TELLTALES - The Whitby Yacht Club

TELLTALES
Whitby Yacht Club Monthly Newsletter
Commodore’s Corner
September 2013
Great Shots!
I hope all of you enjoyed your sailing experiences in the
month of August as much as Dawn and I did. The combination
of cruising, racing and on shore club activities along with
perfect weather made for a great month at the club.
Thank you to all of the organizers of the various events,
who helped to make the month something special. Between
ongoing Western and Eastern Lake Ontario Cruises, Series
racing, and additional Jack and Jill and Double handed weekend
racing, there were plenty of organized on water activities to
participate in.
The on land action was quite continuous with expanded
bar hours and entertainment. The great on land activity
successes were the Member Appreciation Day and the East
Beach Corn Roast.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
indication
and success I am told that for the
IAs
N SanI D
E T H I SofI Sattendance
SUE
Member Appreciation Day 200 burgers were gone by 1:30
all
children
andUpdate
adult...……………………………….…….…...page
activities taking place both in daytime
and
Whitby
Marina
2
evening were all most positive. A big thank you to the many
Upcoming September & October Events and OPSS Courses .……page 3
organizers and volunteers that participated in making this a great
Nautical
Update ………..………..…………..….………..page
day forEscapes
all attending
members, families and guests. A4 special
thanks
to key
organizers
Nancy and Paul Kerr, Sabine
Jr.
Race Team
Update
…………………………………..............…page
4 and Tony
Cahill, Cathy and Joe Jackowski, Jim and Lois Kendal, and Lori
Membership
and TianaUpdate
Bean...………………………………….…………page 5
Commodore’s
pm...clearlyCorner
very…...…...………….……..….…...…....…..…page
well attended indeed. The feedback1 of
Photos Courtesy of Sr. Members and House
Director, Mel and Wade Warren
___________________________
Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel ……………………………………...page 5
The East Beach Corn Roast proved to be a winner with over 100
people gathering and having a wonderful evening. Thanks to
How
and Why Iand
Rejoined
the WYC
……………………..…….…page
8
the Walter
Colleen
Pingle
for their generous donation
of all
the
corn
and
to
all
the
members
that
generously
donated
their
Welcome New Members ….……………………………….….…..page 8
pot luck contributions and assistance to making this a most
Light
Windsevent.
for Lake Ontario
300 Regatta
…….......……..…….…page
9 and
pleasant
And special
thanks
to John Berry, Mel
Wade
Warren
for…………………
all of their assistance
in the preparations,
2013
WYC
Corn Roast
……………..………..page
10
promotion and organizing.
WYC Youth Race Team Recap ………………………….………..page 6
2013 Members Appreciation Day …...…………………………...page 11
Weather to
predictions
for….…………………………….....page
September are positive so I12encourage
Marblehead
Halifax Regatta
you to enjoy the year end sailing activities.
WYC Cruising Update ……..………………………….……...…page 15
Overview of Performance Handicap Racing ………..………..…..page 18
WYC Nautical News pg 1
COMMOD ORE S
CORN E R… CONTIN UED
F ROM
PAGE
1
As an indication of attendance and success I am
told that for the Member Appreciation Day 200 burgers
were gone by 1:30 pm...clearly very well attended indeed.
The feedback of all children and adult activities taking
place both in daytime and evening were all very positive.
A big thank you to the many organizers and volunteers
that participated in making this a great day for all
attending members, families and guests. A special thanks
to key organizers Nancy and Paul Kerr, Sabine and Tony
Cahill, Cathy and Joe Jackowski, Jim and Lois
Woodman, and Lori and Tiana Bean.
The East Beach Corn Roast proved to be a winner
with over 100 people gathering and having a wonderful
evening. Thanks to Walter and Colleen Pingle for their
generous donation of all the corn and to all the members
that generously donated their pot luck contributions and
assistance to making this a most pleasant event. And a
special thanks to John Berry, Mel and Wade Warren for
all of their assistance in the preparations, promotion and
organizing.
Weather predictions for September are positive so
I encourage you to enjoy the year end sailing activities.
WHITBY MARINA UPDATE
________________________________
NEW HOURS
OFFICE NOW OPEN FROM 7:30 AM- 4:00PM
FUEL DOCK OPEN FROM 7:30AM - 3:30PM
7 DAYS A WEEK
_____________________________________
Boaters for Boaters Fun Race and BBQ –
Saturday September 28th
A fun sailing race to the Ajax weather
buoy and back during the day and a BBQ
Roast Beef following.
Skippers Meeting – 12:00pm
Commodore, John Latour
Race – 1:00pm
BBQ – 5:00pm
$5 participation and BBQ fee + pot luck item (pay in advance)
Bar and music – 12pm – 8pm
Boater Flea Market
Saturday September 28th
In addition to the Fun Sailing Race event on
Sept 28th, there will be a boater flea market that will
include the sale of 4 Whitby Sea Cadet sailing dinghy’s
and a Hobie AI sailing kayak. The Sea Cadet dinghy’s
include a CL 14. The kayak is being sold by the marina
as a sealed bid sale. All boats are being sold as is.
