Even for us out here on the balmy west coast of Canada, the day of Victoria Fleet’s first 2.4mR Ice Bowl Regatta did not look promising, classic ‘socked in’ winter weather where we couldn’t see the end of the bay and LOTS of rain. However 10 hardy/brave/foolish (depending on who you ask…) souls suited up and headed out onto Cadboro Bay. Surprisingly, the wind was consistent throughout the day in speed if not direction, and the southerly arguing with the westerly made for some shifty, interesting racing. The day belonged to Louise Anstey who scored 6 points out of 5 races, followed by Doug Bell on 10 points and Jackie Gay on 12. With the fleet tight on all mark roundings and anything possible on each leg we were all fully engaged and had a whole lot of soggy fun, a great celebration of our growing fleet and high level racing that would have kept the best in the world on their toes!
Many thanks to Louise Anstey for her sterling work organizing, Bruce Millar and his dedicated (and damp…) race committee and David Bleakney for initiating the idea. It was great to reflect on the small beginnings of our fleet back in the days when David, Rod Mack and I were swapping in and out of the two borrowed boats and chasing Bruce around the bay. #keepchasing!
Smith Takes National and North American Titles in Back-to-Back Regattas
Port Charlotte, Fla. (December 13, 2018) – While most of the U.S.A. was getting smacked by an early taste of wintry weather and unseasonably cold temperatures, the conditions were more than ideal for sailors in the 2.4 Meter class as they kicked off the 2019 CanAm Championship Series at Charlotte Harbor Yacht Club (CHYC) in Port Charlotte, Florida. With at least nine competitors from Canada, two from the Virgin Islands, one from Norway, and Americans coming from as far as Seattle and San Diego, a fleet of 20 started the championship series with back-to-back regattas on the Peace River.
The 2019 CanAm Championship Series gets underway in Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
(credit: 2019 CanAm Championship Series/Fran Burstein)
First up on the series schedule was the 2.4mR North American Championship, December 3-5, 2018, which got underway in light, shifty breeze from the north. On the first day of racing, the fleet of 20 saw three winners in as many races: Canada’s Bruce Millar, from Victoria, British Columbia, won the first race; Norway’s Bjornar Erikstad took the win of race two; and Dee Smith of Annapolis, Maryland, won the last race of the day. On day two, with breeze of 12-15 knots from the north-northeast, the sailors faced a challenging chop in the starting area that, fortunately, diminished near the top of the course which was set closer to shore. Day two saw Smith resume his winning style with bullets in the first two races of the day before finishing third in the final race of the event. Canada’s Allan Leibel, of Toronto, won that final race to end the regatta tied on 15 points with Bruce Millar, and Erikstad, with 12 points, finished second to Smith who won the North American title on seven points. Canada’s Peter Eagar, of Toronto, finished fifth overall with 30 points.
The 2.4mR U.S. National Championship, held December 6-9, started under sunny skies with a seven-knot breeze from the east-northeast. Despite the shifty, diminishing breeze, the Race Committee was able to run four races and, once again, it was Bruce Millar across the finish line first in the opening race. Dee Smith powered up for back-to-back wins of races two and three, with the final race of the day won by Charlie Rosenfield of Woodstock, Conn. Day two saw similar conditions, with a diminishing breeze from the east-southeast shifting to the southeast as the day progressed. It was another day of close racing as evidenced, again, by three winners in as many races: Millar won race five, and Janice Graham-Foscarini, of Toronto, Canada, won race six before Smith won the last race of the day. The fourth race planned for the day was abandoned when the wind died. With a cold front pushing its way into the Port Charlotte area, bringing lightning and gusts up to 35 knots, it forced the cancellation of the final day of racing and the championship was decided on seven races, including a discard for each sailor of their worst finish. Smith claimed the 2019 U.S. National Championship title with nine points; Bruce Millar was second with 21 points, followed by Tony Pocklington, of Ft. Myers, Fla., and Bjornar Erikstad, tied with 24 points each. Allan Leibel, with 36 points, rounded out the top-five.
