Dream day again for Chester Race Week

Chester, NS (August 16, 2019) – More beautiful weather greeted sailors on Day 3 of Helly Hansen Chester Race Week 2019 with sunny skies and brisk winds reaching courses across Mahone Bay.

“We couldn’t have asked for better weather for sailing this year. The winds are consistent and just strong enough to make things interesting,” said Dan Conrod, principal race officer, Chester Race Week. “The sailors are warmed up, focused and showing great teamwork, so we’re seeing some really competitive races, especially from the one-design fleets.”

There are 43 one-design boats registered and the Bluenose fleet is bigger than ever with 22 boats. There are nine International One Designs (IODs), six Farr 30s, and six Sonars. Most boats in these classes are based in Nova Scotia and race regularly during the summer months.

Shawn Mulrooney, owner of South Shore Marine in Chester, works with fibreglass expert Paul Benoit to build new IOD hulls and convert Bluenose hulls for racing. He says one-design boats are increasingly popular because of their sleek designs and the fact you can race on a level playing field with boats of the same specifications.

“With one-design boats it’s all about sailing talent,” explained Mulrooney, who sails on his own IOD Piper. “You can make some tweaks to the rigging and tune your sails, but mostly it’s about the decisions you make as a skipper and how your crew performs. I think that’s why we’re seeing more people ordering IODs and converting Bluenoses for racing. It’s just fun to sail with other people who are, literally, in the same boat. We all have a friendly rivalry.”

Rob Barbara is owner and skipper of a Sonar named Barbarian and races regularly with his fleet out of nearby Lunenburg Yacht Club. Barbara says racing in a one-design fleet is more competitive because of the level playing field.

“With our fleet there’s almost no drama, probably because we’re all well past that phase. We all know each other well and respect each other’s capabilities and experience. It’s very gratifying to race against others when you’re all on the same exact boat. It means you can focus on strategy, sail trim and making the best decisions on the course. It’s competitive, but in a fun, positive way.”

Racing is planned from August 14 to 17.

Event information – Race details – Results – Facebook

Day Three Results (Top Three):

Bluenose (One Design – 22 Boats)
1. Wahoo, Henry Demone , CAN – 4 -4 -1 -1 -3 -11 -2 -9 -7 -[12] ; 42
2. Privateer, Connor Mraz , USA – [12] -3 -3 -2 -4 -4 -9 -5 -5 -8 ; 43
3. Faster, Chris von Maltzahn , CAN – 1 -11 -6 -[18] -7 -10 -1 -3 -1 -9 ; 49

Classics (Pursuit – 8 Boats)
1. Seneca, David Creighton , CAN – 1 -1 -1 ; 3
2. Virginia, John Wurts , USA – 2 -2 -2 ; 6
3. Hayseed IV, Christopher Wurts , CAN – 3 -3 -4 ; 10

Distance 1 (PHRF_ToT – 7 Boats)
1. Ramillies, David Wilson , CAN – 1 -2.5 -1 -1 ; 5.5
2. Deviation, Stu McCrea , CAN – 6 -1 -2 -2 ; 11
3. Chaos, Mark Gosine , CAN – 2 -6 -3 -3 ; 14

Distance 2 (PHRF_ToT – 11 Boats)
1. Young Blood, Larry Creaser , CAN – 1 -1 -1 -1 ; 4
2. DogParty, Terry McKenna , CAN – 5 -4 -2 -2 ; 13
3. J’ai Tu, Rodney Johnstone / Gary Bennett , USA – 3 -3 -5 -3 ; 14

Distance 3 (PHRF_ToT – 9 Boats)
1. Poohsticks, Colin Mann , CAN – 1 -1 -2 -2 ; 6
2. Paradigm Shift, Don Williams , CAN – 2 -3 -4 -1 ; 10
3. Scotch Mist IV, Chris MacDonald , CAN – 3 -2 -1 -4 ; 10

Distance 4 (PHRF_ToT – 9 Boats)
1. Just Add Water, Jesleine Baker , CAN – 1 -4 -2 -2 ; 9
2. Gersemi, Paul Bezanson , CAN – 7 -1 -1 -1 ; 10
3. Flux, Jordan MacNeil , CAN – 3 -5 -4 -3 ; 15

Distance 5 (PHRF_ToT – 7 Boats)
1. Afterhours, Charles Walker , CAN – 2 -1 -2 -1 ; 6
2. Foxy Lady, Bob Cragg , CAN – 1 -2 -1 -5 ; 9
3. Roguewave, Elizabeth Whyte , CAN – 4 -3 -3 -4 ; 14

Distance 6 (PHRF_ToT – 4 Boats)
1. sea breaker, bruce nunn , can – 1 -1 -1 -1 ; 4
2. Nesbitt, Anthony Rosborough , CAN – 3 -2 -2 -2 ; 9
3. To’Mater 3, Warren Webber , Canada – 2 -3 -3 -5 ; 13

Inshore 1 – J105 (PHRF_ToT – 5 Boats)
1. McMac, Sean / Rory McDermott / MacDonald , CAN – [1] -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 ; 5
2. MOJO, James Mosher , CAN – 2 -[3] -3 -3 -2 -2 ; 12
3. Buzz, Barry Eisener , CAN – 3 -[4] -2 -2 -3 -4 ; 14

Inshore 2 – C&C 99 (PHRF_ToT – 5 Boats)
1. Agent 99, Rob Crutcher , CAN – [1] -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 ; 5
2. Equinox 99, Rod Stright , CAN – [2] -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 ; 10
3. Showgirl2, Drew Bethune , CAN – 3 -3 -3 -[4] -4 -3 ; 16

Inshore 3 (PHRF_ToT – 7 Boats)
1. Painkiller, Jane Filbee , CAN – 1 -[2] -2 -2 -1 -1 ; 7
2. Head Games, Terry Schnare , CAN – [2] -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 ; 7
3. Unlimited Data, Alan Chandler , CAN – [3] -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 ; 15

Inshore 4 (PHRF_ToT – 6 Boats)
1. Hoonigan, Ivan Fitch , CAN – [1] -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 ; 5
2. Cheap Thrill, Karen Fowler , CAN – 2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -[3] ; 10
3. Waverunner, Steven Countway , CAN – 3 -3 -[4] -3 -3 -4 ; 16

Sonar (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. Ping, Andreas Josenhans , Can – 2 -1 -[6] -2 -2 -1 -1 -3 -1 -1 ; 14
2. Barbarian, Rob Barbara , CAN – 1 -[3] -1 -3 -1 -2 -2 -1 -3 -3 ; 17
3. Echo, John Franklin , USA – 3 -2 -[4] -1 -3 -4 -3 -2 -2 -2 ; 22

Farr 30 (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. One More Time, Rob Gale / Ed Steeves , Can – 1 -1 -1 -1 -[3] -2 -2 -2 -0 -3 ; 13
2. Matador, Gregory Blunden , CAN – [4] -4 -3 -2 -2 -1 -3 -1 -0 -1 ; 17
3. Yardsail, Roby Douglas , CAN – 5 -[6] -2 -3 -1 -3 -1 -3 -0 -2 ; 20

Intenational One Design (One Design – 9 Boats)
1. Bella, Evan Petley-Jones , CAN – [4] -2 -1 -1 -2 -4 -3 -4 -1 -2 ; 20
2. Enigma, Steve Bush , USA – [5] -4 -2 -3 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -3 ; 24
3. Squall, Peter Wickwire , CAN – 2 -[10] -10 -2 -1 -1 -1 -3 -10 -1 ; 31

Source: Holly Dunn