CREW
Due to a shortage of Circe “regulars” available that Saturday we had to dip into the Circe crew bank and luckily were able to get Trevor and Adam on board for the race.

Foredeck – Kathleen, Chris L

Main sheet & Timing – Susan

Jibs – Trevor, Adam

Tiller – Skipper Ron (SR)

Our view as most of the crew decamps below, save Skipper Ron and Adam

WEATHER

In a word, truly MISERABLE. Pouring rain all the way out there and for most of the one hour postponement. And it was cold. And it was windy, about 15 knots out of the east. Most of the crew except SR and Adam sheltered below while we sailed back and forth under main alone before the start. I guess we missed the memo on the start postponement because when we found the committee boat around the schedule time of the first gun there were only 2 other boats out there. The rest of the fleet gradually filled in over the next hour.

THE COURSE

It was a standard LORC windward/leeward two times around, three races/day course. The Race Committee was our own Graham Dougall on our own Freddie M.

Trevor assumes his usual sailing position

Kathleen and Susan stay warm taking selfies

JIB SELECTION

We went with the new Black Magic. It was a good call but a lot of work for Trevor and Adam to grind that sucker in and Kathleen and Chris to skirt it on a 45 degree sloping deck.

Chris on the thoroughly wet foredeck, as Black Magic flies

THE RACES

There were three races. Because they started late the first race only had 0.8 mile legs and the others had 1.0 mile legs. There were four classes starting on our course. PHRF Flying Sails Division 1 and 2, and PHRF Non Flying Sails (NFS) Divisions 1 and 2. We were in PHRF NFS Division 1. We were supposed to be third start after the two spinnaker fleets but Graham combined the two Flying Sail Divisions into a single start and the two NFS Divisions into the second start.

Did Kathleen find the committee boat in the fog?

Other QCYC boats out included Bandoleer, Warrington, Frida, and Running Free. Alpha Omega was registered but could not find crew so sailed with Bruce Smith on Bandoleer.

All three races are kind of a blur in my mind but they were all very similar and followed the same pattern. A decent start followed by a good windward leg, first NSF boat to the weather mark, and extend the lead on the downwind, then repeat for the second lap. The only time we were near other competitors was at the start and the first third of the first weather leg.

Some highlights I recall. Kathleen wanting to break into the Portuguese tarts that Adam brought even before the racing started. Pam’s lifesaving hot chocolate that got passed around in a single shared cup like a Communion Service with equally miraculous results. Amelia had a great start first race and we were neck and neck with her up the first buck until she misjudged the layline and had to throw in 2 extra tacks. In the start of the second race Amelia was just ahead and slightly to weather at the start and would have been a problem when we hardened on but they thought they were over early (found out later that they were looking at the wrong mark) and dipped back and were no longer a factor. The last race in a thick fog looking for the second weather mark. We were heading out into the lake on a port tack with no other boats visible in the fog let alone a weather mark and decided it was time to tack back onto starboard to look for it. We could just make out occasionally through the fog the dim shape of spinnakers ahead so we knew we had not over laid it by much when miraculously the mark materialized out of the fog right on our bow and we were able to head reach around it perfectly.

A look-back view of the sweet weather mark that emerged perfectly out of the fog - it’s a miracle!

All crew performed superbly under some very trying conditions. Strangely, once the races started no one complained about being cold, especially the winch grinders.

A happy Trevor as we round the final weather marks for the final leg of the day

After the last race we were still in a dense fog and decided we would pass on going into ABYC even if we could have found it. I heard no objections from the crew on this decision. We had a chart plotter so we set a course home and had a nice relaxing wing and wing run to outside the spit averaging 5 knots or more, at times even in a bit of sun. The fog lifted when we got to the end of the spit and we hardened on and managed to lay the gap. When we got in we folded Black Magic reverently as best we could on the deck and headed up to the dining room to meet up with Pam and finish off her hot chocolate and the rest of the Portuguese tarts. The Frida crew were already there and we discovered that they had to retire after the first race due to tears in both their main and jib. And good thing we got in when we did as a severe electrical storm hit with a very close lightning strike and heavy rain.

RESULTS

First over all on actual time and first over all on corrected time in each race, not only in NFS Division 1 but also in NFS Division 2.

Well done Circe Crew and thank you all for coming out with me and Circe in some truly miserable conditions.

Skipper Ron