Summer 2014 on Suzie Q

This year, we did not have to do as much to get Suzie Q ready for launch. A bit of cleaning, waxing and sanding and re-painting the bottom with VC17. This being our second full summer, we knew a bit more what to do to get her ready. 

Before and after pictures.

While Dave was painting, I was chasing a family of Canada Geese from land to water!

Launch happened on Friday, June 6 this year. The next day, we put up the mast and by the end of the weekend, she was ready to sail.

Our first time out was during sailpast and Alison and Nick joined us. It was our first out of the harbour sailpast. Last year, it happened in the harbour as the harbour gates were still in. I may have a picture of Suzie Q doing sailpast to post later.

We went out one day that was pretty windy. Even Dave wore his life jacket!

One day we even managed to get a good picture of ourselves!

One day we sailed with someone who also has a Mirage 24 and we followed each other all the way up to Pinhey's Point and back. Our friend took pictures of us sailing. This is the first time we actually have pictures in action! Thanks André!

Suzie Q came out of the water on October 10th after another great season! Now it is time to empty her and prepare her for the winter.

Here's a little souvenir video of the summer! Click here.

Calema Midwinters February 28-March 2, 2014

This was my second time participating in this event. It would be my 3rd time if it had not been for a snow storm in Ottawa the day Denis Dagenais and I were to fly to Orlando, Florida in 2013. Flights were not landing nor departing from Ottawa so we never left on time. Denis ended up cancelling his trip and I was able to leave on Saturday morning to spend the week in Ormond Beach, as per the original plan (after the racing).

So we are giving it another try in 2014!

The sun was shining the day we left for Florida! We had a good flight to Orlando and made it to our hotel later than anticipated because we took a wrong turn… but we did not get lost!

Thursday, February 27

This was a day to get our charter equipment, rig and go sailing to practise a bit. In the morning, we did some shopping then went to Calema (event site) around lunchtime. We prepared everything then went on the water for about one hour. This time, I did not bother to install an outhaul system. I just brought my Easy Uphaul so that made my preparations much easier. It was cloudy and cold enough to wear my shorty with a long sleeve lycra underneath. 

Our equipment and a view of the site after our practice.

Friday, February 28 – First day of the regatta

First races started at 10 a.m. It was a bit chilly but manageable. We did two races before lunch and two more after lunch. I did three out of four as the wind had picked up too much for me. However, I was happy to have done the third one in the higher wind but had nothing left in my hands to do another one. A manatee swam right by me on my way back to the beach... boy that was scary. It is a big animal! The Kona fleet had 27 participants, the biggest fleet this year. Today I finished,  20^th, 22^nd and 19^th. It seems I did better in the higher wind!

Saturday, March 1^st – Second day

First races tentative start at 9 a.m. so we got up real early, too early for being on vacation! But it was worth it. It had warmed up and the sun was shining. No need for neoprene today! We had a surprise visit of a dolphin going back and forth in front of the beach! The wind did not come up until later and we had our first race around 11:45 a.m. The race committee also had to rearrange the course a few times because the wind kept shifting. Again, we did two races before lunch and two after lunch. I did the first two but stayed on the beach with my grand master companions (John Darling and Chris Hope), as the wind was too strong. I finished 21^st and 22^nd for the two races I did. At night, we had a nice dinner at the Radisson hotel followed by the viewing of the movie Children of the Wind featuring freestyle stars from Bonaire, and Nevin Sayre, Charles Dasher and Tinho Dornellas who were present for the viewing. 

The dolphin!

Sunday, March 2^nd – Third day

The sun was shining and it was warm early in the morning… but the wind was not strong enough to run even a good Kona race before lunch. After lunch, we did two light wind races. Three dolphins were also sailing with us! I finish 16^th and 19^th. There were only two women registered in the Kona fleet, Andrée Gauthier and myself. So that means I got a second place and a lovely wooden plaque! Overall I finished 22^nd and Denis 14^th. Oh and Denis also won the impromptu freestyle contest!

1313 was my closest opponent all weekend.

Andrée and I on the podium!

Denis sailing with back to the sail.

Denis doing the rail ride!

All the Canadians that participated in the regatta!

Six Canadians: Olivia, Robert, Denis, Andrée, Bob & Suzanne.
Last six pictures taken by Dominique Vallée.

End of first full summer with Suzie Q

After a couple of months of preparations, our Mirage 24 was launched on May 31 with a new name - Suzie Q. We could not sail right away because the water was too high and the club had installed the harbour gates to keep the water out of the harbour and prevent flooding. We had a great summer sailing in all kinds of winds from light to 20 knots. Suzie Q sailed 18 times (12 with me on board). Dave even went out twice by himself!

I had hoped that we would spend at least one night on the boat but with me participating in 3 regattas and another weekend away, we ran out of opportunities. However, we did sail all the way up river to Pinhey's Point a couple of times. And we did our very first race (Queen's Park) and finished last!! Oh well, better next time!