Anyone interested in signing up to display gear for
sale can contact the office to reserve space. Tables are
available free of charge.
All are welcome to attend the flea market!
The race will use a loose handicap
system based on PHRF – Performance
Handicap Racing Fleet. There will also be
bonus points available for many fun
categories, such as:
- The best and the worst dressed crew.
- The least and most total years of crew.
- Do a load of wash while racing.
- Bake a pie while racing.
Please sign up and pay in advance.
Entrée Forms and Tickets are available at the
Marina Office.
WYC Nautical News pg 2
Oshawa Power & Sail
Squadron Courses
Registration Night at Whitby Marina Lobby
Mon. Sept. 30th (18:30-20:30)
Sat. Sept. 21 – Sun. Sept. 22
 Cruising: Cathedral Bluffs YC – Die Hard
 Social: Last day to register for Annual Golf
Tournament
st
nd
Be sure to take advantage of these great
classroom courses…they are excellent courses that
are run by volunteers and at a very reasonable
cost. An information table on OPSS courses will
be set up on Sept. 28th in the marina lobby.
Courses:
Wed. Oct. 2nd
 Racing: Last Fall Single Handed race
Sat. Oct. 5th
 Racing: Last Frost Bite race
 Racing: FBYC Frost Bite Regatta
 Social: Annual Golf Tournament at Newcastle
Golf and Country Club
 Social: BBQ and prizes back at the club
(All welcome… even those not golfing)
Boating Basics: (PCOC) 4 weeks, Cost: $75.00
Boating Essentials: 10 weeks, Cost $250.00
(Prerequisite: PCOC or Boating Basics)
Seamanship (Formerly Piloting): 16 weeks, Cost
150.00 (Recommended prerequisite: Boating
Essentials)
Sail Course (Formerly Seamanship Sail):
16 weeks Cost 150.00
Wed. Oct. 16th
 Haul-out Safety Meeting
Marine Radio Course (VHF Restricted Operator
Certificate (Marine 1): Cost $75.00 /DSC Upgrade
$40.00
Fri. Oct. 18th
 Social: Haulout Party
 Last Day to Submit Board Nomination
Boat and Engine Maintenance: 8-10 weeks, Cost
$125.00
Electronic Navigation: 8 weeks, Cost $150.00
th
Sat. Oct. 19
 Haul-out
Fri. Oct. 25th
 Annual General Meeting & 2013-2014 Board
Election
Monitor the weekly e-blasts and WYC website for
changes and new additions.
Fundamentals of Weather: 12 weeks, Cost
$120.00
Global Weather: 12 weeks, Cost $120.00
Advanced Piloting: 16 weeks, Cost $150.00
(Prerequisite: Piloting or Seamanship)
Junior Navigator: 16 weeks, Cost TBD (This
course is open to CPS members only, and is not
currently scheduled)
For more information visit www.oshawapss.ca
WYC Nautical News pg 3
Jr. Sailing Club Wraps-up
Well we have closed the junior club for
the season and what a season the students had!
The adult keelboat school here at the club
would like to extend a fall special discount to all
WYC members of $200 off our Basic Sailing course
for the remanding courses of the 2013 sailing season.
Our adult program will be running until the end of
October past haul out this year so there is still time to
get your Basic Sail Canada level.
Also a reminder to members that we will be
conducting courses down south during the first two
weeks of February in the BVI's as well as navigation
classes here over the winter in the clubhouse.
For more information please visit our website
at www.nauticalescapes.ca for more details.
Owner, Neil Gillespie
I’m pleased to share that July was a
record month for us in terms of enrolment. The
demands were simple: sail every day! And we
did with great success and no issues. Our
instructors were great and I received numerous
complements on safe boating practice and the
amount of sailing experienced.
Our race team completed the circuit and
did very well and we have a parent driven
program in the works for next year that should
yield WYC a number of trophies for our
shelves.
The instructors have cleaned out the
portables, derigged, and we will be winterizing
the motors over the next few weeks.
The adult program has taken on new
energy where by Neil Gillespie, the owner of
Nautical Escapes, has agreed to supply their
own boats. This allows us to sell the clubs old
boats which will save the club storage,
maintenance and ongoing repairs not to mention
the use of work hours.
We have gained new members and are
driving the “Learn to Sail” towards crew banks
and potential new social and senior
membership.
For all of the volunteers I would like to
thank you all for the continued support and solid
work that has really been appreciated.
All in all a great end to a successful
season.
Director Sailing Education, Chris Mace
Photo (Left): A Great Junior Sail Day. Courtesy of Chris Mace.
WYC Nautical News pg 4
Membership Update
Well here we are nearly at the end of another summer. Haulout is looming, October 19th. Also there
is the end of the term for this board, and the election of a new board for the next boating season. I have to let
you all know what a pleasure it is to be a member of this club, and to serve on the board with such a great
team. This has been a great experience for me. This board has really impressed me with both the depth of
knowledge and how much each of the board members cares about the future of the club, and the enjoyment
of all the members.
