Vancouver July Regatta

Dock party after racing Saturday

report by David Dale-Johnson

The July One Design Regatta at RVYC was held in almost perfect Dragon conditions.  For most of Saturday the wind was steady at about ten knots from the Northwest while on Sunday the conditions were similar but with occasional light spells.  Four races were held each day with a throw-out now allowed after four races so the scoring Saturday after four races was based on the three best finishes. 

Both Ayrborn 2 and Eagle ended the day with two bullets but with Ayrborn²’s  2nd in the third race and Eagle’s 3rd in the second race Ayrborn wrapped up the day with a one point lead over Eagle followed by Rum & Monkey in 3rd place, Mistral in 4th place and Blue in 5th place.  In the first race, both Eagle and Mistral were over early with the result that each yacht threw out the 8 points from that race. The racing was relatively close with a three boat battle between Mistral, Rum & Monkey and Blue at the finish of the 3rd race resulting in Blue going to 5th place after being blanketed by Mistral and Rum & Monkey at the finish. After Saturday it looked as if the regatta would be a battle between Eagle and Ayrborn²; two very experience helmsmen and two fast boats although Eagle (1977 Miller/Godsil) has been around a few years longer than Ayrborn² (a 2012 Petticrows).  Wren was on the water but not signed in for the regatta. While not scored she showed some of the speed of the old Ayrborn.  

Both days the wind conditions allowed the Race Committee to set the ‘windward leeward twice around’ course relatively close to the Club with the usually weather leg strategy involving a beat to the beach followed by a port tack to the weather mark.  On Sunday, however, the weather leg for most required several tacks which resulted in some port starboard incidents which made a significant difference.  Unfortunately, Eagle fell prey to this at least twice - once with Blue and once with Rum & Monkey.  These probably eliminated their shot at winning the regatta.  Slightly stronger breezes offshore tempted some to try an early port tack to the starboard lay line for the weather mark.  While it freed the adventurer from dealing with the rest of the fleet it did not usually pay off as the lifts off the beach and the tide offset any benefits the breeze might bring.  

Sunday Big Wave Dave forecast 5 knots of breeze most of the day so there was not a lot of optimism around 9:30 AM.  A strong Squamish outflow also suggested that if there was a westerly, it might not get past the outflow to English Bay. Nonetheless, by 11 AM there was a good 8-10 knot breeze for the first start.  There was lots of activity at Jericho Sailing Club with paddlers, Flying Juniors and Lasers contributing to make the weather leg an adventure in avoidance.  A couple of fishing boats, one a 12 foot inflatable and the other a 35 foot power boat also strategically located themselves on the race course.  Mistral managed to chalk up two bullets but was not able to overcome the two 4th place finishes from the day before.  On Sunday, Mistral was back to the consistent team of Norm, Lane Rud and Olivier Grebert - perhaps their secret. However, it was Aryborn² taking the win for the weekend over Mistral  by 8 points