Shackles and Cringles

Fall 2000

Inside This Issue

• Commodore's Comments — 3
• Toronto Area Regattas — 4
• Cabbagetown Youth Centre – Kids Learn to Sail by Mary Neumann — 5
• 2000 Canadian Albacore Championships in Meaford — 6
• 200 UK Nationals at Looe by Barney Harris — 8
• 2000 Albacore North Americans — 10
• Canadian Albacore Youth Championships by Rosemary Helmer — 12
• Treasurer's Report by Jason Roth — 14
• PABAR — 16
• Upgrading Your Centreboard by Barney Harris — 17
• Letters — 19
• Notice of Race – 2001 Albacore Midwinters — 20

Volume 40; Number 4

The Albacore Advantage

1999/2000 Canadian Albacore Association Executive

Shackles and Cringles is a quarterly publication of the Canadian Albacore Association. Deadlines for publication are February 15, April 15, July 15 and November 15.

Commodore's Corner

Welcome to a new season of Shackles and Cringles. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 1999/2000 Canadian Albacore Association executive who did a great job during the season and to welcome the new executive members.

First of all, to all of the executive members who have decided to stay on, the continuity of your loyalty and hard work continues to make us a stronger class as we all know our jobs better and can add more creativity and richness to our positions. Thank you to Nona Arneson, for doing a great job with Shackles and Cringles - always informative, educational and entertaining; to Kevin Smith, who ran a fantastic training session in June and also assisted Rosemary Helmer with the Juniors in August; to George Roth, who has brought a fresh outlook and lots of enthusiasm to the chief measurer's job; to Jason Roth, who has brought a higher level of professionalism to the Treasurer's job (I was the former Treasurer!) and who has arranged KPMG as our auditors at an excellent rate; to Henry Pedro, who in addition to ensuring our website is constantly updated (which keeps us all returning to the site regularly) is also responsible for the Boat Show booth (please write me at [email protected] if you would like to help out); to David Weaver, our Specifications Chair, who always provides excellent specifications advice when required, and not but not least, to our Past Commodore, Gord Chu, who despite having two young children at home, regularly attends the meetings and provides the executive with his wise advice which he has cultivated after spending several years on the CAA executive.

I would also like to thank our retiring members for their great contributions during the past year and look forward to seeing you all on the water next year. Thanks to Kate Mullin, our secretary, who faithfully took legible minutes at our monthly meetings even though (I know) we sometimes jumped around a lot; to Doug Paterson, who attended the various meetings with the Albacore clubs to ensure we had a great lineup of good sailing during year 2000; to Ted Mallett, who not only redesigned the membership form so they were (and will continue to be) personalized renewal forms but also took a first ever survey of our members; and to Dianne Clark, Rear Commodore, who worked very hard arranging our Canadian Albacore championships in beautiful Meaford Ontario.

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our four new members of the executive. Welcome to Ann Savege, our new membership chairperson, a long time faithful albacore sailor and a former member of the CAA executive in the early 90's. She is well qualified for her new role which showed at our first meeting – she had some great questions!

Welcome to our new secretary, Teresa Miolla, the skipper in the winning boat of the Canadian Challenger Fleet in 1999 and a winning skipper in a Friday Night Race in year 2000.

Welcome to another great asset to the CAA executive, Neil Wilson, our new Vice Commodore in charge of scheduling. This is a great fit for Neil who has provided the results of the Friday Night Races and Harbour Master's to our Webmasters over the last couple of years. Neil is looking forward to putting together a great Friday night, Harbour Master and Regatta schedule for 2001.

Welcome to our new Rear Commodore, Van Sheppard, who sails with the Ottawa Albacore fleet and makes a point of attending some of the Toronto and US events. We are excited to have an executive member from the other major albacore fleet in Canada. Since Van's job is to organize the Canadians, we are looking forward to hopefully visiting the National Capital next September.

These are your executive members and please join me in thanking them for all of their hard work. If you have any suggestions for their position or would like to offer your assistance, they would love to hear from you!

Our next major event for 2001 is the Toronto Boat Show, January 13 to 21 where the CAA will have a booth. Henry will be needing people to assist at the booth (and you receive a free pass to the show). If you know you would like to take a short shift on the booth, or help with set up and/or take down, please contact me at [email protected] or telephone 367-9898 and I will schedule you in. If you do not have time to work at the boat show but will be there, please stop by the Albacore booth and see us! We are looking forward to a great 2000/2001 season.

Heather Macnaughton
Canadian Albacore Association, Commodore

The Toronto Area Regattas & Series Report

The Toronto area Albacore scene was as usual booming this summer. Although numbers seem to be down from last year, (perhaps this being a "non-Worlds" year had something to do with it) the Friday Night Racing Series, Harbour Master Series and the local regattas were well attended.

