the 2007 Pumpkin Regatta
Fanshawe YC * Sept. 29-30
race pics: Saturday - Race 6.4
 by Carol Hansman
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Nearing the finish line, Dwight (r) is perfectly positioned to defend against any vagaries of the wind.
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Dwight's (2nd from right) only fear might be a huge lift for Jens (r) who is playing the far shore.
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Playing the near shore, but well behind Dwight, are ...
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... Doug (blue hull) and Al (3854) who are getting the nice breeze funnelling around the point in the foreground.
- for full-size pic, click here
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But in this race, there is no touching ...
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... Dwight and Pat who ...
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... cross in a very well earned first place and ...
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... wave a thank you to the RC.
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Not nearly so clear-cut is the fight over 2nd place: Having gone nearer the cliff in a hunt for extra breeze,
Al (3854) is now overlaying the finish line, and needs to ...
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... crack on every last ounce of ...
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... speed to get his nose past Jens (7663) and also to try to cross
before Sue (r) can tack across the line at the favoured far end.
- for full-size pic, click here
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In the end, it was Al ...
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... just nipping out Sue who in turn just barely edged Jens, relegating him to 4th.
Not much luck on the finish line for Jens and Sharon at this year's Pumpkin!!
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5th to cross the line were ...
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... Doug and Françoise who subsequently informed the RC that they were retiring
because they felt they might have fouled Dwight as they tacked in to leeward of him at the start.
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Regardless, it had been a fine, exciting finish among the four of us!!
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And there was more finish line entertainment to come! Here, Mike and Kirk were coming across towards that finish line on port when at the last moment, they decided they couldn't cross Steve and Barb (5625). So, Mike threw in a crash tack, only to realize, too late, that Steve now had him trapped ...
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... to leeward of the finish line as can be seen above. In an instinctive reaction ...
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... Mike gybes to get away. This should leave Steve in perfect position to grab 5th by tacking, but the comedy of errors continues: Mike should never have tacked where he did in the first place - if he had made the time to think about it, he would have borne away for Steve. Not to be outdone in the blooper department, Steve discovers that ...
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... he has waited too long and can no longer tack without hitting the mark, so he, too, bears away to gybe.
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Now both boats are approaching on ...
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... port tack. By now, Mike (CAN90) should be tacking to get across the line faster. Instead, he and Kirk nearly complete the Alphonse and Gaston "after you" routine by letting Steve and Barb ...
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... cut inside them. In the end it was Mike who got the 5th ahead of Steve.
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No finish line acrobatics for Len and Andy who finished a ...
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... comfortable 7th ahead of ...
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... our much appreciated ...
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... guests from Michigan ...
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... Harold Whitcomb and son, Mitchell.
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