Wednesday, September 5, 2012

September Winds

Saskachewan Short Course on Redberry lake 2001.  In front is Stephen Huszar, in the background with the disco sail is Ian Elliott... without much leech tension...too sheeted out...  hold on!!

This weekend, we have the final event of the Dick Degner Grand Prix in which you need at lest one Saskatchewan and one Albertan event to be scored (so this is the last chance for Albertans without a Sask event).  The event is called the Saskatchewan Short Course Championship at SSC.  This will also be the 2012 District 5 Championship (District 5 is Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba).  Here is the notice of race, and Here are the SI's.

The Paralympic Final races are tomorrow September 6th.  If anyone finds a way to view them, let us know!  Saskachewan Logan Campbell who has sailed several Saskachewan Short Course Champs is sailing Sonar with skipper Bruce Millar and second Crew Scott Lutes, they are sitting in 8th.  Royal Victoria Yacht Club sailors John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit are sitting in 4th in Skud class.  These two have often joined in on the Junior Race Team's drills at Royal Vic and so I have had the honour of training with them also.  Finally, Gold Medallist Paul Tingley from RNovaScotiaYS is sailing 2.4mR and is sitting in 5th.  Click here for the Paralympic website where you can find results and bios etc.

Bruce, Scott and Logan leading up to the 2012 Paralympics.  Logan is out on the rail.

John and Stacy on Day 3 at the 2012 Paraolympics
Paul Tingley at Sail Melbourne 2009


Back at CYC...

Tuesday Night Laser Race Team at CYC has come to an end with another good showing on Tuesday the 28th of August.  The plan is to continue to have Tuesday night as a group training session, but I will not be coaching, instead I will be out in my Laser training with everyone else.  Yesterday, Tuesday the 4th, we had eight people out in spite of dead calm and five of us went out for a short sail regardless of the lack of breeze.

Thursday Night Racing continues in September with a 6:30pm start to cope with the earlier sunset.

Looking back, Jimmy Buffet Night went off smoothly and CYC Club Championships were wildly shifty.  Ian H managed to beat Mike H with the help of Bill M, whose bullet in one of the final races took away Mike H's tie-breaking bullet leaving Ian with the Championship.  We think that Ian H and Keith H are the first father and son to both have their names on the Club Championship trophy.

Labour Day Long Weekend we had a wild and windy Provincial Championships at Wabamun Sailing Club.  Friday, some sailors came out early and we had a sunny, warm evening with a fine wind of about 8 knots and some good, even boat speed.  Saturday, the first day of the regatta, was very similar to Wabamun Open with a solid breeze and nice waves and Boat speed started to separate sailors in the long races.  Day two brought even more wind, but it was rainy and colder and we were held onshore until the worst of it blew over... or so we thought.  When we came out after lunch it started out in the teens of knots, but by the second race, it blasted up into the 30 knot range as the clouds cleared and the Race Committee clocked a gust at 36 knots.  They shortened the course and we screamed in on a crazy reach.  A few sailors were saying that they might never have gone that fast in a laser before.  Monday, day three, looked like it would be the mildest day for wind, but by the time we got on the race course the wind was in the high teens again and in the second race, as the clouds cleared again, we got some hairy gusts but also some deep lulls.  A coach suggested that the breeze ranged from 24 knots lulling down to 12 knots, but many sailors were saying that the gusts were even stronger than the day before and the Race Committee suggested that it got into the 30's again.

It was an exhausting regatta with all the breeze and although there were only 7 races, the race lengths were consistently in the 55 minute range and so after fierce battles in the first couple of legs, the positions tended to space out at the front of the fleet as boat speed became paramount.  I came out with straight 1st places, Nick H had straight 2nds in spite of returning to the start line for fear of being OCS in at least two races.  Jay F had been a long time out of the Laser, but he still came in with all 3rds except for the first race and the last race where a collision with Phil P caused Jay to retire (if a collision causes injury, you are not exonerated by doing a 720 and must retire).  In 4th place was CYC Youth Race Team coach Luke H, in 5th place was under-sized Ian H and first Master went to Phil P in 6th place.

In the Fireball Fleet only Greg F and Mike L sailed all of the races, although they said that the competition was good when the others braved the elements.  There were 505s and the Catamaran Bladerunner out sailing in some of the big winds, but most exciting was the huge Opti Fleet.  On the first day some of the braver Optis stayed out in the blow and inspired the others to try the big winds (slightly sheltered by the point).  The second day the Optis were better able to handle the wind and more of them came out and on the last day they were pretty well all racing.  Thanks to Newell Sailing Club, Glenmore Sailing Club and Calgary Yacht Club for supporting the Opti fleet as always and for Wabamun Sailing Club and Alberta Sailing Association for supplying Opti Coaches and ASA's MOSS program for providing so many Optis.  A special mention has to go out to Glenmore Sailing School (as opposed to Club) for getting some of their Optis out for the first time (in a long time?  Ever?).  GSS has long been a huge part of sailing in Alberta, but has rarely contributed many Racers to the sport.  I heard that Elisha A and Elliot A played a big part in promoting racing to their sailing school students, so hopefully with this wild Provincial Regatta, another crop of new racers will have been inspired by the sport and will rant to their friends at GSS who didn't make it about how cool it was.

In the Opti championship fleet, Tom M from Newell Sailing Club finished first followed by Maren from CYC.  Third was a sailor from Glenmore Sailing Club, but without the posted results I can't recall his name or be sure of his club.  But the results are not as important as fostering a healthy future for our sport!

This is the picture posted on the CYA website for 2012 Sail East and Sail Central



 BUT WAIT!

After D5 Champs this weekend the season is not over, there is the Frostbite Regatta at Glenmore Sailing Club September 14-15, Thursday Night Racing continues through September, there is the Brass Monkey October 13th, and if you feel like travelling, there is Fall Dinghies September 22-23 at Royal Victoria Yacht Club and Pumpkin Bowl at West Vancouver Yacht Club probably the second or third week of October.