The Friday Night Racing series was host to nearly 100 helms and close to 200 different crews in the 2000 season. The starting lines were crowded with an estimated 40-50 boats each night with the exception of one very windy Friday night in May which was a great spectator sport and an experience plus some for the thirteen boats that actually started the race. (Note that I did not say thirteen finished.) Westwood's Kevin Smith easily managed the win in the overall series with a record eight first place finishes. Marek Balinski from St. James Town improved his finishing position from last year by 18 positions to place 2nd overall in the series. The Top 10 saw a few returning faces this year including John Cawthorne and Mike Morrison as well as one new comer – Bruce Nash. Top crew prize went to Mooredale's Suzanne Wilson who was also the first place crew in the Harbour Master Series. Sanju Mehta from Westwood was this year's second place crew. Mooredale Sailing Club once again took home the Spanish Donkey award for the Club. Congratulations to all of this year's winners.

George Wilson from Mooredale spent most of the summer enjoying a comfortable lead in the Harbour Master Series, however, OHCC's Ken Clarke proved that it was not to be in the final two races of the season by half a point. Toronto Island's Fred Koehlmann posted some consistent scores to place third in the series. Congratulations to Tin Htoo for sailing in 14 of the 16 scheduled races.

The magic number for regatta attendance was 31 this summer. Starting out the season with some big winds was the RCYC Regatta (designated as the 2000 Ontario Championships) which attracted several out-of-town sailors. Next up was the Outer Harbour Centreboard Club Open Regatta which hosted 31 attendees. Although hopes of races out on the lake never materialized due to a lack of wind it was a beautiful afternoon. John Gilchrist and his daughter Heather blew away the competition with consistency, posting three 3rd's and a 1st while their next closest competitors John Cawthorne with Jackie Grummitt suffered a little inconsistency to place a somewhat distant second. Henry Pedro who has recently moved from the front of the boat to the back of the boat posted some impressive results sailing with Cynthia Rutherford – a 2nd and a 1st to place 6th overall.

The St. Jamestown Regatta saw a slight increase in participation with thirty-eight registered Albacores. Kevin Smith sailing with Christine Short and Tim Broughton sailing with Laurie Harrison fought a tough battle for first place. After trading positions for the first three races, Smith and Short finished just one point ahead of Broughton and Harrison to take the trophy. Ann Savege and Abbey MacInnes were third. In the Westwood Regatta, Broughton this time sailing with Karen Marshall again had to settle for second place, as Ken Clarke teamed up with Bill Collins and sailed to victory. Barrie Farell and John Gilchrist sailing together posted some good beginning and ending results, but what happened in the middle guys?

Once again the Mooredale Regatta had the best attendance of the season with forty-five Albacores. The team of Smith and Short once again proved to be a formidable pair - this time battling with Raines Koby and Abbey MacInnes who finished just half a point behind in the end. Bruce Withrow and Sandy Swiatlowski placed third (1st Mooredale boat) only 1.5 points behind Koby. It was anyone's regatta with at least six teams under ten points going into the final race of the day.

Some "new" faces arrived on the scene for the Toronto Island Regatta which had some of the best winds of the season. Dave and Carolyn Smith managed to stay ahead of Tom Clarke and Christine Short to take first place by one point. Marek Balinski and Nora Hoffer, sailing extremely well, placed third. Again it was a close regatta with the 4th to 7th boats only a few points apart.

Another great season of racing in the Toronto Harbours. ▲

For full results please visit the Canadian Albacore Association Website at www.albacore.ca

Friday Night Race Series 2000 – Top Ten Helms

Friday Night Race Series 2000 – Top Ten Crews

Cabbagetown Youth Centre

Kids Learn to Sail at J-Town and Westwood

Kids between 10 and 14 years old from the Cabbagetown Youth Center came down to the Outer Harbour two days each week in August and learned to sail Albacores. The kids came mainly from the St James Town housing complex which is an area which is very short of recreational programs and opportunities and where the needs are high. Both Westwood and St James Town Sailing Clubs were keen to see the program get started though there were difficulties because of the lack of a sailing instructor until the last minute. Thankfully Cynthia Baker, who had been teaching the new Westwood members, unexpectedly found she had time in August, took on the program and did a wonderful job.

The kids had a great time and the intention is to turn the pilot program into a larger summer camp program next summer.

Right now the Cabbagetown Youth Center is looking for funding for the program. There are some possibilities for corporate sponsorship, but if you have any leads please call Margaret Coshan, Coordinator, Cabbagetown Youth Center at 944-0163 or if you would like to make a tax deductible donation mail it to Margaret Coshan, Cabbagetown Youth Center, 2 Lancaster Ave., Toronto, M4X 1C1 noting that it is for the sailing camp. ▲

Photos by Al Osatchoff and the Cabbage Town Youth Centre.

Canadian Albacore Championships

September 15-17, Meaford, ON

Wind was what we asked for and wind was what we got. The Canadian Albacore Championships held this year in Meaford, Ontario offered some of the most challenging conditions for the competitors. With winds reaching up to 27 knots and waves up to 2.5 m it was a small yet competitive fleet that rose to the challenge.

Thirty four Albacores made the trip up to Meaford, a small picturesque town on the South shore of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. Upon arrival of the fleet, the peaceful marina was transformed into a blur of activity. Our host and local organizer Mike Malloy along with the Mayor of the Town of Meaford immediately made us all feel welcome. It was a lovely morning although the ominous sound of the waves crashing on the shore was beginning to make a few people nervous. Unfortunately as the morning passed and the boats were rigged the race committee also became nervous and the racing was cancelled for the day. Why? Tough current conditions, plus a forecast of gale force winds and waterspouts. Although many people were relieved, several were disappointed and ventured out into the 2.5 m waves for the ride of a lifetime. The forecast, as sinister as it was never materialized.

In similar conditions, but without the threat of more severe weather the race committee managed under tough conditions to get four races off on Saturday. The waves and extremely deep water turned out to be quite the challenge for the race committee. As it turned out, they were to be the only four races of the regatta. Under the watchful eye of two Canadian Coast Guard rescue vessels and several mark and rescue boats, almost every boat ventured out at least once, some twice, but only 18 began and finished the first race. (Would you believe the water was warm!) The numbers slowly diminished during the day due to the extremely challenging conditions, down to only 8 boats in the final race of the day. Those who managed even one race had reason to be proud.

Barney Harris and David Byron, once again, showed their boat handling skills by placing first in all four races. Close behind for most of the day were Kevin Smith and Karen Piatkowski. Good results were also posted by Chris Gorton and Henry Pedro, as well as Marek Balinski and Stan Piatrowski. The team of Mary Neumann and Kirk MacGregor turned in some impressive scores to win the Ladies' Plate and the Master's Trophy. The Albacore fleet participated in the Terry Fox Run Dinner and Dance after the day's racing held by the Town of Meaford. Thanks to North Sails who provided the beverages and to the Reef Boat Club for allowing us the use of their clubhouse for post-racing events.

With a welcome change in wind direction on Sunday, the water flattened out, however the challenge on Sunday remained with the wind which was slowly increasing from 15-20 knots to well over 20 knots. With many of the boats anxious to post at least one race of the regatta, the race committee ventured out with the fleet only to be unable to set a race course due to technical difficulties. With the mark boats all busy rescuing capsized competitors, the race committee unable to anchor and drifting rapidly, and the ever increasing winds, the RC was forced to abandon the remaining races. "It was unfortunate that the Canadian Championships were reduced to four races and one day of competition," said Henry Pedro, "but on the whole, the experience was super, the accommodations were great, the sailing was absolutely spectacular, and the social side of the regatta was second-to-none. One colourful competitor (you know who you are) who knows a thing or two about a party ranked the social scene a lofty 9-out-of-10!"

So with a fourteen way tie for 21st place, it was a successful regatta for everyone – even those that did not race. The Town of Meaford was a superb host and many of the competitors spoke of returning to meet the challenges of Georgian Bay once again. There will be no shortages of stories to tell from the 2000 Albacore Canadian Championships ▲

2000 Canadian Albacore Championships – Meaford, ON

immediately made us all feel welcome. It was a lovely morning although the ominous sound of the waves crashing on the shore was beginning to make a few people nervous.

Photos by T. Miolla

2000 UK Nationals At Looe

A US Perspective by Barney Harris, USA 6701 & 8011

In the closing moments of the 1999 Albacore Internationals, one of the British sailors sold their boat, leaving an empty space in the container for the return trip - and creating an interesting opportunity. We hastily packed USA 8011 and popped it into the void left by the yacht sale, and plotted our assault on the UK empire. David Byron and I sailed the first part of our plan, the 2000 UK Nationals, last August. This was the first non worlds Albacore event in the UK I had ever attended - but it won't be the last.

LOOE
The 2000 UK Nationals venue, Looe is old fishing village located in southwestern England. Its population of 5000 increases by 15,000 "grockles" or "emits," (English derisive slang for tourists) to top 20,000 during the summer. Looe still has the remnants of what was once an active fishing trade. The town was extremely quaint with narrow streets and pubs and restaurants all over. Driving was difficult, with pedestrians all around; our car served as a fixed storage locker for the entire week. Competing Albacores were stored on land on a public promenade overlooking the beach. Fresh water was limited to what one could bring in a bucket, so each boat received a sponge bath after sailing each day. Launching was via a public beach which, depending on the tide, made for a short or long walk. The Looe Sailing club is housed in a building a few blocks from the water. It had a bar upstairs, a snooker room on the second floor, and showers in the ground floor. A pint of stout cost 2 pounds. We verified this many times just to be certain.

SAILING
Races commenced each day at around 1300 when the sea breeze kicks in - usually from the southwest. Winds were entirely manageable, and ranged from 8 to around 18 kts during the week. Current was significant and varied a bit over the course, being influenced by the outflow from the river separating East and West Looe, and the close proximity of islands and shallows to the West. Popular opinion was that the right was heavily favored during an ebb tide in a sea breeze, but this turned out to be true only some of the time. We sailed triangular courses with three laps and 1.2 mile legs. One race per day left a significant amount of time to, well, drink.

BOATS
The Brits all sail with adjustable rigs. This enables them to adjust the boats power: rake forward to increase, and back to decrease power. We installed an adjustable rig for this event which consisted of a 16:1 quadruple cascade system lead to the centerboard cap. This gave us a shroud travel of over 5 inches, which was marginally adequate. The ability to further ease the leeward shroud would help with broad reaching - work for next season.

It was interesting going from Woof 6701, which we had been sailing all season, to Ontario 8011. For being the same class, they have surprisingly different feels, particularly off wind. The Woof seems to pop up on a plane more readily, but the Ontario seems to plough less when going to windward. We had reasonable speed upwind, but lacked reaching speed at times.

Two new Holt / Speed Sails albacores raced; both did very well, demonstrating good speed in all conditions. The construction and rigging looked great and several have been sold and are being raced in fleets around the UK. The deck appears to have been molded using the old Rondar tooling; not sure about the hull shape however.

The "Kingsfield" issue appears to be nearly put to rest. Several of these manufacturer's hulls were present which had been "bumped" by their owners. This involved adding a small amount of material to the hulls to bring them within Albacore class measurement tolerances. This issue has been a point of contention in the UK. It was good to see it nearly resolved.

A total of 41 entries were on the water for this event which included ten new Albacore owners. The fleet size was an increase of 50% over the previous year. The UK albacore class association has around 265 paid up members in total. Most of the Albacores in England are built from wood, and many have been finished to a level which far exceeds that seen in the US and Canada. I thought 6701 (my boat) looked good - but placed up against some of the wood boats in the UK, it looks only average.

Several brits went WAY out of their way to store and transport our boat and feed and house us. This began in Rehoboth when Jean and Derrek donated their spot in the container returning to the UK to us - after they sold their boat to Peter Duncan. After it landed in the UK, Richard Gray trailered the boat to Peter and Judy Fontes' house in Poole where it resided in their garage. Mike Mac picked up and delivered a really nice dolly and loaned his double trailer to transport the boat to Looe. Peter and Judy Fontes then towed it to Looe and then to Exmouth, where it sits today, in John Herbert's mothers' garage, awaiting our return next August. The Fontes' were, in particular, hugely generous with their house and time. We really appreciate it.

LAY DAY IN TORQUAY
Wife Becky and I took a trip to Torquay during the lay day. Torquay, site of the 2001 Albacore Worlds, is on the southern coast of England and faces the English Channel. It is a bit west and south of London. Referred to as the "English Riviera," it is a resort town with ample pubs, restaurants, and hotels. It has a bit of a carnival atmosphere and looks like a fun place to visit - even if there wasn't an Albacore World Championships going on there!

LAUNCHING & BOAT STORAGE
Boat storage is on Haldon Pier, a large concrete structure which extends West from Beacon Cove into the quay. Refer to the photo and map below. From what we hear, the containers will be parked on the extreme West end. Boats can be launched from a one of two large concrete ramps from Beacon Quay, a walk of a couple hundred feet from the Haldon Pier - i.e. bring a launching dolly. Fresh water hoses are available at the ramps. The ramps are completely protected from the sea, so launching and recovery will be readily accomplished in any weather. From the ramps its about a mile or so sail to the racing area. While we were there a Cadet championship was in process with around 100 boats in attendance. In spite of all this activity, the place seemed empty.

ROYAL TORBAY YACHT CLUB
Located only a short walk from Haldon Pier. It has a nice bar, meeting, and banquet facilities and a good view of the sailing area. We met several persons who were friendly and welcoming.

HOUSING
There are many hotels within easy walking distance of Torquay Yacht club. Becky and I took a brief tour around and scoped a few of them out. I went through the listings in the "English Riviera Guide 2000" but they are a bit too voluminous. I have been promised a short list of housing alternatives which have worked well for visiting sailors in the past. Take a look at www.English-Riviera.com in the meantime. Parking is an issue - we found it difficult, and ended up walking over a mile. There is a parking garage right at the launch site, but it was full when we arrived at mid day.

SAILING
Torquay features a thermally generated sea breeze nearly every day. Locals say that it is not too strong, about 12-15 kts, well within the range of all North American Albacore sailors. Water depth is over 10 meters or 33 feet over the entire course area, so there is no danger of getting one's mast stuck in the mud after a capsize. Everyone in the UK went on and on about the man who will serve as the RC Chair describing him as a "…top notch race committee chairman." He has recent familiarity with the Albacore class since he served in that capacity at the 1999 UK Nationals. He is backed by a fully staffed and equipped team of committee, mark, and crash boats. Torquay is a regular venue for major 100+ boat championships, so there will be no unpleasant surprises. We are fortunate to have so experienced a team.

DO IT
We had a wonderful time in our first non-worlds UK event and can hardly wait to get over there for 2001 Worlds next August. There are still a few spots open in the two containers from North America - but you do not have to ship a boat to participate in what will be a really fun event. There are many alternatives - one could team up with another North American skipper, ship one boat, and split expenses; or one could crew for someone who is shipping their boat, or crew for a British sailor. The clock is ticking; August of 2001 seems far away - but NOW is the time to start getting it all sorted out. The experience is well worth the time and expense. We'll see you there. ▲

For results of the UK Nationals please see the National Albacore Association's webpage www.albacore.org.uk

2000 Albacore North Americans

Oct 7-9, 2000 Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association, Rehoboth, Delaware, USA

The 2000 North American Albacore Championships were hosted by the Rehoboth Bay Sailing Association in Rehobeth Bay, Delaware. The regatta saw the full spectrum of weather from light winds and warm, sunny weather to icy days with heavy winds. Seven Canadian Albacores made their way south for the Thanksgiving weekend regatta.

The sailors arrived to beautiful weather with temperatures up to 25C and a lazy day of light winds supplemented with Canadian beer. Since there was not enough wind to go out and practice, many opted for a day on the beach catching a few rays. However, this was not to last.

On day one of the competition, the temperature dropped to 17C and the wind picked up to a significant 12 to 25 knots. "When it blows like stink and 1/3 of the fleet has capsized at least once, you know things are going the right way," said Herny Pedro in his daily web-report of the event. Barney Harris and David Byron led the fleet with two bullets, while Jasper Craig, Becky Craig and Doug Ford of the US placing 2nd and 3rd. Neville Herbert and Ben Jones from the UK were thirds at the end of the day with 7th and 2nd place finishes. Top Canadians for the day were Raines Koby and Abby MacInnes in 5th place overall and Henry Pedro and Chris Beneteau in 6th.

On Sunday, the temperature continued to drop and unfortunately so did the wind. By the start of the first race the wind was down to 8 knots with four long races ahead. "At times it was painfully slow – a typical summer drifter without the warm weather." Entertainment for the day was provided by Doug Foord who brought along a portable radio to listen to the Redskins game. Barney and David continued to lead posting two firsts and two seconds. Raines and Abbey made an impressive showing ending up in second place overall at the end of day two. Heather Macnaughton sailing with top Toronto crew Suzanne Wilson also did well posting three top ten finishes.

At a chilly 11C with windspeeds up to 30 knots the final day of the regatta presented the most challenging conditions. After some speculation as to whether the race committee would cancel the last race of the series, eleven boats started the seventh race. It was "win or swim", said Henry. While Barney and David battled for first place with Jasper and both his crews, Henry and Chris dueled with Marty Hublitz and Pascal Buckley for third. Eight of the eleven boats finished the race which was set close to shore for the crowd of spectators.

While the Americans took first, second and third place, Raines and Abby were the top Canadians finishing in fourth place. Tin Htoo and Mel Desouza placed 8th with 4 top ten finishes, followed closely by Henry Pedro and Chris Beneteau. Heather and Suzanne just missed the top ten finishing in 11th place. Overall, a fine North Americans. ▲

2000 Albacore North Americans – Results

2000 Canadian Albacore Youth Championships

August 16, 2000 Lake Rousseau, ON

For the first summer since 1995 an Albacore Youth Championships was held in 2000. And where better to rejuvenate the event than in Muskoka - on Lake Rosseau where the Albacore found its early market hold in Canada in the 1950s. So many generations of young cottage sailors sailed the boat competitively during the 1960s, 1970 and 1980s that many, if not most of today's boat owners learned their love of Albacores while planing on one of the Muskoka Lakes. So it was to this hearth of Albacore civilization that Rosemary Helmer turned this summer to rejuvenate the hosting of the Juniors (renamed Youths at the request of the participating sailors). And so 2000 was the first year in Rosemary's 5 year plan to breathe new life into this coveted Youth Event and to encourage a whole new generation of Albacore sailors to become avid Albacore boat owners.

As a caterpillar turns into a butterfly so too this event started out labelled as a Juniors on the 2000 Poster schedule for July 14 & 15th and evolved into a Youth Championships condensed from 2 days to 1, held Sunday, August 6th to syncopate with the Muskoka Lakes Association annual regatta (which dates back 100 years). This proved to be a worthwhile and harmonious association. MLA Chair Al Hutton went out of his way along with his co-regatta organizers Murray Sarafinchin and Rob Bosomworth to make us feel very welcome. Murray graciously even loaned Rosemary his boat house/cottage for the weekend! In return for the invitation to be part of the annual MLA event Rosemary Helmer, as Youth Chair agreed to import top talent for a weekend in Muskoka to support the MLA Regatta Committee. To swell the RC ranks, she recruited our own Kevin Smith and George Roth and RCYC Shark Fleet Captain Mark Anderson (Rosemary's 98 Canadians Albacore crew) and, Cork and OSA Board member Tom Simpson (father of Matt Simpson) and Rumiko Suzuki (Rosemary's Japanese house guest who is studying English in Canada and attended her first ever sailing Regatta). The efforts of all helped make the Albacore Youth event a great success and facilitated the 50+ other MLA boats racing in multiple starts from Lasers to Solings and boards to Catamarans. All had a great time and avidly protested the race committee for the riddle of "what was the real course you wanted us to sail?" But that is another story. The Albacore Youth sailors understood the course perfectly!

To start the day off with "excellent perspective" on our favourite boat a 1 hour seminar was hosted by Kevin Smith and Matt Simpson. Kevin's quiet nature belies the talent this two time Olympian (88 Korea and 92 Barcelona as Dave Sweeney's crew on the Tornado) and 98 Pan-Am Bronze Medallist (with Dave in the Hobie) brings to his discussion of the Albacore which he also races at World Class level. The Youth sailors attentively listened to Kevin's every word. Next Matt Simpson, having just returned from a 7th Place finish at the World Youth Lightning Championships hosted in Athens Greece, willingly shared his perspective on Youth sailing in general and his enthusiasm for the Albacore encounter all were about to undertake.

As the teams set sail under brooding skies the wind was a mild 5-8 km with hints of a building breeze. All made it to the race course without tows as the winds promised increasing strength. Kevin directed Course operations by radio from the RC boat while all other dispersed to mark and line boat positions. Rosemary and Rumiko, womaned flags and scoring respectively with the able help of Rusty driving our pontoon RC boat. Despite drifting marks and the loss of an anchor in freshening 12-15 km winds Race 1 got off on time. Making good use of their local knowledge of Rosseau's shifty winds Muskoka sailors Kirk Cavell, Trevor Young from MLSC won Race 1. Mere seconds apart, Matt Simpson and Trevor Wallace of RCYC sailing Assault & Flattery on loan from Jamey Gage finished 2nd. The remaining teams were not far behind.

Between Race 1 and 2 Chris Gage visited each of the teams by power boat and offered sage comments on rig tensions and sail trim. The Conestoga team of Robert Whyte and Ben Harrison gregariously asked permission to come aboard the RC boat while they altered a main halyard problem. Their rigging restored they planed off to drain there half full boat while the RC signalled for Race 2. From the start gun it was clear that the duel for top honours was shaping up between AL 7950 and 6644. Matt Simpson and Trevor Wallace proved themselves to be quick studies of the Albacore's capability and worked hard to keep the boat increasingly flatter and to windward of Kirk Cavell and Trevor Young. All the teams appeared to be relishing their time on the water in good winds - a perfect Muskoka day with rain and shine, cloud and wind and the joy of just being out in the boat!

With Albacore Race 2 in progress the swarm of multiple classes of MLA boats came across the horizon from the MLSC and various waves of single handed, double handed, dinghies, keelboats, a few catamarans and board sailors surged past the RC boat separating themselves into their pre-appointed starts primed with visions of the race course from their on shore instructions. It was not until they came downwind on leg five and tried to finish that we realized their vision of the race course and our instructions on the RC pontoon boat were very different. Some finished downwind, others assimilated our RC hails to do one more W/L. We anticipated there would be protests and there were, but cleverly, Al Hutton and Murray Sarafinchin calmed the trouble waters to everyone's satisfaction. Meanwhile the Albacores were back for Race 3 with 6644 and 7650 each sporting a first place finish. The last duel for the Championship was on!

With an "all clear" Race 3 got off the line beautifully. Our youngest team of Adam Nicholson and Myles Meddick had managed to hold off the CSC team in Race 1 when Robert and Ben encountered a loosening main halyard. And then in Race 2 the two teams had traded spots. In the final race Adam and Myles unfortunately missed one of those sneaky Muskoka shifts and with the boat healed and a little too much water on board they went for a swim. Their valiant efforts to get the boat up met with major resistance. Being the ever vigilant dad to all Youth sailors Tom Simpson went into the water to help get the boat up. Unfortunately, being quite far behind at this point Adam and Myles chose to withdraw. You can be sure the tanks on that boat are being heavily scrutinized and repaired before the 2001 event. Despite this mishap they still won the 16 & Under top honours and will be back to join the 19 & Under teams next year.

