Nepean One Design Regatta Commentary:

The Nepean One Design Regatta this year was two days of attrition sailing!  Saturday winds were in the 16-20 knot range with puffs as high as 25 knots.  This made for an excellent opportunity to practice sailing with the main de-powered as was demonstrated at the race training seminar two weeks earlier, woo hoo!  Then there was Sunday, winds in the 2-4 knot range and steady rain or drizzle, yuck!

The regatta was held on June 17th and 18th this year.  The Albacores had the highest dinghy participation rate at the regatta!(-wm.)  There were 9 Albacores registered for the event, with only one boat making the trip from out of town.  Our thanks to Doug and Kay Marsh for making the trip up from Pennsylvania.

The racing on Saturday was close between the lead boats, and the strong winds resulted in a high attrition rate.  Several boats had an opportunity to practice their capsize and recovery technique, and many a crew and even a few helms were groaning about newly rediscovered muscles come Sunday morning.

After the Saturday racing, Ed broke out strawberries and rum and ensured that all participants were able to experience his strawberry daiquiris.   I could rave on about them and I’d be well qualified to, having downed several, but to experience them personally all you have to do is attend the regatta next year *hint, hint*.

Sunday was an entirely different day.  The light winds gave Doug and Kay an opportunity to put on a light air racing clinic, unfortunately none of us were close enough to benefit from their demonstration.  Only two races were put in on Sunday, as the race committee had counted 5 on Saturday even though none of the Albacores had stayed out for the 5th race.

Awards were presented on Sunday and while everyone was packing up the sun came out and the weekend ended on a positive note.

6-27-2000
Van Sheppard
Nepean Sailing Club