Day and a Bit Race 2014

The 2014 Day & a Bit Race was a light-air struggle on both days, but that didn't dampen spirits too much.  The nature of this event means the racing is only one part of the weekend.  There were non NYC boats participating, including 3 from SCYC.
 
On Saturday the first boats started at 09:00 off the south tip of Protection Island, with a light Easterly breeze that allowed them to get away heading towards Snake Island.  Some chose to pass close to Snake Island, and this setup their crossing well to the North of the rhumb line to Gibsons.  Other boats chose to hug closer to Gabriola Island and this gave the "inside" advantage as the breeze clocked when heading into the Strait.  Mid-Strait the breeze died-away to almost nothing, and this prompted boats to retire and start motoring (early retirees must have been anxious to get a good dock spot!).  All things come to those who wait...and indeed the predicted NW breeze did finally arrive, and this connected to the Howe Sound infill breeze which became fresh near the finish line.  Synergy was first across the line, followed by Cu na Mara, and then 2 trimarans: Mail Order Bride and Dream Chaser enjoying the best conditions of the weekend with speed bursts well into double digits.
 
With the slow crossing, there was not much time for a dock party before the dinner bell rang.  Some of the group ascended the "hill" to upper Gibsons to catch some live jazz at Boomers Burger Bar (not bad, if you enjoy listening to music in a quonset hut), while others went to our traditional spot: Leos.  Afterwards it was gelatto (60 flavour choices), followed by Scotch and a card game of Wizards (or early to bed for the smarter ones).  A lesson was learned...don't leave a bottle of Scotch sitting on deck overnight...this was a magnet for otters who scrambled on-deck at 2am and started their own party!
 
The return race on Sunday was another light-air crossing, with just enough NW breeze to move, but not enough for most of the fleet to finish.  Mail Order Bride was impressive, at times sailing at double the true wind speed, and crossed the finish line at 4:07pm.  Dream Chaser was the only other finisher, squeaking under the time limit at 4:58pm.  This lead to an easy calculation of overall finish results:
 
1st place: Mail Order Bride  (4 points: 3 + 1)
2nd place: Dream Chaser ( 6 points: 4 + 2)
3rd place: Synergy (18 points: 1 + 17)
4th place: Cu na Mara (19 points: 2 + 17)...and first of the singlehanders
all other boats were equal on 34 points (DNF is scored as fleet size + 1 = 17)
 
 
Most of the group gathered afterwards at the NYC bar for the grand prize draw: a custom mainsail cover fromLohmann Sails and Covers.  Finishing a leg meant an extra name dropped in the jar giving a better chance of winning the draw, and this apparently helped as Mail Order Bride won! This was fitting as this new boat came without a mainsail cover.  This is the first year the race winner has also won the draw prize.
 
Keep your calender free for next year...some new ideas are percolating!
 
Replay the race action from both days with TackTracker.

Race Archive