Wednesday Night Series: 2022

Race 16

Sep 01, 2022      Wind Conditions: Medium

Results are final

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Race 15

Aug 24, 2022      Wind Conditions: Medium

Race 15 had 12 boats come out for what was a very nice evening of sailing.  The RC set a W4 course with the start/finish line near the northern tip of Long Island and the windward mark at .6 miles to the west.  The winds were up and down and somewhat shifty and the 1st leg to the windward mark.  Congradulations to Uncle Ludwig with a 1st on corrected time with Stinger and Cut Loose in 2nd and 3rd.  At the start of the race a protest was issued from "Not on Call" to "t".  In the spirit of Wednesday Night racing "t" withdrew from the race.  Next week is the last race of the 2022 season with the after race awards to be held at the ADK Brew Pub.

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Race 14

Aug 18, 2022      Wind Conditions: Medium

The 14th race of the Wednesday Night Series had a forcast of 5 mph winds from the NE.  When the RC went out to set a course the winds were amost NE but the velocity was higher at over 10.  A bouy was set up the lake about 1.5 miles from North Canoe government mark with a start/finish line about midway between the 2 marks.  As the RC arrived at the intended start line area the wind started to change, and all of a sudden it switched from NE to SSW with measured 12.5 mph winds.  A I-5 course was chosen and the 15 boats that came out to race were off for an interesting race.  At the 1st mark (North Canoe) had Yard Sale (John DeSantis and family on their J/22) leading Stinger at that mark.  On the down wind run Stinger was able to pull closer to Yard Sale with Not on Call close behind.  On the 3rd leg Stinger managed to pull ahead slightly of Yard Sale and Not on Call.  The 4th leg downwind held this same order with Stinger 1st around the mark.  On  the last 5th leg Stinger went west up wind whereas Yard Sale took a tack toward the east.  On the next crossing Yard Sale was ahead of Stinger.  At the finish line it was Yard Sale for line honors and 1st overall on corrected time.  Congratulation to John DeSantis and family on their victory followed by Not on Call in 2nd and Stinger in 3rd.  There are 2 more wednesdays of racing in this 2022 season.

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Race 13

Aug 10, 2022      Wind Conditions: Medium

Wednesday Night Racing had 10 boats show up what initially looked like a dud.  The weather forcast was showing 1 mph wind.  I will not pick on the Weather Bureau for not getting the forcast right, as they were only partly correct.  I served in the USAF as a weather equipment repairman back in the 60's being the only reason to cut them some slack.  While the boats were checking in, the non existent wind went from a very light westerly to a building south wind, measured at 8.3 mph.  Since all boats were checked in early the RC started the W4 course using North Canoe as the windward mark.  The leg of the race was about .63 miles.  At the start most boats went left up wind toward Long Island.  Not on Call tacked early and went right probably to clear their air.  Stinger went left for a ways then tacked to port while Woot banged to left corner.  At the first mark Woot was first with Stinger close behind and Not on Call was farther back in the pack.  At the leeward mark Woot stretched their lead over Stinger followed by Uncle Ludwig.  The wind held steady so the race continued to a full W4 course.  Woot crossed the line 1st with honors but on corrected time the win went to Stinger followed by Uncle Ludwig and Cut Loose.  

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Race 12

Aug 03, 2022      Wind Conditions: Light

The first Wednesday Night Race of August looked promising with southerly winds measured at 12 mph, so the RC decideded on a modified triangle course using North Canoe as the windward mark, Hog Back as the jibe and the pin end mark as the leeward turning mark.  Since all 15 boats got checked in as required, the race got off a few minutes early to take advantage of the nice sailing winds and the daylight that is starting to deminish.  As the racing progressed, the wind had other ideas and decided to take a nap about a third of the way to the 1st mark.  With the wind conditions going flat, the RC decided to shorten the race at the 2nd mark (Hog Back).  Congratulations to Stinger for line honors and 1st overall on corrected time, followed closely by Uncle Ludwig and Cut Loose.  I had asked John Haller (Woot) who administers this web site if he could add a drop down that would provide a link to the Sailing Instructions for our Wednesday Night Series.  You may find this change now under Wed Night Race info at the top. 

