the 2007 North Bay
Wayfarer Weekend Sun 1 July: NBYC Canada Day Race - 3 photos by Carol Hansman ... |
To make a long story short,
after the gybe at J5, the changed circumstances of a much
closer spi
reach, different wave angles, whatever, the worm turned
slightly. Marc
and Al very gradually began to eat into Dwight and Pat's
lead. In side
the Bay ... ... |
... the winds were still
quite
gusty. About half a mile from the finish, Dwight - still
leading by
about 100 yards - almost got swamped by a vicious
gust/knock
combination that had caused one of the J-24's about 100
yards in front
of him to to do crash spi douse. Not unwisely, leader
Dwight did the
conservative thing, and doused his chute. Equally
wisely, Al and Marc
decided to let it all hang out, fully aware that they
had no chance at
all of catching Dwight in what little of the race
remained. They hiked
their little hearts out in the gusts (see
above) ragging the main and bearing away as
necessary, all the
while hoping and praying that they would get a header
that was so bad
they'd be planing right at the rocks to
leeward.
... |
Luck entered the picture
as
well: one of the lengthier more benign moments like the
one pictured
above lured Dwight and Pat
into trying a
windward spi hoist. Halfway through this, they hit a
nasty gust and
were forced to abandon the project which had by now
left the two boats
virtually even. With photographer Carol cheering
herself hoarse on
behalf of the underdog Eclairelle
team, the lead now went back and forth: Being to
windward, Dwight and
Pat would get any new gust first and surge ahead,
then the better
pressure would hit Al and Marc who would leap-frog
ahead as the gust
had already passed Team Aplevich. The decisive
factor turned out to be
that ... - click here
for full-size pic
... |
... the leeward end of
the line (see
appropriate Canada flag on
far point - Carol is standing at the other end of the
line with her
camera) was favoured, and in the end Al and
Marc edged out
Dwight and Pat by the slimmest of margins after an
exciting 12 miles of
racing. - click
here
for full-size pic
... |
And only two keelboats had
beaten us, by little enough (200 yards??) that they were
still getting
their sails down to motor into their slips as an exhausted Dwight and Pat (l) and Marc and Al (r) completed their race. ... |
Dave and Dave also sailed a
fine
"last leg", if less hair-raising than Marc and Al's
risk-it-all efforts
near the finish. ... |
As I recall, they crossed
the
line perhaps a minute after Al, 3rd in Wayfarers, 5th in
fleet. ... |
Sue Pilling (l) with Darren
Sullivan, one of
the Blue Sky Sailing Club students/members helming, were next Wayfarer across the line followed by ... ... |
... Tony Krauss and Mary
Abel
who in turn were followed by ... ... |
... a passel of keelboats. ... |
Tony and Mary one more time ... |
A close finish at the ... ... |
... leeward end!! ... |
In the small cove (above, right) that
houses the
North Bay YC's docks ... ... |
... the larger boats are
justifiably cautious and get all their sails down before
motoring in to
their slip. ... |
Happy to be back after a
tow
home are Fred Black (r)
and Marc Tessier. (Today - 8 Nov 07 - Andrew Haill has
provided more
insight as to hwy Fred ended up towed: "there was
a comment on Fred Black capsizing at the
start.. as perhaps the reason
for their DNF. They may well have
capsized (no idea, but
don't think so) but the
DNF was them breaking their rudder.
After passing the J5
turning mark, I noticed Fred and Marc
sailing way off in the completely
wrong direction and not looking like they
were having much fun.
The main and the jib were half down and
they were struggling with both
sails. There wasn't another boat
close or noticing so we turned
around and chased them down. Once
within talking distance we could
determine they were okay
with the exception that they no longer
had a rudder. There wasn't much we
could directly do but hang on
a bit until a tail end boat (the safety
boat possibly) noticed their
plight and came by to give them a tow home
to their DNF. I
will say that as we turned upwind
during this diversion, the
reefed main I decided on after
getting a bit anxious about the
wind and weather during the tow up to
North Bay was perfect for
that condition... if only that race had
been a close reach as
anticipated instead of a broad one..."
Al's note: An excellent example for us all: The very
first item
in the Racing Rules of Sailing, not to mentions the
sailors' code,
requires us to assist fellow sailors in distress, even
during a race!!
... |
After Andrew Haill and
Jason
Hassard snuck across in 6th place among the W's, unseen by
the camera,
it was ... ... |
... Geoff Edwards and Jason
Orton taking 7th. ... |
I seem to recall that ... ... |
... Michael and Kate took
an
unplanned swim in this race but ... ... |
... self-rescued and
finished
the race. |
next photo page return to North Bay 2007 index page |