This year a new “Moonlit Frostbite” race series was run on three Thursday evenings from October 9th to 23rd, following the end of the regular Thursday night JAM and One-Design races. The idea, conceived by Hugh Morrin and approved by the Fleet Captain, was to hold three self-organized races on Thursday evenings. Hugh’s idea was simply to have a fun way to extend the season in the company of other boats, experience some nice sunsets and enjoy some night racing. A total of nine boats from NSC and BYC took part over the three evenings and by all accounts the Moonlit Frostbite series was a great success!
These races were open to all comers, racing either JAM or PHRF. A windward-leeward course was adopted, between the two fixed race or navigation marks best aligned with the wind. The two marks were selected at a skippers meeting held at 1700 before each race under the NSC Blue Tent, with the course information later relayed to the BYC boats over VHF.
The races started at 1755 and, in lieu of a Race Committee, used a Rabbit Start. This involved a designated boat (the “Rabbit”) starting the race by heading close hauled on port tack from the downwind (and start) mark, her wake effectively drawing a temporary start line on the water. The rest of the fleet started by crossing astern of the Rabbit on starboard tack. After one minute the Rabbit also tacked onto starboard, after which the rest of the fleet were allowed to tack upwind as they wished. As skipper on the Rabbit for the first race, I was happy in the knowledge that it was impossible for the Rabbit to be “over the line” early!
The races were made all the more enjoyable by the absence of both frost and bite in the air; on the first evening we had summer-like weather and our crew raced in t-shirts and shorts, but for the second race the weather was more seasonal and with a 15-knot wind adding to the chill we were bundled up more. In fact, a wide range of wind conditions were encountered, ranging from “trying to keep the spinnaker under control” to “trying to keep the spinnaker in the air” which made the races interesting. And of course, this being Lac Deschênes, the wind died later in the evening for a couple of races which were then shortened, using VHF to coordinate the course change. Races were scored based on the time taken by each boat as they passed the designated finish mark, one race producing a very close finish between two C&C-27’s.
Each race finished at around 1930, well after sunset, but before the end of maritime twilight, which is that window of time when the horizon is still visible. The boat’s navigation lights combined with the mark lights and lights on the shore, made each evening a memorable visual experience. But even though the moon was new, there was still some visibility at the end of each race and most boats arrived back in harbour just as it got really dark. Any chill that had crept in during the race was soon dispersed as crews gathered in the warm glow of the NSC lounge for refreshments and the usual post-race chatter. I think we all agreed it had been a lot of fun and we would like to take part in these races again next year.
The race results are posted at: https://nsc.wmtest.ca/an/result/2023-results/2023-thursdays-moonlit-frostbite-results/
See the original post announcing this series on this page.
Mike Roper