One Girls Ocean Challenge

September 28, 2012

For anyone who hasn’t noticed….I love sailing.  I also very much love sharing that passion with others….
is an organization changing life’s trajectory of youth and young adults through sailing opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. I have the privilege of being an honorary board member for Broad Reach.  With that privilege comes the privilege of work!  Yesterday Eric and I pulled the mast of their J35 “Battlewagon”, to get it ready for hauling out in the next few days.

September 25, 2012
We’re in Quebec Yachting!  You’ll find a nice article written about our exciting adventures in France and England this past spring.  Enjoy!

http://www.quebecyachting.ca/2012/evenements-et-regates/regates/diane-reid-une-coureuse-ambitieuse-et-courageuse/
Diane

September 23, 2012

Well the Summerville turned out to be a crazy exciting race!  The morning opened up with some rain, but cleared off just before the race started.  It was already blowing 17 knots.  Woohoo!  Bring on the spinnaker run!  The course took us back and forth across Toronto’s skyline, giving us a nice long spinnaker run and a short two mile leg up wind to our final turning mark to the finish.  But where was the mark?  The rest of our fleet pressed on to weather while we kept searching for our turning mark…..?  “Wait” shouted Jen from the rail….”what’s that right there?” And there it was….our slightly deflated weather mark, hiding in the waves.  We tacked over and waved good bye to our competitors who were still working their way to weather.  The eagle eyes of our bow girl and the navigation assets of our fantastic tactitician Bill put us ahead of our competition finishing second over the line of all the racers and first in our division!  Awesome race guys!

September 22, 2012
Today is the Summerville race.  Approximately 20 miles of racing on the X-35 in the east end of Toronto.  The weather forecast is fantastically optimistic with upwards of 20 knots of wind, rain and localized shifts due to land effects.  Get your woolies on and your rain gear!!!  It’s going to be an awesome ride!
Diane

September 21, 2012
What a fantastic night last night at Mimico Cruising Club!  Great conversation catching up with some fantastic women sailors over dinner and drinks.  Thanks for letting me share my stories of racing this spring in the Irish Sea and the Bay of Biscay!
Diane

September 20, 2012
It was blowing like stink today at Ashbridge’s Bay Yacht Club!  Kind of reminded me of being in the Fastnet Race this past spring…..only not NEARLY as crazy!

September 19, 2012
Tomorrow night I have the pleasure of sharing dinner and race stories from France, with a wonderful group of women sailors.  Looking forward to seeing everyone!
Diane

September 17, 2012
My greatest inspiration is Sam Davies.  Check out this little video of the next Vendee Globe Skippers getting some medical training for the race.  The Vendee Globe starts in 53 days! Around the world….non stop!
Diane

September 14, 2012
Into every sailor’s life comes the end of a season.  For many of us on Lake Ontario our weekly race nights are wrapping up and we’re starting to think about laying up our boats for the winter.  The exciting thing about moving into the winter season is the opportunity to share the story of OGOC at club speaker’s nights around the lake.  We’re already getting booked up with lots of fun engagements.  Our first event will be with the Women Sailors Dinner September 20th, and then we’re off to the Oakville Yacht Squadron on October 11th.  Come hear the stories of racing in the Fastnet race and the Bay of Biscay and share in the excitement!
Diane

September 10, 2012
QCYC LORC racing on Saturday saw some GREAT wind!  Unfortunately into every windy day often comes a little carnage making it an excellent gear testing day.  Truly a moment where I appreciated the strength in the stanchions on our rail and the lifelines holding us in! My job today…..trim jib and spinnaker on the X-35 Xoomer Xpress, and as a good friend of mine often says…..”stay on the boat”.  The day started out with 2-3 knots of wind and built up to a solid 25-30 knots of wind by the end of the day.  Our game plan was sail fast with clean air and nail the shifts.  Sounds simple enough!  The first lap around we were in controle of our craft in a building breeze.  By the second downwind leg we were up to 20-22 knots of wind and fully powered up.  One minute we were fine, the next we were slammed onto our side, kite flogging in the air, crew holding lifelines over their heads and the boom bouncing through the water!!!  ARGH!  Not fast!  We got the kite down, got back on our feet and kept going to the finish line.  The next down wind leg saw a steady 20 knots all around.  With each puff we strapped the kite in a little tight, drove down hard and kept the boat on her feet.  At one point we saw one of the racers on our course going down wind in fine form, really moving fast.  Then BOOM!  Their spinnaker peeled out of it’s restraints and became one with the water!  The outer seams of the spinnaker all stayed in place but the fabric all blew out!  That’s going to be an expensive repair!  It was time for us to gybe…..The wind was pushing 25knots, so we played it safe and put the jib up and took the kite down and gybed.  The last race saw two incredible pieces of carnage.  One of our competitors was going downwind with their spinnaker up.  After a little mayhem, they ended up with the spinnaker halyard run out all the way to the stop and both sheets run right out of the boat.  They were towing their kite behind them through the water by the top of their mast!  When they got to the leeward mark, they turned and their spinnaker draped across another boat and began to flog one of the crew in the head!  What’s the penalty turn for that?  Meanwhile, on the other race course, a Dragon saw it’s last race.  Dragons are a very “old school” styled sailboat.  They are very deep in their draft for their length and are very heavy in the water for the length.  They also have very little “self bailing” abilities.  With all the mayhem of the day and the rain and the wave action, this Dragon ended up with more water in the bilge than she could handle, and sank.  At that point in the racing they were in first place.  Even after sinking, they still managed to make a podium position!  After all that wind, I’m sure our friends at will be busy at the loft mending up sails for the next race.  Great racing in some tough wind everyone!
Diane