The first race of the year had a great turn out with 9
boats starting the race. The forecast for the day was wind out of the Northeast
starting off light and dropping off to very light around noon. The decision was
made to cut the Copper Island mark and shorten the course to 15 miles.
It was a downwind start with spinnakers flying over
the start line. Lode Star and Borderline initially pulled away from the fleet
and had a good lead around the North side of Scotty’s. Grand Cru established a
3rd place position early on and was in pursuit of the leading boats
closing the gap consistently. By the time the lead boats reached Slate and
Gaherty, Borderline had managed to inch past Lode Star. At this point the
spinnakers were dropped for the first time in the race and the fleet began a
slow upwind. The wind had dropped to very light, but at least a knot of breeze
was present at all times. The boats tacked up to Whiskey and by this point Gran
Cru had caught up to Borderline and Lode Star. The wind then filled in from the
Southwest and the fleet tacked up past Shannons and on to Birch. Grand Cru in
the lead now, the boats have one more spinnaker run past Net Nokwa and the
Hump. Lode Star puts pressure on Borderline but is unable to pass before the
finish.
Final results:
Grand Cru
Borderline
Lode Star
Kitchen Party
Intrepid
Sanity
Ram Bunk Shus (DNF)
Blondie (DNF)
Dress Rehearsal (DNF)
