| Congratulations, Alastair and Andrew Ryder-Turner, 2024 Wayfarer North American champions! Report by Mike Codd and Uncle Al |
| From: MIchael Codd [mailto:mikecodd421@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, July 22, 2024 9:27 PM Subject: North Americans We had 9 boats registered, but unfortunately Al S. could not attend due to health concerns. Sailing were: 11386 - Alastair and his son, AndrewRacing started late as the wind did not appear until about 10:30 and then it was a long sail to the committee boat located upwind in the middle of the TS&CC race course. There were good winds all Saturday with little in the way of lulls or gusts. The wind shifted some but only back and forth about 5-10 degrees. Average speed about 10 knots.  Series winners and 2024 Wayfarer North American Champions are Alastair Ryder-Turner (above) and son, Andrew.
 Mike and Alastair showed surprising abilities upwind - Mike and Lee (below) while pinching as much as possible in the increasing Humber Bay chop, while Alister showed remarkable speed footing off through the waves. Kit Wallace and George Waller (immediately above) had excellent turns of speed but was not as consistent on the bucks.    Scott Ramsay (above left) and Les Sherratt mixed it up with the fleet elite regularly for the first time. The 7th-seeded pair took Most Improved honours as they had remarkable speed off the wind, passing or catching many boats ahead of them, during the runs. Overall, Scott and Les placed 4th but were only one point out of series 2nd.  Small-lakes sailors, Ali Kishbaugh and Mike Sigmund (above) based on Lake Townsend near Greensboro, North Carolina, struggled in the Lake Ontario chop, placing series 5th, well back of the top four teams. After racing, she remarked how much she had learned and what a great time it was sailing against a totally different fleet. Scott Ramsay's Conestoga clubmate, Jan d'Ailly, and his grandson, Theo Hegedus (below) sailed a consistent series, learning with each passing race on their way to 6th overall.    We've come a long way with our racing skills, Baby. Note how perfectly even the tail-enders are sailing W10960 above. Helm. Bob Stevenson sailed to series 7th witha pair of pickup crews: Phoebe Wang (above) on the Saturday, and Dirk Townsend (below) on the Sunday.   Perennial contenders, John Cawthorne and Bob MacDonald (above), basically started race one and both had issues with equipment and called it a day during or after the first race. Speaking of equipment failures, Mike had his main halyard break before getting off the dock Saturday and showed the fleet how to tie the main to the top of the mast! (both days). 4600 was fixed Sunday afternoon. Sunday started with little wind, but at about 11 a.m. a breeze appeared, and we got in one race as the wind came to a stop. The drifting down from the top mark ended the day with the fleet in a slightly different order then the previous day. Great for Mike (1st) and Ali (3rd), but a nightmare for Kit who barely held on to the Silver by one point ahead of Mike! At the awards, a group of tired sailors, sat around five of TS&CC's patio tables, while Mike read the awards, commenting/learning about the activities of each of the sailors. Sorry Al, but the biggest laugh was caused when Bob pointed out that he actually finished ahead of Uncle Al with 45 points! Prizes were free beer to the top three skippers and crew and Ali and Mike for coming so far. We thanked Dr. John O'Dwyer and his gang of helpers for all their work. In the George Blanchard tradition, we of course thanked the Kitchen staff for their wonderful job with lunches and dinner, and the bar staff. |