LONG SAULT (ON) – The rain gods were with Stormont Yacht Club (SYC) on the afternoon of August 26 for the Annual Ladies Day Race. Downpours in the morning turned to sunshine in the afternoon as Lagan III (Skipper Natalie Bray), Amorce (Skipper Kate Miller), Mattea (Skipper Lynn-Marie Legault) and Chinook (Skipper Viola Larkin) set out to start the race.
A special addition to the annual event was the participation of SYC veteran sailors Betty Chaput, Marjorie McCoy and Myrna Earle who joined Chinook as crew. These ladies are an important part of the SYC culture and have sailed at the club for many years.
Blustery winds accompanied the sunshine with 10-17 knots throughout the entire race. The Race Course was set in the bay so spectators were able to enjoy the show. The start line and three race markers were placed strategically, some straight-forward to round, others, fun and somewhat more challenging due to a changeable wind.
All skippers thought that the eastern marker would prove to be trickiest to master. However, it was the first marker located in the west corner of the bay that posed the biggest difficulty to all boats given its proximity to red and green channel markers. One boat did in fact touch the green marker and was forced to do a 360-degree penalty.
Mattea had a great start and was first across the line. Amorce was not far behind and passed Mattea for the lead just before the first lap was completed. This would set up the battle to the finish between the two. Lagan III and Chinook were not far behind but were not able to advance enough to catch Mattea and Amorce.
Mattea was able to make-up time in the downwind stretch of the 2nd lap and passed Amorce easily. Rounding the eastern marker was done smoothly by both skippers. Amorce ran into trouble with a line override which took them close to the north shore. Mattea took advantage of the mishap and raced to the finish line. Amorce recovered and was placed perfectly to point close to the wind. Amorce took aim at the finish line, tightened all her sails and went for it! It was an awesome race with Amorce crossing first, Mattea second.
You can learn more about the Stormont Yacht Club by visiting their website at https://www.stormontyachtclub.ca/.
