Sailors boast race was the best sailing of the summer thus far
NORTH CHANNEL—The Little Current Yacht Club (LCYC), along with the Algoma Sailing Club (ASC) and the North Channel Yacht Club (NCYC), had a successful inaugural North Channel Race last week with 14 boats entered in the five-day boat race.
Leg one started at Hilton Beach on St. Joseph’s Island on Monday with 12 boats racing to Thessalon. In first place in the Crimson Scarlet Fleet (high PHRF (Performance Handicap Racing Fleet—a handicapping system used for yacht racing which allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to race against each other)) was Seabiscuit, followed by Whiskey Jack, Tack Too, Misu, Miss ‘B’ Haven, Moonshadow and Sunny J. In the Gold Fleet (low PHRF), Skyship finished first, followed by Natural High, Blue Teal, Aurora Borealis and Echo.
Leg two on day two of the race from Thessalon to Tolsma Bay (Cockburn Island) was won by Seabiscuit in the Crimson Scarlet Fleet, with Tack Too in second and Misu in third. The overall winner of leg two was Aurora Borealis. Whiskey Jack, Moonshadow, Sunny J and Miss ‘B’ Haven, however, did not finish leg two.
Two more boats joined the race for legs three and four.
Leg three of the race saw sailors navigate their vessels from Tolsma Bay to Spragge (home of the NCYC). Misu took the lead in the Crimson Scarlet Fleet, with Seabiscuit coming in second and Whiskey Jack third. In fourth place was Sunny J, followed by Miss ‘B’ Haven and Moonshadow.
In the Gold Fleet, Skyship came in first, followed by Natural High, Blue Teal, Aurora Borealis and Echo.
The overall winner of leg three was Misu.
Leg four from Spragge to Gore Bay was won by Seabiscuit in the Crimson Scarlet Fleet, followed by Riga in second, Whiskey Jack in third, Sunny J, Moonshadow and Miss ‘B’ Haven.
In the Gold Fleet, Blue Teal took first, with Natural High close behind, followed by Skyship, Aurora Borealis, Echo and Walkabout.
The overall winner for leg four was Blue Teal.
Finally, leg five from Gore Bay to Little Current for the Crimson Scarlet Fleet was won by Misu. Seabiscuit came in second, followed by Riga, Whiskey Jack, Moonshadow, Miss ‘B’ Haven and Sunny J.
As for the Gold Fleet, Skyship finished first, followed by Natural High, Echo, Blue Teal and Aurora Borealis.
The overall leg five winner was Skyship.
During a special dinner at the Rendezvous Pavilion, sailors learned the final results of the 2014 North Channel Race Week.
In first place was Skyship, while second went to Natural High and third to Blue Teal. Aurora Borealis finished fourth, followed by Seabiscuit, Echo, Misu, Whiskey Jack, Miss ‘B’ Haven tied with Sunny J for ninth place and Moonshadow in 10th.
The top three in the Crimson Scarlet Fleet were Seabiscuit, Misu and Whiskey Jack, while top three in the Gold Fleet were Skyship, Natural High and Blue Teal.
The Expositor spoke with Leroy Pieri of Skyship (of the ASC) about his crew’s win.
“I sailed my boat in the MacMan (International Yacht Race) until 2007, then joined Gordon Simpson and the crew of Skyship,” explained Mr. Pieri. “We have a great crew and a well built boat rigged with a good sail. We did have some challenges (in the North Channel Race), but we came out of it all ahead.”
Some of those challenges included the loss of one of the boat’s spinnakers the first day due to a tear and the loss of Mr. Simpson, who had to leave the race after the first leg due to a tooth infection.
“Luckily, his (Mr. Simpson’s) son Glenn, an experienced sailor, came in to replace Gordon and brought along his friend Pat who actually owns a sister ship (a sailboat of the same model, a C&C 32),” said Mr. Pieri. “Another exciting part of the race was the second night. Just as we were coming to Cockburn there was a storm and a lot of lightning, which was exciting.”
As well, all the boats in leg five from Gore Bay to Little Current hit a hiccup when the wind died down to 2-3 knots an hour around James Foot for an hour and a half before picking up and helping the boats across the finish line.
“Overall it was a great race,” concluded Mr. Pieri. “I really enjoyed it. It was the best week of sailing of the summer so far.”
After 10 years the MacMan Challenge International Yacht Race between Mackinac Island and Manitoulin (started by the LCYC) was cancelled this year due to a lack of organizing interest. The new North Channel Race Week was a way to still hold a large race while promoting the beauty of North Channel sailing.
For full results of this year’s race or more information visit www.lcyc.ca.