One of the highlights of this year was the fostering the prospects and attrition of new members from
the adult sailing program. I made it a personal goal to take out as many adult sail program students as I
could for a sailing experience on Southern Cross. That led to a few of these students actually moving
towards membership! What a great feeling that gave me to know that by sharing one of the things that
makes me happiest, namely sailing, is now being shared with others, and they have caught the sailing bug.
I can’t stress enough how important it is for each of you to participate in the welfare of this club. Not
all of you will serve on the board, I realize that, but you all should at least consider it. The benefits of
comradeship, networking with other boards of other clubs and the opportunity to make a difference are all
great reasons to be part of running of the club. It does take a commitment, I won’t deny that. But it also
leads to friendship that lasts a lifetime, and knowledge that you have made a positive contribution. Consider
being on a committee and taking a role of responsibility as a learning experience to prepare you to be on the
board. I have served two terms as Rear Commodore Membership and really enjoyed the experience. Now I
look forward to running for the position of Vice Commodore, and someone has to take over as the person
whose focus will be to take up the membership portfolio. Who will that person be? It could be you. Think
about it.
Rear Commodore Membership, Doug Norton
Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel
Ok, to make a long story short, as of 2010 all commercially available diesel fuel sold in Canada is
rated as Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) which has seen a 97% reduction of sulfur content since 2006.
Sulfur in diesel fuel acts as a lubricant which protects parts such as fuel injection pumps, fuel injectors,
valves, and valve guides.
What this means is that many diesel fueled engines manufactured prior to about the mid 2000's
can suffer from accelerated wear of any of the above components due to the use of ULSD.
What can we do? Fortunately there are many commercially available additives that we can use to
alleviate these conditions and they're use is highly recommended. Just stay away from any that contain
alcohol as a demulsifier.
If you want the scoop on absolutely the best, “magic elixir of immortality”, diesel fuel additive
email me at [email protected] and I'll send you a link. Oh yeah, it’s available locally too.
David Sandford AMS / DS Marine Surveys
WYC Nautical News pg 5
WYC Race Team
Well another season has passed at the junior club. I know everyone sees dingys out every day and the
groups racing out in the harbour. What a great daily event, learning to sail under every condition fueling
their confidence grooming them for future sailors and hopefully involved in our club either as racers or
cruisers.
I have asked one of our race team members to write up their experience that will give our readers a
better understanding of what the race team experience is all about. Peter describes the summer and I trust
you will find the summer memory as enjoyable as I have. The race team travels from regatta to regatta and
practice each day at the club, sleeping under the stars regardless of weather, facing every conditions in
unknown waters, and challenging hundreds of other sailors in their class. I trust you will find his brief
description enlightening and rewarding and make you as proud of our race team as I am.
Director Sailing Education, Chris Mace
WYC Laser Race Team 2013 Recap
& Thank You to WYC
Throughout the summer, the Whitby Yacht Club Youth Race Team competed in regattas across
Ontario representing the WYC. This summer, the race team consisted of six sailors: Four sailors raced Laser
Radial (Thomas Chandler, Kytin Kwan, Arielle Lynch and Marina Mira) and two sailors represented WYC
in the Laser Standard division (Peter Brickell and Aaron Oskam). This year, the team attended 5 regattas
during the summer and have plans to attend 3 more this fall.
The first summer regatta was Sailfest hosted by
Sarnia Yacht Club. This event is two days long with a
training day to start. The training day was successful and
quite enjoyable and the team met many new coaches from
other clubs and received training tips from them. WYC
racers Peter Brickell and Arielle Lynch were interviewed
and featured in the local newspaper, The Sarnia Observer.
The first race of the day was interesting, for the
wind started out extremely light and shifty, yet within a
moment’s notice became quite heavy. By the end of the
day, the team was extremely tired, both mentally and
physically, from reading the wind shifts, battling the
current, and hiking out to keep the boat flat.
Photo Source: Sarniayachtclub.on.ca
When the second morning came around, the team was not exactly “bright eyed and bushy tailed” but
were excited to get back out on the water for another great day of racing. The wind throughout the day was
not giving the sailors a break of any kind at all. Just like the day before, the wind was shifty, however it
stayed at a steady 7 knots through the races. The team did well for their first regatta of the season. For the
laser standard, Peter Brickell finished 7th overall and Aaron Oskam was 10th. In the Laser Radial division,
the team was led by Kytin Kwan finishing in 20th, following Thomas Chandler at 26th, Arielle Lynch
finishing 34th, and Marina Mira finishing 37th. Sarnia Yacht Club did a great job of running another great
regatta (just like every other year).
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
WYC Nautical News pg 6
WYC LASER RACE TEAM... CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
The next regatta along the line for WYC was the Mid-Ontario Championship Regatta hosted and
held by Sturgeon Lake Sailing Club. This event is a bi-annual regatta. This regatta is a held over two days
and is racing focused.
The first day came with the team set on winning. With the first race taking place, the wind decided to
die completely, making it quite tricky to start. With the first race underway, the wind decided to play tricks
on many of the sailors, however it was to some sailors advantages. Peter Brickell had a great first race in the
regatta finishing in second place out of 24 sailors, and beating the legendary Joe Van Rossem, who is one of,
if not the best Laser sailors in Ontario. He is known quite well and is respected by many sailors including
David Wright (Team Canada Laser Sailor).
