the 2007 Pumpkin Regatta
Fanshawe YC * Sept. 29-30
race pics: Saturday - Race 6.1
 by Carol Hansman
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Al and Dave are ready for the 6th and final race.
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The course remains the same:
start line A-B > Pumpkin > 1 > 4 > Pumpkin > A-B to the best of my recollection.
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Two teams have packed it in, so ...
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... we're down to nine boats for the finale.
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`
Under one minute to go.
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Dwight (4606) again joins the line-up belatedly - which is OK, provided he can find enough wind,
and enough of a gap - see Rule 18.5 - between the boats to get where he wants to go.
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And he's snuck in there again! That's Dwight's bow just to leeward of Sue (4677). An advantage of the Dwight approach is ...
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... that he won't have to worry about getting squeezed out at the mark, unlike Uncle Al (3854) whose
windward end approach is at the mercy of possible windshifts: He can line up the lay line just right, only to ...
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... get a big lift and have the leeward boats like Mike (CAN90) in a position to squeeze him out as is happening here.
So Al (3854) now has to wait for Mike to ...
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... move ahead as he has done here. This photo illustrates a frequently misunderstood rules application about "barging": Where Al (3854) is now, he is not entitled to claim room from a leeward boat (since Rule 18, buoy room, does not apply at [most] start marks), but once he gets his bow even with the mark, no leeward boat , e.g. 5625, is entitled to change course to force him into the mark  since leeward would then not be giving Al "room to keep clear" as required by Rule 16.1. Of course, if leeward and Al are sailing on converging courses, and leeward does not alter course in cutting Al off, even after Al is committed to this side of the mark, Rule 16 does not apply, and Al is out of luck. Here, Al is making a good "late at the windward end start" where he is trading off forward distance for the ability ...
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... to immediately tack over towards the moorings. But it is clear that, given an excellent start by Dwight (r) ...
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... Al (3854) will need to gain a lot if he hopes to catch Dwight.
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So far so good: Al (r) gets the expected inside lift, and if Dwight also gets this lift, most of his lead will be gone!!
- for full-size pic, click here
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But not this time! While Doug (1366) and Dwight (4606) have a nice breeze taking them towards the moorings, Al (4th from left) has hit a couple of soft spots, and will now compound his problems by ...    - for full-size pic, click here
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... tacking underneath Sue when he should have borne away and crossed her transom to stay on the preferred port tack. Meanwhile, Dwight (3rd from left) and Doug (2nd from left) keep ...    - for full-size pic, click here
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... rolling along near the moorings in a great breeze on starboard. And Al (6th from left) has, uncharacteristically,
let himself get pushed over to where he knows he shouldn't be - in this case, the left side.    - for full-size pic, click here
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As a result, Dwight (l) has opened up a big lead on the first reach, towards #1, over Doug who thought the reach was a bit close for the spinnaker. As did Al (3rd from left) whose belated hoist is now letting Jens ...    - for full-size pic, click here
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... pass him ...
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... to leeward, while Sue closes in from astern. Dwight (l), meanwhile, gybes around #1 onto ...    - for full-size pic, click here
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... another spinnaker reach, followed by Doug, Jens and Al.
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Just past the race hut cliff, Dwight (l) maintains the lead but is being challenged by Jens (3rd from left) while Sue has gone high and moved up from 5th to 3rd. Doug is holding off Al who has dropped to 5th while Mike is lying 6th ahead of Len.
- for full-size pic, click here
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Again, the zoom lens does a great job of taking us right up close to the action, as ...
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... the top four Wayfarers get set to ...
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... round mark #4 and ...
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... prepare ...
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... to ...
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... begin the second beat.
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