Well we are done for the is season, racing stat's , 3rd overall in white sails A&B series.
So not to bad, try harder next year....

Crew was awesome, driver (me) less so.

Wind was anywhere from 20-28kts on the course. Gusty and variable. Each puff/lull came with an associated shift 5-15 degrees.

Before the race we tightened the outers on the rig and ran reef point 1. Jerry had already selected the blade and if the wind was above 20-22kts the thought was to put in the reef.

On our way out to the course we took some wind speed readings, topped out at 20. So we decided full main and blade. Readings must have been taken during a lull, and in retrospect I think the single reef + blade would have flattened out the boat and centered the helm with no decrease in speed.

Start was good, Chris and Ian calling tactics. Upwind Leg 1 was also good, we couldn't point as well as with the blade as we would have liked, but a little pinching kept us from sliding to leeward of other boats. A small tacking duel with Thalassa at the mark provided lots of entertainment, especially when they tacked on top of us and we promptly flipped the switch and climbed up over top of them. They had a small roundup at the mark and we were able to sneak inside. Lots of smiles.

Tacticians decided to gybe first, then set the kite. During the gybe the vang shackle parted (Chris would have to confirm exact piece). Took 4-5 minutes to quick rig it back into place. As we were already halfway down the course and doing high 8's/low 9's, decided to forget about the kite. Went east on the course during that leg and did a number on most of the fleet except for Impulse. At Heron II, gybed back over and got into some really sweet Chinese death rolls which made Heron II, the crew, and the driver all fairly nervous. The photographer loved it. All was well. Although I didn't get to see it, three boats in the fleet converged at the rounding mark behind us and it sounded pretty interesting.

Upwind Leg 2 we headed back to the east in a solid 25kts with gusts. On port tack very difficult to see the windward mark 1.5nm away and with the blazing sun in our eyes, so ended up overstanding a little. Footing off was a wild ride, and fast. As we came down to the mark, good old Thalassa was trying to get overlap. The plan was to have another nice tight rounding, gybe, and repeat Downwind Leg 1. No overlap was established by Thalassa and all looked well. Unfortunately, I got too agressive and we rubbed the mark. Spent an hour or two replaying the rounding, came up with lots of reasons/excuses, but at the end of the day shouldn't have happened. First mark I've hit in 12 years, hope it's the last.

Anyways, to continue. Thalassa thought us rubbing the mark was the best thing since sliced bread and started whistling and informing us of the racing rules of sailing. This got everybody focused on them and during the gybe the mainsheet launched Ian into the companionway bulkhead. He was down for a couple seconds and came up bleeding. Chris jumped into action and made sure we didn't have an emergency on our hands. While they were down below, I became pretty pissed about the mark and decided the donkeys who felt the need to catcall afterwards were a perfect way to let off some steam. So we went and parked ourselves on the hip of Thalassa, riding their quarterwake and stealing some of their breeze. After watching us reel them in for a few minutes, they decided to drive us up to Toronto. Right about that time, Chris popped his head back above decks. He informed me that we had their stern if I wanted to go. I'm sure I terrified the crew again, but we ducked their stern like we were in a Laser. I felt a teeny bit better.

Most of the rest of Downwind Leg 2 was spent watching the J70 planing around in the teens. What a ride they must have had. Finished the race 4th over the line, no idea about corrected. Flashed up the motor, dropped the sails, and headed for home. Temperature was a balmy 17 C. Jerry checked his GPS, max SOG was 9.4 kts. I checked the Ajax weather buoy and Environment Canada Toronto Island anemometer. Ajax had 23kts gusts to 31kts during the race, EC had 21kts gusts to 28kts during the race. All were wet, cold, tired, but I think still smiling.

As I said before, crew performed top notch. Driving could have been better. Kept the rig in the boat, did part the boom vang shackle. Kept the crew in the boat, Ian was bleeding however. A wild ride. Wished you could have been there.

Thanks to all.


Jonathan

On board, Jonathan, Dave Z, Dave L, Criss, Ian, Harrison and Jerry

Great race nice sailing weather

Great race topspeed 8.5 great wind 20 knots with some gusts , ended a solid 2nd
Onboard Ian, Criss. And griflfriend friend of criss with girlfriend. Cool weather

crew, Stefan,Tanya,Ian,Cam,Criss and girlfriend,
nice race came in second, weather cool cold front going trough, saw some of the Lo300 boats arriving, they had a great race with some good winds.