| the North
Bay Wayfarer Weekend 2006 Don Rumble Memorial - race 1 photos by Gillian Danby |
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| No piddling about by
RC Chair, Fred McNutt: At the first sign of something
resembling wind, he sends Trevor out to set a short triangular course, and we are off like Marc Bennett's "herd of screaming turtles". ... |
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With Marc unable
to stay longer than the one day, Uncle Al is back at
the helm of 3854 with Michele as crew. Their attempt
at a full-speed boat-end start is successful. Dwight
(4606) looks good at the pin end, too. The trick for
Al is now to convert his slight windward edge into a
forward lead before the starboard tack can knock and
let Dwight tack and cross. Note how Al has his sails
eased (as do most of the others) and is now
...
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| ... starting to move
on out. ... |
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| Good light-air form
for Lori who heels Green Side Up to reduce
wetted surface and help her sails set as intended. ... |
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Working on the
assumption that if he can beat yesterday's winners,
Dwight and Pat, he'll be in good shape, Uncle Al (3rd
from left) has held starboard until Dwight (far
left) tacked, and is now positioned between his
#1 threat and the windward mark as wise tactics
suggest. Ross Jamieson (far right) is looking
great. Note the difference in sail shape among the
three boats on starboard: Andrew's sails (9657) are
wisely eased and looking powerful while the other two
have too much main leech tension resulting from too much
mainsheet tension or - God forbid! - vang tension.
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It was a tough
day on which to learn a new boat's spinnaker set-up
and get it to fly, but Michele managed very nicely and
has held of the speedy Dwight and Pat (4606) through
two reaches, giving Al the lead as SHADES
(3854) rounds the leeward mark and starts a final beat
back to the finish line at the windward mark. As can
be seen in this photo taken from the RC boat on the
rhumb line to the finish, the wind has veered, and Al
should be able to virtually lay the finish line when
he tacks. To be on the safe side, however, Al will
hold port around the mark for another length or two
and then tack so that he will have a windward and
ahead position on Dwight which should preclude the
possibility of Dwight getting a lift that Al does not
get, something that could happen if Al put his entire
lead off Dwight's bow.
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| Michele and Al ghost
past the RC boat on their way towards being first across
the windward mark finish line in dying winds. Note how they have their weight well forward in order to ... ... |
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| ... reduce wetted
surface by lifting the transom, which pays at this slow
speed, when the boat generates very little ... ... |
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| ... wave-making
resistance. ... |
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| It will be a second
place for Dwight and Pat. ... |
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| Dave and Carol also
have their weight where it should be, as do ... ... |
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| ... Andrew and Joanne. ... |
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Here, Al (2nd
from right) has tacked towards the finish line
(far right) where one boat is still struggling
to complete the first beat. (These light-air
conditions are usually the hardest sailing skills for
an aspiring racer to master, since it is so easy to
oversheet and stop the boat dead.) Not a very
promising-looking day at this point!
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| Ross and Lori Jamieson
are nicely heeled to reduce wetted surface. ... |
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| Waiting for race 2
(and wind) are (l to r) Tony, Geoff and John. ... |
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| Gillian Danby, our
photographer du jour, found the silver lining to our
windless cloud, in the form of reflection shots. ... |
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| What ho??!! Is that a
breeze I see before me??!! Michele is on watch duty
while Al lounges with his feet on the aft tank. ... |
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| Lori finds the perfect
antidote to this hot, windless day as Jason holds the
fort. ... |
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| Aha! A bit of wind has
arrived and Fred McNutt springs into action as he radios
the mark layers. ... |
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| Meanwhile the rest of
us, like Tony and Mary above, can relax and wait for
race #2. |