A great adventure successfully completed

Janet and Jeff were available but that was it. I was prepared to go with three. However, at the last minute Nick's plans changed. It was a good thing as we were in for a windy day with 25 knots plus.

In rough seas I am constantly checking on the motor. It loosens itself with the constant pounding. In order to eliminate this anxiety, the motor was stored below. We sailed out to the start.

The wind was on the nose. Not the best CMG. We were late; very late. Papa was already flying for Start IV. I hailed the RC as we crossed the line; I wanted them to be sure that they knew we were actually in the Start III. The committee looked somewhat uncertain, perhaps thinking: 'Are they sane?'. We pounded our way to windward. Four minutes plus to make up!

The conditions were not to everyone's taste. Many of the regulars decided that being cold wet and miserable was not a great way to spend a fall afternoon.


It wasn't long before we could make out Balance and Windburn. We were able to sail closer to the wind. Clearly we were a lot faster. Navigation was awkward as everyone needed to keep their weight out as much as possible. A cold and wet ride for the crew.

We were still behind at the first mark. The next mark was T1. This would be a long downwind leg. It would be a bit dicey flying the chute; especially with the chop and the danger of having the stern getting tossed into a 'Chinese gybe'. “Let’s try.” It was too unstable and we doused it fairly quickly. No one else tried. I figured that it was worth it and it was good experience. Besides no guts, no glory.

The fleet separated. We were on a broad reach, which took us to the north; the other boats in our division kept south. As we approached Gibraltar we tried a wing on wing. Janet was not happy as the human pole. The wind kept trying to rip the sheet from her hand. We got by Gibraltar and then headed to T1 on a broad reach. Our controlled gybes were very good. Our boat-handing and more direct course meant that we rounded just ahead of Windburn at T1.

After rounding T1 we headed into the north shore of Centre Island. There was not much protection here from the wind. Balance went closer. Once again we did well. At the second rounding of Gibraltar, Balance was abeam. There was only one more boat (Kokomo) to catch and they owed us time. It is at moments like these that make me fell very good (!). (Interestingly I had a premonition that something was going to go wrong. Things were just too good.)

Our next mark was Dufferin. We were able to hold a higher course than Balance. On the Dufferin layline we tacked clear ahead. Kokomo misjudged the layline and had to take a couple of tacks to round the mark. That was enough for us to take the lead. Balance was able to make up lost ground and it was a close finish.

Remember my premonition: on the second to last tack the traveller car broke. We held things together enough to stay ahead of Balance. A bullet! It felt great; the successful completion of a great adventure!

Are you sure?

The Race Committee obviously can do what ever it wants. Sometimes they are creative. Once the course is set one immediately gets out the GPS to figure where are we going. OK the wind is there and the mark is there; but that would be downwind? Yep a downwind start. The committee boat did have the pin to its port but that would mean it would be on starboard to boats starting downwind. Yep creative! This situation caused a lot of boat to boat hails: "Richard is it really a down wind start!?!"

The wind was more or less north. At the start line the wind was light. We slowly moved to the pin and hoisted the spinnaker after the start. I found the winds frustrating and confusing. All the other boats seemed to be doing well but our chute just wouldn't fly properly. I decided to douse. This was a big mistake as the other boats increased their lead. We were way behind and I had no clue why the boat wasn't moving.

As we rounded the mark the wind slowly died for everyone. The boats to the north (Balance and Windburn?) lost wind completely. Everyone drifted together. We never lost way. The winds were very inconsistent. Our heading went from north to east to south to east. The big problem was that we had no idea were we were going and we were slowly taking the lead! The boats were too far away for a hail. We used one of our 'lifelines': Call a friend; to get someone to check the website and tell us what is meant by 'mark 2'. Claudiu and I tried but there was no answer.

Finally some of the bigger boats got some wind and we could follow them to the mark. The new wind was south east. We rounded the mark. It was a spinnaker run to the next mark. As we approached the mark the wind became very hard to read. The chute came down and we used a human pole to micro adjust sail trim. It did not take long after the mark rounding to get back into the good south wind. We had a good mark rounding and once again raised the chute for the last leg to the finish. As we approached the finish it was apparent that boats ahead were sailing upwind. I didn't want the chute to be back filled. We dropped it in lots of time.

We sailed the boat well except for the bad call to drop the chute on the first leg. A fourth place finish.

The problem was reading the wind. There was a transition zone between the north wind and the south east wind near the start/finish line. The chute had to be hoisted then doused; which, might make people wonder whether one knows what one is doing (especially after the bad call on the first leg)! I think it was only on the last leg when I was asked: 'Are you sure?'

Fair dinkum

A few years ago the club decided to extend the racing season into September. A fall series was added. The start is 30 minutes earlier. It is difficult for some crews to make the earlier start so the series does not count in the season's overall results. There are two starts. All white sail entries are start 1 and all FS are start 2.

The first race had excellent conditions. The course was "Whiskey" with a windward mark bearing of 205. It was a short course at 0.5 nautical miles. We had a great start. It was particularly nice looking down the start line and seeing the bows nicely lined up. (Too bad I couldn't get a photo.)

