the Wayfarer Ontarios
Lac Deschênes Sailing Club * July 22-23, 2006
Saturday: Race 4.9
by Kim Bergevin & Doug Netherton

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Meanwhile, Dave (282) is about to climb yet another step on the comeback ladder into 2nd place, while ...
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... Andrew (r) closely pursued by Brian (6082) and Jamie (4594) will take over 3rd place.
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Another nifty rounding for Andrew is accompanied by a gust that has Penny scrambling.
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A close one coming up here as Jamie arrives at the leeward mark just before ...
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... Brian. It is essential for Brian (6082) to have planned ahead here rather than to just react to an unanticipated predicament. With only a short beat left to the finish, there won't be much time in which to catch up, so he'll need to position himself where he'll have useful options. In this case, he surely won't want to get below the line of three boats just off his bow, where he will be trapped until the dirty air from in front finally spits him out. There is no time for that. Instead, he needs to slow down and win (as Stuart Walker says) so that he can tack immediately after he passes the mark, or if he really loves port tack here, begin to try to pinch up over the boat(s) in front of him.
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Another angle of the same sequence: Good! An overtrimmed main will slow him down, but Brian should also have ...
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... borne away some more earlier so that he can ...
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... luff up to closehauled right close to the mark without hitting Jamie's transom.
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Eek! This is exactly where Brian didn't want to end up!!
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Not too much later, Dave (black hull) comes across on starboard, perhaps 100 metres short of laying the finish line. Here, what he should fear most is ...
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... a last second lift just when he wants to tack for the line, one that after his tack would quite possibly knock him down into Brian (l) and Jamie who are coming in on starboard. Right about now ...
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... Dave, if for nothing but his peace of mind, should tack while he has great pressure and no starboard lift, i.e. tack while the tacking is good!!
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Dave does indeed tack. He and Carol will have no problems crossing 'em all, and ...
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... will cap an excellent race with a 2nd-place finish - this after a miserable start!!
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Wow! Quite a finish shaping up as Jamie (4594), Bill (yellow) and Andrew (4610) are all in the hunt for 3rd. If Andrew can lay the line - and it'll be close!! - it'll be bad news for Bill. In fact just being to windward and astern of Andrew on a beat is bad news since he always appears to sail considerably higher than the rest of us (see photo above and many earlier ones!).
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Andrew and Penny are in perfect trim and once they put Bill into their backwind, the latter is ...
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... doomed.
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Now Bill has to worry about laying the mark, since a tack would likely lose him Jamie (4594) as well.
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Flawless form as Andrew and Penny chomp across the line in 3rd place.
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Bill (r) will have just enough room to lay the mark and place 4th, just a smidgeon ahead of ...
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... Jamie and Ben who look ...
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... great, and in turn beat out ...
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... Brian (6th) and Tim (7th).
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