Club Championship 2010

Following a very exciting day’s racing, in the very last race of the series, Evert Bastet with crew Taylor Grant, Matt Rozon and Jenny Marten emerged as the HYC 2010 club champions.

With 6 races to run, RC, led by RO Scott Lawrence was out early, but very shifty conditions delayed the start of the wild card race until 10:00. Alan Gray and David Godin exchanged the lead position several times during the first three legs of the race but, in the end, Jean-Luc Gosselin caught a personal wind-lane on the last down-wind and snatched a second place just behind Alan to go through to the club championship series.

The wind continued to strengthen, but remained very shifty the whole day to challenge both competitors and race committee alike. Each race in the 5-race series proved exciting with no one competitor dominating and all the boats appearing reasonably matched. The wind continued to oscillate and also varied significantly in strength – so there was a major premium for picking the right side and getting in-phase – and a big penalty if you happened to be on the wrong side of a wind variation. The positions changed frequently on the course, providing plenty of interest for the small fleet of spectator boats that were out to support the sailors and follow the action.

After four races, Evert Bastet and Allan Gray were tied with 1 race to go and 1 drop to be had. The RC was determined to set an absolutely square course for the determining race and so tension mounted as the pin and the windward mark were adjusted and the start sequence was called off a few times. Once underway, after a close start, Evert eventually managed to open up a lead and Ron Harris snatched a second place for the race, with Alan in a close third. Congratulations to all competitors who all pulled off some excellent moves during the day.

The final placement was: Evert Bastet, Allan Gray, Ron Harris, Jean-Luc Gosselin and Chris Campbell and their respective crews.

Thanks to everyone: Competitors, Race Committee, Support Boats, the J/24 fleet and the office for helping to make the event a success.

Club Champions 2010 - Photo courtesy of Robert Steiner

To see more great photos, go to http://steinerfoto.zenfolio.com/.

And also to www.maddylane.com