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
September 6, 2012
12 months to go to the start of our 2013 Mini Transat Race! One Girl’s Ocean Challenge has officially submitted an application to Classe Mini for a “DCQ”. The rules allow for 6 non European racers to complete their qualifying events in the same calendar year as their race year. Cross your fingers that we get one of the 6 spots!
Diane
September 3, 2012
This weekend I had the pleasure of racing with my great friends at Aquafolia on Etoile D’Argent. Saturday’s racing saw two course races. The wind was from the north, shifty and variable. We had to really be on our toes to keep the boat moving fast in the variable conditions. The first race showed great wind pressure on the right hand side of the course. We determined our strategy to protect the right, and went for it. To our surprise, the rest of the fleet went left. We started to wonder if there was something they knew that we didn’t….maybe a little local knowledge? We crossed our fingers as we approached the first upwind mark. Woohoo! We were in front! Our strategy held for the rest of the race. We played the different pressures, driving the boat up and down when the conditions demanded it, doing a nice slalom course down the rhumbline. By the second race, it looked like there might be an afternoon thermal. There were some nice puffy clouds developing over Plattsburgh and in the bay. We decided to stick to the right hand side of the course where the pressure still looked good, but to keep an eye on the left for new pressure coming in and a potential big shift. Ten seconds to the start we were on the line exactly where we wanted to be, but with a boat below us pushing us over early! We drove up, made a little hole underneath us and then took a big dive down to clear ourselves before the next boat pushed us over again…..it was an excellent effort, but the stern didn’t quite clear the line. The start gun went and immediately the individual recall flag was up with a sound signal. We were over and had to get back to the start line as fast as we could without risking loosing our lead! We got back down to the line, cleared ourselves and bailed out to the right hand side of the course. The rest of the fleet must have been watching those puffy clouds also, as they all went left again! We had clear air and a lane to take us to the right hand side of the course. What was this? The compas had us down twenty degrees!!! Woohoo we also had a nice knock getting us over to the right hand side. One quick tack and we lifted the rest of the way to the windward mark…..ahead of almost everyone! It was an awesome race giving us our second win for the day. Everyone’s arms were aching afterwards from all of the constant trimming and adjusting. A nice evening swim helped that out. The next day we set off for our distance race. The forecast was light, variable and dying to zero wind. As we neared the halway point in our distance race, we ran out of time for the race to count, so the distance race unfortunatley would not add to the points. Etoile D’Argent is again this year’s winner of the overall C & D division course racing! Thanks everyone for an awesome win, an awesome team and an awesome weekend!
Diane
August 30, 2012
Off to Plattsburgh New York tomorrow morning to race on Etoile D’Argent with our great friends of Aquafolia. At the Omnium Champlain Regatta. It should be tons of fun…particularly for the competitors on Saturday night, as I’m telling them the story of One Girl’s Ocean Challenge….in FRENCH! I’ve been practicing rolling my rrrrrs all week and I think I’m almost
tolerable!
Diane
August 27, 2012
Thank you to everyone who came out to see us at the Port Credit In Water Boat Show. It was fantastic to see you all and to share some exciting stories! We also got to catch up with our friends at UK Halsey, The Store, CMC Marine and Bristol Marine, all of whome have been instrumental in keeping OGOC running hard and fast. Up next is the Omnium Champlain Regatta this coming weekend with Aquafolia on Etoile D’argent. We’re the returning champion….no pressure!
Diane
August 24, 2012
