- Nelson Habecker calls the starting line, “All Clear” as the first race in the Women’s Series on August 28 gets underway.
As Hurricane Irene’s rain bands skirted just east of Canandaigua Lake on Sunday, 14 skippers from the RC Laser fleet glanced briefly at the hurricane flags flying off of the crane on the tall hoist at the Canandaigua Yacht Club and then threw their boats in the water for a great time and some great racing!
The fleet gathered at CYC on Sunday afternoon for a scheduled race across the lake for a cookout at Neil and Maggie Atkins house on the east side, but after deciding it wasn’t feasible without powered boats to keep up with RC Lasers running in 20+ knot winds for a few miles down the lake, the group chose to pack up and drive to the other shore.
The long fetch coming directly in to Deep Run Cove under a stiff north wind created challenging choppy conditions. Surfing on 2+ foot swells with “C” sails was a great time!
The Women’s Series held three “exhausting” races. The regular Fall Low Point Series also added three races to the score sheet.
Terry Schmidt and Tracy Blevins continue to battle it out for the top Women’s spot with three points separating them and only five weeks of racing left. Tracy finished with two bullets and Terry added one more to her score Sunday. Leslie Bennett will be in the mix if there are enough races remaining for her to throw out two DNC scores from previous weeks.
After racing, everyone packed away their boats, picked up the marks and headed inside to warm up while Neil and Maggie totally outdid themselves by treating the group to a wonderful steak dinner, drinks and desserts.
It was a great time!
- (Back, L to R) Maggie Atkins, Terry Schmidt, Anna Gorbold, (Front, L to R) Tracy Blevins, Anne Lambert and Leslie Bennett braved Hurricane Irene’s 20+ knot winds and 2 foot waves to race RC Lasers on Canandaigua Lake Sunday as part of the 2011 Women’s Racing Series.
There are five weeks left in the Fall Low Point Series which will conclude the 2011 RC Laser racing season. Awards will be handed out at the Canandaigua Yacht Club Sailors Night banquet on October 15. The 2012 season begins the following day, October 16 with the start of the seven-week Frostbite series and racing in Holiday Harbor.
The fleet continues to grow as Anne Lambert, Tracy Blevins and Tom Joynt are expecting their new RC Lasers to arrive in the next few weeks. If you would like to join us on the water and buy yourself (or a friend) an RC Laser then check out this web page or contact Bill Blevins or Nelson Habecker.