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Race 11

Jul 27, 2022      Wind Conditions: Medium

The 11th race of Wednesday Night brought out 12 boats with somewhat decent winds from the south at 160 deg.  The RC set a mark near the southern end of Long Island and a start line near the LGC, calling for a W6 course.  Winds were around 6 with forcast to be about 4 so all was good.  With all boats checked in early the race warning signal was done early too.  At the start 2 boats, Eclat and Cut Loose were called over early.  Both boat came back to the pre start side of the course as required, but Eclat then rounded the pin end instead of recrossing the start line, thus a DNS.  Lesson Learned.  The fleet stayed together on it's way to the 1st mark.  As they approached the mark the winds got lighter and shifty.  After rounding some boat did a quick jibe to get away from Long Island.  This action seemed to help as the fleet spread out somewhat.  The wind filled again and the boats had a nice sail for the race.  The RC did a shorten course at the windward mark making the race a W5.  Woot crossed first for line honors by better than 2-1/2 minutes, but Brass Ring won on corrected time with Stinger 2nd and Spirit 3rd.

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Race 10

Jul 20, 2022      Wind Conditions: Light

Race 10 started out as what looked like some decent winds out of the south, but before the warning signal to wind went down.  The RC called for a W4 with a start line near the LGC and using South Canoe government mark as the windward mark.  All racers are advised to look up course descriptions by going to https://sail.lake-george.com and review what the mark is for North Canoe, South Canoe and Diamond Island marks.  At the start of the race an "Over Early" was called on Stinger and T, so both had to go back and restart properly as they did.  This gave them alot of catching up to do.  As the race progressed the wind kept decreasing.  Wild thing with it's tall mast was able to lead most of the way down to the Canoe Islands.  As the 13 boats that came out to race found that staying in any pressure was a challenge.  The RC decided to shorten course at the South Canoe mark.  The two boats that were over early at the start had a great come back with Stinger crossing the line 1st and T in 2nd with both boats finishing that way on corrected time.  Uncle Ludwig was 3rd.  

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Race 9

Jul 13, 2022      Wind Conditions: Light

Race 9 had 13 boats show up for the Wednesday Night Racing series.  The forcast for the early evening was for maybe 3 mph and that is what was served up as the main course.  The RC decided to call for a Triangle race that would use 3 marks.  Until 6:15 they were not sure which ones to use.  It was decided to set a start line east of the LGC, HogBack as the windward mark and the tetrohedron off to the north as the 3rd point, calling 2X around.  The trick to racing in these light conditions required the crews to stay in the pressure areas.  On the 1st leg Stinger, Spirit, Cut Loose and Windfall managed to find their way into the lead at HogBack.  The next trick was to get out of that area that was in the lee of Long Island.  Cut Loose stayed on Starboard tack with their chute flying and seemed to get out better than Stinger and Spirit.  The three asymetrical chute boats were able to get out of that leeward setting mark well.  At the tetrahedron turning mark Wild Thing came in hot and dropped their chute late and stalled at that mark.  Cut Loose got around 1st and took a tack westerly whereas Stinger tacked not long after rounding that mark.  With the light winds the RC decided to Shorten Course at the 3rd mark. Staying in the pressure was the key to sucess as Stinger took line honors and 1st overall on corrected time.  Spirit and Iko Iko finished 2nd and 3rd.    

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Race 8

Jul 06, 2022      Wind Conditions: Medium

Race 8 gave the racers on Wednesday night a good evening of racing with winds steady at around 12 knots.  The course, a W2 was set with the windward mark up the lake at a heading of 040 deg about 2 miles from the North Canoe mark.  At the start two boats were OCS, Uncle Ludwig and Not on Call.  both boats were hailed and returned to properly start.  With the winds steady catching even the slightest ship help boats get into the lead.  At the windward mark it appeared to be Stinger at 27:40 into the race with Spirit, Wild Thing and Woot not far behind.  With the chutes set it was off to the races with Stinger and Spirit doing a few jibes to stay ahead.  At the finish it was Stinger 1st with line honors and  corrected time, followed by Spirit and Not on Call for the top three.  After the race a raft up was held with 7 boats showing up.  The different crews brought sub sandwiches, shrimp and other various snacks.  The RC showed up with 2 pizzas after storing the race marks.  A good time was had by all with alot of stories being told.    

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Race 7

Jun 29, 2022      Wind Conditions: Medium

Weather forcast was indicating winds from the NW but when the RC went out on the lake the conditions were different with the winds of about 10 knots from the west.  The windward mark was set on the west shore near to LGC, with the start line .95 miles due east.  As the race started the wind went to the right coming in from the W-NW (closer to the forcast) but the RC let the race continue.  It was somewhat of a drag race to the first mark of a W-7 course with very little tacking.  At the 1st mark most everyone did an immediate jib because of the wind shift.  The second leg saw some nice reaching to the 2nd mark.  On the 3rd leg going to windward the winds started to slow down which helped to spread the fleet out somewhat.  Rounding the windward mark boats opted to jib again making for many crew challenges with getting the chutes to fly as quick as possible.  The wind further lessened at the 4th mark so the RC signaled a Shortened Course at the windward mark as the 1st boat arrived, making it a W-5 course.  Congratulations to Wild Thing for both line honors and 1st overall on corrected time.

