Friday, September 1, 2017

Blustery Chester Race Week!

J/120 sailing Chester Race Week (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)- Rain, cold and expected gusts of 30-plus knots per hour held back some Chester Race Week fleets, but others headed out on the water to finish their races on the fourth and final day of the regatta.  The event provided four days of racing on August 16 to 19 in the picturesque and historic seaside Village of Chester, Nova Scotia.

In addition, the event is famous for its onshore entertainment, food and parties.  For starters, four great food trucks were on the grounds for all four days giving all lots of options for tasty eats, drinks, and hot coffee.  Then, the entertainment schedule was full all four days; the “Hopping Penguins” opened and closed the event on Wednesday and Saturday! Then the group “Party Boots” will be on Thursday and on Friday and, in addition, they had one of Atlantic Canada’s finest party bands “Asia & NuGruv!”  Sounds exhausting!

J/29s sailing Chester Race WeekThe weather had some spectacular days and some ugly ones.  The fleets included one-design racing for J/70s, J/24s, and J/29s as well as offshore PHRF fleets. Winning the J/70s was Graeme Carr’s JOYRIDIN’ with, literally, all 1sts in 12 races!  Lying second was Kim Gibson’s SEE’YA and third was Peggy Bethune’s POINT EIGHT.

In the J/24s, it was Chris Veinot’s HYPEWAVE that won with all 1sts and 2nds.  Second was Jon Reid’s BARELY LEGAL and third place went to Caroline Muselet’s CODFATHER.

The large 8-boat J/29 fleet saw Scott Covey’s RUMBLEFISH take the title with three wins in six races.  Second was Jane Fibee’s PAINKILLER, winning the last race and amassing 15 pts in six races.  Third was Don Williams’ PARADIGM SHIFT with 17 pts.

In the world of PHRF handicap racing, winning PHRF 1 was Stu McCrea’s J/120 DEVIATION.  In fact, there were four J/120s sailing in the class.  Ron Stewart’s J/120 SLICE took 5th place.  In PHRF 2 class, three J/35s dominated the top five.  Winning was Andrew Childs’ HELOC with Thane McDonald’s J-HAWK in 2nd and Rod Johnstone & Gary Bennett’s J’AI TU in 5th.  Winning PHRF 3 class was Terry McKenna’s J/100 DOG PARTY, followed by Colin Mann’s J/92 POOHSTICKS; rounding out the top five were Richard Gerstenberger’s J/105 AXIS in 4th and James Mosher’s J/105 MOJO in 5th place. Finally, in PHRF 4 class was yet another J/crew winning- Jesleine Baker’s J/30 JUST ADD WATER.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.  For more Chester Race Week sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.