Fellow sailors,
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who showed up to race in less than perfect conditions. Temps in mid 80’s and absolutely no wind is not good for sailing period, much less a race. We all waited anxiously for the wind to build a bit before starting the race for almost an hour. When the wind did build we started the 5 minute count down, and true to Lake Arthur’s fickleness, the wind died at the starting gun. The race itself was a mixture of very light to light medium winds.
John Cassano in Amelia Marie, as can always be counted on, crossed the start line right at the gun to take an early lead that continued to grow throughout the race. John crossed the finish line, very impressively, 4 minutes and 54 seconds ahead of the next boat.
Another impressive performance worth noting is John Sumrock in Siren Song. John started the race 16 minutes late and finished 4th overall. His overall total time on the course was 6 minutes faster than 2nd place. As I looked astern on the home leg, while the fleet was stalled, a nice breeze was filling in behind us and John rode the leading edge to catch us like we were sitting still. Well, actually we were. This is a good example of the changing conditions of Lake Arthur. In sailboat racing its not always about tacking from side to side as fast as possible, but also reading the water to find where the wind is more favorable. Yes John got a great advantage by the wind where he was, but he definitely deserves credit for taking advantage of the course conditions as they were presented to him.
A note of clarification: Place standings for the 23’ & Under and Over 23’ classes are determined by the official start time. A boat that starts late whether from a late arrival or difficulty getting through the start gate, places when it crosses the finish line. However, in the Handicap System a boat may start anytime the buoys are in place and they are placed by handicap for their actual time on the course.
Race Results 6/6/21
23’ & Under
1st Amelia Marie
2nd More Like It
3rd Siren Song
Over 23’
1st Gratitude
2nd Rangatira
Handicap
1st Siren Song 5 points
2nd Rangatira 4 points
3rd Amelia Marie 3 points
4th More Like It 2 points
5th Gratitude 1 point
Dave MacDonald
LASC Racing Coordinator