[Public-List] Two days sailing...

Michael Connolly crufone at comcast.net
Mon Jun 11 14:35:47 PDT 2018


Gord, 
What do you use to handle the tiller whilst you go forward to the mast to adjust halyards, etc.? Bungee cords? Auto helm? Tiller tamer? 
Michael 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Gordon Laco via Public-List" <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> 
To: "public Alberg 30 List -- open to all" <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> 
Cc: "Gordon Laco" <mainstay at csolve.net> 
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2018 9:15:22 AM 
Subject: [Public-List] Two days sailing... 

Hello gang… 

Well I got out on the water both days this past weekend… they were very different days sailing… 

On Saturday I had intended to work on my MG, which is undergoing what has become a massive rebuild. Well I should say I was going to hold tools and watch while my friend did the work, but he had to cancel so I sat here wondering what to do with an unexpected day with no obligations… then I remembered that Saturday is the day our Club was running its annual Single Handed Race. I gulped my coffee and made it to the club just as the skipper’s meeting was ending, and got my name on the list. When asked if I was wanted to be rated flying sails or white sails, I first said ‘naw, white sails only, I don’t feel very energetic.’ 

Then I looked out the clubhouse windows at the glassy water, slack flags and masthead wind indicators pointing all different directions and thought about the misery of the downwind leg back from Flat Point… and said ‘Oh, can I change that… flying sails please’. They changed it. 

As usual for a weekend race, the fleet was much diminished, being composed of myself in SURPRISE, two Express 30’s, a CS27, three Sharks, the deadly fast VOODOO DANCER, a well sailed Viking 28, and my friend and arch rival Matt in his Pearson 27. Matt and I chatted bit on the wharf catching up… but suddenly I saw the committee boat shooting out of the club… crap, we’re late, better get out there for the start. 

So out SURPRISE and I hummed, when out at Midland Shoal buoy I shut down the mill and hoisted sail. Looking back over my shoulder I saw Matt in SUNDANCER hoisting sail right at the club’s breakwater… hmmm, he’s got a long way to beat to get to the start, I thought, and joined in the to and fro swinging. Before the start. 

No sooner had I got into the fray but the air started filling in. East with a bit of north in it… could this be? Yup… Like a slow motion movie being sped up to normal speed, all the yachts began showing bow waves, then heeling over as the breeze built. The five minute horn went, I caught it on my stopwatch… down came the sequence and as the last seconds counted down here comes the herd all on starboard tack jostling each other up to the line. Were was I? On port tack of course, reaching along at 5 knots. I let them all cross our bow and the line… then hardened up my sheets and crossed alone in clear air at speed. The rest of the fleet all ran a few hundred meters on starboard then one after the other tacked onto port and started down the course. 

I should describe the course… the Single Handed is a ‘distance race’, normally running east to Flat Point off Port McNichol, then north and a bit west up to Ross Shoal, then back round Midland Point to a finish off the Club’s breakwater. Because the air looked so light, the course was shortened to just Flat Point and back…. and it was looking like I could lay it in one long close reach. Could this be? Oh yes. 

The wind steadily built, and backed a little more to the north so after the first fifteen minutes we found ourselves bounding along at 6.4 knots with sheets cracked a little, heeling about fifteen degrees… in first place. 

Several miles later, I knew we were nearing the red pin off Flat Point, but as usual I couldn’t see it against the trees behind it. I swear it’s one of those pins that is mischievously moved by the CCG just to annoy people trying to find it… then I saw it… a few degrees to leeward. The leaders of the pack were now about even with me but several hundreds of yards to windward… and clearly they hadn’t seen it yet and were still sailing the higher course. They were VOODOO DANCER and two of the Sharks. haha. 

Then the air got softer, SURPRISE slowed dramatically to 4.1 knots. I dashed up to the mast and eased my halyards, eased the outhaul, then jumped back to the tiller. As I returned I saw my foes had finally seen the mark and were coming down, carrying a renewed breeze with them…. They got by me, one of the Sharks blanketing me a bit but we all rounded together… SURPRISE’s bow nearly overhanging VOODOO’s transom. One of the Sharks, VOODOO and SURPRISE started back to Midland… the new breeze making the return again a close reach. At first the Shark and VOODOO stayed in close company… but as the wind built again I could not only keep up but felt like overtaking. The Shark took a shot upwind with tight sheets…. I was in about a boat length behind VOODOO. I could see him continually glancing at me… I guess he could hear my bow wave and this was annoying him. I feigned a shot to windward myself as it I were going to try to drive over him but as soon as I saw him tightening his sheets to climb himself in order to block me, I eased sheets and dove to leeward. VOODOO didn’t look back for a fatal four or five minutes during which I got far enough to leeward that I could drive through below him out of his wind shadow… and got by. 

By this time VOODOO was far enough up that he was feeling the nearness of the Shark, and for the rest of the race the two of them jostled each other, the Shark trying to get by, VOODOO trying to defend his lead. I left them to it, and concentrated on getting the most out of the building air. I was up to the mast and back several times tuning for the increasing breeze that was romping us along at 6.1 knots. We passed Midland Shoal buoy, one mile from the finish… when VOODOO saw that we were going to beat him to the finish. He finally stopped fighting with the Shark and eased sheets a little in order to use his windward position to come down and catch us. It didn’t happen. 

So SURPRISE, a full keeled yacht heavily laden with cruising gear that I can’t be bothered to unload despite the fact that we race every week… won on real time, then was catapulted ahead by our PHRF rating. What a great race. I think what saved us was the fact that the shortened course didn’t have any hard beating to windward, just close reaching both ways which of course is our best point of sail. Wahoo. 

But what happened to Matt in SUNDANCER? He was very late to the start… so didn’t do the race. I don’t know what happened to him, but hope nothing broke. 

Sunday, I went for a sail out of Toronto with my good friend Janice in her A30 LITTLE WINGS. Down in the city it was blowing 20 - 25kts or so, whipping white caps in the harbour and sending Albacore dinghies planing back and forth as we took the tender over to the island. We tucked a reef in the main, but ended up sailing under genny alone all day and that was plenty of sail for a pleasure jaunt. Out past the East Headland, the east wind was sending waves down the length of Lake Ontario, so the waves were nice mature 5-6 footers with an occasional breaking crest. We bounded away south for a while, then tacked and bounded back to the city. Wonderful sailing in really exhilarating conditions. 

A fellow in a trimaran paced the racers on Saturday and took a series of nice photographs of some of the boats in the Single Handed Race on Saturday (two of the Sharks, the CS27, an Express 30 and ourselves) I’ll forward them if anyone wants to see them. 

Nice weekend. 

Gordon Laco 
www.gordonlaco.com 
#426 Surprise 



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