The NSC FANFARE regatta team stepped it up for 2016, with a 51-boat 3-day event, including 18 out-of-town visiting boats. Fireball dinghies and F18 cats raced 3 days as their Canadian championships. 8 to 15 knots on Friday and Saturday allowed a complete set of races each day.
The speedy and beautiful F18 cats were lovely to see, flying across the lake. 505, 420, Albacore and Open Cats joined them for Saturday for the low key “FANFARE-Classic” races. On Sunday, the wind held at 20 knots gusting nuclear, and the race officer wisely decided to keep the fleets on shore.
Our sponsors were NACRA Canada, Gradient Wind Engineering, and Weathermark Sailboats. Their contributions allowed us to meet the needs of the race officials and competitors, while keeping the regatta fees at a level that attracted a high turnout.
The Fireballs showed up in strength, and their trophy was won by Joe Jospe & Tom Egli, representing Pointe Claire Yacht Club in Montreal. Dan Borg and Chris Mulder, representing Westwood Sailing Club in Toronto, won the F18 trophy after analysis in the protest room.
Albacores were pushy on the starts – when did we last see a black flag at FANFARE? – but settled everything on the water. The 505 fleet raced with camaraderie and enthusiasm. Open Cats brought large out-of-town participation, including several new visitors to our club. We were particularly pleased to see 420s representing both the NSC and Britannia youth race squads, as well as the University of Ottawa sail team.
A Las Vegas logo was plastered over everything in honor of the Pig Roast on Saturday. Our esteemed race officer Greg Dargavel was last seen cutting a rug to the Johnny Vegas Band.
With 50 boats that have very different speeds and sailing angles, it takes great expertise to set a safe and fair course. So, we thank Greg and his large team of on-water race officials for their sophisticated course plan and careful race operations. Our thanks also to Martin Rheaume’s jury and scorer Jan Huus, who all worked overtime.
Next year, we anticipate relaxing to our classic 35-boat regatta, unless another high-quality championship fleet gives us a call.
Reported by Dominic Goodwill, FANFARE Chair 2016
