HYC at Etchells North Americans

by Paul Laflamme

Marvin Beckmann from the USA won the hotly contested Etchells North Americans held from September 16th to the 19th of September. 35 entries from the USA (Texas, Fla, Mich, Mass to name a few), Canada (Mtl, Tor, Halifax) and Australia visited the club for the past four days and were thrilled to call RCYC home over the past few days.

The RCYC has a long association with the Etchells fleet. Dirk Kneulman is the current boat builder in North America, and it was great to see Past Commodore Gordon Norton who owned the very first Etchells in Canada come to the opening ceremonies. In fact it seemed every member who stood up to speak to the fleet at the various functions had a story to tell about their Etchells sailing. The current Commodore George Meadows regaled us with his stories of the Etchells.

5 races were held over 3 days. Day one saw light winds and bumpy seas from the East which called for patience and concentration powering these boats through the chop. Day 2 saw Big breeze from the North. 18-25 knots were recorded from the RC boat. Unfortunately, day 3 saw little to no wind and after waiting patiently for close to three hours racing was abandoned by the Race committee.

HYC was represented by 2 boats, Slim with Alan Gray as skipper and crew Jean Racatte and Matt Skafel who finished 20th and Still Lostboys with skipper Paul Laflamme and crew members Debbie Hodgson and Mark Perry, who finished 31st. Also representing the region was PCYC's Keith Mathews and crew who finished 22nd. The competition was very strong with former Olympians, America's Cup, past North American and World Champion sailors filling the ranks.

The RCYC put on a great show for us, on and off the water everything was well organized and timely. The food and hospitality was second only to that offered by HYC. If you ever have a chance to go to RCYC and sail the area you are in for a treat. The RCYC facilities are fabulous and the views of the Toronto skyline are nothing short of spectacular. The sailing is pretty awesome as well. If you have never gone to an outside regatta you should try it. You will meet great people, learn a lot, have fun and it will also remind you of what a special yacht club we have hear at HYC.

HYC Teams Win at Quebec Dinghy Championships

The members of the HYC Race Teams closed out an outstanding regular season recently at the Quebec Provisional Championships. Having participated through the summer in a series of regattas in the Ciruit du Quebec (TRY, CVL, FruitBowl) as well as CORK, here are the results from Quebec Championships held at Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club September 11-13, 2009.

Optimist Overall (29 entries)
3rd Justin Vittecoq (1st White)
11th Coralie Vittecoq (3rd Blue)
17th Thomas Cote (6th Blue)

Optimist Green (16 entries)
2nd Chantal Bourque
4th Mathew Kondejewski
7th Jack Marten

420 (11 entries)
1st Arthur Olivenstein / Matthew Grant
2nd Jack Neilson / Fred Neilson

Congratulations!

Review of the Thomson Long Distance Race

Background

Originally established in 1966 by the then Commodore Arthur Thomson, the Thomson Long Distance Race has become one on the most prestigious events within the HYC sailing calendar. Like so many long standing races over the years it has evolved, acquired many traditions and developed its fair share of controversy.

Current Issue - Who should compete

In recent years with the development of more specialized racing boats a lot of debate has centered on who may participate in the race itself. This has created a lot of confusion and become an emotional topic amongst our members. As a result the sailing committee has spent considerable time over this season to clarify the situation. To do so we have consulted with the Thomson family with regard to the original intent outlined in the deed of gift, our own sailing community to capture the traditions of the event, and SLVYRA our regional handicapping authority to define classes of boats.

Thomson Family View

We understand from Andy Thomson, Arthur’s son, that the race was originally established in response to the predominance of the centerboard fleet within racing at that time. His father wanted to ensure that these dinghy type boats such as Y-flyers, GP14s, and Lightnings would not be able to compete in a race against the growing cruising fleet of Sharks and Tanzer 22's etc. His father’s intent was to exclude centerboard boats and as such he feels it would be appropriate for all keelboats to compete in the race.

Established Tradition

The tradition reflected by many of our membership is that the race should be limited to cruising boats and exclude high performance racing boats. Indeed the original deed of gift states that it is open only to “boats with cruising facilities”. However no definition was provided nor has a clear consensus been reached upon which to classify a boat that wouldn’t exclude almost every boat in the harbour in some way.

