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Monday, May 23, 2011

Round Saltspring...

This was the second year that we have participated in the Round Saltspring race hosted by the Saltspring Island Sailing Club.  This event consists of a circumnavigation of Saltspring Island -- this year (like last) they chose a clockwise course which starts and ends in Ganges Harbor (or Harbour for those Canadians out there)...

We started the race in light winds with 120 other boats using our new drfiter (or more affectionately called our J0).  It took us a while to get clear, but we were through most boats by Fulford Harbor at the south end of the island.  We then switched to the Code Zero and then the A1 which we ran all the way through Samsun Narrows and the north end of the island.

We had some trouble with our new winches (drive train issues) so had to top-handle the primaries which didn't help things.  At the north end of Saltspring we had a 180 degree wind shift and went to our J2 for the beat up the NE side of the island.  By then we are out of sight of the rest of the fleet and rumbling right along.

For the final run to the finish in Ganges we hoisted the A1 yet again and completed the circumnavigation with an elapsed time 8:52:37 -- putting us in 16th place overall (time-on-time scoring) and 2nd overall (time-on-distance scoring).

Given that we were short-handed and this was primarily a practice/tune-up run for us it was a fun race with congratulations to the crew of Mischief (Melges 32) that sailed a great race...

Here is a wonderful picture of the start: