Since sailing at Stoker Park began in 2023, every Coastal Cup event has been plagued by flat calm conditions with very light winds. This year was different. Driving up highway 18 to Cowichan Lake at 9AM Saturday, the wind was readily apparent as my car was being buffeted and leaves were blowing across the road.
10 sailors arrived for this event in the wooded gravel parking lot above the Woodlan Shores Marina, next to Stoker Park. After the marks were set at 10AM the wind died, leaving choppy water behind with only 3 1 lap races completed by lunchtime. After lunch, gusty winds filled in with big wind shifts requiring realignment of the course marks, thanks to Steve Kinsey in Robert Seline’s inflatable dinghy in challenging conditions. The average wind speed in the choppy waters was around 5 knots with 30 second to 1-minute gusts of 25 knots every few minutes for the rest of the afternoon. See videos posted here.
All but 2 sailors rigged their B-rigs for the afternoon, however 3 sailors retired after lunch due to breakdowns, Jerry Brower tried his luck sailing his A-rig in the gusty conditions while I decided to retire, not wanting to push my Equinox past it’s limits with only an A-rig in my sail box.
Jason Rhodes in his Can2 once again showed his sailing skills, claiming first place with 4 bullets in the afternoon, while Martin Herbert with this reliable Dart6 and Steve Kinsey in his new(er) V12 battled it out for 2nd place, with Martin scoring 3 bullets for the win over Steve.
It was great to see 3 sailors from the South Island, Peter, Stevens, Andy Allan and John Knight attend this event. We would love to see more of you attend the Coastal Cup events.