Events

The Annual Bragging Rights Regatta

August 28, 2006 | by Kevin Biskaborn | Results | Photos

On Saturday, the winds were from the east and south east at 20-25 kms. We managed to get in 3 races. It was a great day for sailing, with not too much sunshine, especially given that on the preceding Thursday, the weather forecast for Saturday was up to 40 mm of rain.

Sunday, the wind never really got going, max 5 kms from the west. After a short postponement, 1 race was held. With only 4 races held, a number of ties resulted, meaning that the tie breaking system had to be used.

The Race-of-Champions race was canceled, and the race committee decided to award the Champion of Champions trophy to the boat with the most number of 1st places. This did not please everyone, as we really want to sort out the winners on the water, especially in my house. I had 4 firsts in the Wayfarer class, so I was given the champs trophy, but I took a lot of abuse from some Laser sailors (I think their family names were Biskaborn).

I would like to thank the people how volunteered their time to help run this regatta. Josie Scarlett and Nina Meyers ran the races. Sharon Biskaborn did the registration, and Bob Kennedy was the race committee chairman. Rescue boats were manned by Brian Perry and Ralph Smith.

After the racing was completed, came the hotdog and corn roast, with lots of people helping husk corn. Oh, you can probably guess what showed up around 4 o'clock, WIND. Well, that's sailing.

Jens Biskaborn Wayfarer 7663

And The View From a Laser Deck
(those Wayfarer sailors are sometimes too high from the water level to see it all)
by Kevin Biskaborn

Wow! What an amazing Club Cheetah's, I mean, Club Championship, Regatta for 2006! It definitely was great fun, even if Sunday's race did threaten to turn into an ugly repeat of last year's Club C's regatta. The Lasers had the largest fleet in the regatta (which is now becoming quite common) with 8 boats. But no matter what the numbers, the FYC Laser Fleet never fails to have a great time on, and off, the water.

And this year, the fun did start before the boats hit the water. The entire Laser fleet, with the exception of one, had appropriate hull names attached. Some were clever and witty, with connotations to the other sailors, while others were given based on humourous character traits or previous sailing incidences. Check out the regatta photos to see some of the personalized hulls.

Of course the most famous of all FYC Laser hulls was also competing; rather than going up to Ottawa to compete with sailors of his own age, "The Hound" (a.k.a. "The Fanshawe Sea-Dog") stayed in town to compete with the younger mutts. Now after around 363 days of "talk" and intimidation, this was supposed to be the regatta where Steve Dietrich unleashed himself. What with all the green tea and bragging about "roids", I was sure this guy, oh sorry, dog, was going reek havoc over all who dared to show up at the start line along side him. But Steve decided to take it easy on us this time (on the water at least; the talking never stops). Maybe he was tired from driving to CORK, or the knee was still hurting, but I know one thing is for sure: we're all in for a long winter of yoga and listening to what's going to happen next season! Thanks for always being such a great sport Steve; you make the racing even more entertaining, and we all enjoy your company.

Now onto the entertainment of the racing, we had some great sailing on Saturday. The first race the Laser fleet was treated to a typical upwind shift tutorial from Brad Biskaborn, who finished well ahead of the other Lasers. Word has it that Jason Martin covered "Jumbo-Jon" Dietrich like a glove to finish 3rd. However, the second race saw Jason, "The Gambler", in a difficult position: final upwind leg from mark 4, Brad Biskaborn going right and Kevin Biskaborn going left... now who to cover? In the end, the gamble of playing the middle proved unsuccessful, as he couldn't keep on top of both Biskaborns. Kevin would end up winning that one, followed by Jason. Brad, however, had his vengeance in the last race of the day, while Andrew Dittmer, sailing in the Club Champs Laser fleet for the second straight year, also had a great race.

Then came Sunday; I think I heard three different wind speed forecasts coming from four different directions. In the end, I think they all may have been partially correct as the wind did prove to be coming from all over the place, only just in one speed though: calm. I can't, as well as several others, recall a regatta where a race was started in such light conditions. And while it definitely was a slow race, it appeared to be a race of "cheetahs". Most of the fleet had nothing better to do than to watch the other sailors and pick out any infractions, which made for some loud yelling and cautious roll tacks. When it was all over, lets just say there weren't enough 360s to cover all the accusations and a protest threat caused Brad Biskaborn to retire in order to avoid a DSQ (which is what cost him his chance at racing in the 2005 Champion of Champions race). Oh, and "The Gambler" won that race in style: a nice "little" roll tack pump across the line... it's OK Jason, I forgive you.

All in all it was quite the fun regatta. I especially like that paragraph above from my father, the one saying that the Champions race is cancelled. That was only temporary though, as an actual Champions race is scheduled and now Brad can sleep soundly. The results of that race will be posted. Thanks to everyone who helped organize this regatta and especially to the sailors who turned out to race, including the members from the Sailing School Silver Team. And oh yes, I almost forgot to mention Matt Dietrich (a.k.a. "Son of a [Censored]")... don't worry, in a couple of years we'll all be as scared of you as we all are quickly becoming of the "Jumbo-Jon!"

Kevin Biskaborn Laser 61007

The Champions Race (that's right, it was't cancelled)
by Kevin Biskaborn

The four best boats in the all the fleets turned out on Wednesday August 30th, 2006 to compete in the Champion of Champions race and for the coveted title of FYC Club Champion. Representing the Laser fleet was Brad Biskaborn; Wayfarers: Jens and Sharon Biskaborn; Open A: Matt Quinn (solo in a Laser II); and Open B: Hans Schaffner in his Tanzer 22.

The wind was light to medium (4-10 kts) from the East, falling off towards the light side by the end of the race. The course set was 3-2-3-2 / Port, which disappointed some of the spectators as the boats were around the corner the entire time except for the start and finish. However, the race committee took a little drive up to the dam to watch after the start. The Wayfarer led the race followed closely by the Laser for most of the time. The Tanzer appeared to be doing well at the beginning but then fell too far back. The Laser II also suffered a set back as Matt Quinn valiantly flew the spinnaker solo downwind, only to capsize trying to lower it at the end of the leg.

By the end of the race, Brad Biskaborn in the Laser beat the Wayfarer by two minutes in adjusted time, earning Brad the title of 2006 FYC Club Champion after six straight years of being first in the Laser fleet, but never in the club. Jens and Sharon Biskaborn were second and Hans Schaffner finished third, followed by Matt Quinn in fourth. Congratulations to Brad for FINALLY being the Club Champion, I have no idea why its taken so long...

Thanks to the race committee which consisted of Kevin Biskaborn and John Burgess. Basically, I timed the race and John made sure the results weren't "rigged". Now why would I do such a thing?