Regatta report from Allan Gray.All those sailors who were able to make it to Hudson Yacht Club for the 2009 Etchells Canadian Championships were in for a terrific ride. The regatta kicked off HYC’s 100th anniversary celebrations and the sailing gods smiled upon us. We had three days of wind and sunny skies on beautiful Lake of Two Mountains—and a couple of evenings of memorable post-race parties.
Fourteen boats from Lake Champlain, Toronto and the Montreal area vied for the championship. Day 1 began with the lake as flat as glass, but as the 12:30 starting time approached a 6-8 knot breeze began to fill in and the Race Committee managed to get in three races. At the end of the day, Hank Lammens, with crew Dirk Kneulman and John Clark, led with three bullets, followed by RCYC’s Allan Liebel and crew Kent Paisley and Mike Wren in 2nd spot, and HYC’s Scott Lawrence, Mike Laventure and Kevin Thompson in 3rd.Day 2 was all about rock and roll, in more ways than one.
In 15-25 knot breezes the fleet got off four races, shredded a couple of chutes, and saw some spinnaker pole bits and pieces plummet to the bottom of the lake. Lammens and company padded their lead with two more bullets, Liebel and crew sailed steadily to hold onto 2nd place, and Lake Champlain’s Ray Harrington moved up into 3rd.That evening the beat-up competitors were treated to a southern-style smoked barbeque feast, with roast chicken, pulled pork and all the trimmings, and then retired to the HYC bar for the Detroit-Pittsburg playoff game and some live music provided by the Hudson Yacht Club Lonely Heart’s Club Band, featuring Paul Laflamme and Scott Lawrence, two local members of the Etchells fleet. A highlight had to be Kent Paisley’s impromptu tambourine and vocal stylings later in the evening.
On Sunday the winds came out of the west at 8-10 knots and the fleet got off its two final races. All boats were off the water by 1:30 and out of the harbour by 2:45. At the end of it all, Lammens, Kneulman and Clark prevailed, followed by the Liebel and Harrington teams.Over the three days the racing was excellent with square lines, fair courses and a tightly bunched group of competitors. Thanks must go out to the RC, headed up by HYC’s Ross Tellier, and to all of the sponsors, including Tenaquip, Ontario Yachts, La Diable, Quantum, the International Etchells Canadian Association, Etchells Fleet 3 Montreal and the Hudson Yacht Club.
The next major event on our schedule is the North Americans on September 15-19 at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club in Toronto. We look forward to seeing you there.
Additional phots from the event taken by Robert Steiner can be seen at http://steinerfoto.zenfolio.com/
