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2017 Pumpkin Regatta Fanshawe YC * Sept. 16-17 report by Uncle Al (updated 18 Sept. 2020 at 0026 hrs) ... |
(2020.09.18) The wind - or lack
thereof - was the great leveller at this year's Pumpkin
Regatta as shifts of huge proportion and dead spots to
match scrambled an 8-boat Wayfarer fleet on the weekend
of September 16-17 at London, Ontario's Fanshawe YC. The
regatta had to be moved ahead two weeks from the end of
September due to repairs projects on the Fanshawe dam, a
problem that is expected to apply next year as well.
Weather-wise, the good news was that we had summery
temperatures and sunshine all weekend long. One of the stronger gusts of this year's Pumpkin Uncle Al teamed up with Detroit's Dave McCreedy for this event where the latter was hoping to pick up some benefits of Uncle Al's expertise. Well, Dave got the entire gamut, as we shifted gears, even into drifter mode repeatedly, hoisted the spinnaker only to douse it again, also repeatedly. We could tell early that ours would not be an easy weekend, as we had a perfect start lined up right beide the RC boat, only to have a pair of Lasers with whom we shared the line, barge and drape themselves over the windward side of our boat. And good starts were important since we had to be nice to rowers who were apparently also having a competition, and in sort of SE winds - Fanshawe's least favourable racing winds - our beats had to be minuscule for us to avoid scaring the woman running the rowing.  Perhaps the best story from Saturday's three races came in the finale: Paul Taylor, sailing with his young son, Thomas (10), held the lead off the first beat and almost to the leeward mark, the run with young Thomas very capably at the helm. Unfortunately, the wind gods deserted Team Taylor (above) near the leeward mark, and the race became a character builder for Paul and his son. Well sailed, guys. It looked great while it lasted!! Anyway, to make a long story shorter, Al and Dave spent the entire weekend's five races (3 on Saturday and two drifters on Sunday) trying to extricate themselves from early enormous deficits, and ended up having a series of amazing - dare I say astounding? - comebacks to score (4)-2-1-3-1 finishes and snatch the George Blanchard Red Top Award from Conestoga's Leo Van Kampen and his wife, Joanne. The latter had been leading since race 2 and were about to win a one-point victory over Al and Dave as a lack-of-wind postponement neared the one PM cut-off hour and there was still no sign of wind. But then a southerly wind seemed to arrive, 6 to 8 knots as forecast, so we were sent out. Alas, that wind did not last, and we ended up racing in a very patchy zephyr. In that final race, the fleet split into two groups on the long - time-wise - run to #6 mark: Sue Pilling with Steph Romaniuk and Mike Duncan with wife, Marg, led a group sailing near the east shore presumably in line with the conventional wind wisdom that a wind blowing parallel to the shore tends to be stronger nearer the shore. Al, in fact, wised up to that fact a bit late but subsequently came back from the "dead" to round 3rd after staying near the east shore and then diving west to #6 at the last minute. But the joy from that piece of catch-up magic was obliterated by the fact that, after looking to be dead in mid-lake repeatedly, our two Conestoga boats, Jan d'Ailly with Ken Nethercott and Leo with Joanne - the team Al and Dave needed to beat in order to win the series - roared up with a nice little slant to round 1-2 and were holding a seemingly insurmountable lead - half of the distance from #6 to the finish line - by the time Al got clear of the Laser who had mark-room at #6. Being behind does have one advantage: You can see where the wind isn't.  the
improbable winners of the 2017 Pumpkin and the George
Blanchard Red Top Award:
Uncle Al (l) and Dave McCreedy (r) with MC, Mike Codd, who once more lost a three-way tie And so, with a miraculous collection of little puffs and big shifts down the right side, Team SHADES aka Glory Days pulled off a win to relegate the disheartened Van Kampens to the runner-up spot. Leo and Joanne really did deserve a better fate. For what it's worth, your sailing truly impressed me, Leo and Joanne.  Leo and Joanne: Wayfarer 2nd in Pumpkin 2017 Even the top-seeded team Chich in W397, Sue Pilling and Steph Romaniuk, made a few of their usually rare mistakes by sailing the wrong course in race 2 and then got on the wrong side of the wind gods in race 3 so that despite a pair of strong firsts in four Saturday races, they were not even in the top three at the end of Saturday. Did I mention how tasty and appreciated the wine was that we got along with the Pumpkin's tradition Saturday evening dinner in the chalet? A fine accompaniment also to the lovely slide show put on by Jim MacKenzie and our head kitchen slave, Carleen, that detailed how they managed to rescue a large derelict catamaran in the Bahamas. Lovely! Thanks, Jim and Carleen.  Sue and Steph (no shirt, no shoes, no prizes?) None the worse for her virtual trip to the vinyard, Sue managed to score a 3rd in the Sunday race to take series Bronze when that 5th race caused the drop race to kick in.   Mike and Marg 60% of the rest of the fleet ended up tied for 4th overall as Mississauga's Mike and Marg Duncan in Gaelforce, Conestoga's Jan d'Ailly with Ken Nethercott and TSCC's Mike Codd with Kirk Iredale in Red Top all ended up with 16 points. And as has happened to Mike Codd more than once in recent memory, Mike came out on the short end of the metaphorical stick in the first tie-breaker: most firsts, most 2nds, etc. Mike Duncan and Jan d'Ailly each had a 2nd while Mike's best finish was a 3rd. Consistency gets the hind tit in Appendix A. In fact, Jan and Mike D. were each counting identical scores: 2-3-5-6, and Jan understandably thought his better drop - 6th vs. 8th - should give him the nod, and I personally think that would be the fairest solution but the powers that be decree in Appendix A of the RRS that the drop race be completely disregarded, and instead, the nod goes the who beat whom in the last race both boats sailed. By which criterion the Duncans' 2nd in the finale gave them the edge and 4th overall in their first (and possibly last???) Pumpkin appearance..  Although dropped to 5th overall by the tie-breaker, the 8th-seeded pair of Jan and Ken (above) still were far and away our Most Improved team, beating their seed by nearly half the fleet. They thus won the coveted caps that reward these achievements.  Mike and Kirk As said before, Mike Codd and Kirk Iredale ended up 6th overall, sailing in W4600 Red Top for which boat the Pumpkin Wayfarer trophy is named.   Ian and Jake Another Pumpkin rookie team were Michigan's Ian Pouliot and Jake Wolny in W3999 The Gilded Lady. Apart from the occasional head-shake of disbelief, Ian and Jake handled the wind weirdness with total equanimity and admirable skill as they scored (8)-7-6-6-5 for series 7th. Showing good judgment beyond their relatively few years, Paul Taylor and son, Thomas, passed on the last race. No masochists on that boat!! The Taylors (pic here) ended up 8th overall, just one point behind The Gilded Lady. On behalf of all us Wayfarers, I thank most appreciatively, all the Fanshawe volunteers who made this extremely enjoyable weekend possible. See you all next year - two weeks early one more time is the scuttlebutt. |