Remembrance Day Results!
What a fantastic day on English Bay. Beautiful sunshine and strong winds greeted sailors participating in the VRC Remembrance Day Pursuit Race. Twenty Two boats ranging from the 22′ Desiderata up to the 50′ Surfrider made it out to the start area. At 11:00 the fleet observed two minutes of silence in remembrance for the men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country during times of war, conflict and peace.
The course was set; starting near the QC buoy South-West of Stanley Park, out to the Pt Grey Bellbuoy and return. The pursuit format means that boats are given start times based upon their PHRF rating and a Time On Distance calculation for the distance of the race. Thus the slower boats start first with faster boats starting later and trying to catch up before the finish line. First boat across the line wins!
Talisman leading O.C.D. at the start.
Winds were predicted to be 15-20 knots from the East for most of the day, and the forecasts didn’t disappoint. Many boats chose to stick with white sails at the downwind start. But a few courageous crews chose to risk a spinnaker run. The wind continued to build causing a few boats some hair raising moments. Talisman broached and blew out their heavy spinnaker. Jasmina also broached but managed to recover without damage. Thursday’s Child had a near broach and quickly doused their spinnaker, switching down to the chicken chute after witnessing Talisman and Jasmina wiping out. Windyfeat reported destroying the spinnaker block at the mast top, but fortunately made it to Pt Grey without losing the halyard.
Thursday’s Child has the jump on Windyfeat at the start.
Once the fleet turned around they had a gusty, rough beat back to the start line. Most of the boats chose the middle of the course with the three Div 1 boats heading more North than most and few, including Talisman, sticking to the South side near the beach. The pursuit format resulted in some exciting finishes with many boats finishing within seconds of each other: Surfrider (3rd) just 4 seconds ahead of Talisman (4th), Windyfeat (5th) just 8 seconds before Thursday’s Child (6th) and Persistence (10th) only 8 seconds ahead of Argosy (11th).
Dominatrix and Excalibur chasing down the fleet.
With the strong winds most boats finished early and crews gathered on the VRC docks to share stories before heading to the Trophy Room at VRC for refreshments, prizes and results.
Our thanks go out to our fantastic sponsors, Evolution Sails, for the wonderful prizes and their ongoing support for all of our racing events! We also couldn’t run our program without the support of our volunteers on race committee, Andreas and all his committee crew, thanks for all of your hard work.
Results for today are available here.
Click here for some photos taken from the committee boat by Melissa Alfreds.
Shane Alfreds
VRC Fleet Captain
s/v Talisman
