The 2010 RCYC Open treated competitors to a mixed bag of conditions this past weekend, ranging from fairly heavy air on Saturday to Sunday's abandonment for lack of breeze.
Saturday started off with cloudy, rainy conditions with about 15 knots from the east. Given that RCYC was again offering a flight to England as the first place prize, competition was pretty strong.
The race committee was able to get off 4 races on Saturday, and most of the top boats saw at least a few mishaps. Both I and RCYC teammate Brenda Bowskill had to restart the second race, believing we were OCS, only to find out later that neither of us was actually over. Nigel Heath also had his share of misfortune, with an OCS dropping him back in the standings to shake up the top 3 a bit.
The winning technique for the day seemed to consist of a good start, followed by good fleet management and downwind speed. The quick boats were pretty much able to make both sides pay, so it was more important to stay engaged with the fleet and minimize risks. It was an extremely close fleet with only 4 points separating the top 3, so every mistake made a difference and you really had to bring out your A-game if you wanted to be up at the front.
Overall, a good regatta was had by all. It is unfortunate that the winds didn't co-operate on Sunday to give Brenda and Daniel Barry another opportunity to challenge for the win, but I suppose that's just the nature of our sport. Looking forward, I am anxious to defend my newly claimed title, and hope to see everyone at our next D3 event in Sarnia at the beginning of July!
Tyler Meyrick is an Ontario Sailing Team and RCYC High Performance Team member. He competes in the Laser Radial in District 3 and throughout the rest of North America.