Later that night, WYC race team member Aaron Oskam made his daily prophecy. His prophecy was
“See that patch over there, that’s 0 knots, and see that darker patch there, that’s negative two knots.” Aaron’s
“daily prophecies” always entertained the team, even if they weren’t always “prophecies”.
When the next day kicked off it appeared as if Aaron’s prediction was correct. There was no wind
what so ever out on the lake, leading to a very slow morning. The team did their best despite the adverse
conditions and at the awards ceremony, Peter Brickell finished fifth overall and won first place in the junior
division.
After getting back to Whitby, the team trained for a few days then it was off to Kingston for the
Laser North American Championships.
The Laser North American Championships really tested the young WYC sailors, as they were put up
against many of the best sailors in the world. Throughout the four days of racing, the team had many boat
problems with parts and even boats breaking. By the end of the regatta, the WYC team had a fantastic
experience with the competition, but many of them were glad that it was over.
From North American Championships, most of the team came back to Whitby to train and get rested
up for the regattas to come.
The next regatta on our journey through the summer was National Capital regatta held in Ottawa at
Britannia Yacht Club. The first day of National Capital was definitely a challenge with the race team
experiencing 20 knot gusts. Now there are always regattas where the team is hoping for a lot more wind, but
the team could have dealt with a little less wind. By the end of the first day, Kytin Kwan had done quite well
with two 4th place finishes, and a 2nd place finish. When the second day kicked around, the team was water
logged and exhausted, however they knew that they had to keep going. At the awards ceremony, Kytin
Kwan received his first Podium finish with placing 3rd place! In Laser Standard Peter Brickell finished 1st
again in the junior division.
When the WYC Race team finished in Ottawa, they loaded the trailer up and were Kingston bound
for CORK.
CORK is known as the ultimate fresh water experience, and it certainly did not disappoint. The team
were all excited to get to this regatta and the sailing was simply fantastic. Through the regatta, the team kept
up the hard work and made it all the way to the end. They finished knowing they had done their best and
there had been lots of learning from other sailors and the regatta process itself. In four days and 10 races of
tough competition WYC Race Team showed well.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
WYC Nautical News pg 7
Reminiscing: How and Why
I Rejoined the WYC
After being a member from 1972 (the club
house was a wooden building on the North side of
the basin) until 1984, when I quit boating. I
decided in 2004 to get back into sailing.
I visited the Whitby Marina and was
shown around by the staff (very professional and
friendly) who indicated what dock I could be on.
There was a couple at their boats who
greeted us and said “Glad to have company on the
dock”. It appeared they were a little disillusioned
with the social atmosphere there: this has since
changed for the better.
Remembering the great Social atmosphere
I had participated in at WYC between 1972 and
1984, I decided to drive around the bay to WYC.
The gate was open and I drove in unchallenged
and was pleasantly and politely asked by a
member if he could help me.
I told him my story and he suggested that I
go to dock #4, to talk to some members there.
Sure enough when I got on the dock I was greeted
by “Is that Reg Hirst, are you going to rejoin us?”
If I remember correctly it was Vic Rudik, Bob
Nunny Ian Hale and others.
If The Gate Had Been Closed And I Had Not
Been Greeted Warmly And Made To Feel
Welcomed I Would Be At The Marina.
Let’s keep our (your) WYC the friendliest
club on the lake. Let's not treat any we do not
recognize as a threat to the Club.
Anyone who enters the grounds is a
potential member. Let’s make it easier for them to
consider joining us.
Senior Member, Reg Hirst
The Whitby Yacht Club is pleased to
announce the following new member this
month:
Victor Navy joins the WYC as a new social
member.
The WYC extends a warm welcome
to Victor and his family. We hope their
association with the WYC will be a long and
enjoyable one.
WELCOME ABOARD!
WYC LASER RACE TEAM... CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
The Radial fleet of 121 boats was
divided into gold and silver fleet. In the silver
fleet Kytin Kwan placed 11th and Thomas
Chandler placed 14th. In the Laser Standard
Peter Brickell placed 12th in a fleet of 25
boats.
The WYC Race Team would like to
thank the members for providing the setting for
a great 8 weeks of sailing and investment in
the sport. We proudly represented WYC in all
of these events. We love racing and will
continue on in September at the High School
Regatta, Fall CORK, and Pumpkin Fest.
Junior Sail 2013, Peter Brickell
WYC Nautical News pg 8
Light Winds for Lake Ontario 300 Regatta
The Whitby Yacht Club was once again well represented in this
year’s Lake Ontario 300 that will go down as the longest one to date with
the last boat finishing in 5 days and 54 minutes.
121 boats started the race on Saturday, July 13th but only 67
managed to finish in a race plagued with little or no wind.
Boats representing WYC included
Sumac (Peter Smith), Black Magic (Mark
Ashworth), Moonlight Mistress (Dave
Rogers), Glory B (Ian Robertson), and Tony
Cahill was aboard Midnight Express out of
Highland Yacht Club.
