2026 Summer JAM 5

Stephen Kidd

We thought the wind was going to be very low, but we were hit with a few 24-knot gusts from the NW as we motored from the harbour through the channel. The forecast was for diminishing wind, so, despite being a crew of only four, we trusted it (despite its recent reverse behaviour) and didn't reef. We had one of the best starts of the season, crossing the line two seconds after the horn, at the boat end, with no one above us, headed toward Aylmer. It was a T-course, rare these days. (T has a triangle format with a gybe mark and finishes downwind; J is the same but finishes upwind (think of the hook of the J pointing upwards)) We stayed ahead of the fleet for a good while until a few of the faster ones overtook us. We had some sweet moments. On the first upwind leg, we made it across Veleda III's bow, which was the stand-on boat. A lot of the race was neck-and-neck with Morning Mist (C&C 30). We only ever had to duck one stand-on boat. Mardi Gras never caught up. After rounding the windward mark ahead of Morning Mist, she tried to overtake us heading to the gybe mark on a beam reach, so I took her higher into the wind just enough to pull downwind and avoid her dirty air. She continued to try to overtake us, but we held our own, maintaining Mark room, rounded the mark, and headed upwind. She tried to get above us, but I would not let her. We gradually left her at least three to four boat lengths behind. With her huge Genoa jib, Morning Mist is faster upwind and beat us this time to the windward mark by a couple of boat lengths. We rounded above her and, after the gybe mark, closed the gap downwind, the wind reducing to 5, then 3 knots. I noticed a crew holding their boat hook as a whisker pole and, after I gave them three warnings, they took it down. (See below.) But we were close enough to beat them on corrected time. Four boats crossed the finish line pretty much abreast of each other. Bosun Luke called out, "So you're trying to make it difficult for me tonight, are you?" Here are the results: https://nsc.ca/nsc_racing/results/2026/jam/summer_series.htm#r5b Ignacio and Sylvain did a crackerjack job tacking the jib and Ignacio diligently playing the jib on the reach leg. Salim was tactful on the main (pun intended) and agile on the foredeck with Sylvain filling in for him on the main. Great teamwork! Rule: Attachment to the Spar: RRS 55.2 states that when a spinnaker pole or whisker pole is in use, it shall be attached to the foremost mast (or spar). Outrigger Prohibition Exception: RRS 55.3 generally bans using any device that pushes a sail's sheet or clew outboard beyond the hull or deck. However, an exception is made specifically allowing a headsail clew to connect to a proper whisker pole—provided that the pole itself adheres to the mast-attachment requirement and no spinnaker is set.