A very good race

After finish: looking for spinnackers

AHMEN VI was held on Sunday, Sept. 30.  The RC went into AP as the wind settled in. It was another light wind day with winds from the south south west. The course was to EYC 7 (?) to Dufferin, twice around. During the pre race 'toing and froing' we hailed our competitors and had a bit of on water scuttlebutt. Windburn had a ‘ringer’ on board! We were anxious to do well as the divison score for the series was very close.

Our start was mid line. The J 22 started nearer the pin. It crossed well ahead, while we stayed on starboard and headed further south. On the way to the first mark we crossed well in front. Clearly going south was the better call.

Our mark rounding and hoist went well. We were on starboard gybe all the way to the leeward mark. A megles quickly passed us to windward. (The melges stayed on a much hotter angle. They were much faster and provided a good indication of the wind ahead.) We defended our clear air by staying on the layline and forcing bigger boats to pass to leeward. About half way to the mark we passed Cirrus, the first of the white division boats, and I wished them : ‘bon vent’.

The winds were not great especially as we approached the leeward mark. Perhaps our chute was doused a bit too soon which made for a somewhat slow  mark rounding. We were clear ahead of our division.

The next leg was pretty much a repeat of the first. We kept to the middle of the course. The mark rounding went well; we kept in clear air from the bigger boats. The wind was somewhat stronger the second time around. We were well ahead so it was just a matter sailing well.

We finished just after Fantome. After the race we hung around the finish area to look for spinnakers (see photo).  The other boats were too far behind for us to be certain but it appeared that we would win on corrected time (Jazz). I was pleased that we beat the J 22. In our three encounters, this was our first win. Unofficially we had won the race and more importantly, the series!

After our dismal start and poor results at the beginning of the season, I hope it is not inappropriate for me to say: ‘We had a very good race’!

Almost … but not quite

The J 22s after Start 1

The second to last race of the season was on Sat. Sept. 29. Kevin was there on time but Nick was racing on Black Magic. Kev and I got the boat prepped and I anxiously looked out into Humber Bay. I decided we had to go with or without Nick. There was no sign of Black Magic but winds were very light. We decided: WTF let’s go racing!

As we entered the Western Gap we spotted Black Magic. There are no rules in the shark race. Black Magic went the opposite way than the other boats in the race. We did a boat to boat transfer; something that was probably confusing to the other NYC boats motoring through the gap to the starting area.

Winds were very light. Start 1 was basically J 22s. They started mostly at the pin end (see photo above). My idea was to start near the RC boat. Light wind in a mixed fleet: one should be to windward, regardless of line skew. It was excruciatingly slow but we did manage to start as planned.

As soon as we could we tacked over to the island. Surprisingly there were not a lot of boats doing this. Of course being on the right side gave us this option; to tack. (If we were leeward of the fleet we would be pinned.)

We had a good run to the Eastern Gap. Good, i. e. clear air and relatively fast speed versus the other boats. It was a bit tricky getting through the restricted area of the Eastern Gap. We had to tack back and forth. The light winds and narrow channel made this a challenge. We were in a good position: ahead.  : ) The light winds gave the little boat an advantage.

Unfortunately the light winds became lighter. It seemed to take forever to get to T1. We were pleased that the R boats passed us somewhere south of Centre Island pier. ( This should've happened a lot earlier in the race.) The light winds were very frustrating. Spinnaker or not? After looking at other boats we tied, but was it too late? The RC moved the finish to Gibraltar. The R’s finished but we were just a bit slower. Too slow. The wind died.

We tried everything, we could think of, to move the boat. We were now the only racer near the RC boat so I am sure the RC was amused by our desperate attempts to move.  At one point we lowered the genoa since it appeared to be back winded. There was a brief puff but it really didn’t move us closer and it didn’t last. To be so far ahead and not finish!

It was a very frustrating experience. Should we have put the chute up earlier? Should I have tacked or not tacked in the last puff? My view is that it was just a 'no wind situation'. We did good up until the wind died. If there was just a bit of wind at the finish … but it was not to be.

Fall III

The winds were light from the north. This was the last of the fall series. The 18:00 start time meant that we had only 1 hour and 6 minutes before sunset. The first start attempt failed. The Committee boat was the favoured end and there was a huge traffic jam. Many boats were over early. We were well behind the start line. Fortunately there was a general recall.

Stephen Jones, videographer

Our second start was much better. We were near the committee boat and just behind Hardtack. (In the video below Aristosera is obscured by the bigger boats.) We had clear air, which is a big deal in a mixed fleet.

Stephen Jones, videographer

Things went well.  Our tacks were good. Good crew work: Kevin on foredeck and Nick with the sheets. We finished behind Victory Dance and Papillon but ahead of others in our division. Jazz won on corrected time.


Two second finishes and a third; overall, we had a 2nd place in the Fall Series.