Caesers Freezer 2013

Yesterday marked the end of the 2013 sailing season with the annual running of the Caesars Freezer regatta.  12 brave boats turned up with an exciting weather forecast calling for Northerly winds of 15 gusting up to 35 knots.  I did quite a bit of prep for the race which included an overall game plan of where to position the boat on the race course to time perfectly with the next anticipated shift and be able to tack into a lift whenever possible.  Our starting strategy was to hit the boat end of the line and try to tack over to the pump house as soon as possible.  We started just above J and ahead or GR on starboard.  We had to flip fairly soon as J was climbing up on us and throwing some dirt our way.  We had a few ducks behind GR but managed to break ahead about the time we passed Traders Cove.  We tried to keep a loose cover on J and GR and generally stay in the same phase as they were when possible.  The center of the lake seemed to be giving us good returns with steady breeze and we seemed to make gains on those boats closer to shore.  We rounded the turning mark at Lake Okanagan Resort with a comfortable lead but I knew we would be in a dog fight all the way down.  Since we had expected heavy air on the run I decided to rig and hoist the small reaching kite and instead we found ourselves in about 8 knots of breeze.  We tried once to plane and managed to hit speed over 11 knots but the angle was way to hot to make a good vmg.  It was going to be slow and low all the way home.  I was surprised even in this mode with the small kite we could match the angles of J and GR behind us without sacrificing speed.  We crossed the finish at C mark first just as the wind started getting funky.  It was an Easterly wind on the finish line and for the first time I was glad we had a reaching chute instead of a runner.  Ghost Rider and J finished a few minutes behind but the rest of the fleet got caught in that changing breeze that totally died then shifted to a Southerly for a final beat to the finish.  I guess this was just the Okanagan reminding us that she will continue to do whatever she pleases with the winds despite the weather forecast.  Thanks to all the competitors and volunteers that make this fantastic sport possible in the Okanagan.  A big thanks to our race committee who brave the elements every week and give us an organized event every race night.  Thanks to Barb Coughlin for not only compiling and tracking all of the results all year, but for also providing me with them to post up on this website and giving everyone access to timely standings.  My hope for the future of this club is still to be able to find our next one design boat that can be adopted by our sailors and provide exciting close racing at an affordable price.  I love the Melges 24 and will continue to try to promote it's presence in BC and the PNW.  It is a challenging boat to sail at a competative level but does not require a crew of 20 year old gymnasts like it's reputation might suggest.  The hiking rules are changing for 2014 that will see the end of the extreme hiking that has been the sore spot (pun intended) of the crews over the years.  On that note we have lost our

forward crew due to his moving to the coast and will be on the lookout for a new member to join our winning team for next season.  If you are interested look me up.  I will attach a copy of our race tracker from yesterdays race.  Till next year.......

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