GNS Series C, First Race short but very sweet

The winning Etchells - Ralph Montreal Sailing

Wow, I missed an exciting but very short race, the first of GNS Series C on Tuesday, August 25th! The Sharks and Tanzers both had finishes that couldn't be closer. The racers were certainly fewer than Series B. I think that is pretty typical for Series C, but this was pretty low. Those of us who didn't make it missed a great race judging by the results.

A new Shark is on the scene. Nuisance, #324 sailed by Pierre Carpentier on the stick, and George's former crew, Toby midships and Jen on foredeck. The Sharks had 3 boats in PHRF 3for this first race of the fall series. Nuisance, and Crisis, #1465 finished in an exact tie! Each had an elapsed time of 22:16. Each team was awarded 1.5 points for the finish instead of the usual 1 and 2. Close behind was the Shark Eclipse, #1048 just 10 seconds later. What a great way for Nuisance to enter the scene!

The Tanzer 22 fleet of PHRF 3 had equally exciting but brief racing. 4 Tanzer 22s raced. First over was Sine Wave, #835 in 24:21. Next over in an infinitesimal 3 seconds later was Sorceress, #840. Way to go girls! Goin' Strait, #2111 and Evergreen, #1618 were pretty close behind as well.

Don't know why the race was so short and probably the times would have been farther apart had the race been the usual duration. Makes me think it's sort of like the short course of an Olympic medal race.

In PHRF 1, 4 Etchells were out, and the victory went to Vivace, #699. Pierre's boat won by a more dominating margin, finishing in 27:48. The following Etchells, Impudence, #931, followed by #777, and Tac Tic, #305 all finished less than a minute apart, after the 29 minute mark. One J24 made it out.

A White Sail fleet of 4 was won by the Kirby 25, Clipper. Two Fireballs came out and match raced. #14768 won that. A lone Laser also made it out for a spin around the marks.