Mississauga SC, Sept. 17-18, 2005
Sunday: race 5 pics
by Iza Hansen
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Tom and Al had arrived
early on this sunny Sunday and switched back to Tom's #1 centreboard
which had been kindly repaired by Hans Gottschling, but we were still
nervous about the fact that Mark, Peter, Marc and Doug had all
outspeeded and/or outpointed us far too often on the previous day.
Thus, we were not unhappy to see race 5 start in the patchy westerly
above.
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... defending the left
side of the run, having checked that passing the RC boat end of the
closed start/finish line would in fact take him only a very small
distance off the rhumb line. Note how 600 is heeled slightly windward
to make the spinnaker easier to fly by letting gravity bring it out
from behind the main. It was just before this that Marc Bennett gambled
a bit by gybing to port in hopes of getting better breeze and/or an
advantage from tacking downwind which sometimes pays in really light
winds. In the event, Marc sailed into a huge hole and lost most of the
fleet!
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Four minutes later, the
leaders, Al and Mark (3rd and 4th from left) and Doug (blocked from
view by Gary- 2nd from left) are finally getting close to rounding.
Other boats from
left to right are: Colin, Gary, Paul in front of Stuart and Kathryn
Wilkinson (CL604), Rod, Peter and Geoff.
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Al made an early tack
around the mark here, having seen what was happening to Marc Bennett
inshore. Meanwhile, Doug Netherton (1366) displays hitherto hidden
light air finesse and rounds inside Mark Taylor to take over second
place. While those lucky enough to already be going upwind pull away in
far better apparent wind ...
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Now Marc (3854) and
Colin
(929) will make mistake #2 by going far out into the lake where the
wind has been stronger. Al did this to a lesser degree and appeared to
be doing a horizon job on Mark Taylor. But being a cautious soul in his
dotage, Al tacked
towards shore to get back into a safe position between Mark and the
mark (ho! ho!) instead of being way ahead but off to the left where Al
would be vulnerable if there should be a big starboard-tack lift.
Very soon thereafter, Mark could be seen sailing on starboard in a nice
little
breeze that had lifted him about 45°. He and Al were now converging
at about 45° to each other. Soon Al
got the dreaded port-tack knock which would have Al cross a good 100
yards behind Mark if Al should hold the bad tack and thus change Mark's
edge from potential to real. Rather irked, but not too irked to keep
their cool, Al and Tom tacked a nice roll tack and stayed in position
re-take the lead if the wind should change back from NW to W. Besides,
there
was some evidence of better breeze to leeward and ahead. So we footed
off for speed, did find a nice breeze that shifted back to the west and
regained our lead. But to get back to the leeward mark where none of
this had happened yet ...
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Colin (929) is still
within
easy striking distance of Gary with whom he is currently tied for
the lead in the CL division. But rather than nibble away at Gary's
lead, Colin will bang the left corner and never be seen again (so to
speak). Meanwhile, a traffic jam at the mark sees ...
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If he could get helm,
Denise, to
sit further forward and hold the boom out, Mark - still fighting with
Doug for second place as Al has run away with the lead by carrying a
nice puff around the windward mark and halfway down the run - could sit
to windward and heel the boat to make his spinnaker much more likely to
fill.
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