SeaSpray sailing on St. Mary's Reservoir near Cardston, Alberta. Canola field in the background.
MY THOUGHTS by Hamish Ferguson
We have just returned home after the 2022 Prairie Wind regatta at Lake Newell.
At first the wind was very light (non-existent) but around mid-day it filled in from the southwest at about 12 kph with little waves and a clear blue sky – great conditions for Sea Spray sailing – so we raced until 6:00pm. Sunday had good wind too and we enjoyed more races with some close sailing.
As these were our first races this year and I was glad to see that the sailors are becoming more competitive and the results show it.
There were a few thoughts that occurred to me – we need to do a bit of checking to see that there are no gear failures on the water, we need to know the rules regarding penalties and how to exonerate after an infringement. We need to understand how best to sail in amongst other fleets.
Also, I found myself making a few tactical mistakes. After rounding a mark behind team Mills, I decided to split tacks and go for a flyer, looking for better wind, when I should have stayed with team Mills and attempted to overtake them, because keeping in touch with them would have given me a better chance of beating them. After all, the purpose is to finish ahead of other boats! As it was, I sailed into a hole and finished well behind!
We are having a catamaran clinic on August 5, 6 and 7 and I propose to cover sailing tactics and rules, as well as examining boats looking for potential gear failures. BE THERE!!!
UPCOMING CATAMARAN CLINIC
Editor's note in regards to the upcoming free open to all catamaran types clinic August 5, 6, and 7th.. You can tent camp on the Newell Sailing Club grounds for free as well. Donations accepted. Please refer to the following link for more info on the Cat Clinic
https://sites.google.com/view/
LAKE OSOYOOS REGATTA SEPT 9-11
The upcoming Osoyoos Sailing Club regatta in September. Take a look at the sailing club's website and go to the regatta page for all the info on this regatta. I encourage you to attend and pre register before September 5th if possible to save $20. Book your accommodations, grease your bearings, and save money for gasoline. Dates September 9, 10, 11th
Jessie Kittleson enjoying some hull flying weather on St. Mary's.
FREE MEMBERSHIP OFFER
Remember it's free to join the Canadian Seaspray Association. Go to the website and register on-line without a lot of hassle. Do it today.
Update on the mainsail clew hook. It has been working well without any failures so far. Remember to use a shock cord to keep it under tension.
LEARNING FROM OTHERS
I enjoyed looking over Mike ?'s Laser at the Prairie Wind (He won the full rig class). Some Laser sailors have been very innovative with their setups and the class seems to allow some leeway now. A newer radial cut mainsail seems to be a very big improvement. There are also a number of very good laser setup videos on Youtube. Some of these setups can be incorporated onto your Seaspray to make it easier to setup, improve the sailing characteristics and to impress your friends. Take a look when you have some time.
Hope to see you on the water!