Defining a Cruising Boat

SLVYRA governs for our region the PHRF rating system designed for keel boat racing. PHRF ratings for cruiser-racer boats are based on the concept of a “Standard Boat” the definition of which includes that it is production boat built to a single design, has a ballasted keel, is equipped with an engine propeller and fuel tanks, and has inside fittings and equipment as intended by the manufacturer. These fittings and equipment may include all or part of the following: head, sinks, stoves, icebox, navigation desk, berths, lockers, shelves, drawers, table, doors, curtains, instruments, domestic water, plumbing, wiring, fuel and water tanks, etc. SLVYRA also defines “Bare Boats” such as the Soling, Star, Dragon, Etchells, Six Meter etc which by the intent of the manufacturer are devoid of much of the equipment described in the definition of a standard boat. This is also the case for sports boats (Melges 24, J80) and day sailors (Rhodes 19, O Day 23). As such bare boats, sports boats and day sailors do not fit within the widely held view of a cruising boat.

Determination

Having carefully listened to all parties the following determination has been made and shall apply to future Thomson Long Distance Races:

1. Participation in the Thomson Long Distance Race is open to all keelboats with a valid SLVYRA handicap.
2. The Thomson Trophy shall be awarded to the 1st boat finishing on corrected time conforming to the SLVYRA definition of a standard cruiser- racer sailboat.
3. A new award shall be established for the 1st boat finishing on corrected time irrespective of class
4. All previously winners of the Thomson Trophy shall stand.
5. The Club Captain, Senior Sailing Director and Club Measurer shall review on an annual basis the fleet of keelboats at HYC and determine which class of boats shall be defined as non cruising boats.
6. The current list of non cruising boats within the HYC fleet comprises: Etchells, Formula 21, Grampion 22, Independent 21, J22, Rhodes 19

Conclusion

It is intended that these revisions is to formally clarify the situation for all involved and create an inclusive event that maintains the traditions established for the Thompson Long Distance Race. A copy of this review will be placed in the archives for future reference and in conjunction with the deed of gift will be used in the creation of sailing instructions for the race.

Ron Harris and Jazz win Club Championship

With fickle winds delaying the proceedings only the wild card race was completed on Saturday. In the sudden death, winner takes all race it was Ross Tellier (Red Coat) that won through over Chris Campbell (Shigawac) and Scott Lawrence (Quill). But it was the wind, not the competitors, that died shortly after. By 2pm “N over A” was flying from Hy Seas and we called it a day without getting any further races off.

Thankfully on Sunday the breeze came up enabling Pat Patterson and the Race Committee crew to set all 5 races for the championship series.

As the series progressed the results stayed tight with Allan Gray (Slim), Ron Harris (Jazz) and then Evert Bastet each winning successive races.

The event not only tests the ability of the helm, but also the skill of each team is tested by the need to adapt to different boats as crews changed boats between races. This also proved to be a test of their agility, as Ross took an early bath stepping neatly of the side of one Tanzer, straight into the water!

By the end of race 4 and a discard coming into play, the calculators were out as 2 points separated the top 3 teams. However, with strategies devised, immediately after the gun the game changed. Jean-Luc Gosselin (Will-O-Wind) retied and Allan struggled to gain boat speed and position off the line.

Soon a dog fit was to develop between Ron and Evert with the lead changing several times over the first lap. At the leeward mark the boats were overlapped again. Evert had the inside berth, but Ron was able to make a sharp mark rounding to take the windward advantage. Going back up wind a taking dual ensued enabling the gap to open up slightly but it remained tight to the finish.

At the gun less that 4 boat lengths separated the teams. In what proved to be a thrilling end to our regular season Ron Harris and the crew of Jazz, Pete Amos, John Marten and Michelle Jutras took the honours in this year’s Club Championship.

Congratulations to all the competitors and our thanks to the owners of the boats Ken Barrieau (Charisma), Ron Metcalfe (Haida), Mike Laventure (Knot a Clew), Daryl Seaman (Tumbleweed), and Ken Hodgson (Sloup du Jour) for their generosity in providing their Tanzers for the event.

Final results:

Race Teams go Olympic at CORK

The 2009 sailing season ended on a good note with both race teams,Optimist and 420, returning from the Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston (CORK), having represented Hudson Yacht Club extremely well.