In the meantime 6644 and 7950 continued their duel round the course while 210 and 6525 not that far behind had their own encounter. The final downwind leg proved a good test of skill to all to cover and escape cover. The tactical lessons learned on that leg will not be forgotten. The results came down to the finish line with Matt & Trevor winning only by a boat length closely followed by Andrew and James who had worked ahead of Kirk and Trevor. One could easily think that one of the keys to success was having a crew named "Trevor". Our mission accomplished on the water - the 2000 Albacore Youth Event had been reborn - we hauled marks and anchors and headed to shore. Matt and Trevor first ashore were assigned the duty of getting the new BBQ going which Dad Meddick had assembled earlier in the day. Dad Simpson, fresh from his swim, took on BBQ'ing duties and here ever after will be referred to by Rumiko as "BBQ Man of the Year!" As hungers were nourished all round with hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, marshmallows, juice and soft drinks a warm friendly interchange set-in amongst the competitors and their gathered parents, brothers, sisters and RC staff. Following the presentation of Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to skippers and crews, along with photo opportunities to record the event, a lovely summer day drew to a close with warm memories and promises of "we will be back next year"! As Kevin, George and Tom drove off into the night to return home, the new Youth friends headed off to the local Port Carling Pub, and weary Rosemary and Rumiko put their heads on pillows that night, all could be rest assured – they had contributed to the birth of a new generation of Albacore sailors.

Watch for Rosemary's article in the next Shackles & Cringles on how you can help make the 2001 Canadian Albacore Youth Championships a bigger and better event. ▲

Hosted out of Wallace Marina on Lake Rosseau, Ontario, Canada – Final Results

Winners of 19 & Under 2000 Canadian Albacore Youth Championships
Matt Simpson, Trevor Wallace

Winners of 16 & Under 2000 Canadian Albacore Youth Championships
Adam Nicholson, Myles Meddick

CAA Treasurer's Report

The audited financial statements for the year ended October 31, 1999 were presented for review and approval. Several key points were made for consideration:

• The association recognized a loss for the fiscal year ended October 31, 1999.
• Revenue was essentially unchanged from the prior year.
• Membership revenues were unchanged. In fact, there were exactly the same number of paid memberships in 1999 as in 1998 - 102 full (both private and community club) and 21 associate / youth memberships.
• Expenses increased $3,422, or nearly 70%. Several key items contributed to this increase:
  • Shackles & Cringles was produced at market costs this year, compared to the last several years where much of the production was done either free or at below market costs. This resulted in an increase of $1,364. It is expected that these costs will continue at market levels in future years
  • The redesign project (discussed at length at the AGM last year) required the association to incur costs of $1,712 to prepare the preliminary drawings for the redesigned Albacore. No further funds will be disbursed on this project without further approval by the members of the association.
• The investment portfolio is comprised of AA- or better bonds or debentures. These represent a safe investment vehicle for the association's reserve funds.
• The association is expected to make a small profit in the year ended October 31, 2000.

Motions:

1. That the audited financial statements for the year ended October 31, 1999, as audited by KPMG and as presented and reviewed at this meeting be accepted by the members. [Carried]
2. That KPMG be appointed auditors of the Association for the fiscal period ending October 31, 2000. [Carried]

-Jason Roth, CAA Treasurer

OHCC Open Regatta Results – July 8, 2000, Toronto, ON

St. Jamestown Regatta Results – July 22, 2000, Toronto, ON

The Canadian Albacore Association at the:

Toronto International Boat Show

January 13 – 21, 2001
National Trade Centre
See you there!

Westwood Open Regatta – Results – July 29, Toronto, ON

PABAR

August 19, 2000 Pointe au Baril, ON

No, I did not attend PABAR this year, and in fact despite having heard what a great regatta it always has been, I still have not managed to make the trek to Pointe au Baril. So far, my only experience on the waters of Georgian Bay has been well lets say 'interesting', but nonetheless I would like to experience more of that body of water. However, as I was reading through some old issues of Shackles & Cringles looking for interesting bits about the Junior Program which is slowly beginning to take shape again I happened across an article about the Pointe au Baril Albacore Regatta in 1980. I must say, what I found was rather intriguing. As many of you will remember, in 1980 there were 33 boats at the Pointe au Baril regatta, but what I found to be the best piece of information was that as I scanned the list of participants I saw that four of the six helmsman that sailed in the 2000 event had sailed in the 1980 event. "Good winds, close racing and very generous hospitality went together to make the 1980 PABAR memorable to all who sailed it. At the heart of the 30,0000 Islands region of Georgian Bay, in a beautiful setting, is an area of relatively open water crying out for a regatta. PABAR is first and foremost an enjoyable occasion and, while the racing is taken seriously, it is enough to take part for many. It was especially good to see the junior and sailing camp boats out with their crews obviously enjoying the racing, and learning fast too!… PABAR is a unique Canadian sailing experience and your correspondent enjoyed every minute of it, from the eight mile tow by powerboat, with the Albacore planing behind (happy to be without the incumberance of her helmsman), the racing and the picnic lunch on a nearby island, made available by one of the competitors, to the fun banquet and prize presentation. Not to mention the debut at windsurfing – yes the water was warm! It was sad to have to leave but if we behave ourselves perhaps they will ask us again." (Graham Rogers, Shackles & Cringles, Christmas 1980 Volume XX, Number 6) ▲

Nona Arneson
Editor, Shackles & Cringles

PABAR – Results – August 19, 2000 Pointe au Baril, ON

Upgrading Your Centreboard

By Barney Harris – HAPCO Marine

Many Albacores were originally delivered with laminated mahogany centerboards. These coated with a varnish and delivered with the boat. If these boards were not periodically looked after they would often fall apart when the glue joints between laminations failed, or when the wood rotted from near constant exposure to water. I have assisted several Albacore owners with older wood rudders and centerboards to repair the damage caused by neglect. Here is the process we followed.

