Report from the Fringe

Two local Laser 28s travel to Magog for the first ever “Championnat Laser 28 du Lac MemphréMagog”

Paul Lhotsky and crew aboard Andanzas joined Convictus and her team on one last road trip on September 16th to the 18th, to beautiful Lac MemphréMagog. David and his staff had to do a little juggling to be able to get the boats out and on their trailers, as this occurred when the parking lot was being redone and paved. As usual David came through with flying colors.

The weather did not look too promising; over cast skies with the ever present ominous threat of torrential down pour, but the gods were on our side. The rains did come down, but they waited until we were off the water on Saturday, and they ended for the most part, before we went out again on Sunday. Cloud cover was very low all weekend, and the air was thick with humidity, but we were spared the big rains which had been scheduled during the daytime hours. Lake MemphréMagog is known for, how shall I say, its shifty wind conditions. Again somebody was looking out for the sailors, as Saturday gave us fairly steady winds from the North-East, a very uncommon occurrence for the lake. Winds were any where from 3 to 8 knots, mostly in the 5 knot area and the shifts were within an acceptable 10 to 12 degree range. It drizzled for half of one of the four races sailed that day. Sunday brought much different conditions. Winds were from the North to West direction, with very frequent shifts of varying degrees but often over 30 degrees in variance, and any where from 2 to 12 knots in strength.

Since we were the only racing to take place on these dates, the local boats took the opportunity of organizing their crews with some of the best sailors available locally. This made for fun and competitive sailing. We were duly informed upon our arrival, to be ready for anything, as boats had been practicing and we ready for the challenge. Lake MemphréMagog is home to more than 10 Laser 28s, of whom 9 registered for the regatta. With Andanzas and Convictus joining the ranks for the weekend, this brought the number of participating boats up to 11. Not bad for their first ever Laser 28 event.

The racing was well organized, with Ross Tellier from Hudson Yacht Club running the race committee. Four races were sailed on Saturday, with another two on Sunday. After a well fought regatta, Convictus emerged victorious, and Andanzas was just a few points out of fifth. A fun time was had by all, and a big thank you goes out to the Magog group for making us feel so welcome.

Denise Bienvenu