A Happy Canada Day

The penultimate 2015 Spring Wednesday race was held on Canada Day. There were a couple of J 22s and Windlight made its first 2015 appearance.  We went through our usual pre start practise. There was a new crew member on board so this was doubly beneficial. The split ring on the main sheet block broke so we had to do a quick repair. Everything went well and the crew was ready for the start.

The wind was from the north west at between 15 and 20 knots. A bit gusty. Dragon Lady was available so we had a 'Whiskey' course. The start line as long and fair. We had a good start slightly to windward of Jazz and Windburn and leeward of the J22. We seemed to gain on the J22 , we wee clear ahead at the windward mark. Windlight went into shore and seemed to gain on the first upwind leg but not enough to be a concern.

We just barely cleared the windward mark. Good hoist. I focused a bit more on gybe angles. It helped that Windlight chose not to fly their chute and Windburn had an hourglass. (We learned after the race that Jazz had chute problems as well.) We had a good downwind run. The crew worked well at the leeward mark and adapted to my constant plan changes.

The next up wind leg was pretty much a repeat of the first, except that we were clear ahead of all other boats. Our boat speed was good which is a bit surprising since we do not have the newest of sails. Kevin noticed a few more spots that needed patches (as always). We almost have new sails given all of the patching that has been done! Before the race Kevin had moved the genoa cars back and I had tuned the rig. This may have compensated our patchy sails. As I like to say: "The key isn't boat or sails but is a good crew working together".

Fortunately we had made a point of checking the course board. We had line honours; we didn't have anyone else lead us to the finish. We were well ahead of our devision so, even though we owe time there was no surprise when the results. Our second bullet. A Happy Canada Day indeed!

Threes Company means second best

When I arrived at the club there was very little wind. The forecast called for south west at 10 knots but that wasn't the reality. I loosened rig tension settings to 5 knots. However once we got clear of Ontario Place the wind was much brisker. The rig tension was tightened up to better reflect the actual wind speed of 15 knots.

We did a couple of wind checks. The readings were 210 and 199. The wind went back and forth all night. The RC set the course as 3 0 x 3. The windward mark bearing was 227, at 0.8 nautical miles. Port tack was favoured. We tried to do a port tack start but had to duck the starboard tackers. Unusually we were over early.

The fleet settled in. We were behind Threes Company all night. We owe them time with PHRF handcap. We rounded the upwind mark and headed back to leeward. We tacked away at the leeward mark but we we met again at the 2nd windward mark rounding and they were still a couple of boat lengths ahead. This pattern repeated for the next legs.

The winds died as we approached the finish. Notorious (in another division) caught us just before we finished. We had to gybe in order to keep in clear air. Threes Company was 1st; but we were ahead of 3rd place Jazz.

Link: RaceQs track

Holely Moly

Everyone was a bit late to arrive (except the skipper). I had the boat prepped for launch and even got the bilge pumped. Unfortunately I had forgotten about the lost shackle for the boomvang. We rearranged some shackles and eventually got things sorted. Given all this we were too late for a practice with the chute.

Dragon Lady was back in service. The start line was nicely set. There was an east wind at about 15 knots. Great seeing whisky back on the RC yardarm.

Unfortunately on the way out we noticed a hole in the genoa. I had not put the sail tape on board. There was no work around as there was with the shackle. A bit embarrassing; the boat seemed to handle OK.

We had a good start. There were boats to windward and we had to wait to tack back. That really wasn't a problem as there was a lift as we approached Ontario Place. We were first to the mark. We went deep downwind waiting for the others in our division to round the mark and commit to going on port or starboard gybe. I think this was a mistake; the boat was too slow sailing deep. Windburn caught up to us. We gybed south and crossed clear ahead; but had lost a lot. We gained some as we rounded the leeward mark; once again first.

On the second upwind leg we initially covered the J 22. They tacked to go on port but we elected to break cover and go on starboard. This was a good idea. We rounded the wind mark once again ahead.  We gained a lot on the J 22. On the downwind leg we gybed sooner and kept a hotter angle than on the first leg. Windburn may have made back some of what it lost on the 2nd upwind. We lead the fleet around the course; none of the later starters were able to catch up.

We finished as we should i e lowest PHRF boat first, but was it enough. We timed Windburn's finish and I wasn't optimistic (but still hopeful). Given the PHRFs we were either 1st or 5th.  It was 2nd (but Sirus wasn't scored).

I was happy that we handled the boat well. Helm needs to avoid the 5 degree lapses. We could do be closer to the start. I think we had good mark roundings,  hoists, and douses. Some more thought has to be given to downwind tactics. All in all a very enjoyable day.

After hauling out I found the sail tape. A holely sail is still a good sail with a good crew.

