The Doublehanded Sailing Association
The Big Blow on the Little Lake
The 2000 Spring Regatta was quite a show with lots of go!! This years regatta started out with the big problem of how to get the boat into the water and out to the course. Once that was accomplished most skippers and crew thought that was the hard part…. WRONG!
What started as a nice Sat. sail with 34 other friends ended up with a 4.5 mi. beat into winds over 30 kt. Gusting to over 40. Some made it and some didn’t.
First leg started with the spinnakers flying and life was good. Wind was in the 10 to 15 range to the first mark off of Belle River. Once the fleet rounded and headed on a reach for R18, the wind picked up and sail changes and reefing were the orders of the afternoon for the fore deck. (It was at this point that most skippers were glad the were skippers.)
Once rounding R18 the fleet took the full brunt of the Lake St. Clair Doctor. (Remember, I promised it to you 2 months ago.) Most boats had problems handling the increasing winds. For most of the leg winds were into the 30’s and very gusty. Some of the gusts were registered on the water as being over 40. It seamed that reefed mains and a no. 3’s worked well for many. Down the stretch back to Crescent almost everyone was rounding up in the gusts and showing off their new bottom paint.
For those able to put the boats in the water it was some very exciting sailing and a great opportunity to work on your heavy air sailing. I want to thank everyone that turned out and those who tried but couldn’t make it to the course. Hopefully I’ll see most of you up in Sarnia or at the very least at North Star for the Fall Championships.
Sleeping Tiger, Peevish, Otis B. Driftwood and Joey’s Toy won their classes with Otis B. Driftwood winning the PHRF overall award. The rest of the results can be seen on the web site.
I wish to thank Crescent for their hospitality and allowing us to use their club to finish the race.
Jim Hodson