Mother Nature delays racing on Lake Huron

by Tyson Connolly on 29 May 2006 Gusts reaching 40 knots, waves up to six feet and still very cold water temperatures does not make for a good combination to be sailboat racing on Lake Huron.

Race Chairmen Matt Sealy and Gerry Adamson made the only decision that could have been made last Sunday by abandoning the day of racing.

The Spring Series will be sailed today weather permitting, races No. 1 and No. 2 are set to sail two miles north of the Blue Water Bridges at 10:35 a.m. The anticipation will return back to the banks of the Black River as skippers and their crews will be making final preparations.

The extra week definitely helped some local skippers make necessary adjustments that maybe were overlooked prior to last Sunday. Spring Series Races No. 3 and No. 4 will be delayed until June 11.

The schedule begins to heat up after this weekend. The Bayview Yacht Club will again host the National Offshore One Design Regatta Friday through June 4.

All boats that compete in this event are matched against boats that are identical. Thus, the advantage between the boats becomes the efficiency of the crew work, the ability of the driver, and decision making of the tactician. It is truly one of the best opportunities for sailors to test their abilities.

The NOOD Regatta has many other venues in which the best are matched against one another. Chicago is the next destination for the Sailing World magazine sponsored event, which begins June 16. The regatta travels to Toronto for its second appearance in Canadian waters on June 23. Some local sailors do make the trip to all these locations although it is very hard to organize a good consistent crew to make each event.

The Pac-Man Race will be sailed on Lake Huron on June 3. The event is hosted by the Port Huron Yacht Club and organized by the Cruising Class. The course is exactly mapped out like the title of the race - it is shaped like Pac-Man, using the octagon course in Lower Lake Huron. The event has increased in popularity within both the Port Huron and Sarnia yacht clubs over the last two years.

Although there was no racing last Sunday, one important race began to take registrations - the Lake Huron International Regatta, which is June 30 and July 1.

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