LOSHRS - Race 1 a great start to the shorthanded racing season

by Lake Ontario Offshore Racing on 13 Jun 2014 LOSHRS - It was a great start to the shorthanded racing season with favourable weather and wind for all racers. 59 boats in 10 divisions crossed the start line to compete in a dynamic 17nm Course Race (PCYC – Clarkson — Gibraltar) on Sunday June 1st.

Congratulations to the following boats who won their division:

DH FS1 – Chariot, Jamie MacCorkindale, BHYC (First overall on corrected time)
DH FS2 – Katbird, Kathleen Timmis, RCYC (Second overall on corrected time)
DH FS3 – Byte Size, Alex Kantemir, LSYC (24th overall on corrected time)
DH FS4 – Windburn, Michael Brown, NYC (13th overall on corrected time)

SH FS1 – Pearl, Brent Hughes, FBYC (23rd overall on corrected time)
SH FS2 – Better Still, David Courtney, LSYC (38th overall on corrected time)

DH WS1 – Mister Ed, Ian McAllister, PCYC (Fifth overall on corrected time)
DH WS2 – Sealight, Nilson and Tracey Ruiz (15th overall on corrected time)
DH WS3 – Highland Fling, Martin Osborne (39th overall on corrected time)

SH WS — North Caught, Wendy Northcotte (44th overall on corrected time)

Race #1 – From the Racers’ Perspective.
Brayden Woods on Paladin had an adrenaline-packed race against arch-nemesis Chariot, ultimately finishing within three boat lengths of each other at the finish line after 2h 45min and 17 nm of non-stop action with the lead exchanging several times.

Read about his experiences below.

Getting the boat ready for the start the season has always been a challenge. With a 24 hour Susan Hood the day before. I was tired, the boat was a mess, and suddenly I’m back on the water again with a warm cup of coffee in hand. This spring was not the easiest for preparing boats, and I’m sure that many of us were still wondering about settings, tuning and trim.

As we entered our starting sequence, familiar boats came out from the fleet and the hunt began. I knew we should start at the pin, downwind on starboard. Then gybe to port and hoist the Spinnaker. With a quick glance it was clear that either Jamie MacCorkindale on ‘Chariot’ or I were going to get there. Jamie did a fantastic job at being that boat, we were abreast of him charging evenly. Not a bad start, but far from perfect. To add insult to injury Jamie was very quick to get his spinnaker up after the gybe and squirted ahead to an early lead. That distance didn’t change all the way to the Clarkson Turning Mark.

My sister and I, not happy at being slow with our hoist, talked about the spinnaker douse well ahead of time. I wasn’t tired from the Susan Hood anymore. With room to the mark, we doused without any issues and hardened up our course. We had to clear the fleet of spinnakers that were headed into Clarkson so for a moment Jamie and I were both sailing perpendicular to the Gibraltar finish. Both boats tacked to Starboard at about the same time, and the race started all over again, with Murray Gainer (‘Lively’) hot on our heels.

The next ten miles was a game of subtlety changing gears to deal with the building waves. The three of us were not about to give quarter. I can only imagine the conversations on all of the boats must have been the same. The three boats are very different designs. We observed that Chariot didn’t slap as hard as we did, and was better at keeping a higher course in the choppy conditions. So we trimmed for a little more power, and kept a slightly lower course – the same as ’Lively’ did. Once we were in flatter water under the shelter of land, we started to finally make gains. When we tacked out to Gibraltar, we crossed ahead of Chariot. Another short tack gave us the gun, ‘Chariot’ crossed second, and ‘Lively’ third.

To win the race, we had to win the start. We didn’t. With ratings applied we came third. We didn’t have a perfect race, and obviously have to knock the rust off of our crew work. But we did get our first ever ‘line honours’ in LOSHRS, and Race 1 has never given us a podium finish before. So we are hopeful for the season. The long winter hibernation from my favorite series is finally over.

- Brayden Woods, Paladin.
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LOSHRS Race 2 and Race 3 — Youngstown Weekend – June 14/15
Coming up fast is the enjoyable and always challenging Race to Youngstown and back. A Reminder to contact LOSHRS Coordinator Mac McKenzie to confirm your Dinner and Breakfast order, as well as fill out your Pre-Arrival Clearance forms. These are due by June 11th, 2014.

The Skippers Meeting for the Youngstown Weekend is Friday June 13th @ 7:30pm.

Following the Skippers Meeting, at approximately 8pm, we will have a special guest speaker presenting, professional ocean racer Damian Foxall.

With 30 years of racing experience from dinghy’s to ocean racing trimarans that average speeds of over 30 knots, Damian Foxall is arguably one of the most experienced offshore racing sailors in the world. He has logged over 350,000 nautical miles during nine round the world races, 18 Trans-Atlantic races and the Americas Cup. His most recent victory came as a watch captain aboard Groupama, winner of the exciting 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race.

Damian will be sharing some unique adventures and insights from his illustrious racing career. You may want to arrive early to get a good Click here for more LOOR website