Chester Race Week is back

Chester, NS (August 11, 2021) – There was a lot of excitement — and a lot of fog — on the water during the first day of Helly Hansen Chester Race Week 2021. Last year’s event was cancelled due to COVID-19, but this year’s sailors were anxious to get back on the water.

Daniel Conrod, Principal Race Officer, said the team and racers were happy to be back on the water and called Day 1’s conditions “shifty and challenging” as fog backed in and out of Mahone Bay most of the day.

“We haven’t had any events in the fog for almost two years,” Conrod said. “They probably are rustier than they should be on the start line, but that rust will burn off by Day 4.”

A total of 107 boats are registered in 12 fleets for the 2021 event. That’s three fleets fewer than usual and the number of boats registered is down by about 10 percent from previous years. But this year’s Bluenose fleet saw a record number of boats at 25.

Many of the boats registered this year were from skippers in Nova Scotia and around Atlantic Canada. The U.S.-Canada border only opened the day before Race Week kicked off, keeping many American skippers out of this year’s event. Still, Conrod sees the event getting better and the boats are getting bigger each year.

Conrod said a highlight for him was having 11 45-footers on the start line. “To me, that speaks to the strength of the sailing,” Conrod said. “We’re getting bigger boats now, more people sailing, and even in the smaller divisions with more boats in them …

As for Day 2, Conrod said he’s looking forward to less shifty conditions and more of the same from Day 1.

“I want to get out there and see them shake that rust off,” he said.

There were a couple of special visitors to race week: Bluenose 11 and HMCS Oriole were in Mahone Bay, too.

Racing is planned for August 11 to 14

Event information – Race details – Results

Day One Results (Top 3):

Bluenose (One Design – 25 Boats)
1. Geronimo, Karl Mitchell , CAN – 3 -2 -1 ; 6
2. Dart, John Grantmyre , CAN – 1 -5 -6 ; 12
3. Privateer, Connor Mraz , USA – 6 -4 -3 ; 13

Distance 1 (PHRF_ToT – 11 Boats)
1. Brilliance, Richard Calder , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. Climax, Nathan Reece , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. Barchetta, Steve Davies , CAN – 3 ; 3

Distance 2 (PHRF_ToT – 10 Boats)
1. Poohsticks, Colin Mann , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. DogParty, Terry McKenna , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. J Hawk, Thane MacDonald , CAN – 3 ; 3

Distance 3 (PHRF_ToT – 5 Boats)
1. Scotch Mist IV, Chris MacDonald , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. Painkiller, Paul Fillbe-Dexter , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. Jaeger, Chris Power , CAN – 3 ; 3

Distance 4 (PHRF_ToT – 15 Boats)
1. Good Friday, Philip Burchinshaw , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. King of Normandy, Francois Guitton , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. Auster, Robert Merchant , CAN – 3 ; 3

Inshore 1 (PHRF_ToT – 14 Boats)
1. Foxy Lady, Bob Cragg , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. Dark Water, Donald K Walker , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. Flux, Jordan MacNeil , CAN – 3 ; 3

C&C 99 PHRF – Inshore (PHRF_ToT – 4 Boats)
1. Equinox 99, Rod Stright , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. Agent 99, Rob Crutcher , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. Demons Dance, Andrew Watts , CAN – 3 ; 3

J105 PHRF – Inshore (PHRF_ToT – 5 Boats)
1. McMac, Sean McDermott / Rory MacDonald , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. Axis, Richard Gerstenberger , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. MoJo, James Mosher , CAN – 3 ; 3

IOD (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. Squall, Peter Wickwire , CAN – 2 -1 -1 ; 4
2. Piper, Shawn Mulrooney , CAN – 1 -5 -4 ; 10
3. Bella, Evan Petley-Jones Jim Mason , CAN – 4 -3 -3 ; 10

Farr 30 (One Design – 7 Boats)
1. One More Time, Rob Gale , CAN – 1 -2 -1 ; 4
2. HeadFirst3, Peter Toombs , CAN – 3 -1 -3 ; 7
3. Yardsail, Roby Douglas , CAN – 4 -4 -2 ; 10

Sonar (One Design – 5 Boats)
1. Barbarian, Rob Barbara , CAN – 1 -3 -1 ; 5
2. PING, Andreas Josenhans , CAN – 2 -1 -2 ; 5
3. Echo, John Franklin , USA – 5 -2 -3 ; 10

Source: Suzanne Rent