All good things come for those who wait out a rain delay

 

There was a major rain system that moved through in the afternoon, but the forecast was good for the race’s time period. When I arrived at the club there was increasing cloud. An isolated cell was over Malton and was making it ways towards Humber Bay. Various skippers and the PRO huddled around the computer monitor looking at a live radar feed. The decision was made to  go into AP.

The crew went to the bar and had a beer. The rain arrived and left. So go or no go? Go. We got the boat launched and set up stuff on our way to the course. Windburn was the only other boat in our division. I was worried that we would arrive at the start only to have no wind and things definitely cancelled. There was sufficient wind to start but not much more. The course was D 4.

The storm left a lot of chop and with the light wind we had a difficult time to make way. At the start, I wanted to avoid stalling by heading up before we had some speed. Things went well. We had sufficient speed to get ahead of Windburn and give her bad air.

The wind picked up nicely and we took off.  As lead boat we had to find the mark. The ipad with installed mark waypoints was very helpful. The downwind leg was too hot for a chute. There were good gusts; the boat apparently was sailing over 6 knots.

Annoyingly the compass would not stay on and a shackle broke on the boomvang.

I think we were a bit too fast for the RC. They had moved but not anchored. A finish or a leeward mark rounding? The committee boat being unanchored was increasingly favoured, but if this wasn’t a finish we would need to round the mark/pin. It became increasingly clear that it was most likely a finish so we bore away. Horn.

Our first bullet of the season!

Practice (?)

The second race of the season was the first race with the new plan. The boat is temporarily on a mooring; temporary being the time it takes to repair the dry sail crane. My main concern is keeping the bottom clean. I brought the boat over to the blue crane and prepared for haul out. Ryan arrived early and helped. The bottom wasn’t too dirty and the clean up was easily done. The new routine works.

I recruited a potential new crew member. Anna has sailed out of Mooredale and currently crews on a Melgies 24. We were in plenty of time to do a practice hoist before the start. The wind was steady but strong and there was lots of chop. We managed to get the chute down (but not really up) without any problems. It was a good practice for the new crew.

After we had completed our prestart routine we looked for the RC Boat. It and all but Zyngara had disappeared. The race was called due to slightly strong winds. Maybe. We had decided not to fly the chute but leave the genoa up. We were not overpowered with the genoa.  It was a good practice for the new crew. We did a few gybes on the way back to the Club. At the restaurant a few people noted the Red spinnaker and assumed it was Aristosera.

Back to the blue crane

My first race was last night. The white crane isn't working. Motors were replaced and the new motor is blowing fuses. I did not want to use blue crane and I did not want to keep the boat at a mooring. However since the SNAFU is gone beyond 'temporary' I asked and got a 'temporary' mooring. I am planning to do a weekly bottom clean.


The PHRF rating has been dropped to 162. The wind condition were pretty variable. Light, none, and then 180 degree shift. We were lead boat to the first mark. The problem is to find it and we have no guide boat ahead. We made the right choice. The wind filled in nicely so the had a nice reach on what should have been the downwind leg. A bit chilly on the lake.

AHMEN Report 2014

Aristosera's crew, Melissa, Ryan, Richard, Nick and Kevin, celebrate AHMEN 2014

The annual AHMEN awards dinner was held on Feb. 6. It was a well attended event with over 55 attendees. The speaker was  PC Richard Baker, Community Services Officer, Toronto Police Marine Unit. He provided an excellent overview of the marine unit’s operations. The main event was the award presentation. The divisional winners were: White sail 1, Daybreak, NYC, Bonnie Reid helm; White sail 2, Zig Zag, QCYC, John McLeod helm; Spinnaker 1, Shaping, MCC, Andrei Sokolski helm; Spinnaker 2, Aristosera, NYC, Richard McKean helm. In addition Gypsy, ABYC, Cliff Walkington helm, won both the R Boat division and the Argosy Rose Bowl Trophy.

The AHMEN is a series of 6 races held in Humber Bay in August and September (and sometimes Oct.). There are 4 starts. A flag is awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd finishers, as well as a flag for the overall results. Boat participation has been steady for the past three years. About 35 boats participate in each of the races. The largest participation is in the faster Spinnaker 1 division, with an average of 14 boats at each race. About half of the participation is from NYC (48%), with AYC, EYC, MCC and QCYC each contributing about 10%.
 
The races are organized by a committee of the Humber Bay Clubs (plus QCYC). Each club (except the Boulevard Club) provides a RC for a race. Interestingly, TSCC with only 2% of participants, still provided a RC. NYC sponsors one race even though it has 48% of the participants. Thanks to PRO John Waddell and his crew for his excellent officiating at the NYC race!
 
The schedule for the 2015 season has been finalized: Sat. Aug. 8 EYC; Sun. Aug. 16 NYC (Argosy); Sun. Sept. 13 MCC; Sat. Sept. 19 AYC; Sep. 26 TSCC; and Sun. Oct. 4 QCYC. Race information can be found at www.ahmen.ca.