Taylor Brothers snap lengthy Uncle Al/Tom Wharton winning streak

Mark and Paul Taylor (photo above, l to r: Paul Taylor, Scott Hansen [committee], Gord Leachman [PRO], Mark Taylor) came close last year, and this year they finally did it: they beat Al Schonborn and Tom Wharton who had never lost at the Mississauga Regatta in 11 appearances dating all the way back to 1988. And they did it the hard way, spotting Tom and Al two firsts in the five races, all of which were sailed on the Sunday after Saturday brought cold, nasty off-shore winds (photo below) of 20 to 25 knots. But after that, the Taylors were unbeatable, running off three straight wins in the 8 to 12 breezes blowing from the SW, and they ended up edging out Al and Tom by a single point in an 8-boat fleet.

The photo above shows Saturday morning's conditions which look deceptively benign until you see the whitecaps further off shore. And of course you can't see the fact that strong off-shore breezes on Lake Ontario very quickly blow all of the warmer surface water to the other side of the lake - surface water that is then replaced by very cold, instant hypothermia water from the 800-foot depths of the lake.


As the forecast had promised, Sunday brought more pleasant conditions: a sunny 20°C with the aforementioned perfect sailing winds (above). As a preview of the 2008 format where this regatta will double as both the Wayfarer and CL 16 North American championships some time in August, all the boats shared a common start and were scored together, with awards going to the top-placed boats of each type. We are hoping that the uninviting Saturday forecast (and reality) was the cause of the small fleet we ended up with this year: only two CL's and six Wayfarers.

Still, we did have quality. In Uncle Al, Mark Taylor and Marc Bennett, the series featured the top three active helms in North American Wayfarer/CL rankings. By finishing first, the 3rd-seeded Mark and Paul Taylor of the host club snagged a share of Most Improved honours. As previously mentioned, top-seeded Uncle Al, sailing Tom Wharton's W600 with Tom as crew placed series 2nd, while 2nd-seeded Marc Bennett sailed Uncle Al's SHADES with Julie Seraphinoff coming all the way from Michigan to make her debut as Marc's crew. Julie and Marc scored 2-3-2-3-3 to end up a very creditable series 3rd in their debut as a Wayfarer team.


Cobourg's up-and-coming young CL team of Colin Junkin and Heather Wood (above) had to miss two races due to gear breakdown but still managed to grab the CL title. Heather and Colin ended up in a 4th overall points tie with Rodrick Anderson and Rod McIver of MSC. The latter had been seeded 6th and thus earned a share of Most Improved honours with the Taylor brothers who graciously donated their share of the green flags to the Rods (photo below, l to r: Rod McIver, Rod Anderson, Mark).


Also missing two races but ending up a close series 6th, two points from 4th were TSCC's Geoff Edwards and pick-up crew, Ron Dival, while a couple of points further back, we had the second CL which Gary McIlroy bravely single-handed until he was able to snare Rob Wierdsma for the last pair of races.

MSC's Alan Hallwood and his daughter, Jillian Joanisse, decided that two races were enough and not surprisingly thus placed series 8th.

Our thanks and appreciation to the many MSC members who made this a most enjoyable event - from the daily breakfasts through five great Sunday races and a Sunday afternoon BBQ - please see details below. See you next year when this event will be the North American Championship for both Wayfarers and CL16's!!

 

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Task	Saturday	Sunday
Lunch Food Purchase	Ron Divall	Ron Divall
Luch Preparation	Ron Divall	Ron Divall
	Sue Divall	Sue Divall
	Friend	Friend
Dinner Food Purchase	Stan Nelson	Stan Nelson
Dinner Food Preparation	Donna Gallant	Tom Brodersen
Race Committee	Gord Leachman	Gord Leachman
	Gaetan Benoit	Gaetan Benoit
	Tom Brodersen	Tom Brodersen
Mark Boat	Tim McCullough	Mike Clayton
	Eric Schaefer	Eric Schaefer
Registration	Bonnie Planchart