Wayfarer Ontario Championships 2017 Cobourg YC * August 12-13

From: Steph Romaniuk  Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2017 6:16 PM To: Al Schonborn Subject: Ontarios report Wayfarer Ontarios - Cobourg Yacht Club - August 12-13th The race to Cobourg started early with a traffic accident delay across the 401. Seven teams appeared for the championship, including the defending champions, Dave & Dave. We headed out into a breezy westerly after leaving the shelter of the great harbour. The wind continued to build all afternoon into the high teens, as did the waves and the effort to keep the boat moving. Competition was very tight for the top 3 seeds in the active racing fleet, with the 4th-seeded Pilling and the other lightweight teams having trouble keeping up in the heavy air and waves. One mistake quickly moved you back in the tight fleet. After day 1, with a theoretical drop in play, the top four teams were scoring 6-7-8-9 points. In the top 4 were the top three seeds (Pugh, Bennett/Seraphinoff, and Hansman/Richardson) and Kit Wallace (Mike Codd crew) who mastered the heavy air with 1-2 finishes.  The sky cleared and it was a great evening - the sun was gleaming on the picturesque harbour and its large white lighthouse; the billowing clouds encircled the horizon making for a memorable backdrop. A great feast was prepared by the numerous volunteers - we were spoiled with two breakfasts, snacks after racing both days - gourmet antipasto and chicken Caesar wraps, etc. It was a shame that so few boats took part. We had a good-sized tent city at our hosts, Colin and Heather Junkin's place where we enjoyed a campfire and patiently gazing up for the Perseid Meteor shower. We were greeted by Paige and 4 yr old Rachel, with the latter going around the fire pit doling out exploding fist-pumps. The day 2 wind forecast was dismal, but we headed out nonetheless and raced a first light-wind race. The windward mark was inshore due to the offshore wind which made for a shifty beat. The RC did a fine job as starting the 2nd race took far more effort with a couple postponements. Finally a westerly settled in again at a good 12 knots for race two and increased to the high teens again for the final race. Colin Junkin, on the RC boat, enjoyed watching the very competitive fleet duke it out at the leeward mark and the downwind finish marks. Never knowing who would catch a wave and surf up a position or two. In the end, Dave Hansman and Dave Richardson from North Bay dominated counting only 1sts and 2nds and successfully defended their first major title won last year in Parry Sound. The 3rd-seeded Daves wre also the Most Improved team of this year's event. Second place went to the Pughs, David and Anne of the Mississauga SC who had more first-place finishes, but a couple of lower scores put them out of the running. Third went to the team that came the furthest, all the way from Michigan, to compete. Marc Bennett and his wife, Julie, showed strength in both the light fluky air and the heavy air with several 3rd place finishes, and they not surprisingly placed 3rd overall. They received two sought-after Wayfarer buffs for their spirit to drive all this way! Showing how hot the top three teams were was the fact that the spread between 3rd and 4th was a whopping 7 points! On day two, Sue and Steph began with a bullet in the one light air race, and almost clawed their way back into a tie for 4th overall but Mike and Marg Duncan of MSC hung on to edge our freshly crowned Long-Distance Race winners by a single point. Mike and Marg also performed well in all conditions despite not competing in race 4 for their drop. The Kit Wallace/Mike Codd team had the only capsize of the weekend, when Mike got trapped on the low side by a stuck spinny pole on a tack near the windward mark in the first beat of the last race. Unlucky for them since they were flying along in 2nd position. In the end, they placed 6th overall, just 4 points out of 4th. Our last-place boat was sailed by the tall and tenacious father-son team of Jan and Hendrik d'Ailly, who were always right there in this tight fleet holding 5th spot after day 1. Our honorary Commodore, Dave Hansman, welcomed Hendrik to the fleet openly and as a kind gesture, offered his most improved hat (for beating their seed by two positions) to the young sailor. Cobourg is a venue that is a must for Wayfarer sailors. The sailing, harbour, launching, food, hospitality, etc. were phenomenal. If this event comes up again, be sure to book accommodation early if you are not into camping as this is a small busy town in the summer.