Another Successful PCYC Race Week

by Marilea McAllister on 24 Jul 2010 The third week in July has come to be known as 'PCYC Race Week' at the port Credit Yacht Club and in 2010 it certainly lived up to the name.

The PCYC Open on July 10 and 11 got the racing off to a wonderful start with two great days. Monday and Tuesday were much like they usually are at the club but then came Wednesday! Before three they began arriving for Steerer’s- the west lawn sprouted tents and the grass near the playground looked like a pod of dolphins had arrived with Optis and Open Bics and the dock yard was a bit like Dr. Who’s tardis –expanding to take in every person, car, trailer, and dinghy that arrived at the door! The harbour staff had rearranged the dry sail area, moved the J24s (thanks to the J24 fleet for giving up their Thursday Race night), and made the area more 'dinghy friendly'. Thanks to many wonderful volunteers, registration went very smoothly, even though many had not pre-registered. This year the weather was on our side and the racing was really great on Thursday on all three courses. Friday again saw good winds and everyone enjoyed the day. To our young sailors the presence of members of the Board at presentations indicates the importance of youth sailing at PCYC.

Friday afternoon registration started for the Four Sisters Regatta and again the wonderful volunteers made it smooth and easy. Four Sisters is an open dinghy regatta and we were very pleased to have three Laser Masters participating this year along with older youth sailors no longer in sailing school. Although attendance at the Four Sisters Regatta on the 17th and 18th was down from last year’s record(the Canadian Laser Championships were in Quebec), PCYC hosted nearly 700 registered participants for Steerers’ and Four Sisters over the four days. Many came with parents, siblings, and friends who enjoyed (and stretched) our on shore facilities. Because of the start of the LO30 (they had record attendance too with over 195 boats registered) the start of racing for Four Sisters was delayed until nearly noon. The winds on Saturday were challenging with storm cells rolling through. The Optis came in before the first storm when the rain started but the other two courses got a race in. Everyone was off the water by 2:30 allowing for a leisurely dinner. Sunday had great weather for sailing and all three courses saw a full day of racing. It is not possible for one club to supply all the race committee members and Jury necessary to manage a large regatta and we were fortunate to have race committees members from Etobicoke Yacht Club, Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, and Port Credit Yacht Club. Our own Mark Searle, a Senior National Race Officer, again this year, was the Chief Race officer and it is to his credit that the racing went so smoothly. The amazing John Crawley, our Chief Scorer (assisted by Vice Commodore Fleet, Don French Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning) organized the sailors, made hundreds of corrections to the information given, and calculated all the results. We are so grateful for all the time these dedicated individuals spend so much of their time to make these regattas work.

It is the participants who make an event special. Those who sailed the regattas this year were polite, friendly, mostly tidy, and enthusiastic! We had no major injuries or incidents in four days.

PCYC staff was amazing. With both the LO300 and the dinghy regattas overlapping, they served more food and drink in four days than ever. The staff professionally and cheerfully did the job late into the night. The harbour staff organized and reorganized the yard area to accommodate everyone. LTS staff assisted with Opti launch and kept our young sailors (not in the regattas) in learning mode Thursday and Friday. Events such as this do not happen without the help of many volunteers. Our special thanks to everyone who assisted. We can not do it without your help. A very special thank you to the many members who moved their boats or went away in order make room for visitors. We look forward to next year.