2026 Fall PHRF 3

Stephen Kidd

Race Report Fall PHRF 3 Tuesday, Sept. 1 While the wind at the dock read only 5 knots from the East, we could see more on the river. Not enough to reef, though. And in fact, we had beautiful 15-20 knot winds that TQ loves. It was good we had an easterly wind that allowed us to practice using the chute to get upriver pretty fast to the course. After some initial reluctance, Jasmine stepped up, as we exited the harbour, to helm for the first time. She transferred her dinghy racing skills well to a keelboat. At the debrief, we all thought that if sailing a dinghy was like riding a dirt bike, then sailing TQ was like driving an RV. Jasmine adapted well to the boat's slower responsiveness to the wheel. She also discovered firsthand that slower tacks cause TQ to lose less speed. After the first time around the W-course, Jasmine got in the groove, overcame her admitted tendency to pinch and maintained the boat speed - up to 5.5 knots upwind. She was also sensitive to keeping the boat from accidental gybes downwind. Well done, you! We were shorthanded in this wind at a headcount of five, but this team really pulled together for a good workout for each of us. I was glad that Amy, as a first-timer, could experience TQ at her best on the lake. Amy (who has a CS 27 but had never raced), you blended in so well and so nimbly! Awesome handling of jib and spinnaker guy/sheet. Despite its reasonable consistency, the wind was shifty. So on our second time to the gates we made a late and costly decision to gybe the kite, not allowing ourselves enough time to get it down. Despite Martin's heroic efforts alone on foredeck, we had to round the gate, well below it. In the process, Jay, ably handling the main for only the third time, also showed himself fleet-footed, jumping between the chute halyard, the downhaul, the tweaker and even the sheet at one point, on his own initiative. This was one rare evening when the wind did not diminish on the lake. What a sail! (Sorry, we had no time to take pics until after the race.) Lesson learned: Re our debrief from last Thursday, we experimented with bringing the jib in tight as usual upwind, but also not as tight, to see what the influence on the boat's speed would be as well as back winding the main. In 15-20 knot winds, we had no back winding, and better boat speed with the jib in tight to the shroud.