In 2025 Races, Members, Public, Stories 2025

Long Harbour Race Report

by Martin Herbert aboard the Ogopogo
Stealth photography by Jan Macpherson

For the Long Harbour Race this year I had the pleasure of sailing with April and Paul Faget on Ogopogo. It was a new experience for me, sailing in a boat that is used to being in the lead. It felt a bit like cheating and seeing the race from the front is a much different experience from seeing a race from the back. I must admit that I keep my eye on Paul when I am racing the Kay D, making mental notes of the decisions he makes, which colour my tactics.

After the start and the first gybe, with a tutorial on steering, Paul handed the helm over to me. I think it was a case of putting me where I could do the least harm. With April now flying the spinnaker, I got a first hand look at how it should be done and then I was thrown into the chore of choosing how low you can go with an asymmetrical, balancing speed and distance sailed. It was fascinating. But judging how close to our stern was Invictus, I was not very good at it.
Sorcery X and Steller J were also looming large as we approached the Horda Shoals mark. We did an early take down, perhaps to minimize helming errors, and I was thrown into the joys of learning how to tack the beast. That was another learning curve—apparently putting the tiller extension knob between the backstay cascade and bearing off onto a beam reach while trying to struggle it free is not a popular technique. With all the practise tacking into Long Harbour they did get better, but not as crisp as is usual for Ogopogo. The team was very generous to me and the wind gods threw me a few really good shifts. The distance to second place was increasing and we were going to use Big Red for the romp back to Horda Shoals. The gybing angles with the big sail are broader, so a bit easier for a beginning asymmetrical skipper, and a good shift made the exit of Long Harbour easy.
We were blasting along and I was feeling pretty good, heading right for the mark at speed, when Paul noticed the real mark down to leeward, so one more gybe and another early take down. The beat for home was exciting, with Ogopogo heeled right up on her ear. (I am not used to heeling;  on the Kay D she just leans over to about 15 degrees and stays there, maintained by steering, sheet tension and hiking.) As we heeled over, the weather side reared into the air and I thought, “I might be afraid of heights” and simultaneously, “that’s why the rudder is so long”. No one else on board seemed to mind.
I got a glimpse back at one point and saw Invictus approaching Horda Shoals with a very short but wide spinnaker still up. I am sure there is a good story there. Also heard some exciting tales of mark rounding with overlaps at the post-race gathering. (See how much you miss when you sail a fast boat…) Ogopogo was motorless, so I got to watch Paul sail out of the slip and back into a slip, both skillfully done. It was a total pleasure to watch April’s skills trimming all three of the forward sails. I thank them both for having me aboard, a very fun sail with a very different view of the fleet.
The Kay D will probably have another two weeks in the shop, where she is getting much love. She will come back looking pretty good for a 53 year old.
PHRFBC Results
PHRFBC Finish Corrected Rating for club
Rating Boat Skipper Time Time Place Next Race points
99 OGOPOGO Faget 12:29:04 02:05:02 1 99 100
117 INVICTUS Lhotzky 12:42:10 02:14:52 2 117 80
144 STELLER J Leitch 12:48:43 02:15:48 3 144 60
92 SORCERY X Slakov 12:43:49 02:22:08 4 92 40
180 SAORSA Gray 13:28:00 02:45:17 5 180
Club Handicap Results
Club Finish Corrected Rating for
Rating Boat Skipper Time Time Place Next Race
132 INVICTUS Lhotzky 12:42:10 02:11:46 1 126
123 STELLER J Leitch 12:48:43 02:20:14 2 120
20 OGOPOGO Faget 12:29:05 02:23:20 3 20
62 SORCERY X Slakov 12:43:49 02:29:27 4 65
240 SAORSA Gray 13:28:00 02:32:14 5 246
 

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