July 16, 2011
2000
In sticking with the plan I headed out into the lake for more breeze. The wind is light in shore and tonight there should be a good night breeze out in the shipping lanes. This will also put me in a good position for when the breeze shifts to the south west. I should be able to get the code 0 up and then a spinnaker as it continues to shift, while the boats on the inside will simply lift to Point Petre. It’s always tough racing a mini against 35 foot boats on handicap. It becomes a waterline race. BUT if I have the wind behind me then I can start to do justice to my handicap number. BTW, OGOC’s PHRF-LO is 117. We’re the second fastest rated boat in our division, and the smallest boat in the race! Crazy! The wind is still light around 6 knots, and we are doing between 4 and 5 depending on if auto is driving or if I’m driving :-0 Time for coffee and a change into warmer clothes for the night.
Diane
July 16, 2011
1444
Checkstays are flipped, the world is good, and the trip up was simple and a nice little workout! Time for lunch 🙂
Diane
July 16, 2011
1400
Well what a great start to the race! Across the line with the fleet, and heading out to Gibralter. First mission was to dig out of the dirty air from the other boats. Then with clean air we worked on height and speed (a bit of a contradiction), but I didn’t want to fall back into the fleet and I wanted to protect the inside. After Gibralter I ran the autopilot for a while. Turns out the heading alignment and response needed adjustments, but no big deal. Everything else seems to be running well otherwise, except it seems that both checkstay fittings in the mast have flipped. They need to be sorted out so they are in alignment for when they get loaded. This means climbing the mast. It’s just a little under half way up, so no big deal. I’ll let you all know when I’m down, but as signal seems sketchy, don’t be alarmed if you don’t hear from me for a while! 🙂
Diane
July 16, 2011
Today’s the big day! It’s the start of the Lake Ontario 300 and OGOC and I are in the single handed division starting at 1025 this morning. You can follow the race below with the tracker on the lo300 website. 🙂 Cross your fingers and hope for wind! The forecast is light and shifty for the first two days and then the hi should start to move out and a lower pressure will come through. It’s a tricky low though. This time of the year on Lake Ontario when lows come through they tend to be fast and furious. Last year’s low caused a little havoc on the race course, so people are probably paying more attention this year to the low coming through. It could be a standard low….25-30 knots with shifty gusts lasting half an hour or so, but as we’ve been warned, if there’s a big veer, it’s an indicator of more ferocity behind the low. The front side of the low will probably have rain but the back side may have big big wind behind it….so pay attention everyone! Hopefully all the other boats have practiced using their storm sails and are ready for a good pounding. Murphy’s law will say that if we’re all ready for it then it will just be a harmless low. Bottom line is this. To finish first…..first you must finish! Have fun watching the tracker everyone 🙂 I’ll try to keep you posted throughout the days!http://www.lo300.org/
Yesterday was a great day with the booth at the LO300 with our friends at Guarantee Company of North America. We’ll have the booth again this morning while I get OGOC ready to get off of the dock for the start. We sold a bunch of T-shirts and told people about Guarantee and about the campaign. Nice to meet you all yesterday and to see some old friends as well!
Diane
July 15, 2011
We have OGOC T-shirts for sale! $20….great price and it all helps get the boat to France in the spring 🙂 Get your t-shirt at the Guarantee Company booth today at the Port Credit Yacht Club.
July 15, 2011
Today we’re at Port Credit Yacht Club at the Guarantee Company of North America booth on the front lawn. Registration and the skipper’s meeting is also today, then tomorrow morning first gun is 1025 tomorrow morning. Hope for wind! 🙂
Here’s the website for the LO300 which will also give you the link for the race tracker.
July 13, 2011
Here’s the link for the Lake Ontario 300 race tracker. 🙂
6 more sleeps to the Lake Ontario 300! Come and check us out at the Guarantee Company of North America booth and then follow along with the race tracker 🙂
Woohoo! It’s Friday
See you all at the Antique and Classic Boat Society Annual Boat Show in Gravenhurst, at the Guarantee Company of North America booth 🙂
no images were found
