Chester Race Week Day One

Chester, Nova Scotia is once again home to the famous Chester Race Week, being held August 15-18. This race has been in existence for over 100 years, starting originally with fishermen’s sailboats. This year’s registrations are at a healthy 143 boats with the addition of another race course. In sailing circles Chester Race Week is one of the great regattas, full on racing, great parties and the prettiest scenery anywhere!

Race Chairman John Curry opened the regatta proclaiming the early morning fog would clear and sure to his word the skies turned blue and a great day of racing took place. ”Conditions couldn’t have been better” said Curry who was on the alpha course, “after a very short delay a fresh southerly breeze came in and delivered a full day of racing”.

Alpha course was lucky enough to have former Olympian, Andreas Josenhans, as their PRO (Principal Race Officer) and hosted one-design J/24 and J/29 boats, large PHRF boats (Performance Handicap Rating Formula) and the distance class. The top three boats today on the Alpha 1 course were; Blast, a J111, Skippered by Mark Surrette from RNSYS, Stampeder another J111 from Chester Yacht Club with Dave Connolly at the helm was second, followed by Hard Eight, a Trip 41 from SHYC with Lawrence Taylor at the wheel.

Charlie course was located in the harbour with the Bluenose class and Race Officer Ray Cambria. Olympian, Mike Wolfs, has joined this class for the week to enjoy the fun in Chester. The leader after the first day of racing in the 22 boat fleet was John Grantmyer from the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron.

Finally, Delta course managed by Race Officer Jay Hooper saw the cruising and classic boats compete under fair conditions. Classic boats are yachts that, independent of their launch date, were built in conformity with a design existing prior to December 31, 1953. A Cruiser is defined as a yacht that is sailed by head sail and main or mainsail only. Leading after day one was Ripple, a Chester C class boat led by Jim Rafuse from Chester Yacht Club

For full results go to www.chesterraceweek.com

Photo Caption: Trip 41 Hard Eight rounds jibe mark just ahead of J111 Stampeder on first day of Chester Race Week

Related Articles

Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship – Tied at the top

Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship – Tied at the top

Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championships – Anna Tunnicliffe moved into first to tie up the lead with Sally Barkow. Corey Sertl remained in second and Carol Cronin moved into fourth.

Racing on Lake Ontario didn't start until after noon, when the wind came in and settled. After that the race committee pulled off three good races. The conditions ranged from light and variable to wavy with good breeze.

Crew of Teenage Girls Tackle Chester RW with Confidence and Great Fun

Crew of Teenage Girls Tackle Chester RW with Confidence and Great Fun

Two years ago, I interviewed Amy Minnikin and her mom, Paula, as they had just taken possession of a Ranger 28 that they named Ry’n Sun. They were given this boat by a friend and it was in pretty rough shape. After a lot of hard work and elbow grease, they boat started to come back to life, and the mom/daughter duo started to race together. Today, Amy has started to sail without mom, and has her own crew of dedicated, bright, young women (all between the ages of 15-17) who have banded together as a team to sail Ry’n Sun.

Velux 5 Oceans 2010-11 Concludes

Velux 5 Oceans 2010-11 Concludes

Velux 5 Oceans 2010-11 is the longest single handed event in the world. After nine months the racing has finished.

It was an epic battle full of thrills and spills, highs and lows, drama and action – but like all good things it must come to an end.

The arrivals of solo sailors Derek Hatfield and Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski into the French port of La Rochelle on Sunday marked the end of racing in the 2010-11 edition of the Velux 5 Oceans, following the arrivals of winner Brad Van Liew and Chris Stanmore-Major in the days previously.

MAC Opening at RNSYS – Friday, 27 May 2011

MAC Opening at RNSYS – Friday, 27 May 2011

The news media is invited to the official opening of the Marine Activity Centre (MAC) at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS) on Friday, May 27th, at 2:00 p.m. The MAC is a Canada Sport centre of training excellence for the sport of sailing. It is being used by members of Canada’s national sailing team for training in preparation for upcoming World Championships and next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.

Video Gallery

Pursuit S268 Sport CC

By Andy Adams

The Pursuit S 268 Sport centre console is a do-it-all kind of boat with a solid sense of style. Centre console designs have been developed for the southern blue water sport fishing enthusiasts (and this boat would raise fish with the best of them) but the Pursuit S 268 Sport centre console offers far more utility and enjoyment than just fishing.

Read More

Destinations

Bayfield Marine Turns 40 with Big April Events

(l to r) Holly, Adam, Pat, Ron, Shelley

Ron and Pat Reder started out in October 1984 across the road from where they are right now on the Bayfield River in Bayfield ON. The store front was about 10 x 20 and the rest of that side of the building was a stock room, wood finishing room, then behind that was more back stock and the lunchroom. Expanding every few years for the store front, then moving over to this new building five years ago, this year with Adam, Shelley, and Holly are carrying on the business.

Read More

Lifestyle