Sep 122011
 

In a thrilling final day, Old School was able to pull two wins out of the hat, while Wreaking Havoc had a tougher day with two OCS’s to correct.  With light and variable winds, playing the shifts while staying in the breeze was of paramount importance.  Old School was able to capitalize on most shifts, and won both races handily.

O’Naturel had a consistent day as well, posting 3-2 scores which was enough to slip ahead of Ritalin, with a 2-6.

Here is the scorecard for the regatta.  Note how many match races were occuring on the final day! Four separate “matches”, with three of them seeing switches in position in the last day!

Points Place D1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11
Old School Scot Mundle 21 1 4 1 2 2 3 (4) 3 1 3 1 1
Wreaking Havoc John Osborn 22 2 1 4 1 (8) 1 3 1 2 1 4 4
O’Naturel Bruce Rand 34 3 5 (8) 4 3 2 1 6 6 2 3 2
Ritalin Webster/Schall 35 4 6 2 3 5 4 2 2 3 (7) 2 6
Flying Monkeys Enderlein/Bolland 50 5 7 3 5 4 6 5 5 4 6 5 (8)
Organized Chaos Lay/Rushworth 51 6 2 6 6 6 5 6 4 5 4 (7) 7
Surfer Girl Dave Savard 55.5 7 3 5 8 1 7 7 7.5 7 5 (9) 5
Aliens Ate My Buick Freeman/Bantrin 69.5 8 8 7 7 7 (8) 8 7.5 8 8 6 3

 

Kudos to everyone involved with the organization of the regatta.  Special thanks go first and foremost to Dianne Osborn, for her incredible social management.  John Osborn and Tom Bolland did a great job in organizing the racing side of things.  Thank you all!

Sep 112011
 

The third day of racing in Barrie provided a consistent 7-10 knot NE breeze for most of the day.  The left side of the course proved to be exceptionally rewarding, as there was a significant shoreline shift to play with.  Race Officer It’s Pat Lymburner got off five races during the day, so by the end we were all quite ready for the steak dinner!  Unfortunately, the exhaustion also lead to some questionable decision making and consequent gelcoat exchanges… (and turns…no jury room on steak night!).

After nine races sailed, Wreaking Havoc now leads the fleet with 14 points, after a very valuable 8th-place discard.  Old School is second at 19 (4th discard), Ritalin third at 27 (7th discard) and O’Naturel at 29 (8th discard).  Old School is petitioning to have the whole discard idea tossed, but he is being met with resistance.

Today’s forecast is for 5-10 knots out of the south, which comes from across rolling hills, so I am sure local knowledge will prevail.

Sep 102011
 

The first two days of the North Americans have seen conditions varying between moderate for the distance race and light for the course racing yesterday.

The non-discardable distance race had us sailing upwind for about 12 miles, followed by a 10 mile deep reach, a five mile fetch and a six mile surfing sleigh ride home.  Winds started at the top end of the #1 for the upwind, then faded slightly for the reach, only to build again for the final two legs.  Several lead changes occurred in the upwind, with skippers trying to figure out if feathering or footing was faster with the lumpy chop.  At the windward mark Wreaking Havoc rounded in first, closely followed by Organized Chaos and Surfer Girl.  Old School was a few hundred yards behind, with O’Naturel and Ritalin close behind.  From this point forward, it was essentially a procession to the finish line, although Old School made big gains on Surfer Girl, to which the latter had to defend.  This allowed Organized Chaos to finish second comfortably, followed by Surfer Girl.

Friday saw the first day of course racing open with less than a breath of wind.  The start was delayed for an hour or so, when a light breeze was appearing (only to dissapear again).  In the light conditions, finding clear wind was more of a priority than sailing the shifts, and Old School proved to be the most consistent at this, finishing with a 1-2-2 record.  Wreaking Havoc had a terrible time getting off the start line for the third race, which gave her the unenviable record of 4-1-8 for second place.  Today will see the discard come into play, so it should be very tight between Old School and Wreaking Havoc.  Ritalin is third, one point behind Havoc, but with a less-beneficial discard to play.

Today’s conditions look to be similar to Friday’s.

Sep 072011
 

The Barrie Yacht Club has really stepped it up for our NA’s.  I would like to thank the Osburns and Tom Bolland for putting together what looks to be a great event!  The promised winds look to be materializing, with partly skies predicted as well.  Great job everyone!

There will be seven boats trying to wrest the George Olson Memorial Trophy from Old School’s grasps.  Scot Mundle and his crew will certainly have their hands full.  Here is a list of competitors:

Old School – Scot Mundle, Kingston

O’Naturel – Bruce Rand et al, Kingston

Wreaking Havoc – John Osburn, Barrie

Organized Chaos – Derek Lay, Kingston

Ritalin – Terry Webster et al, Stoney Creek

Aliens Ate My Buick – Glenn Freeman et al, Bronte

Surfer Girl – Dave Savard, Quebec City

Flying Monkeys – Tom Bolland, Barrie