The 2013 International Harbourmaster’s Race took place this past Saturday right here at NSC. “International”?! you ask? Well, yes; I am fairly certain that nobody else on this blue planet was holding a race in their harbour, nor were they having as much fun at it!
Light winds made for tough sailing tactics and gave rise to a few clever techniques that proved essential when the crew weight on an O’Pen BIC is about two or three times its design limit. Long live Kinetics. I won’t go as far as suggesting that anyone was pumping, sculling or rocking but someone flew a pennant showing a big “Rule 42” with a red line drawn hastily drawn through it.
This year saw competitors who had traveled to the event from all over Ontario – from as far away as the Collingwood Yacht Club. That visitor summed the day up perfectly; “You guys have a great Club”. Well, yes we do.
Special thanks goes out to John Blackwood for organizing the day, Ross Ernst for his charismatic emcee skills and Barb James for her extremely official unofficial RC performance.
While there are still protests and redresses to be considered, the Harbourmaster’s Award was clinched by the Fleet Captain himself, John Blackwood. For a brief moment, I had a window of opportunity to scuttle his chances in the first heat when John capsized his boat. Little did I know that my mid-race rescue would somehow propel John into first place. Dang.
Looking forward to next year’s race and trying out a few new tactics!
Corey Glynn
NSC Harbourmaster