HR3, 2011

What a spectacular autumn day for Hot Rum number three.  The crowds are  thinning with the cool weather upon us leaving only the truly dedicated sailors on the water.  We headed out today to beautiful blue skies and very light and patchy breeze out of the North.  The RC signaled course SCXCAF and sounded the 5 minute warning right on time.  Looking up the race course it appeared that considerable skill would be needed to keep us from sailing into the many holes on the first beat.  We had a great midline start on Starboard with clear air and just a nose ahead of the pack.  We followed the boats who were closer to the committee boat and flipped over to port trying to position ourselves in a nice patch of wind just South of the red marker.  It looked like the best strategy would be to hug the Eastern shore and take advantage of any lifts as we headed North.  We managed to stay  ahead of all but one boat and round C just behind Pinstripe.  After a quick set and jibe we sailed our best angle downwind and constantly worked at trying to drive deep in any puffs.  Rounding A mark we weaved our way through Starboard traffic who were still working their way downwind as we slowly started losing ground to that untouchable J29.  The next beat and run went as smooth as any we have ever sailed with the breeze picking up closer to 6-8 knots.  It was a sprint down to A mark rounding just ahead of Predator and Decision, throwing them just enough dirt to prevent being passed on the last beat.  After all was said and done we crossed the line 2nd, still well behind J, but comfortably ahead of many.  Thanks to Henry H for joining us on the water today as his crew has apparently abandoned him to go climb a small hill.  See you next week for the final race of the 2011 Hot Rum.

Looking for a new ride, check this out!

2003 Blusail 24 sportboat. The Blusail 24 offers planing speeds into the teens with the safety and security of a deep draft full keel hull design. Sails consist of a laminate mainsail and jib with two asymmetric spinnakers flown from the carbon fibre bow mounted sprit. The asymmetric spinnaker setup allows thrilling spinnaker rides without the work load associated with a traditional spinnaker pole arrangement. Headsail handling is simplified with a brand new Harken roller furler system. All blocks have just been replaced with Harken carbo blocks and all running rigging with top of line Sampson competition grade line. Auxillery power provided by a 1 year old Honda 2hp outboard mounted on a factory stern bracket. The bottom was completely redone this summer with a fresh coat of hiteck VC offshore antifouling paint. The entire hull and topside has just been professionally buffed and refinished to perfection. Wireless Tacktick instrumentation also included. Also available for purchase with this boat is a matching yard trailer perfect for storing her on the hard during the off season. Please contact Marc at 250-212-9950 to see this exceptional sailboat. Asking $19,900 or $21,500 with the matching trailer. 

New Video

I managed to put together the video from E5 a couple of weeks ago.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://youtu.be/7i4v40fPNSU

HR1

There are few sailing related things more demoralizing than finishing behind a very similarly rated boat in a different time zone, but I am getting way ahead of myself. I was quite skeptical about any wind showing up for today's race after a few days of socked in cloud and drizzle but a gentle 5 knot breeze did eventually make an appearance about 10 minutes after the starting gun today. It was the first general start with all fleets combined for the same sequence. This always makes for some interesting sailing with the opportunity to race against several new boats with the combined fleets. The downside is floating along next to a boat with a much slower rating knowing he is kicking your but on corrected time even though no one is moving, such is the PHRF game we play. Our course for today was SPDXCAF but no one believed we might actually complete it with the 0 to 2 knot winds that were present during the start of the race. We had a good front row full speed start but quickly got rolled and gassed by the J29. We tried to break with the fleet and try for a little more breeze towards the center of the lake even though it might mean sailing on a header back towards P. We managed to makeup quite a bit of time on the first downwind leg and quickly found ourselves as the number 3 boat. The J29 had special guest star Bill C onboard even though it was obvious they didn't need the help. We crossed tacks with Decision and Woo Hoo several times and it was anybody's game. As it turned out we crossed the finish line 3rd just behind Decision and miles behind J who ,although deserving, I must not mention how awesome they did as to avoid any overly inflated egos ;) A great day on the water and the race days left are dwindling fast.

Wanted crew for 525

Wanted for 2012 season:
A KYC member or family complete with crew to sail or race Santana 525 "Margarita" for the 2012 season..
Treat her as your own personal boat. KYC moorage included.
Not a KYC member yet? That's easy to fix.
call James at 250-763-6012

E5, 2011

And the breeze was on in a big way!  What started off with little to no wind wind during the first 5 minutes or so quickly turned in to a nuking breeze out of the South.  We had an interesting course for today's race with SPTDPCAF on the menu.  We knew something was happening when from behind us we heard Aussie Dave and crew howling with delight as the fleet got slammed with about 25 knots out of the South during our first beat to the pump house.  Many brave souls tried to fly their kites in the very shifty and puffy conditions which lead to some truly beautiful broaches.  We took the conservative route and just jib reached for the first leg until we could get a better read on the wind and did not regret it.  We managed to hang in there with the leaders for most of the race until that crazy bunch on the J29 once again found their overdrive gear and blasted well ahead of the pack.  We had some truly awesome condition for today's race that kept us all on our toes the entire time.  The finish found us less that a boat length behind the M244 who were a couple of minutes trailing the race leader, once again the J29.  That concluded the end of the regular season believe it or not.  Racing starts next week in Hot Rum series 1 with just one combined start for everyone.  That should surely make for an interesting start line, see you there.

September Shines

After a few weeks of light air we finally got a little more breeze for this weeks race. The fleets were pretty thin with many competitors out on the lake sailing in the end to end race this weekend. Under partly cloudy skies we had a steady 10 knots out of the North and finally got some much needed variation in our race course for today. It was to be SPCDCAF for the first time this year. There were only 6 boats on the start line for fleet 1 so finding a good lane was not going to be a problem today. We had a good start but quickly got over run by the J29. It was a series of short tacks with most of the fleet staying close to the Eastern shore hoping for the lift normally associated with a Northern breeze. It was a nice back and forth on the race course but we just couldn't find the breeze to get us moving fast. Another good showing by the J29 who have proven themselves as the boat to beat.