The distance proved exciting and brought racing to new levels throughout the fleet.  

Don Rethoret took on skippering duties for the third day on Summer CAN 80 with her skipper still unable to sail. Rethoret called it a marvelous day. “Conditions were prime for the distance race. When we got out there the wind was smoking, it was enjoyable. The spinnaker run from Beausoleil Island to Flat Point was a riot.”

However he added, “It was great getting down there but you know you had to come back. It was too much upwind for us.”
It was an important race as the classics Pride USA 31 and Summer School CAN 31 started the day tied with eight points apiece and were raring to go.

Joe Strelow, skippering Pride, was pumped with their day’s performance. “We kicked ass. We didn’t make mistakes today.”

Foredeck crew Michael Bloor said, “It was unbelievable sailing today, lots of wind and lots of competition, close racing doesn’t get any better than that.”

Pride had the lead in the beginning, dropped back to third on the main leg but on the upwind they pulled ahead and stayed ahead of Purple Haze USA 51 and Summer School for the win

Purple Haze has been their previous nemesis and Strelow was determined not to let them win again. “We made sure we could cover him today. We lost to him the last distance race, and we didn’t want it to happen again. Until the horn we didn’t take anything for granted and we didn’t let off. Purple Haze was on our tail the whole way, we couldn’t make a mistake or it would cost us the race.”

Summer School would settle for third today but new 5.5 skipper Eugene Kokbas is enjoying the ride. “It was such fun sailing. Our sails are all bagged for distance and the spinnaker is soft, but I’m really enjoying it. It is a privilege to sail this particular 5.5, it’s like driving a couch, so smooth, like a Cadillac. A Shark is a corvette, bouncy and hard and stalls so easily. This is fun.”

On the evolution side of the fleet it was tight match racing, with no breaks and no room to give an inch throughout the entire three hour race.
Post-race, Firestorm USA 87 skipper William Turner was still full of adrenaline. “My heart is beating. It was intense with a constantly changing breeze. I was relying on Jeff [Canadian Jeff Brook] to tell me exactly where to go, to hug the shoreline but not too close.” He credits Brook and his local knowledge with giving him the edge in unfamiliar waters and changing wind conditions close to islands and shore. “Jeff was really instrumental. I was steering but he was driving.”

The downwind leg saw Nantoria CAN 22 and Firestorm no more than a boat length apart for the whole run. “It was a match race with Nantoria a little bit. We were right next to each other for the whole thing.” Sailors can’t see their destination buoy on the lengthy run and merely set a course for a water tower on the horizon.

“We just aimed for the water tower and there it was, we rounded, there was a great breeze and it was a match run upwind where we were able to separate a bit. John kept trying to wiggle but it was a nice upwind finish, which is our strength. All in all it was a fun day to break up the week.
John Lister also enjoyed the excitement of the tight race. “On the entire chute run we were within a boat length of each other the whole way, leapfrogging a bit. It was the best distance race I think we’ve had. It was a great wind and a really close race through most of it. The classics traded positions several times throughout, which is excellent to see.”

Savage USA 75 tightened the gap with their third place finish ahead of O’Kelly CAN 79.

The current standings have Firestorm in first, followed by Nantoria with O’Kelly just one point ahead of Savage. On the classic side Pride has a two point lead on Summer School with Purple Haze just one point behind and Summer in fourth. With two days of course racing left there’s still plenty of room for significant changes in the standings.
 

It was all concentration for Pride USA 31 as they held off Purple Haze for the win in a three hour distance race that took racers out of Midland Bay covering over 15 nautical miles.
 

Classics traded the lead several times through the lengthy race and Purple Haze USA 51 was hot on the heels of Pride but couldn’t quite catch her to finish second.
 

O’Kelly CAN 79 held on to her third place standing by a single point in the evolution division when she finished just behind Savage USA 75.