BYC hosted the final Queen’s Park Race on Sunday, September 18; this was the sixth, and second-last, race of the Interclub Long-Distance (ILD) Series. The forecast called for lots of rain, but for the start, it was a balmy 21°C with no rain and 3-4 knots out of the SE. But that was soon about to change for the 17 boats that participated, despite the forecast.
As the fleet approached Blueberry Shoal, the wind swung to the northeast and built significantly; gusts above 30 knots were recorded over the next couple of hours, as the temperature plummeted to 13°C. The rain was initially intermittent, but became constant and heavy as most were packing up their boats.
All boats finished, with elapsed times ranging from 1:34 to 2:03; no reports of missing sailors overboard, though no doubt, a few suffered some boat bites. Check out the results; the ILD series results on the BYC website should be updated soon.