The combination of big and little boats in one start makes for some traffic on the first leg. Our big mistake was tacking too soon. The bigger boats created exhaust. We thought we could make the line, and could of made it, if there wasn't the other boats already on the layline. We had to make several tacks to avoid the other boats; a sad situation of having to sit by and watch a number of boats get ahead.

We didn't make the same mistake on the second windward leg. We sailed the boat well. We knew we were well behind the J22 but with a large fleet it is really hard to figure out what effect the PHRF handicap will have on the results. The PRO had a difficulty in pronouncing Aristosera when the results were announced. It took us awhile to figure out that we got a second, fair dinkum.

F*** it let's get a beer

The photo shows a nice relaxing derigging after a pleasant sail. The actual sail wasn't so sedate. The forecast was for winds to be one of the strongest for a race this season. It was the same forecast for Tuesday but, Tuesday ended up being a light wind (with residual swell) event. Wednesday looked like it was the real deal. The NYC weather station indicated winds of about 17 knots. The winds were moderated by the shelter of Ontario Place point. It was clear that once we got into Humber Bay proper the winds would be much stronger. (Aferwards we heard reports of gusts over 30 knots.)


Jeff had indicated that he might not be there if the 'storm' hadn't cleared. He has had challenging weather on all of the events on Aristosera. Tonight was not going to be an exception! It was good to see him and it was also good that we had regulars Chris and Janet whose experience would come in handy with the heavier winds. (Flawed was short handed. They made a good call to opt out of a noob from the crew bank. At the dock I knew it was going to be a difficult night for them.)

This was the "Crew Race". Chris would be good on helm with his skipper experience. Janet could do foredeck, with help from Jeff. I wanted to do sheets. Although I trust whoever I put on helm, I still want to be nearby.

Taking off from the dock was a bit of a problem. Flawed had rafted up; with the number of drysail boats launched, there was not enough space for everyone to tie up to the quay. I wanted to flip the boat so my bow would be heading more into the wind. It took a bit of time, with the onshore wind, but eventually we motored off. I wanted to sail as soon as possible. I used the motor to hold the boat into the wind, while still protected by the breakwater, and the crew put up the main sail. The main sheet got wrapped around the block. While Jeff cleared the line he got knocked by the boom. We were headed into the wind so the main sail was pretty much depowered. Jeff got hit at the hairline and the deck was starting to resemble a crime scene from CSI. I handed the helm over to Chris, jumped below to get the first aid kit. Janet and Jeff went below to sort things out. Things were all sorted by the time we got clear of the point and faced the full force of the wind.

We headed more or less west. The RC had set up at Gibraltor. They were short staffed so Kim was on-board. Dragon Lady wasn't being used. Dufferin was the windward mark. It would be a long and rough upwind leg. We sailed west and approached the starting area on a broad reach.

I delayed putting up the jib until were at the line and starting. We almost didn't make the line as our upwind ability was hampered until the jib was up. We had to tack onto port to make the line. We had good start. Flawed was clear ahead but we were well ahead of other boats. We were headed over to the island. I wanted to avoid tacks and I wanted to avoid a lee shore. We were one of the first boats to tack back. Flawed and Aristosera were the two western most boats. We followed Flawed on a course that would take us slightly west of the white buoys.

The upwind leg was rough. I was worried we wouldn't be able to complete tacks, since we were headed into rough seas which would act as a brake. Boats can stall out before the tack is completed. Fortunately that wasn't a problem and Chris handled the boat well. The wind was fairly steady which made sail trim much easier. I sat on the rail trying to keep the jib sheet uncleated and ready to be released. With the other hand I was holding on! It was a very uncomfortable ride.

As we proceeded north it was apparent that we were catching up to Flawed. They clearly decided to head in. (They had a ripped jib, which we couldn't see from our perspective.) We were now lead boat. I decided to tack over. We crossed Daybreak. I wasn't sure they saw us. 'Starboard'. They altered course in lots of time. Just before we got to to layline of the windward mark, Janet reported that there might be some rain approaching. Grand National also made an appearance. They were too late to finish at Dufferin(!How annoying!). We were now closest to the Club and if we headed back to the finish we would have to complete another upwind sail to get back home. We would be cold tried and then there was the rain. We bailed a Moitessier: 'F*** it let's get a beer'!

Training wheels

Chris was at the cottage and Davidhad started his fall activities. Jeff returned from last week so I had to fill a second position from the crew bank. The crew bank provided Marcia, who had some dinghy experience. I decided to let her do sheets while Janet and Jeff would do foredeck.

The winds were 205 @ 10+ knots. I opted to use the jib and we didn't bother with the spinnaker. It would be a challenge but not too much that the novice crew wouldn't be overwhelmed. The boat was very underpowered. We ended up last but not disgracefully so. The crew handled the boat well. On my boat crew is has to be active in boat handling and are not just deck fluff. I hope I am not being disparaging when I say that we use 'training wheels',( i.e. jib not genoa, and no chute) with a novice crew.