Sumac raced in the Main Duck
spinnaker fleet and finished 2nd in their
division while Midnight Express competed
in the Scotch Bonnet white sail division and
placed 1st in their division and first overall
in the fully crewed white sail fleet.
Past Commodore, Tony Cahill
WYC Nautical News pg 9
2013 WYC Corn Roast
A great time had by all! Over 100 people attended!
As special “Thank You” to Walter and Colleen Pringle who donated
this fabulous corn to our event!
Special Thanks to Sr. Member, Stephen Dockrill for the great pictures!
WYC Nautical News pg 10
2013 Members Appreciation Day
Our thanks to past Commodore Tony and Sabine Cahill, Past Commodore Paul and Nancy Kerr,
the Social committee, plus many more who helped!
There was so much going on! The inflatable castle, the barbecue, the bingo, the ladies at the build your own
cupcake stand, the band....Wow!
With more than 100 people attending it was another great day with great weather!
A wonderful time was had by all, and our thanks to all who came out and made it a great day!
Once again, Sr. Member, Stephen Dockrill captures the spirit of the day!
Great Pictures! Thank you!
WYC Nautical News pg 11
Marblehead to Halifax
The Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race (MHOR) is a 383 mile
race between Marblehead, Massachusetts and Halifax, Nova
Scotia. The 35th Biennial race was hosted by the Boston Yacht Club and
the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron on July 7th, 2013. This race is
on every sailor’s bucket list!
MacIntosh pulling into Marblehead Harbour
before the race
MacIntosh is a custom Cartwright 44 foot owned by Durk Steigenga. MacIntosh is a cruising boat
that has had some major modifications to make her a legend on Lake Ontario for the past 25 years. Her mast
has been extended some 12 feet; now a fractional rig with running backstays, and her fin elliptical keel
modified with 8 feet of draft. Her PHRF rating is 72. Durk founded Performance Sails in Toronto, so you
know he has an excellent sail inventory. Durk closed down Performance Sails last year and built his
retirement home on the ocean in Blandford Nova Scotia. When Durk put out an email that he was looking
for crew for the Marblehead, I replied YES without even checking my schedule!
The following crew was assembled early in the new year.
John Steigenga (Durk’s brother) has a Beneteau First 40.7 in Detroit.
Michael Cullen has an Ericson 35 called Impromptu in Cathedral Bluffs. I have sailed against Micheal for
years in Newcastle, and with him and Kris on Coug.
Kris Davis is a partner on Coug out of CBYC.
Kevin Williams has a Beneteau Oceanis 351 called Wind Dancer in Newcastle. Kevin did his junior sailing
at the Whitby Yacht Club.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
WYC Nautical News pg 12
MARBELHEAD TO HALIFAX….CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
The four guys from Ontario flew Porter Airlines to Boston on the Friday before the race with John
from Detroit joining us later that afternoon. The Boston Yacht Club and the Marblehead Harbour are truly
amazing; a sailor’s mecca! I would estimate that there are 1,000 boats on mooring balls in the harbour. To
get to your boat, you would jump on one of three BYC tenders.
Saturday we provisioned the boat, and took her out for a shakedown offshore from Marblehead in
about 15-20 knots of breeze. The new (never flown before) Kevlar main, #1, and 1,200 square foot
spinnaker performed well as we
all got familiar with the boat:
hoisting/gybing/dousing the
spinnaker, reefing the mainsail,
and changing the headsails. We
did have some issues that we had
to resolved back on the mooring
ball.
On Saturday night we
checked out much of historic
Marblehead. After dinner we
met up with the owner of a 12
Meter Class yacht called Defiant;
we got a tour of the boat, what a
sight!
The race started on the
Sunday at 1pm, we were the seventh start, so we didn’t
get off until after 2pm.
It was neat watching all the 80+ ft boats starting
before us including the 85 foot Defiant.
Downwind start in light winds with author
holding the boom out
We were in PHRF-3 division with 12 other boats
We setup a 3 hour 3 person watch schedule that worked well. Winds were around 15 knots on a
close reach for most of the first night under full main and asymmetric spinnaker doing 7+ knots the entire
time leaving our competitors behind us. My favourite shift was the 12-3am; not many waves, 8 knots of
boat speed using this sail combination. We did get woken before our 6am shift because the winds had
picked up and moved forward. We doused the spinnaker and hoisted the heavy #1 for a close hauled pound
to the coast of Nova Scotia. MacIntosh is such a solid boat. Going below pounding upwind you didn’t hear
any creaking or waves hitting the hull.
On the second night, it was raining very hard, but for some reason it was a warm rain with fog
limiting our visibility to perhaps 200 feet. We were having some battery charging problems on the boat and
didn’t have enough power to run the radar, so it was all eyes looking and ears listening for crossing
boats. At one point on a starboard tack, we had a 43 foot raceboat called Agincourt also on starboard pass us
to windward within 100 feet of us. They were in the division above us, so we knew we were doing well.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
WYC Nautical News pg 13
MARBELHEAD TO HALIFAX….CONTINUED ON, PAGE 13
The next day we were facing 20+ knots of wind with dense fog.