“Racing was tight all week,” said Smith after earning the two championship titles. “Conditions varied from drifting to 22 knots. Many different boats won races and you had to stay on top of the big shifts and wind lines to get good scores. I was lucky enough to put a good string of strong finishes together for the week, but it was not easy.” Racing for the third edition of the 2.4 Meter Can Am Championship series will resume January 25-27 when the 2019 Edge Sailing Midwinters will be contested, followed by CanAm #4 from February 22-24. The series concludes with the nine-race 2019 CanAm Championship Finale from March 29-31, with the series champion determined from the results of all five regattas after his or her worst score is discarded. For competitors who do not race in all five events, the scoring will count all events sailed (i.e. they will not drop their worst result). Leading the current standings for the 2019 CanAm Championship Series is Dee Smith with two points. He is followed by Bruce Millar and Bjornar Erikstad, who are tied with six points each; Allan Leibel in fourth overall on eight points; and Peter Eagar rounds out the top-five with 11 points.
Details of the regatta schedules, social events, hotels and more may be found in the Notice of Race, available here. Full results for the 2018 2.4mR North American Championship may be found here; and for the 2018 2.4mR U.S. Nationals, results may be found here.
About the 2.4mR: The 2.4mR originated in 1983 in Sweden and attained confirmation as an international class less than 10 years later. Class racing puts the emphasis on the tactical – not physical – skills of the sailor as the single-handed boats are equal under the strict rules that govern the class. With a length of 13’ 8” and the advantage of being easily transported and stored, this sleek keelboat has gained favor with a wide range of able-bodied sailors and sailors with disabilities (there are 1200 boats worldwide and roughly 200 in the USA alone). For more information on the class, please visit http://www.canada24mr.com/ or www.us24meter.org/and follow us on Facebook at US 2.4mR Class
The regatta had three days of good racing with both light and medium/strong conditions. On Friday only one race was held in light 4 to 5 knot conditions. After one hour of racing the first four boats all finished within 2 boat lengths of each other with the lead changing hands multiple times in the last 100 meters with Peter Eager winning.
Saturday’s three races saw a building winds with the final race sailed in a 12 knot wind and choppy seas. Dee Smith and Bruce Millar showed they were the class of the fleet while the rest of us fought it out for third place.
Sunday was more of the same with winds starting at 6knots in the first race building to 13 knots in the second. Tony Sanpierre swamped in the second race when three big waves overwhelmed his manual pump.
A great regatta with warm weather, warm water and good competition.
We had a great regatta this weekend. Winds were light and shifting, generally 3-6 knots. Seas got a bit lumpy Sunday. It was pretty hot here in Toronto, so it was great to get out on the water. Darrell and Trish gave us a terrific BBQ Saturday.
The 16th Annual Clagett Regatta at Newport RI was a fantastic success for a number of reasons. 23 boats participated in the 2.4mR Class, a record number for this event. Entries were from Puerto Rico, Canada and the United States. Entries included four sailors under the age of 25 (three from Canada) all young women. Delani Hume-Lawrence from Victoria placed 8th and won the coach’s award for most improved sailor while Shaylagh Ley from Ottawa placed 22nd and won the Sportsmanship Award. Both of these sailors are sailing Clagett Program Boats donated for their use for up to four years.
The Clagett Regatta foundation will be seeking applications for two additional program boats in the early fall 2018
The inaugural Pacific Coast 2.4mR Championships were held June 16 & 17 at Royal Victoria Yacht Club with 11 boats in attendance. The boats attending were from Seattle and Calgary as well as from our Victoria fleet. The class anticipates that this will become an annual fixture on our regatta calendar and hopefully will attract more boats from western North American.
