MSC’s hotly anticipated Moe Fraser Open Long Distance Race occurred on a beautiful Saturday, September 27th … .the last of our warm weather sailing!  The Full Moe is twelve nautical miles long with six rounding marks two nautical miles apart with the finishing line at the mouth of the MSC bay.  The Mini Moe is six nautical miles in length with three rounding marks.  After choosing which course to sail, participants were given charts showing compass and reciprocal bearings for each mark with the stipulation that no GPS devices were allowed on the boats, only compasses.   A fun and different twist to racing.   U.S. Portsmouth Ratings were used for scoring.     A mixed fleet of twenty-nine boats participated with seven Wayfarers in the Full Moe and two Wayfarers in the Mini.

There was much concern on how the fleet would complete the lengthy race, even the Mini, as the forecast winds were three knots and diminishing.  The wind gods were generous, however, as the winds held a steady southerly, veering to south-westerly, six knots and the races were completed.

In  the Full Moe, the first Wayfarer crossed the finish line in an elapsed time of four hours and two minutes, with Wayfarers taking the top seven spots except for Gary McIroy finishing third in his CL16 .    In the Mini Moe, David Haight, a new Wayfarer sailor was the first Wayfarer to finish in two hours and forty-eight minutes. 
 
Sailing in a long distance race has its own challenges … most of it spent self-doubting!  Unable to actually see the marks, one is constantly checking the compass bearings, then deciding that the mark surely isn’t where the compass says it should be, maybe it has drifted …… or sunk … or the compass isn’t working, etc. etc.  The usual cry between crossing boats was “Have you seen the mark?”   Or another concern, “Gee, those boats are on the other side of the course …. do they know something we don’t know?”   That kind of mistake is greatly magnified due to the length of the legs.
 
As a fitting finale, a mist started rolling in before we reached the last mark, threatening to engulf the mark and making the race a true Moe Fraser.  Thankfully, the mist didn’t make it to the mark and we were all grateful to cross that finish line.

Awards and a fine steak dinner on the roof deck rounded off the wonderful day.   Many thanks to Bruce Buckingham for setting up and running an excellent race course.   Thanks also to Gord Leachman for all his help and providing photos and to Norm Rippon who came down from Sault St. Marie to  help organize the event.  And thanks to all the other volunteers.  What a great way to finish the sailing season at MSC!
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