Later winds picked up to 25 with gusts in the
30s, causing us to change to a #3 and reefed main for 7
knots of boat speed and 25 degrees of heel. We stayed
with this sail combination for the rest of the night. We
heard whales spouting their blow holes beside us, but
could not see them in the fog. At one point we saw
the fluke of a whale off our stern. We encountered
bats and birds even though we were 30+ miles
offshore. We also had to dodge a fishing
trawler. Later were heard a story about a 75 foot yacht
called Donnybrook that hit a whale off shore. 12 knots
to 0 knots; luckily nobody was hurt, and they
completed the race (don’t know about the whale!).
We got to within 3 miles of shore off the SE tip of
Nova Scotia. I got some cell service, sent some status
updates via email, and checked the race viewer: we were in
first place in our division by 5 miles and 3rd overall in
PHRF. We were 90 miles from the finish and were
sailing close hauled toward Halifax. Durk had won the
MHOR is 2005 aboard MacIntosh and wanted to do it
again. We looked at the weather reports: 25 knots of
breeze from the East that would diminish and swing to
the SE in the morning. We decided to keep north of the
rhumb line and get lifted all the way to Halifax and
maybe hoist a spinnaker. This would be a great
advantage over two boats ahead of us that were south of
the rhumb line.
The wind had picked up to over 30 knots, us
with a full main, #3 and all bodies on the rail to flatten
the boat out. We would stay like this for another 8
hours. We had started to get closer to shore by Mahone
Bay, with no wind shift. WE DID NOT GET THE
WIND SHIFT AND LIFT TO HALIFAX. We were 2.5
miles from Peggy's Cove. If we had tacked even one hour
(7 miles) earlier, we would have sailed 6 miles less.
Full main and #2
Harrier’s lead at the Halifax turning mark
As we came out of Mahone Bay, Harrier had made up our 5 mile lead. The J/35 Harrier had the
same PHRF rating as MacIntosh, so the final 25 miles was a match race. We covered them all the way to
windward turning mark at Halifax and they got ahead of us on the reach to the next turning mark.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
WYC Nautical News pg 14
Cruising Update
It is hard to know where to start on an update, what with all the great events that have taken place
this summer as part of the Cruising Program. Actually its not hard – THANK YOU CRUISE CAPTAINS!
We started the season with the Ice Breaker and then an amazing Commodore’s Cruise with the tall
ships, then a week later Jim McMaster lead the Cruise to Cobourg for the Canada Day Weekend and the
Waterfront festival. Olcott YC was a weekend for some and the beginning of the West End Convoy for
others. Thanks Jim Stewart for leading this group. We suffered some last minute attrition on the West End
Convoy but an intrepid group worked its way around through NOTH, 50 Point and Lakeshore YC. Thanks
to Paul Becker and James Whyte for helping out.
The conclusion of the West End Convoy was also the night of our first “Near-full Moon Cruise”.
Bart Bies lead the way as we all departed Whitby YC at 8:00pm for the Weather Bouy at Ajax.
On the way there we witnessed a beautiful sunset to the west and a gorgeous full moon to the east.
The winds were perfect with a beautiful sail in both directions.
What a great time being out on the water as we worked our way back to Whitby just shy of midnight.
The lights of the 12 to 15 boats were like a string of pearls across the water, with the full moon the jewel in
the middle.
The August Long Weekend was a busy time with boats heading in all directions. Thanks to
Anstruther Macfarlane who lead the cruise to Port Credit YC with just under 20 boats. PCYC also sent 20
plus boats back to Whitby for the weekend with some great entertainment arranged for anyone at the Club.
Mark & Susan Ashworth enjoyed the Full Moon Cruise aboard
Silver Shadow with Gord & Ruth Sedgewick.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
WYC Nautical News pg 15
CRUISING UPDATE….CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15
At the same time a group of
boats headed out on the East End
Convoy. A few boats started in
Tuscarora YC at Wilson then the
formal convoy started in Oak Orchard,
followed by Rochester YC, Sodus Bay
YC, Fair Haven YC in Little Sodus
Bay then finished off in Wapous. Each
of these harbours provide its own
unique charm and entertainment with
dingy rides up the creek at Oak
Orchard along with “cheapest rounds
on the Lake” in the OOYC Clubhouse
restaurant; tours of Rochester and an
evening watching Kirk Russell and
Martin Short in “Captain Ron”; a great
afternoon warm up event leading to an
evening at the Tiki Bar in Sodus Bay; a
tour of every store in Fairhaven NY
Captains and First Mates from First Draft, Still Time, Once Around,
(Little Sodus Bay) ending up in the
Lakehouse and Stealing Summer at Fairhaven YC in Little Sodus Bay.
famous “cookie factory”, and last but
not least a “healthy walk” to the Wapous Estate Winery for some wine (what a surprise) and excellent food.
Cambio, Lost Bouys and Elray joined in for parts of the convoy.
Most important of all is we had excellent winds on every leg of the journey from the moment we left
Whitby until we pulled into Wapous!