Pointe Claire Yacht Club will be hosting the Canadian 2.4mR Championships August 10 -12th. The Notice of Race and entry forms can be accessed by clicking on the event title in the events schedule of the 2.4mR website. Racing starts at 1:30pm on Friday August 10 allowing competitors to work a full day Thursday and get to the regatta site with time to rig on Friday morning.
2018 Class Annual Meeting
The 2018 Annual Meeting of the 2.4mR Class will take place at Pointe Claire Yacht Club Friday August 10th after sailing. If any member has business they wish to discuss at the Annual meeting would they please advise either Audrey Kobayshi, Secretary-Treasurer or Peter Wood, President. Please send your agenda items to [at][dot]
2018 Membership Dues
2018 dues are $ 50.00 (same as 2017) and are now overdue. Payment to be made through www.canada24mr.com
Canada’s Retaliatory Tariffs
The trade war between the Trump Administration in the United States and the Government of Canada is unfortunately impacting members importing 2.4mR sailboats from the United States. Sailboats with or without auxiliary power (tariff item 8903.91.10) will be subject to a tariff of 10%. This is in addition to the HST (or GST) which applies to all goods. Unfortunately consumers are the unspoken victims in these trade wars.
Buoyancy Tests and Certificates: Regular buoyancy tests are a safety issue. At the 2017 Canada Games two boats failed their initial buoyancy tests and required addition floatation materials before they were permitted to race. It was a good thing because two boats did swamp in the one heavy air race and required assistance in being pumped out. If you do not have a buoyancy certificate for your boat or if your certificate was issued in 2013 or earlier you must be tested before you will be permitted to race in class events in 2018. Contact the class measurer (Bruce Millar) to arrange for a buoyancy test.
Please remember to send your questions, reports, pictures and gripes to the class e-mail address [at][dot]
The Victoria fleet hosted the class Pacific Coast Championship on June 16-17. The event attracted two competitors from out of town: Wendy Frazier, Calgary, and Jeff Reinhold, Seattle, to make an eleven boat fleet. Unfortunately, our Saskatchewan friends were unable to attend.
We delayed our practice session on Friday afternoon by an hour awaiting the flood tide to return enough water under the jetty to launch the visiting 2.4s. Friday morning was a ten-year record low tide!
On Saturday morning the SE wind was very weak and turbulent for the initial race, switching to the N by the last leg. Boats could make big gains on one leg and experience a significant lose on the next leg. It mixed the fleet quite successfully. Ones view of the race depended on one’s final finish position. After a short postponement, the wind settled into a 4-8 kt southerly at the mouth of Cadboro Bay with enough shifts and pressure changes to reward those with their eyes on the water. By Race 4 the flood current set in gently at the weather mark and it had enough strength that it caught some by surprise. Trying to shoot around the mark was risky; the result was two competitors demonstrated their skills at 360-turns. We completed five races by 3.30. After putting away the boats, we retired to the patio for refreshments and contemplated the close results – ties between four pairs of competitors.
Sunday dawned sunny and clear. The Caddy Bay summer northerly showed its first zephyrs by 9 am and built to 4-6 kt by race time. The RC set up a short course, maybe 300 m long, from the RVYC breakwater to the beach. Early in the day, the pressure and lifts favoured the right side of the course. In the latter races, lifts on the left side of the course were dominant. However, all day competitors needed to watch their compass for shifts, watch the water for puffs and be prepared to revise their plan to be successful.
Thank you to the race committee: John Edwards (PRO), Ron Jewula (ARO), the crew from Kairos and many others. Besides running nine races, they found time to serve bbq’d hotdogs between races on Saturday and fresh baked brownies on Sunday. What a team!!
Check out the Hotdog Drive Thru in Rod Mack’s video . See the deluxe ‘dog’ he collects when he eventually gets in the queue.
Award winners: 1st Bruce Millar, 2nd Louise Anstey, 3rd Doug Bell. See full results here.
Award winners from left: Doug Bell (3rd), Bruce Millar (1st), Louise Anstey (2nd), AJ Hesford, RVYC Racing Fleet Capt.
