Our small boat regatta FANFARE (FAntastic Nepean FAll REgatta) 2021 ran 11+12 September. We had a strong turnout of 38 boats. The breeze was on (seriously) and the water was still comfortably warm for small boat racing. Results are here.
Camaraderie
At last year’s FANFARE, the spirit was perseverance, since it was the only major sailing event we ran. This year, there was camaraderie in the air, as the dinghy yard brought us together with our out of town friends, to celebrate our sport.
I14
The International 14 fleet came up from RCYC to join the local I14’s. Impressive sailing from this class – they ran the full set of 10 races, as the wind grew higher and higher. This class was won by “Pandamonium” from RCYC, sailed by Lauren Laventure and Jason Lemieux.
Congratulations
The racing was very well received by the sailors. Here is a selection of comments:
“They did a great job and fun racing was had across the board. I especially liked the colour coded top marks, so the courses were not too skewed, with no waiting around to reset anything.” – from Rune Lausten and Julia Derouin (NSC) winners of the Open Dinghy class.
“Please pass on my thanks to the Race Officer. He did an excellent job managing 5 fleets in a variety of conditions, and there was minimal waiting between races, all in all very well done.” – from Jeff Boyd and Martin ten Hove, Kingston YC (and 2 of the 3 former Olympians at the event).
505
Jeff and Martin themselves won the 505 class, with a strong performance of 4 wins in 9 races. We had a highly skilled group of 505’s this year, as this fleet goes from strength to strength at NSC.
Open Catamarans
Wilby McKnight from CVGR got his name on the cat & skiff creative sailing trophy, for unsuccessfully attempting to cross the finish line upside down in (or perhaps beside) his F16 cat. The Open Catamaran fleet was won by Nacra F18 “Habana” which was sailed very impressively by Joaquin Fayat and Codie Lonsberry with 5 wins from their 9 races. Well done to Dave Bradly in A Class Foiling “Too Outrageous” – that thing really moves! We have to keep our eyes out as it approaches from weird angles at outrageous speeds. Fortunately, Dave is a trustworthy helm and keeps clear.
Martin 16
Martin 16’s got their start at FANFARE, after being short of sailors at NOD. Kai Freeland came up from Quinte Sailability and sailed in this class. Martin 16 was the only fleet for which all their boats completed all races – kudos! Christine Lavallee (NSC) won this class, with Karrell Regnier (NSC) close behind. The fleet also demonstrated strong sportsmanship and fair play.
Open Dinghy
Breaking with tradition, we combined several boat types into an Open Dinghy fleet, similar to Wednesday evening racing. This was a big success, with 13 boats racing, including Leo Evans and Luise vonFlotow at their first regatta in their new-to-them Albacore “La patate bleue”. Alex Dumond / Matt Palardy brought their dining room furniture to the race course (a 1952 classic I14 with a hollow wooden mast and boom) – and it didn’t sink!
Big Breeze
The breeze came up through the day, on both days. Some of the top sailors stayed out and kept racing. The Albacores are convinced that we had 30 knot gusts as we sailed home on Saturday, although the NSC weather station does not back us up on this! If you have tacked a small boat up the channel in a gusty southerly breeze, you will empathize. (We would appreciate it if the keelboats under engine keep clear while we do this.)
Race Course
Rick Nelson was our race officer. This was the first regatta under Rick’s command, and it was certainly a success. The race officials used multiple colours of upwind marks, set at different distances and angles based on boat speeds and wind angles. Thus, there was no waiting around on the water, even as the wind changed. All the races were well aligned to the wind angle. The race committee also set a separate finish line, which kept the sailors safe by preventing interference between starting and finishing boats – this was a great solution.
Thank-you’s
Thank-you prizes were awarded to Rick Nelson, Rick Anderton (assistant race officer) and Ted Ceelen who kindly brought his C&C26 “Shawanaga” as a race committee boat to both FANFARE and NOD. Thank-you also to Matt Davidge for chasing registrations and being ready to run protest committee, to John Gardner / Shawn Batten and their race bosun team, to the support boat volunteers for taking care of us on the water, to Walter Howell and house team for early morning coffee and welcoming bar, and to the technical staff for ensuring that we had plenty of motor boats to work with.
We have learned that our little fall regatta is actually our toughest event for the officials. It is harder than NOD on the water. They run 45 races with tight finishes and handicap scoring – this is technically demanding. Thank-you therefore to the numerous RC volunteers, and to Hugh Morrin and Peter Norwood for scoring.
We Need You
Looking ahead to 2022 … Regattas are a key activity of our club for ourselves and our guests. Scorers and admin help would be particularly useful for our regattas in 2022. Please contact the Fleet Captain to add your name to our volunteer list – now is a great time to do this.
Report by
Dominic Goodwill
FANFARE 2021 Chair
J/80 “Echo Beach” + Albacore “Skye”