For anyone who has not yet made it to Sodus Bay and Little Sodus Bay let me say they are two of the
prettiest stops on the Lake. My special thanks to Tom & Marj from Lakehouse and Paul & Nancy on First
Draft for helping out Nancy and I out on this convoy.
The convoy had just about wrapped up as we wandered back from the Wapous Estate Winery only to
find Jim Blaney from Our Tern having a quiet, romantic candle lit dinner with someone (and it was not
Shelly :).
Kim Dodds on Allura acted as host once again for the Gananoque Rendezvous, which was held in the
Navy Islands. It’s a good thing he has that 42 foot Niagara as half a dozen Whitby boats and a few alumni all
joined Kim for a great afternoon. We enjoyed some great food, drink and conversation while the weather
went from beautiful to torrential downpours and back to beautiful once again.
On August 17th Bob Nunney lead a small group of Whitby boats to Port Dalhousie where I
understand the LOCCA Rendezvous was another great success.
Finally, to finish off the summer, this weekend past (Labour Day) we had 23 boats head to Mimico
where Rob & Deb Foster on Tapestry hosted a Gilligan’s Island Themed party. Despite warnings from the
weatherman it turned out to be some nice weather and great time.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
WYC Nautical News pg 16
CRUISING UPDATE….CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16
To finish off where I started, thanks to everyone who came out and participated in some of the
cruising event this summer. Special thanks to the Cruise Captains who have all done a phenomenal job and
helped to make Whitby Yacht Club one of the most successful cruising clubs on Lake Ontario today!
By Sr. Member and Cruise Coordinator, Shawn Brayman
MARBELHEAD TO HALIFAX….CONTINUED FROM, PAGE 14
Dirk was on the helm, and Mac was a handful in the puffs flying the symmetrical spinnaker. We
were flying towards the finish at over 9 knots, gaining on Harrier. The course swung more downwind, and
we were able to close the gap further.
This is how close we got at the finish line:
After 3 days on the water, we end up with a 25 mile match race, 20 seconds out of first place. So we
placed SECOND in PHRF-3 and FOURTH overall in PHRF. We were disappointed, tired, but proud of our
accomplishment. Our duel even made it to GAM on Yachting Magazine:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2013/MHOR%20GAM.pdf
What a great experience!
Next year we plan on entering MacIntosh in the Route Halifax Saint-Pierre et Miquelon. This is a
350 mile race from Halifax to the French islands off the coast of Newfoundland. The Friar Trophy will be
awarded to the PHRF yacht with the best combined performance in Route Halifax Saint-Pierre 2014 and the
2013 Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race. Harrier won the trophy this year.
Another thing to cross off my bucket list!
Sr. Member, Bart Bies
WYC Nautical News pg 17
Performance Handicap Racing Fleet –
Lake Ontario
Club handicappers are regularly ribbed about the supposed
influence they have upon the handicaps issued to club boats
particularly their own. Handicapper are, in fact, there primarily to
help, advise, facilitate and to apply the PHRF-LO system. They have
no influence on the actual handicap numbers except for the initial
handicap of new classes in other clubs as they are not allowed to vote on initial assignments for Whitby
Boats.
PHRF-LO is unique in its sophisticated database management system which not only calculates
appropriate adjustments based on application form input but also permits the annual statistical analysis of
race data supplied by the member clubs. A report is issued to every club covering the performance of all
boats in their fleet. Analysis report.
History:
The inaugural meeting of PHRF-LO was held at Fair Haven, NY on December 1st 1979. This was the
year I arrived in Ontario from Quebec and was then racing under the LOR or the Lake Ontario Rule. If I
remember correctly it cost about $80 to get a certificate and there were many complaints about the lack of
fairness in the rule: the larger boats were always favoured.
So PHRF-LO is now 34 years old and has many “old timers” to thank for their foresight and their
hard work to get it started and write the rules for performance handicapping. It was not the first performance
based rule but it is the biggest in North America. The mother of them all is the Portsmouth Yardstick which
was adopted, as a going concern, by the Royal Yachting Association in 1952 and is still live and healthy
today. The main difference between the Portsmouth Yardstick and PHRF is that PY only handicaps classes
where there is a sufficient number of boats racing whereas PHRF-LO will handicap any mono-hull boat even
if there is only one in the class. PY gets over this issue by allowing “Club Numbers” to be given to these
boats until there is sufficient data for a “Recorded Number”, “Secondary” or “Primary Yardstick”.
At the onset, the PHRF-LO fathers had some difficulty obtaining acceptance of the rule by the larger
boats owners because their advantage under LOR no longer existed. Perhaps as a temporary measure but
certainly as a sales aid, a fudge factor was incorporated. This was named the Q factor which deliberately
biased the results in favour of the larger (faster) boats in order to more closely match the LOR results. With
this factor in place the acceptance was quite rapid and before long the LOR was virtually dead.
