Just in time at Chester Race Week

Chester, NS (August 14, 2019) – While a weather front sitting off Tancook Island yesterday threatened to becalm the fleet today, the skies cleared, the sailors were enthusiastic and the wind picked up to 10-15 knots just in time to kick off Helly Hansen Chester Race Week 2019 for the 120+ boats with ideal on-the-water conditions.

“Mahone Bay came through for us as she always does,” said Dan Conrod, principal race officer for Helly Hansen Chester Race Week. “The wind picked up just in time for the races to start and we couldn’t have asked for better conditions on day one.”

Skippers came from as far away as Germany, New Mexico, California, New England, Ontario, and Quebec, a testament to the event’s reputation among sailors across North America and beyond. Many one design fleets were larger and more competitive than ever, including the Sonars, Bluenoses, and International One Designs, most of which sail out of Chester and Lunenburg.

Jesleine Baker co-owns the J/30 Just Add Water along with her three brothers Philip, Jim and David Baker. The siblings have been sailing together out of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in Halifax since they were kids.

Baker says her fleet is increasingly competitive and close, so it makes all the difference to get a good start and find the favoured tack. Just Add Water finished first in the Distance 4 fleet, skippered by her brother Philip.

“We started with light winds but it picked up quickly and we had steady air throughout the race. When you’re all pretty close in speed and the wind is steady, then it’s all about luck and skill,“ Jesleine explained. “Luckily today we had a great start and we crossed the finish line first. We have a very close fleet and we’re always battling on the course to get ahead. It’s a lot of fun.”

Racing is planned from August 14 to 17.

Event information – Race details – Results – Facebook

Day One Results (Top Three):

Bluenose (One Design – 23 Boats)
1. Wahoo, Henry Demone , CAN – 4 -4 -1 -1 ; 10
2. Privateer, Connor Mraz , USA – 12 -3 -3 -2 ; 20
3. Dart, John Grantmyre , CAN – 8 -2 -7 -6 ; 23

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

Distance 1 (PHRF_ToT – 7 Boats)
1. Ramillies, David Wilson , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. Chaos, Mark Gosine , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. Climax, Nathan Reece , CAN – 3 ; 3

Distance 2 (PHRF_ToT – 11 Boats)
1. Young Blood, Larry Creaser , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. HELOC, Andrew Childs , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. J’ai Tu, Rodney Johnstone / Gary Bennett , USA – 3 ; 3

Distance 3 (PHRF_ToT – 9 Boats)
1. Poohsticks, Colin Mann , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. PARADIGM SHIFT, Don Williams , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. Scotch Mist IV, Chris MacDonald , CAN – 3 ; 3

Distance 4 (PHRF_ToT – 9 Boats)
1. Just Add Water, Jesleine Baker , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. Highlander, Dan Pride , Can – 2 ; 2
3. Flux, Jordan MacNeil , CAN – 3 ; 3

Distance 5 (PHRF_ToT – 7 Boats)
1. Foxy Lady, Bob Cragg , CAN – 1 ; 1
2. Afterhours, Charles Walker , CAN – 2 ; 2
3. ON THE VERGE, steven robertson , CAN – 3 ; 3

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

Inshore 1 – J105 (PHRF_ToT – 5 Boats)
1. McMac, Sean / Rory McDermott / MacDonald , CAN – 1 -1 ; 2
2. MOJO, James Mosher , CAN – 2 -3 ; 5
3. Axis, Richard Gerstenberger , CAN – 4 -2 ; 6

Inshore 2 – C&C 99 (PHRF_ToT – 5 Boats)
1. Agent 99, Rob Crutcher , CAN – 1 -1 ; 2
2. Equinox 99, Rod Stright , CAN – 2 -2 ; 4
3. Showgirl2, Drew Bethune , CAN – 3 -3 ; 6

Inshore 3 (PHRF_ToT – 7 Boats)
1. Head Games, Terry Schnare , CAN – 2 -1 ; 3
2. Painkiller, Jane Filbee , CAN – 1 -2 ; 3
3. Unlimited Data, Alan Chandler , CAN – 3 -3 ; 6

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

Sonar (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. Barbarian, Rob Barbara , CAN – 1 -3 -1 ; 5
2. Ping, Andreas Josenhans , Can – 2 -1 -6 ; 9
3. Echo, John Franklin , USA – 3 -2 -4 ; 9

Farr 30 (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. One More Time, Rob Gale , Can – 1 -1 -1 ; 3
2. Totally Irresponsible, Adam Affleck , Can – 2 -2 -6 ; 10
3. Goose, Ben Maloney , CAN – 3 -3 -4 ; 10

Intenational One Design (One Design – 9 Boats)
1. Bella, Evan Petley-Jones , CAN – 4 -2 -1 ; 7
2. Restless, Ted Murphy , CAN – 1 -6 -3 ; 10
3. Enigma, Steve Bush , USA – 5 -4 -2 ; 11

Source: Holly Dunn