First, sand off the existing varnish - this will be easy as the older varnish is often flaking off anyway! Most of the old wood centerboards' trailing edges were too fat - which caused vibration when planing. The vibration is caused by vortex shedding on the foil's trailing edge, the frequency of which is close to the resonant frequency of the board. The way to eliminate this vibration is to increase the frequency by making the trailing edge thinner. This has the added benefit of reducing drag. This can be accomplished while removing the old varnish by carefully sanding the last 3 or 4 inches of the trailing edge to remove material and bring it to a sharp ending. It is a good idea to make sure the trailing edge is straight when sighted from one end or the other. If it is warped, block the wood to bend it back into shape - the wood can withstand a surprising amount of bending with out breaking, however, if you hear cracking noises - stop!

Next make sure the glue bonds between laminated sections are sound. Grip the board with your hands and try to pull it apart - I have seen two rudders which came apart in my hands this year. If the seams are split, but they hold together, excavate the split with a hacksaw blade and fill them with West epoxy resin with milled cotton fibers.

Now, fill and fair the bare wood board with epoxy resin mixed with light fairing compound such as West 410 Microlite. Sand and repeat until the shape is smooth and fair. If you really want to get serious, make some templates for your foil using the NACA 00XX family. A NACA 009 seems to work well for centerboards. Using these templates either build up or remove material until the foil matches the template. Note that the template should be adjusted for the thickness of fiberglass and paint which will be applied.

The next step is to coat the board with fiberglass. Clamp the board by its handle in a vise with the leading edge facing up. Gently heat the board for a day or so with spot lights to elevate its temp about 10 deg above ambient. Remove the lights and paint the board with epoxy resin. Allow the board to cool while the epoxy is applied. Do not heat it after applying epoxy - heating is a sure way to create bubbles! Next, lay one layer of 2 to 4 ounce fiberglass cloth over the leading edge trimming so it hangs about 1 inch below the trailing edge. Wet out the fiberglass with resin, and remove all bubbles and voids. Apply second layer of fiberglass cloth to head area & wet out. Allow this to cure for several hours.

When the epoxy is soft but not tacky, slice off the fiberglass cloth hanging below the trailing edge with a razor. After full cure (2 days or so) gently heat to around 120 deg f for about 30 min to drive all resin to full cure and prevent amine blush production. Amine blush results in a waxy substance on the surface of epoxy repairs. Nothing will stick to this, and it must be removed before applying any coating. Do this by wet sanding with 220 grit. According to the west epoxy dude, the amine blush is water soluble, so wet sanding ensures that all the amine blush is removed and ensures a good paint bond.

After a thorough cleaning and drying, we primed each foil with three coats of Sterling (www.detcosterling.com) two part linear polyurethane primer. We applied each coat within a few hours of the last, so no sanding between coats was required. After several days of curing we dry sanded the board with 360 grit. After wiping with a tac rag and cleaning with acetone, the surface was practically perfect.

For final coating, we used a two part linear polyurethane enamel from Sterling. While this paint is somewhat expensive (over $100 per quart) and is somewhat poisonous, it really flows nicely. I found that a near perfect finish can be obtained with a foam brush. Succeeding coats of linear polyurethane can be applied within 24 or so hours without sanding. We allowed several days for a full cure and wet sanded each foil with 600 grit. The results were very good. It takes a bit of work, but the final product looks like a brand new centerboard. ▲

Mooredale Sailing Club Regatta – Results – August 12, 2000, Toronto, ON

Toronto Island Sailing Club Albacore Regatta – Results – August 26, 2000, Toronto, ON

Letters to the Editor

Dear Nona,

Re: Article from Ian Rogers Regarding Boat Names

The Mooredale Sailing Club has a long-established tradition of naming boats in unusual and creative ways that reflect the personalities driving them. I respectfully submit the following list to indicate the depth of our Canadian tradition. You may choose to identify the boat drivers with the names, but a strong sense of self-preservation prevents me from doing so.

Tim Broughton
Mooredale Sailing Club

Editor's Note: At the recent Canadians a few new Mooredale names were spotted including "Butcher Boy" and "Big sASSy Momma". The identies of the helm and crew shall remain a mystery to protect the innocent!