Wayfarer/CL
16 Regatta Mississauga SC, Sept. 17-18, 2005 Saturday: race 4 pics by Gord Leachman ... |
![]() |
The lake breeze
continued
to build and we were soon off on a well set line for our fourth and
final race of the day. The chips were down for defending champs, Al and
Tom (2nd from right) and they responded by grabbing a perfect
start at the RC boat end.
... |
![]() |
(l to r) Marc,
Rodrick, Al, Colin and Peter. Maybe it's
the fact that part of our boat is cut off by Rod Anderson in 3568, but
our main (middle) does not look right to me. ... |
![]() |
This looks more like
it, but Al and Tom (600) will still round 3rd off the first beat behind
... ... |
![]() |
... Mark and Denise, and
Peter and Annelies who found happiness on the right side of the first
beat. ... |
![]() |
Good fast spi sets for both
John Weakley (3854) and Tom Wharton (600) as both Marc and Al opt to go
left on the run early so that they'll be on starboard and inside when
they converge with other boats at the leeward mark. ... |
![]() |
(l to r) Gary, Rod,
Colin, Marc, Al and Doug ... |
![]() |
It's a fine line for Uncle
Al (600) here, as he wants to go just high enough to ... ... |
![]() |
... keep Marc off his wind
but not so high as to sail into Doug's (1366) wind shadow!! ... |
![]() |
The dogfight ... ... |
![]() |
... continues as Al and
Marc prepare to pass ... ... |
![]() |
... the RC boat end of the
start line obstruction. Note the continuing thermal lift over the
shore!! ... |
![]() |
Al (600) can gybe to
starboard any time he likes here but is hoping to wait until Marc gybes
so that he can keep clear air and the inside track for buoy room at the
upcoming leeward mark. ... |
![]() |
Even with this healthy
breeze making a backlit Doug's W1366 look very pretty, there were still
enough swells and cross chop to occasionally knock the wind out of our
mains. ... |
![]() |
Great minds think alike:
Both al (600) and Marc (3854) decided to gybe at virtually the same
moment to start their final approach to the mark. Note how Al continues
to sail low to try to get separation between himself and Marc's wind
shadow. ... |
![]() |
In pushing each other, Al (far
right) and Marc (not seen) have pulled away nicely from
Doug (1366) and Colin (929) who were right there with them at the start
of this run. ... |
![]() |
Meanwhile, the leaders
going onto the run were left in peace to round the right (mark) end of
the start line obstruction. A wise move for Mark who is flying the
spinnaker while Denise does a fine job of steering - no sense putting
his rookie helm into heavy traffic right away!!
... |
![]() |
Peter and Annelies look
excellent against the Toronto skyline as they make their final approach
to the mark. Soon they will find out whether they will have to pay for
risking this approach from the right where they are on port tack and
will be outside boat in any buoy room situation.
... |
![]() |
Uncle Al and Tom had to
maintain their mental toughness here and resist the natural urge to
sail high. Instead, they threaded ... ... |
![]() |
... a fine line of
clear air
while defending the inside against the constantly threatening and very
speedy Marc (3854) who thinks just like Al and wants to do the same
thing as Al is doing. Meanwhile, Colin and Heather are making do very
well without their spinnaker and have their boat flawlessly trimmed for
a two-sail run. Doug (1366) is in a more relaxing spot here but wants
to be careful not to give up his inside and starboard advantage by
meeting any port boats (like Mark and/or Peter!) too early so that they
can cross his transom and end up with buoy room.
... |
![]() |
The excitement mounts
as
we get very near the leeward mark. Too bad we can't see the mark which
I think is hidden behind the 1366 boom. As I recall,
we (600) rounded onto beat #2 ahead of Marc (SHADES) just before
Mark and Peter got to the leeward mark.
... |
![]() |
The second beat: a
beautifully backlit shot of Gary McIlroy with Jennifer Ross in fine
upwind form. ... |
![]() |
Rodrick Anderson and Rod
McIver romp in from the left side of the beat. ... |
![]() |
A fair bit of fiddling and
covering left Al and Tom with a more comfortable edge over ... ... |
![]() |
... Mark with Denise (7673)
and Marc with John who look lovely as they fight for second place. ... |
![]() |
With no immediate threats
from anyone's wind shadow, Al and Tom decide to gybe and head straight
for the leeward mark as soon as they pass the RC boat end of the start
line obstruction. ... |
![]() |
Marc and John prepare to do
likewise as they see that ... ... |
![]() |
... Denise and Mark are
gybing. It's still a close race among the top three, and Al continues
to defend the inside with the leeward mark not too far away. With just
a very short one third of a beat to go to the finish after that,
whoever rounds first will have a big advantage in that the followers
will have to take leftovers and have little time to recover from that.
In the end, Tom and Al made an excellent (fairly early!) douse and
pushed both Marc and Mark into tacking away to starboard when you could
almost lay the long finish line on port. Al then picked a nice flat
spot in which to tack and cover, knowing Marc and Mark would have to
come back towards him soon or risk overstanding the finish line. By
this time, Al and Tom had enough lead that they could cover from
windward and ahead and thus cruise to victory without the worry of a
boat dead astern climbing out to windward above the still suspect
pointing capabilities of W600.
... |
![]() |
Doug and Françoise
gybe after passing the RC boat. ... |
![]() |
Colin and Heather: part of
a beautiful scene! |
next page return to index |