2005
North Bay Wayfarer Weekend Saturday: National Cruise Race - 2 photos by Gillian Danby, Andrew Haill, Julia & Al Schonborn |
The next time the
picture takers caught up with us, we were beating
through the Main
Channel towards Lake Nipissing.
...
|
There were lots
of
puffs.
Here Marc is probably letting SHADES round up
a bit, since
there is no sign in the wake that Marc is fighting
with the rudder-
although the leeward side of the hull is kicking up a
bit of a fuss!!
If,
after a second or two of luffing, Marc still has too
much wind to keep
the boat flat as he bears away to a closehauled
course, he will start
to ease his main before he
begins to bear away back to (no lower than!)
close-hauled. Once
he's flat
and moving at full speed, he will try to crank on some
more main and
repeat the whole procedure until the gust finally
passes.
... |
Not only did we need
to
watch out for the gusts, but for the shifts as well!!
Note above, how
Sue is pointing parallel to the shore on starboard, but
below ... ... |
... Andrew and Julie
are a
good 45° lower than that on the same tack. ... |
Out on Lake Nipissing:
Excellent upwind form as
Andrew and Julie gladly accept a port-tack lift that
lets them come
close to laying J5, our next windward mark. ... |
Henry and Bernie in
great
windward form! ... |
Grandpa and Grandma
Hansman
zip along in Banshee as ... ... |
... they approach J5. ... |
Note the weight close
together and well centred, which is especially useful in
the Lake
Nipissing waves - which don't look like much here, but
in the next
shot, you can appreciate them ... ... |
... better. Poor Marc
has
to suffer as Uncle Al hourglasses the spinnaker.
Fortunately, Al's vast
experience comes in handy since he at least knows right away what to do to fix each problem he causes! ... |
A bit more wave
evidence as
Doug and Françoise get set to hoist for the long, long
run back
to the finish at the North Bay YC. ... |
John and Dolores
ponder the
spinnaker just after rounding J5, which Dave and Carol are about to round just behind them. Note downtown North Bay in the background, ... |
Hard to believe that
J5
(green, at Dave's bow) was not all that easy to find. It
looks big
enough from here!!! We certainly wouldn't want
to hit it!!! On
the
right, we see Andrew and Julie making an approach on
port tack. ... |
Yup! There were
indeed,
waves!! Either that or Sue Pilling and Stephan
Romaniuk have decided to
demonstrate what a Wayfarer looks like after a capsize
with faulty
buoyancy tanks!!!! But then the boat would not be
upright like this for
more than a second or two!!
... |
John and Dolores
cruise
along the Lake Nipissing shoreline in great form as they near the Main Channel that will take us all back into Callander Bay. ... |
Perfect
spinnaker form
for
Dwight and Pat Aplevich!! In these stronger breezes,
sitting aft on the
run like Pat and Dwight are doing, makes the boat much
easier to steer
since - as we can see above - the pointy bow won't dig
into (too many)
waves. At this speed, the Wayfarer is much too heavy
for the rudder to
do much arguing with the weight-related momentum, so
it pays to make
life easier for the rudder by sitting aft and
of course by
sailing the boat flat!!
... |
Marc looks supremely
relaxed (asleep??!!) as he and Uncle Al lead the way
across Callander
Bay. ... |
Of course, when it's
time
to gybe the spinnaker - as Doug and Françoise are about
to do
here - the activity picks up dramatically. ... |
The fleet on the run. ... |
A Lake Nipissing
moment as
seen (and photographed) from Njord (W9657,
Andrew and Julie) as
they ... ... |
... enjoy a lovely
spinnaker ride. ... |
Eclairelle is a
thing of beauty as Dwight and Pat near the finish line,
still in hot
pursuit of ... ... |
... Marc and Al. ... |
Even though the
North
Bay
YC harbour is very small, Marc and Al have held the
spinnaker until
they crossed the finish line at the harbour mouth - as
a matter of
principle. Note how Marc is holding the sheets and
keeping the chute flying
while Al - having
gently released the pole from mast and sheet - is
about to stow the
pole along the
boom. Of course, if they want to avoid hitting the
inner shore here, a
speedy douse is now in order.
... |
Hah!!! No problemo!!!
Not
bad for a guy who will be 64 in two weeks! (Al! not
Marc, of course!) |