The Mississauga SC Wayfarer/CL Regatta
Race 6.1
by Gord Leachman & Alan Hallwood

Winds have picked up nicely to about 8 knots, and Alan Hallwood lets us know that race 6 will be twice around.
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The race 6 countdown is about to begin.
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30 seconds to go: Mark (7673) and Al (3854) sit poised for a pin-end start.
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It was right about here that Al began to realize he had misjudged his position and ...
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... would be seriously pressed to make the mark. Amazingly enough, Kit (1037) who seems well buried at this time,
will emerge from the upcoming mess with the best start,
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Too little too late as the SHADES sail are cranked in. In retrospect, I should have gybed here and cut our losses but no ...
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... I had to confirm that I would indeed hit the mark.
Note that Kit and David (1037), who were less greedy, are off to an enviably fine start.
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The trouble with the Penalty Turn we had to do for hitting the mark is that we can't just keep going on port here
(as we could have had we gybed away without hitting the mark). Instead we now have to ...
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... tack and get ...
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... re-buried! The only cheering thought that I shared with Colin was that this at least was
a twice-around race, and that we had some time in which to try to catch up.
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Colin (929) catches a nice puff which should let him pinch up but so far he's failing to take advantage. Poor Gary (2679) is stuck behind Rod whose main is horribly oversheeted, something that will kill both himself and Gary who is trapped in Rod's backwind.
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Al has finally found a lane of clear air but his plan to go left early to get the suspected better breeze further out in the lake is on hold indefinitely. If Al was pretty sure there was more wind out on the left, he would need to go there at almost any cost, but here, he's not at all sure, so a trip to the right in clear air seems OK, provided he keeps an eye on the left and heads over there if a left-side advantage becomes obvious.
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Not much of a start for the race 5 winners, Mark and Paul (7673)
who are being blanketed by Stuart and footing off to try to get through his wind shadow.
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Like Al, Rod and Rod also went far to the right.
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Coming in from the left with the early lead are Kit and David, while ...
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... Geoff and Lou will round 2nd. Note the angled-up boom on 929 which is often a sign of
a mast not raked aft enough, something that inhibits pointing.
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By contrast, Al's boom  is nice and level, reflecting the recommended mast rake of about 23' 6" on SHADES.
While Al still has a ways to go before reaching the mark ...
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... Kit and David have already begun their run.
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2nd-place Geoff supervises Lou's spi set procedure. They'll need to move it right along since ...
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... Mark has already rounded in 3rd and is ...
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... moving very well.
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Well back in 4th, we find Al where Colin is seeing his first windward hoist and awaits instructions from his skipper.
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While Al and Colin work on their spinnaker, Stuart comes in on the port lay line where ...
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... he will have to keep clear of Gary (2679) and Rod, both of whom are on starboard.
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