SCYC Covid Cup Sailed in Warm Sunny Weather and Excellent Winds

Six SCYC boats sailed the special SCYC Covid Cup racing event on Sunday June 7 following postponement on June 6 due to forecast light airs. The boats sailed a 14.5 NM course in warm, sunny weather and pleasant NW winds. Three of the boats were sailed Single Handed and three sailed by a crew of two people who were resident in the same household. Two additional boats were registered for the initial race date on Saturday but were unable to sail Sunday.

From a start line between Schooner Reef Light and the Port Hand Day Mark on the Breakwater at Fairwinds Marina, the boats passed ’No-Name” Island on their starboard side then headed out to round the Outer Navy Buoy on port. Then they rounded Douglas Island on starboard, Ballenas Islands on starboard and sailed back to round the Outer Navy Buoy on starboard. The final leg of the course was their return to the finish line between Schooner Reef and the Port Hand Day Mark on the Breakwater.

The event was planned in the style of a pursuit race, in which a handicap is applied to the individual start time for each boat so that, theoretically, all boats would finish at the same time.The handicap corrects for the different speeds of the various boats. Calculated in seconds per mile, handicaps are used internationally to provide a level playing field for mixed fleets of boats. The actual order of finishing in a pursuit race reflects  how individual boat sail the course and how they trim their sails and boat for speed. Differences also result from factors affecting actual speed such as the condition of the sails and the bottom of the boat.

Our skippers today were provided with a course for the event and an individual start time for each boat, along with rules for safety, communication, race conduct, etc. The slowest boat in the fleet for this event started at 1000 and the fastest started at 1026.

Peter and Anne Milne sailed “Blue Heron” into first place overall and first place among the Double Handed boats, crossing the finish line in 2 hours and 55 minutes – at an average speed of 4.8 KTS.. Eric and Bronwen Young (“FanaSea”) were second and Mike and Grace Norman (“Early Dawn”) crossed the finish line in third place. These three boats finished within a space of seven minutes after an average of more than three hours of sailing.

Clearly challenged by the on-board obstinance of their errant crew members, the Single Handed boats finished close behind with John Collins (“Spud”) taking first place among the Single Handers (just two minutes behind the Double Handed boats and in fourth place overall), followed by Bruce Petry (“Natural High”) and Joe Skipsey (“Bonne Esperance”).

The event took place during a fast ebb with an extremely low tide as the boats were finishing. Bruce Petry reported a two-KT difference between boat speed and speed over the ground approaching the north west side of Ballenas Island. The strong tidal current was influential from start to finish.

The Covid Cup was a “shakedown” event to offer the opportunity for our sailors to ”re-hone” their sailing skills after a drought of several months due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. This was our first racing event since we truncated the Ken Woodward Hot Rum Series at 5 races in early March. We will now discuss extending this single event into a series of regular racing events as our Covid-related constraints ease.

This was not the BMW Lasqueti Island Regatta, which was originally scheduled for this weekend, but the sailors participating agreed it was a fun event and a great sail. For the official race results upload Covid Cup Results

With regards, and “hats off” to our skilled sailors who participated in this fun event.

Richard Hudson

Fleet Captain