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Page 26 <strong>Lake</strong> <strong>Ontario</strong> <strong>Offshore</strong> Racing Guide <strong>Lake</strong> <strong>Ontario</strong> <strong>Offshore</strong> Racing Guide Page 27<br />
Sperry Cup<br />
Skippers Log<br />
by Craig Pirie<br />
Afterburn, a Dash 34, at the start<br />
of the race.<br />
The boat won the Sperry Cup,<br />
finishing at 5:04 on Monday<br />
afternoon after 2 days and five<br />
hours of racing.<br />
To the south, <strong>Lake</strong> <strong>Ontario</strong> glistens in the sun, a parade of boats is feeding<br />
into the growing congestion around the start area for the 2010 <strong>Lake</strong><br />
<strong>Ontario</strong> <strong>300</strong>. Afterburn, a Dash 34, is one of the last boats to leave the<br />
confines of PCYC’s harbour. The wind is filling in nicely at 10 to 12 knots out<br />
of the Southwest as forecasted and we are looking forward to a fast downwind<br />
ride towards Main Duck Island. In the back of my mind are the words<br />
of caution from meteorologist Ron Bianchi at the skippers’ weather briefing<br />
last night – warning us that by mid-afternoon Saturday there could be several<br />
lines of severe weather passing through the fleet as we sail up the north shore of<br />
the lake.<br />
Darren and Tim prep the spinnaker for a downwind start as we follow a forty<br />
footer towards the start line. With 20 seconds to the gun I bear off taking the<br />
larger boat’s stern and the crew starts our spinnaker hoist, the gun sounds and<br />
we are racing. The 8 mile leg to Gibraltar is a good stretch of water to get the<br />
crew into the groove as Afterburn settles onto a starboard tack broad reach.<br />
We keep to the north of the rhumb-line, focusing on maintaining clear air. Approaching<br />
the mark we douse the spinnaker in favour of the #1 genoa and steer<br />
a wide line around the Gibraltar mark; leaving a mess of boats struggling for<br />
clear air to the inside. After clearing the mark we take advantage of the #1 and<br />
work our way to windward of the fleet. As we pass the Leslie Spit we bear off<br />
and re-launch the spinnaker, allowing Afterburn to accelerate from 7 knots up<br />
to 9 knots while our crew settles on to the windward rail as the wind continues<br />
to build.<br />
By 2:00pm everyone on the rail has their eyes fixed on the dark storm clouds<br />
rapidly closing in on our position, the exhilaration of the fast spinnaker run<br />
over the past several hours is now replaced by anxiousness as we anticipate<br />
the powerful and erratic winds and rain that will mark the leading edge of the<br />
storm front. As the rain begins to fall and the wind increases, Darren and Tim<br />
raise the #1, followed seconds later by the dousing of the chute, the crew is<br />
in the final stages of stuffing the spinnaker below when the front of storm hits,<br />
blasting through at over 30 knots! Hoisting the #1 was a bad call as we are<br />
completely over canvassed, the helm rapidly loads up and lifts me off my perch<br />
on the deck and pulls me half way across the cockpit. Afterburn rounds up<br />
into the wind; I scramble back up to the high side and struggle to gain control<br />
of the tiller. The noise from the howling wind and flogging sails is deafening,<br />
but eventually I am able to work the bow down. Afterburn comes off the wind<br />
and accelerates to 10 knots. Once the front passes and the winds diminish,<br />
Darren emerges from below deck with the repacked spinnaker, Tim works the<br />
sheets and halyard around the forestay and we re-launch the spinnaker. Two<br />
more severe storm fronts chase us down over the next couple of hours; the<br />
second coming from the south and included a solid pelting of hail.<br />
As late afternoon turns to early evening the waves on <strong>Lake</strong> <strong>Ontario</strong> build to 6<br />
feet; the skies are clear overhead while bands of darker storm clouds ring around<br />
the horizon. For improved stability we switch to the asymmetrical spinnaker.