The LOR and the early years of PHRF used time on distance scoring and it is still used in many US
regions today. However it was shown that time of time scoring is generally a much fairer system. It was
adopted by PHRF-LO perhaps 20 years ago and is in general use on Lake Ontario today.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
WYC Nautical News pg 18
PHRF….CONTINUED FROM, PAGE 18
The PHRF-LO Executive and the Central Council began
to realise that more objectivity or science based decisions were
required to move the organization into the 21st century. To this
end an ex officio “Technical Advisory Committee” was set up to
study various aspects of our handicapping process and to report
findings and recommendations to the Central Council for
consideration.
One of the first topics was to evaluate the effect of the Q factor and in this massive study over 3,500
individual races, from all around Lake Ontario, were re-scored and analysed. The results indicated a
systematic bias in favour of the faster boats when there was a handicap spread of 30 sec/nm or more in a
race. The data in fact showed that a bias in the other direction was needed for weekday races probably owing
to the typical drop in wind speed towards dusk when the faster boats had already finished and the slower
ones were still struggling around the course in light air. After much debate a compromise was reached in
which the Q factor was reduced to 0.008 effectively removing its effect completely.
Another early recommendation was the elimination of the sometimes unfair penalties for whisker
pole length, the maximum length being automatically constrained by the size (LP measurement) of the
foresail which was already handicapped.
In the early years there were large class fleets
such as the C&C 25 and C&C 30 racing in many
clubs and open regattas providing statistically sound
data for analysis. Over the ensuing years the
population of boats racing on LO has increased
dramatically and been hugely diversified resulting
many more classes containing only one boat. At last
count there were over 500 classes with less than 5
boats, 379 with only one. It is not possible to draw
any useful statistical conclusions from such small
groups of boats especially when they are widely
separated and rarely if ever raced in the same fleet. It
was this realization that prompted the TAC to look
into cooperative studies with US Sailing with their
extensive database and computational capabilities.
They had developed the Offshore Racing Rule based on a
velocity prediction program. PHRF-LO does not use VPP
to directly set any handicap but rather uses it to compare
different aspect of yacht performance arriving at differences
or deltas to make adjustments.
The first step was to choose a range of classes that broadly
represent the range of boats sailed on Lake Ontario. These
are marked with red and comprised classes that had been
already analyzed using the VPP. The blue dots are all the
different classes in our database. You can see that there is a
reasonable representation of our total fleet. The next step
was to develop an algorithm using the boat parameters
CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
WYC Nautical News pg 19
PHRF….CONTINUED FROM, PAGE 19
that we have in our fleet database.
The most urgent need at the time was to rationalize the NFS handicaps which a few years earlier had
been severed from the Flying Sail handicaps. It was allowed to move freely with respect to the FS creating
situations where the delta between FS and NFS could not be explained.
So armed with our new tool we compared the predicted performance with and without spinnakers
over a range of different course types and wind strengths. We could now calculate the delta sec/mile (that is
the difference between the FS and NFS) for any boat in our fleet. We had to make some choices here as we
only have one handicap per boat and the delta varied based on course type and wind strength. The graph
shows the dramatic change on a windward/leeward course as the wind builds. This should not be a surprise
as for displacement boats the speed is limited by the waterline length and eventually hull speed can be
obtained by NFS when the wind becomes strong enough. So the game is always about compromise and we
chose an 8 knot wind and a general purpose course.
A refinement of the adjustment table for Genoa sizes was
made in a similar way providing a smooth transition for the
various sizes and a more generous allowance for small jibs. The
blue line is the original adjustment scale and the green is the new
one.
It had long been felt that the allowance for fixed blade
props was not adequate to cover the lost performance due to
drag. In order to improve fairness for cruising boats a range of
boats sizes has been analyzed to determine the drag due to fixed
2 blade and 3 blade props.
There were two surprises here. Firstly that the difference in drag between two-blade and three blade was not
as great as expected. Secondly, there is a marked correlation between the prop delta and displacement. It
would not have been a surprise if we had considered that each prop had been matched to the size of boat.
Bigger boats require bigger props hence more drag. However we are not yet sophisticated enough to vary
CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
WYC Nautical News pg 20
PHRF….CONTINUED FROM, PAGE 20
prop delta with displacement but one day perhaps we will be. The resulting changes to the adjustment table
are not large enough to cause skippers to move from folding to fixed but at least will create a more level
field for the cruiser racer fleet.
Another recommendation which has been adopted by Central Council is to drop the 3 sec/nm
increments in adjustment which dates back to the pre-computer days when handicapping was done by hand.
The SP or base speed potential of classes has retained the 3 sec/nm increments to maintain uniformity with
our US counterparts.
Central Council have also been studying sail area measurement for Genoas, Main and Spinnaker to
increase the fairness of adjustments. Some of these took effect this year and there are more to come.
The study currently in progress for us at US Sailing is a comparison of the various keel types and
their effect on performance. The results from this should be available by Spring 2014 and should provide a
useful guide for the setting of initial SP handicaps for new classes.
Rest assured that Central Council will always scrutinize the application of all these adjustments and
the NFS Delta, in the light of the annual performance data analysis.
Sr. Member and WYC Webmaster, Andrew Sensicle
Blast from the Past!
(Picture from September 2000)
WYC Nautical News pg 21