After blowing all night the wind was quiet in Ganges Harbour for the start of the Ben Mohr Rock race, the first event of the winter series at SISC.  The forecast was for strong winds and the ebb tide would carry us up the harbour, so the six skippers agreed to start on schedule.  Despite the slow motion start there were a few close calls at the line and the fleet proceeded south at half a knot in the almost imperceptible wind.  Most boats elected to sail close to the spit and Imp, the lightest in the fleet, crept into the lead.  The wind filled from the southeast as predicted and all boats cleared the Second Sister in a 7 knot breeze.  Imp, Arbitrage and Electra lead the pack out to Captain’s Passage.   All boats hugged the shore at Nose Point to avoid the current then headed for Ben Mohr on a brisk beam reach.  The order stayed the same until Scott Point when the spinnakers appeared.  A few keener’s tried the chutes early, but got headed and knocked around through Captain’s Passage.  Electra caught Arbitrage, who had elected no flying sails, on the downwind run and Alacrity, who had been trailing, closed the gap dramatically.  Imp never gave up the lead despite a serious challenge from Electra.   The next three boats had a nerve-wracking finish, all within 36 seconds.   On corrected time, the whole group was within 6 minutes.  Final corrected results were Imp, Electra and Deryn Mor.   Most skippers and crew enjoyed lunch and drinks on the party boat (Soul Dancer) where preliminary results were announced.  Apologies to Kevin (Deryn Mor) for telling him he was last when, in fact, he placed 3^rd and knocked the party boat off the podium. 

 

 

RACE	Ben Mohr Jan13, 2008			time on time scoring
Wind	light  SE 5-10
Distance		9	N.MILES
Start	10:30:00
HANDICAP				BOAT	Finish	Elapsed	CORRECTED, TIME ON TIME
PHRF	CLUB	NFS	TOTAL		H:M:S	Total sec.	TT	Hours	Minutes	Seconds
158	-17		141	IMP	12:52:42	8,562	8,420	2	20	20
144	8		152	ELECTRA	12:57:23	8,843	8,553	2	22	33
234	6		240	DERYN MOR	13:16:45	10,005	8,557	2	22	37
118	34		152	SOUL DANCER	12:59:40	8,980	8,686	2	24	46
129	18		147	ALACRITY	13:00:16	9,016	8,786	2	26	26
69	56	18	143	ARBITRAGE	12:59:55	8,995	8,819	2	26	59