The 420 Race Team, a program new to the Junior Sailing program, was met with a strong fleet of over 80 420s in Kingston. After two days of round robin qualifiers, two Hudson boats made the gold fleet and the third raced silver fleet, narrowly missing the cut. With 40 420s on each line, the starts were busy and getting off in the first row and with clean air was a feat. They didn’t get the wind that Kingston is known for but after four days of racing, James and Andrew Gillis finished 22nd overall in gold fleet having sailed consistently with only the odd sibling disagreement. Arthur Olivenstein and Fred Neilson, who just made the gold fleet, advanced in the rankings finally finishing 30th overall.

In the silver fleet, Willem Leduc and Matthew Grant moved into 1st place on day three and won silver fleet despite an early start in the final race of the event. The team had a lot of fun on and off the water with on-land activities varying from go-carting to an awesome Mexican meal at Lone Star.

The Optimist Race Team had a similarly successful event with strong team of five attending CORK. Four out of the five who attended raced in green fleet, a separate race course for the first-year racers. The green course received a fleet of 31 boats and got off a total 17 races throughout the entire regatta. Liam Calder finished 6th overall in the green fleet, having placed top three in several races. Chantal Bourque who placed 8th overall also achieved great results often in the top 10. Jack Marten, despite formidable damage done to his boat in a start line altercation, finished 10th overall. Mathew Kondejewski finished 11th overall in the green fleet having sailed a consistent regatta in the top 15. The championship fleet, made up of the optimist sailors with more than one year of experience had four extremely long days of racing and ended the regatta having sailed 12 races. Thomas Coté sailed an awesome regatta in the championship fleet finishing 55th off of a busy start line of 72 boats. The team was met with a variety of new experiences including exposure to protest proceedings, busy start lines and waves that the Lake of Two Mountains rarely entertains.

by Hannah Kennell.

Labour Day Regatta

The 2009 ANNUAL HUDSON YACHT CLUB/LABOUR DAY REGATTA will be held thru September 4 – 6, 2009.

The Regatta will open on Saturday with the traditional Long Distance Race. This one-of-a-kind event attracts hundreds of competitors and boasts one of the largest starting lines of any keelboat race in Eastern Canada. Come test your racing skills or participate just for the sheer pleasure of it.

Off the water, and back by popular request, the mood is set by the rhythms of the traditional Trinidad Playboys Steel Band that greet your arrival back at the Club for the post-race festivities from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

For those of you with the energy for more sailing, there will be time trials run in HYC dinghies for crews of 2 from the Web pier between 4pm and 6pm

Stay and enjoy our famous BBQ and Corn Boil, take in the spectacular HYC sunset and dance the evening away to the live sounds of Moonlight beginning at 9 p.m.

Racing will continue for keelboats on Sunday with 3 races to decide the Labour Day Regatta Series, with starts for each PHRF fleet and White Sail.

It's a fun filled weekend event sure to be enjoyed by all!

Schedule:

Friday September 4 Registration
Saturday September 5 Long Distance Race

Sunday September 6 Labour Day Regatta Series Races 1-3

Registration Forms:

http://www.hudsonyachtclub.com/LDREGEN2009.pdf

2009 Club Championships

The Club Championship qualifications for the keelboat fleets are now completed and the entries for the finals on Saturday 12th September are now known.

Congratulations to the 2009 Fleet Champions

The following teams have secured a place in the finals:

PHRF 3: Mike Laventure and the crew of Knot A Clew
PHRF 1B/2: Ron Harris and the crew of Jazz
PHRF 1A: Allan Gray and the crew of Slim


Wild Card Qualifications

The following runners-up in each fleet have qualified for the wild card race. The winner of the wild card race will also secure a place in the finals.

PHRF 3 Will o Wind
PHRF 1B/2 Springbok
PHRF1A Quill

Schedule:

Everybody is invited to come and watch some of this year’s top sailors battle it out for the title of HYC 2009 Club Champion. It’s highly entertaining competitive racing and everyone will be in Tanzer 22’s, so handicaps play no role.

Friday, 11 September
19:00 – Skippers meeting in HYC bar
Saturday, 12 September
Wild Card Race followed immediately by Club Championship Series of races
Sunday, 13 September
Reserve date in case of adverse weather conditions or other any issues that may arise

Dinghy Fleet

The Dinghy fleet has one more day of racing scheduled, so the entries from this fleet will be finalised by then end of this week.

Full details of the overall standings for the keel boat fleets are contained in attached file.

Looking forward to an exciting climax to the season.

Bernard le Duc