the 2019 Pumpkin Regatta Fanshawe YC * Oct. 5-6 reports by Sue Pilling and Scott Ramsay (updated 9 Oct. 2017 at 2356 hrs) ...

From: Sue Pilling [mailto:pillings@hotmail.com] Sent: Sunday, October 6, 2019 4:23 PM Subject: Wrote this on way home 2019 Pumpkin Regatta Hopefully the forecast didn’t keep people away. Four  stalwart Wayfarers enjoyed lovely fall winds some rain but lots of sun. Fanshawe’s hospitality shone through as always with full turkey dinner, wine, all the trimmings, pies and down home generosity. Saturday's winds were strong and shifty, in the mid-teens, wind streaks running down the lake. This was enough to make folks hesitate to hoist the spinnaker. Jan d'Ailly and crew, Dave Meijer never hesitated. Their chute always went up - sometimes looking a little hairy but then back in control. Half the fleet capsized at least once. The competition was close. For example, in the last race Saturday, all boats were overlapped rounding the final turning mark. After Saturday’s 5 races, Mike and Kirk were in the lead by one point and looked bound for winning the George Blanchard Red Top Trophy named for their boat, W4600 Red Top. Mike reminded us that George Blanchard in his undying sportsmanship stated one must always say hello when passing a competitor. Sunday the winds were less and Sue and Steph managed to catch the right shifts to pull in front. There was no most improved trophy as all boats placed in their seeds. Scott and Les came fourth. (al's note: And the Lord said to Moses, "Go forth." But Moses came 5th and the Lord lost the bet.)This might be the Scott and Les’ last regatta in Saint Brendan as the new Mark IV they raced at the Worlds in Ireland this past summer will be coming home to Canada soon. Jan and Dave came third. They should have handily won race one but failed to go through the finishing line correctly. Mike and Kirk came second. They had three bullets on day one. Kirk says that Saturday was one of the three times this year he was able to hike out on the same side as Mike. Sue and Steph came first and were grateful the winds were lighter on Sunday. John Kabel and team did a golden job running the races. Thank you again, Fanshawe, for another great Pumpkin and we hope to get more “Wayfafers“ (there’s a story behind this), there next year. Sue and Steph

From: Scott Ramsay [mailto:wtspman@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, October 6, 2019 5:03 PM Adding a little to Sue's narrative. I think St Brendan knew this was its last regatta, and conveyed its disappointment in a fit of pique. During the final 20 s of the start sequence in race 1, one of the eye splices in the jib sheet frayed open (frayed Dyneema, who knew there was such a thing) which required some expert knot-tying by Les to get us going; but of course that left us playing catch-up for the whole race. Race 2 started well but on the first beat the vang blew out, forcing us to limp to shore for repairs. After lunch, race 3 was fine, but race 4 saw us capsize on the downwind leg to mark 5. The shifty wind caused an accidental gybe while we had the chute up. Les and I demonstrated our cat-like reflexes to scramble over the gunwale and onto the CB before the top of the mast was even at the water. Les held me by the belt while I reached into the cockpit to uncleat lines and pull the spinnaker halyard through to keep it down while we brought the boat back up. A minute later we were making way toward the leeward mark with half a boatful of water, again tailing the fleet. Race 5 gave us a chance to get things dried out and redeem our reputations as decent sailors. On Sunday, St Brendan seemed to have moved onto the acceptance stage of grieving and gave us three races with some decent performance, if only we could get the rig tuning right for the changing winds. It was a fun regatta and a great way to cap off a fun season, and 13 years of sailing W8263, St Brendan. Scott