NSC hosted the joint Stony Point Race on Sunday, August 7; this was the fourth race of the Interclub Long-Distance (ILD) Series. Eight boats showed up for the 1000 warning for what is the longest of all the ILD races, and they were certainly in for an interesting ride!
The winds were forecast to be from the southwest for most of the day, at 8-14 knots, with occasional showers and a chance of thunderstorms. The winds were indeed out of the southwest initially, making it barely possible for the “PHRF” boats to fly their spinnakers as the fleet headed towards Pinhey’s Point. After the fleet passed Pinhey’s, the winds became very variable, and often light, and though there was a brief shower, for most of the trip to K11 (Constance Bay), the sailors baked in the sun. During that time, we could hear the severe thunderstorms to the south, that would pound Ottawa.
The trip home proved to be more challenging and exciting! The winds were constantly shifting, and came from almost every direction, at some point during the return trip. Most of the fleet got hammered by thunderstorms at least once, but everyone made it to the finish at P mark by ~1730, which is earlier than the first boat finished the Queen’s Park Race. The club’s weather station recorded a couple of gusts over 40 knots. Check out Zhanna’s video post on the NSC Facebook page, for some of the excitement.
See the Overall Results, as well as the separate PHRF & JAM ILD results.
The chart below shows the course for the Stony Point Race:
Clicking on the image above may open a larger rendition of the image on Flickr’s website, or visit this website to see the interactive on-line chart.
