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| As it is, Brian will just barely
get around ahead of Bill. I suppose his only consolation will be that
Jamie has suffered even more on this leg, falling from 3rd to 6th, with
Jason (l) making even that
position look a bit iffy. ... |
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| A second angle on the rounding. ... |
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| Wow! Jason and Lori (l) have certainly had a great beat
and caught up a lot on all of us. Note how Lori is obviously very eager
to be unleashed with her spinnaker which she has all poised and set to
go! ... |
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| Unfortunately, this is the last
of this duel that the photographers were able to provide. ... |
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| Bill (l) tries going down with a puff
and probably hopes that Dave (282) and Andrew (4610) will ... ... |
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| ... take each other up as they
contest 2nd place, leaving Bill to sail a straighter, shorter course. ... |
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| Aha! Dave has briefly taken
Andrew's wind. Of course, on a run, that won't last, and Andrew still
has ... ... |
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| ... that all-important inside
position as ... ... |
 |
|
... both gybe near the leeward
mark. Again, being on the left was a benefit on the run since Andrew
had Dave trapped on the outside and unable to gybe (port-starboard!)
until Andrew was good and ready to let him! Bill (yellow spi) and Brian
(l) appear to be about
even, but again, Bill will have the edge, being inside at the rounding.
... |
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| Again, with only a brief beat to
go to the finish, Andrew (4610) has a crucial advantage by getting to
... ... |
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| ... round inside. Andrew again
executes flawlessly while Dave does the only thing he can do,
especially with port tack favoured, and that is to try to break through
to leeward into clear air. ... |
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| With Al romping towards a first
in the background, Bill makes a lovely gradual, full-speed rounding
just ... ... |
 |
|
... ahead of Brian (6082) whose
afternoon must be getting less delightful with every passing minute as
he has now dropped to 5th. Dave could be making a strategic mistake
here by tacking off the favoured port tack when he had already broken
through Andrew's wind shadow. Staying on port would have had three side
benefits apart from port being the favoured tack: 1. he could have boat
speed tested against the speedy Andrew in relative safety 2. with
two boats giving him dirty air, Bill might well have decided to tack
away onto the knocked starboard tack 3. when these boats meet
Dave again at or near the finish, they will all be on starboard while
Dave will be on what is likely to be the far more stressful port tack.
... |
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| But Dave does have clear air!! ... |
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| Not much later, near the
finish: Excitement coming up! Andrew (l) is on the lay line and in
excellent shape to take 2nd. And that port-tack chicken is coming home
to roost: Can Dave ... ... |
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| ... cross Bill without fouling
him? Does he want to? Probably not. Since both Andrew and Bill (l) are laying the finish line,
and the line is pretty square (i.e. neither end is favoured) at this
time, Dave wisely ... ... |
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| ... decides to ... ... |
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| ... tack and lee bow Bill. ... |
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| A slight back in the wind now
favours port tack and the boat end of the line slightly, and Andrew has
nimbly tacked and nailed down a great 2nd. Dave's tack was good but has
not ... ... |
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| ... left Bill backwinded and
it'll be very close!! People sometimes smile when Marc or I luff up to
cross the
line even when no one else is near. It makes so little difference, but
sometimes that little bit is ... ... |
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| ... just enough! Here Bill was
on the inside with room and so had first crack at luffing up, which in
turn allowed him to beat Dave by the narrowest of margins. Well sailed
all around, guys! ... |
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|
Brian and John (6082) are
perhaps disappointed, having fallen 2nd to 5th since the end of the
first beat. But they can take heart from the fact that they were only
about three boatlengths out of second as all four of the boats above
sailed very well to end their Saturday marathon of five races!
... |
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| And both cameras missed it:
Jason and Lori (far right) have
come back from miles behind to place 6th, comfortably ahead of Jamie
who is about to take 7th. ... |
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| 8th went to Alan ahead of ... ... |
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| ... Robin and Carolyn who look
nicely trimmed but do need a main with some shape to it. ... |
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| It's been a long, tough day for
our committees, too, and Nancy and Albert Webster waste no time picking
up the marks. Everyone has really earned a nice liquid refreshment and
the steak BBQ coming up!! |
| next photo page return to 06 Onts index |