Sailing is the best in Chester

by Lynn Helpard on 14 Aug 2010 On the third day of racing in the Chester Race Week regatta, the Principal Race Officer Andreas Josenhans reported from the Alpha course committee boat that the conditions today were the best. The yachts started in medium airs of 8 to 10 knots from the south west and the breeze stiffened to 15 knots in the afternoon. All the action on the three courses went off on time under gorgeous weather conditions.

The 'Distance' class of larger yachts sailed a course of over 21 miles all the way over to marks off Lunenburg. The most competitive class is arguably the J-29 boats and they all finished within 1 ½ minutes of each other after sailing 5 ½ miles, quite a feat in yacht racing.

However, one of the most interesting boats was a Ranger 30 in the cruising class skippered by a 13 year old girl, Amy Minniken of Chester Basin, with a crew of mostly other young females. It is a little unusual to see women at the helm and even more unusual to watch a young teenager positioning her boat in a large fleet for a very good start, and she finished fourth today and is currently 6th overall.

In the Bluenose class 21 boats completed 3 races. It was sight to see the colorful spinnakers billowing in the fresh breeze as the larger A and B classes ran downwind to the finish line.

The regatta winds up tomorrow Saturday with a full day of racing for all 12 classes of boats with an excellent weather forecast.

After three days of intense competition it can be said that once again the Chester area is proving to be one of the finest sailing areas in North America.

The results at press time are as follows with a total of seven protests yet to be heard and adjudicated.

As of press time overall results for Friday, August 13, 2010 are as follows.
For complete results please go to www.chesterraceweek.com and select 'Race'.

A1 Class
1st CIAO BELLA! Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron
2nd Triumph Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron
3rd Wandrian Lunenberg Yacht Club

A2 Class
1st Savory 1 Fredricton Yacht Club
2nd DUCK! Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron
2nd (tied) Power Shift Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron

Distance Class
1st Brilliance Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron
2nd Bellatrix Chester Yacht Club
3rd Mischief Armdale Yacht Club

J/24
1st Sticky Fingers Lunenberg Yacht Club
2nd Adrenalin Rush DYC
3rd Yertle Bedford Basin Yacht Club
3rd (tie) Jamming Bedford Basin Yacht Club

J/29
1st Jaeger Chester Yacht Club
2nd Dog Party Charlottetown Yacht Club
3rd Scotch Mist IV Lunenberg Yacht Club

Bluenose
1st Rebel Chester Yacht Club
2nd Mashaska Chester Yacht Club
3rd Chase Chester Yacht Club