dark to the SW and by the time the catamarans got off the line, the odd rumble of thunder was distinctly audible.

Race #6: course: start from #1 >3>1>2>1>2; winds 8-12 knots SW, gusting to 18.....

SHADES race plan: Although the line appeared to favour the leeward (RC boat) end, we decided to fight for a mark end start to be assured of the freedom to tack to port so that we could get to the mid-lake port tack knock and concomitant starboard lift. Then we would hug the west shore as was so advantageous yesterday and basically sail it where races 2-4 had paid the day before.

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Al Nichols and Mike Miethig got off to beautiful RC boat end start while Uncle Al managed to lead a port tack group that included Brian, John, Scott and Peter, all of whom had started nearer the pin end. While these five were fighting it out up the left side, Al Nichols and Mike were getting a nice starboard knock under the mark #2 “cliff” and were in the lead. At this point, flashes of lightning were added to the mix and seconds later, the skies opened up. Following John and Dolores deBoer’s wise example, the left side group decided upon discretion over valour just before the rescue boats could reach us and confirm that the race had been abandoned. As we reached the dock well showered shortly thereafter, Mike Miethig was heard to mutter something about the Lord not liking it when he and Al Nichols were winning a race!!! It was rather lousy luck for Al and Mike but as a group we were lucky that this thunderstorm was not accompanied by any major squalls. It did however provide enough rain that a light Wayfarer might have been pulled without dolly/trailer up the ramp which seemed to be covered in several inches of water…
Most of us left our boats at the dock and sought shelter under the Junior Club porch while Scott Bamford hauled out a few emergency beers. Fun! When the rain finally let up for a while, haul-out was like trying to haul out a boat that had dumped with water up to the floorboards in just 30 minutes of rain!
After a relatively dry spell during which we de-rigged, had some lunch and had the awards ceremony, the skies opened up for the rest of the afternoon. After long dry spells in recent years, even the farmers are now saying that this repeated rain we’ve been getting in May and June is too much of a good thing!!!