the 2006 Wayfarer North Americans
Toronto Sailing & Canoe Club * August 19-20
Saturday: Race 1.2
photos by Gord Nikaido, Rob Williams & Boris Kuzmin
    

... the 3rd-place boat, Al (3854) won't be a threat at this time. On the far right, we have Tommy well down the fleet despite his great start as he and Stefan are still getting used to their borrowed boat.
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As the leaders hoist their spinnaker for the first run of a twice-around windward-leeward course, Heider (600) ...
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... gets set to ...
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... tack around the mark. Alastair Ryder-Turner and Annelies Groen (10137), are also among the leaders.
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Defending North American champions, Al Schonborn and Marc Bennett, round a lonely 3rd and immediately ...
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... hoist their chute. Note the thin mainsheet and small (Harken 082 bullet) blocks.
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These waves and soft winds present a real challenge to the spinnaker-flying crews,
and here Tom (600) and Paul (7673) rise beautifully to that challenge!
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Hans Gottschling with Bastian Pfannkuche (938, orangy red hull) have rounded 4th ahead of Alastair.
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And Gord Nikaido captures it all - there being little likelihood his rescue boat services will be needed in the foreseeable future!
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Stefan gets the pole up as he and Tommy prepare to round.
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And a lovely, fast set it is, too! The waves don't look like much in the photo but the mast angles show that we were bouncing around a fair bit.  Al and Marc (3854) are pulling out all the stops by taking down their jib here.
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More evidence of wave action as Graham (861) nears the starboard lay line.
Not a good day to try and "shoot" the mark, but I believe that Kit and David managed it here.
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Another panoramic view: Note that Tommy, a Laser sailor, is going well high of the rhumbline and will ...
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... tack downwind. Al (nearly new red Mike Mac chute) meanwhile has his jib down and is sticking to the rhumbline to sail the shortest distance that he can.
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Mike talks Kirk through the spi set aboard Redtop (CAN 90) as Geoff Edwards and George Waller begin their run behind Mike.
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Peter Kozak and wife, Linda, lee bow Graham Armstrong with his dad, Gary, near the windward mark.
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Having done his "zig" out to the right, Tommy (60) now "zags" across on port. He and Stefan will have to gain a lot of speed to make up for the extra distance they are sailing, and at near hull speed, that'll be tough to accomplish - unless they can actually plane by going this high. On the right, Al (red spi) has been slowly but surely gaining on Heider (under Al's boom) who in turn has been cutting into the Taylors' lead (2nd from right).   for full-size pic, click here; then use Back button to return to this page
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Not only were the waves bouncing us around, but the winds were also on the patchy side, making spinnaker flying a real art.
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This picture reminds me of nothing so much as the old book title and author jokes from my childhood, in this case: The Rush to the Outhouse by Willy Makit and Betty Won't.
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While most of the fleet sticks to the rhumbline, Tommy, and now Graham (l) continue to go for broke by tacking downwind. Ed Tait and Chris Walroth (black, white and yellow spi) are sailing an fine race that has them looking far better than their 15th seed in the 16-boat fleet!   for full-size pic, click here; then use Back button to return to this page
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Al (red spi) meanwhile has gotten near enough to Heider to attempt to take his wind, and will now ...
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... put his hull to leeward of Heider's while heeling way to windward to leave his sails where they can still block Heider's wind from very close astern and still not risk running into Heider's transom should the latter suddently slow down due to blocked wind - a clever trick that Marc learned while sailing 470's in his misspent youth in Jamaica. By doing it this way, Al is also able to block Heider from gybing.   for full-size pic, click here; then use Back button to return to this page
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While all these spinnakers look good and pretty, the real excitement is up front, where Mark is just gybing to port and ...
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... crossing the fast-moving starboard boats, Heider and Al, while the crossing is good!
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View from the leeward mark: Just prior to this, Al (red spi) had indeed passed Heider (red, white and blue spi) and come to within striking distance of Mark (7673), but then we managed to sail over the jib as Marc was re-hoisting it. Amazing how much you can lose in just a few seconds when that happens!   for full-size pic, click here; then use Back button to return to this page
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We look lovely, with our spinnakers adding a much needed splash of colour to this gray day.
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While Mark rounds with the lead still in his grasp, Al has one last go at Heider's wind, but ...
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... it's too late! Still, we're in a good spot to make an early tack to starboard where we'll need to be til the cows come home, if we're to enjoy the full benefits of the "George Blanchard" shift.
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We looked up, and sure enough, there was a nice gap between Kit (double blue spi) and Ed , and the bunch of boats on our right. So we tacked and hoped that George would indeed come through. Note that Hans (938) and Alastair (10137) have also gained nicely on this run.   for full-size pic, click here; then use Back button to return to this page
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