the Pumpkin Regatta
Fanshawe YC, London, ON * October 1-2, 2011
Report by Uncle Al
 (updated: 8 Oct 2011)
Cold, blustery Pumpkin offset by warm Fanshawe welcome, hospitality
as memorable 2011 Wayfarer racing season comes to a close


A typical scene from the 2011 Pumpkin Regatta
The October 1-2 weekend rang down the curtain on our 2011 North American Wayfarer season with the annual Pumpkin Regatta hosted by London, Ontario's Fanshawe YC. Eight intrepid Wayfarer teams were not put off by gloomy forecasts of dire gusts and temperatures mostly in the single digits Celsius (< 50° F). Sadly, the predictions were right on the money but we had lots of fun just the same. Outsurviving the others was Uncle Al who scored five firsts with crew, Robert Mosher of East Lansing, MI and won (once again!!) the re-named George Blanchard Memorial Trophy for winning in W's at the Pumpkin.


Saturday morning in the boat park: A warmly dressed Jens Biskaborn (left)
checks out Nick Seraphinoff's sleek new Hartley Mark IV.

How bad was the weather? It was so bad that only one of our eight Wayfarers sailed and finished all five races in cold winds that gusted close to 30 knots and temperatures that began each day not far above freezing. Vintage Pumpkin weather, we old-timmers would say.


Julia Schonborn captured this "death roll" in the making at just the right moment!!

And even the fact that the lake water was toasty warm failed to sway any great number of sailors to take part: our tiny 24-boat attendance saw four boats each in Lasers, Radials, Open A and Party Boats as well as our eight Wayfarers.

Undaunted by a pair of Saturday capsizes, our featherweight Parry Sound team of Sue Pilling and Steph Romaniuk (above) came back to close their series with five 2nds while taking the series runner-up spot. The TSCC team of Mike Codd and Kirk Iredale looked set to give Al and Robert a run for their money as they rounded onto the brief beat to the race 2 finish with a 100-yard lead over Al.


Uncle Al (3854) steals race 2 victory from Mike Codd (4600).

But a some nifty shift playing saw Al adge out Mike (above) and head in to lunch with a pair of wins instead of being tied with Mike at 1-2. To make matters worse for Mike, he began to feel dizzy while climbing the stairs on his way to lunch in the chalet. The beginnings of a cold, Kirk and Mike figured but on this day, Fanshawe Lake was certainly no place to suffer a dizzy spell, so Kirk drove Mike to the Iredale homestead in Exeter for an afternoon and evening of rest. By Sunday morning, Mike was feeling better, if no warmer, and promptly went out and scored a 3-1 to take series 3rd. That 3rd was almost enough for Most Improved status as Mike was seeded 5th.

(l to r) Dolores and John de Boer, Ross and Lori Jamieson

Also taking the afternoon off were London's John de Boer and his imported crew, Ross Jamieson of Callander. After sailing to a pair of fine-looking 3rds, John and Ross joined their wives doing the much warmer job of critiquing the action on the water (above). A subsequent Sunday morning 4-3 left John in 4th place overall.

Also taking Saturday afternoon off were the Conestoga duo of Scott Ramsay and Leo Van Kampen but still managed series 5th and Most Improved honours as they beat Scott's 8th seed by an impressive three places.

Our Detroit visitors, Nick Seraphinoff and his ex-son-in-law, Nikos Damaskinos, stayed long enough to to show off their new Mark IV but decided that Sunday's sailing weather was not good enough to entice them to put off things that needed doing at home.

Having wisely decided to forego Saturday's racing, Jeff Eames and his wife, Vera, the lone Fanshawe Wayfarer in the event, coped quite well with Sunday's equally nasty weather and ended up 7th. Our much esteemed new Wayfarers from Oxford, Michigan, Chip Cunningham and his wife, Sky Mikinak, wisely decided to learn by watching as these conditions were far from ideal for sailing beginners.

Dolores and John de Boer hosted the traditional Wayfarer ...


... pot luck to start our Pumpkin weekend on Friday night.

Social: Thank you, John and Dolores de Boer for again starting our weekend off right!! After our Wayfarer pot luck at the de Boers', the Fanshawe YC took over with excellent meals in the chalet: Saturday breakfast, lunch and outstanding turkey dinner plus Sunady breakfast and lunch.

Special thanks as well to John Kabel, our Race Officer who also provided the following targets for our appreciation:
----- Original Message -----
From: JOHN KABEL
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 9:01 AM
Subject: Volunteer List

Al, here are our volunteers for the Pumpkin Regatta:

Publicity:
Sue Goldt, FYC Communications
Kevin Biskaborn, FYC website administrator

Registration:
Mary Jane Walzak

Safety Boats:
Bob Magill (also the main mark layer)
Mike Morris
Steve Currie
Roy Elworthy
Mark Van Den Bossche
Mark Fenton *
Gabe Kokas *
Chris Gougoulias *
* are courtesy of St. John Ambulance Search and Rescue (SAR) unit

Kitchen - Lunch:
Anita Elworthy
Roy Elworthy *
Colleen Ellison-Wareing
Brooke Wareing
* Roy also loaned us a compressor for mark inflation

Kitchen - Turkey Dinner and Leftovers:
Nathalie Hurst
Carlene Hone
Amanda
Collin
Elayna Hurst
Robin Gruninger

Cleanup and Fuel Maintenance:
Bob Magill
Jim Mackenzie

Race Officers:
John Kabel, PRO
Mary Watson, ARO

Thirty-seven skippers and crew registered for the event, and full race results are now posted on the FYC website at fyc.on.ca.

A hearty thanks to this group for supporting the very cold and wind-blown racers and on-water officials.  We had no major incidents during this weekend beyond the many capsizes in the Laser, Radial and centreboard classes.  No accidents, no protests, smooth race management (from the barge POV).

Thanks again for coming!

John Kabel
Rear Commodore
Fanshawe Yacht Club
London, ON  Canada
519-453-9376 (H) jjkabel@rogers.com
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