We enjoyed our last sail on October 5, on a bright sunny day with a light breeze, wearing only t-shirts and light long pants. Haulout happened on Friday, October 11 and by Monday, she was almost ready to be covered. The weather and other activities prevented us from finishing the winter preps which we did on November 3rd.

Next year, we have to organize a renaming ceremony to tell Neptune of the new name!

Being driven to her winter spot.

Ready for winter!

Suzie Q's first race!

On September 15, we did our first long distance race on our boat. In a straight line, the race is approximately 8.4 nautical miles. The wind was south west which means that we could pretty much do it in a straight line. We did two tacks going up in order to avoid a shoal and that was it. My friend Joan, who I've been racing with on Phoenix for the last 15 years, came with us today. She was a great coach for Dave and I for this first time.

We used our #2 which is our middle size sail because the wind forecast was for 12-14 knots. Perhaps we could have used a bigger sail but most of the time we were keeping up with another Mirage 24 which was using a #1 genoa. So not bad for rookies.

The start of the race was a bit scary for Dave as there must have been at least 30 boats of all sizes.

Can you tell?

 

This is the other Mirage we kept up with.

We lost Muskad (the red Mirage) at the mark rounding because we did a very poor job of it! But I think we caught up with her a bit. The final results will tell us how far behind we were.

Suzie Q behind Muskad and all the faster boats on the horizon!

Konas at the National Capital Regatta - August 10-11, 2013

After the masters weekend, it was time to participate in the National Capital Regatta at my club, the Britannia Yacht Club. Fifteen windsurfers came to Ottawa to participate in this annual event, which has been held now for 56  years.

Saturday was pretty windy with winds between 15-20 knots. At that wind speed, I am not strong enough to race so I went out anyway on my Kona and 7.4 Kona sail and had a blast just going fast and practicing jibes. Now I know that I can hang on and sail that 7.4 in that much wind! But racing in that wind is another story because of the downwind legs. The others did 5 races so everybody was pretty tired at night.

Sunday was a more tamed day, just my kind of wind. We did 3 races in the morning and started a 4th one that was abandoned due to the lack of wind. But of course, as soon as it was abandoned, the wind came back and we could have finished it. We all went in for lunch and the Race Committee called it a day. Everyone packed up and attended the awards ceremony before going home.

Left, Phil Moorman, our commodore, Olivia Mew, Nick Cox, Rick Collins & Andrée Gauthier, winners of the weekend.

A slow action picture, I am number 1703.

CMWA Championship in Toronto, August 2 to 5, 2013

For the first time in 25 years of existence, the Canadian Masters Windsurfing Association held its annual regatta at the Toronto Windsurfing Club (TWC). Stephanie Todd was our organizer extraordinaire with the help of a bunch of volunteers. We had 17 Konas racing, 2 youths on Bic Technos, 8 on open raceboards and 4 youth on RS:X and raceboard. A great group of people of all ages!

I convinced my friend Dave Luck, who used to race, to come to Toronto for the weekend and partake in some of the activities. He was beach master on Saturday and joined us for dinner on Saturday.

On Friday evening, we had registration and great munchies at the TWC. Saturday brought us sun and wind but very unstable wind that kept shifting too much to set a course. Our race officer, Anne Sanderson, was very patient and after lunch managed to set a course and sent us on 2 one lap races. I did those 2 races!

Sunday was also sunny with more stable winds. We did 3 races before lunch. We were set up close to the eastern gap and the wind was gusty so I had to hold on with all my might and also watch for slight wind shifts. After lunch, there were 2 races that I opted not to do because my arms and upper body were tired from the morning. I lent out my board to Jean-Robert Wilhelmy, from Makani Fins, for him to try as he had never been on one but had help design the new weed fin for the Kona.

Monday was our long distance race. Nice steady light wind, just for moi!! I had a good start and shortly after, I spotted Andrée and Bob going up along the far shore so I decided to follow them. It paid off because as I was approaching the finish, I could count only 4 Konas ahead of me. But a race is never over until you cross that finish line... and low and behold, Marco and Tom came from behind and finished just in front of me but by not much. After the race, the wind was nice in front of the club so I continued to sail for a while. Then in to pack up and have the awards ceremony.

I came home with a 2nd place in the Grand Master's women Kona class and a 3rd place in the Kona ladies class, behind my usual opponents, Andrée and Stephanie. All in all, a good weekend was had on the water and off the water.

The venue, Toronto Windsurfing Club.

A Porter Airline plane flying to Toronto Island and a bug!

Me racing with the Toronto skyline in the background.

Another of moi with the Toronto skyline. Photo by Artem Sr.

When the cat is away...

... the mouse play! While I was away a the Kona World championship, Dave was able to go sailing twice. On June 30th, he took his daughter Alison and her boyfriend Nick for a ride.

Then on July 1st, Canada Day, he took his friend Bob and his wife Pat. And it was really windy!

At least she is smiling, poor her she got quite the ride!

And Bob does not seem bothered!

You'll have to rotate your head to see the best picture of Dave ever!