Gabriel Tapuc

A lovely southeasterly wind at 5 - 17 knots made for a nice sail of broad reaches up to almost Aylmer Island followed by tacks upwind back down the lake. Denise did a great job adjusting to the boats wheel, helming much of the way up with Gabriel helming very well on the way back. It was a joy to have baby Veronica onboard, who was no problem at all!

Race Report Tuesday August 4 Summer PHRF 6 Its only a forecast. We were a lean crew with 5 people and thought that it would be light to moderate winds. We ended up with over 20kt of wind, sustained for at least our first lap. Our start was okay, we were right in the pack, but had a lot of dirty air behind a few boats, though several boats were OCS. We tacked to get out of the dirty air and made our way around the course. Martin did a great job solo on foredeck, no hourglasses which in this wind was impressive, as getting the spin down is always an adventure. Our downwind sections took only a few minutes each time, with our speed topping out at 7.3kt according to the GPS. The rest of the race was uneventful, a testament to the crew’s abilities! We had a lot of very smooth tacks, always made the mark with just a bit of extra space, and finished the race in about an hour.

Not much wind but had a great swim

Arriving at NSC in the rain and hearing thunder, we were convinced the race would be cancelled. But it always pays to show up! The weather moved east, and we even had a break in the clouds. (Besides, the no-shows were given 19 points!) The W-course was set to the northeast. The wind ranged from 8 to 15 knots, averaging about 10. We didn't have a great start, unfortunately, but we were able to break away from the dirty air, crossing the line, and then several boats followed suit, confirming we made the right move. The wind was stronger on the right side of the course. With Michael on foredeck, and Martin and Gabriel on sheets, Gabriel manning the kite halyard, as well, the execution was nearly flawless. Michael resolved an hourglass on the second downwind by having Gabriel lower the chute briefly. Heading for the gates, we stayed on a starboard track until the Div. 1 upwind boats on port passed us, then gybed to head for the right gate. Michael stowed the kite efficiently so we could round the gate tightly to head upwind. Unlike most race nights when the wind progressively dies, it increased to 12 and 14 knots on our third time around the course, making for a great sail...until it dropped to 7 soon after rounding the mark to head downwind. We thought we would definitely have given Valeda III a scare, but she was a no show.

By Michael Cardy Tuesday race update: we started off floating with no wind to be seen after a lovely little storm system took it all away. However, the weather gods heard our whining (or wanted to make us work) and it filled in with some solid wind averaging 15kn, but gusts up to 27! We had a reasonable start, though we could have been more aggressive when deciding to head up and ended up in a bit of dirty air. The wind continued to shift and we got lifted to the windward mark, but not quite enough to make it. After rounding the mark, our foredeck crew did an awesome job getting the spinnaker up, not bad for Francis’s first time this season and Gabriel’s first time ever with wind!! We had a bit of trouble getting the spin down on our second lap as we work off the rust in the heavy winds, but recovered quickly! In the shifty winds on the third lap, we just barely made the windward mark and did my least favourite activity of shooting the mark. Foredeck did a great job getting the spin set to launch after rounding the mark but in the chaos we caught the spinnaker in the jib while furling! Quick thinking by the crew got it untangled and we sailed off into the sunset. After the race, Martin got a chance to helm TQ for the first time and did a great job, including finding bifurcation which is always tricky on a windy day.