by Jennifer Harker
On Day 4, top spot was still up for grabs in both classes in the North American 5.5M Regatta.
Haze from continuing wildfires in Ontario and Quebec moved in again for low visibility and poor air quality but it was still beautiful to have nine 5.5s line up for the start.
Pride USA 31 skipper Joe Strelow was pleased with the day’s performance of two solid third place finishes. “We were much more consistent today,” he said. “Colin had never sailed before and all the lessons over the past three days come together. You can see it gelling as a system in his head. Yesterday we tried him with spinnaker but today we did our stations and it came together. It was fun, we weren’t stressing today.”
Nantoria CAN 22’s Dave Harker said, “It ended on a highlight for us. We finally won one in the last race of the regatta. We ended up ahead after the first leg and with our best spinnaker raise and jibed quickly to get ahead and built a big lead of at least 20 boat lengths. Then it was just try to fight them off as they’re quicker boats. It was a nice way to end the regatta.”
The feeling was mutual over on Summer CAN 80.
Crew Don Rethoret said, “Today was the day every sailor dreams about, the velocity of wind the boat loves, three people on board who sail her best. This sort of day keeps you coming back. We were playing with the big boys today and we beat a big boy by five seconds at the line.”
They were in the hunt to top the classics and it all came down to the final day’s results. “Dean did a great job today,” Rethoret said. “It was a great conclusion to a regatta. We had to have two firsts to have any chance and we needed Mavi [USA 103] to finish one lower than she did.”
Summer’s skipper Dean Harker said, “The secret for us today was two good starts and clean air the rest of the way.” He was pleased with their second place overall.
Texan Tal Hutcheson was brimming with enthusiasm at the whole regatta. “The coolest thing for me is that Mavi matched us for points and beat every evolution at least once during the regatta. The whole fleet is getting faster, better and growing which is beautiful.”
With owner and skipper William Turner unable to attend the regatta, skippering duties on Firestorm USA 87 rotated throughout the regatta. “We had four different skippers on our boat and it was a ton of fun to rotate,” Hutcheson said. “We are fortunate William trusted us with the boat and sent it up here.”
Like the classics, it came down to the last day of racing for the evolutions. “I skippered the first race today,” Hutcheson said. “I am lifelong foredeck and don’t feel comfortable that far back in the boat.”
Looking like a veteran however, Hutcheson had the race locked up early for a first. “It was very exciting to end Dan’s reign of terror,” he said, commenting on Dan Rossi’s four consecutive first place finishes aboard Jalapena USA 96. “We were very happy to see Nantoria end Dan’s reign of terror too in the second race.”
He appreciates the camaraderie and spirit of the whole fleet and surrounding community. The North American regatta depends on the generosity of host Midland Bay Sailing Club and invaluable support of Bay Port Yachting Centre.
The North American 5.5 group shows their appreciation by supporting the community that continues to support them.
Last year they fundraised amongst themselves to make a donation to Bay Port’s campaign for the local Georgian Bay General Hospital.
This regatta, 5.5 volunteer Jim Hanmore created a table with the 5.5 logo and donated it for a raffle. The fleet raised $555 (how appropriate!) to donate to the Midland Bay Sailing Club’s sailing school. The funds will go towards the purchase of new sails for the school fleet, helping ensure the next generation of sailors has the best equipment possible.
This year’s spring regatta finished with Mavi, the boat rescued from impending destruction by the fleet, taking the pennant for top spot in the classics with 17 points followed by Summer with 21, Purple Haze right on her stern at 22, Summer School with 31 and Pride with 34.
In the evolutions Firestorm prevailed with 17 points, followed by Nantoria at 22, Jalapena close behind at 23 and O’Kelly right there at 24.
The next North American 5.5M Regatta is August 21-25, 2023 in Midland.
Smoke from wildfires raging in Ontario and Quebec made for extremely hazy conditions on Day 4 and the competition for final standings also heated up.
Summer CAN 80 had a terrific day, mixing it up with the big boys of the evolutions all day to have two firsts to propel them to a second overall finish in the regatta.
With owner William Turner away, four skippers rotated through Firestorm USA 87’s helm, including perennial foredeck crew Tal Hutcheson. The strategy paid off as Firestorm finished on top of the evolutions in the regatta.
The North American 5.5M fleet depends on the support of the surrounding community and is building a tradition of giving back. This year Midland Bay Sailing Club’s commodore Hugh Loughborough (left), who skippered Mavi USA 103 to first place in the classic fleet, gives Bill Goman MBSC’s sailing school director $555 raised by the fleet towards the purchase of new sails for the school’s sailing fleet.