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Race 6

Jun 22, 2022      Wind Conditions: Medium

Ten boats came out for the 6th race of the series.  The wind did not let them down as 13mph winds were measured at the start of the race.  The RC called for a W2 course with the Diamond Island MARK (W), not the island as the windward mark.  At the start most of the fleet went east to be near the lift that comes off of Long Island where as two boats tacked to the west and went west of the Canoe Islands.  This move west proved to be not a good strategy as those two ended at the rear of the fleet.  Spirit took an early lead, tacking on the shifts but always staying east for the shift from Long Island and coming from Dunhams Bay.  Spirit rounded the mark first folloed by Uncle Ludwig and Stinger.  On the second leg of the downwind spinnaker run Spirit led the fleet to Line Honors and 1st overall.  Stinger managed to close the gap on Uncle Ludwig and got inside as they approached the finish, causing Uncle to jib behind Stinger.  Stinger finished 2nd in the race.  See everyone on the water next wednesday.  

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Race 5

Jun 15, 2022      Wind Conditions: Light

Tonight was the 5th race of the series and again very little wind to start with.  Originally the RC with the help of Graham found some air coming from the west shore so set the windward mark there, just south of Yankee.  The ten boat that came out were told on the radio to head east to the area of Hog Back Reef.  RC towed two of the J/24's over to there.  Upon checking out what the wind was uop to, they saw a ridge of air filling in from the north way up by Dome Is. so the RC speed off and picked up the windward mark and headed north about 8/10 of a mile and set the mark due north of the fleet.  A start line was set and the sequence was started.  At the start signal Spirit was called over early.  After restarting properly Spirit decided to sail toward the west shore hoping to get into the air coming down the lake while Uncle Ludwig and Stinger sailed up the middle of the course.  At the first mark Uncle Ludwig rounded first and chutes were set for the increase of air that finally arrived.  At the leeward pin mark the wind lightened up and got real squirrly.  IkoIko came into the mark in 5th and opted to sail to the east toward Long Is. catching a nice ridge of air where as the other boats sailed up the center of the course.  for IkoIko the move was a winner as they finished 1st with line honors and overall followed by Uncle Ludwig and Stinger.  The RC had called a W6 race not knowing what the wind was going to do and shorted it at the windward mark as a W3.

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Race 4

Jun 08, 2022      Wind Conditions: Light

Another "No Wind Wednesday".  RC went our in search of some air.  According to Weather.com the wind was suppossed to be WNW about 5 dropping to 4.  Good luck with that.  Instead there was some air from the east so a mark was set to the east, just north of the tip of Long Island with a start line east of the LGC.   Of course what air there was desolved.  The race started on time at 6:30 with some air from the WNW as the forcast said.  Two boats, Woot and Fat Star were caught on the wrong side of the line but did return to the pre start side and all was well.  As the race progressed, the ability to shift gears was a must.  Eclat found that taking the chute down and going on the genny worked and for Wild Thing also.  Wild Thing rounded the first mark of a W6 course with Eclat close behind.   The rest of the fleet came in as a group fighting for rights at the mark.  Eclat and Wild Thing set their chutes and then went to headsails as the air filled in from the SW.  Shifting gears allowed them to pull away from the fleet.  Congratulations to Eclat on line honors and 1st overall at the finish of a shortend W2.  With the increase of air the fleet was bunched close together at the finish.  The after race gathering was at ADK Brew.  Thanks to the 15 boats for coming out for Wednesday Night Racing.    

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Race 3

Jun 01, 2022      Wind Conditions: Light

Welcome to Wednesday Night racing!  The race committee went out and saw the wind was southerly about 185 degrees so set the windward mark between Canoe Is and Speaker Heck....Oh what the Heck happen after that was amazing.  The RC then set the start line at the reciprical of 005 degrees to the north and of course the wind died.  In the true fashion of WNR the 8 boats that came out to race (????) were told that "This is the course...Sail it".  When to start horn sounded a bit of air filled in from the W- NW so many decided to set their chutes at the start.  Spirit decided to NOT set their chute and keep their genny up, managing to walk up through the fleet and lead the race wire to wire, finishing with line honors and 1st overall.  At the 1st mark the wind started to increase so the RC was thinking of a Shortened the course at Mark 3 but changed it's mind as the strength increased more.  They motored down to the leeward mark and finished the race there as a W4.  As it was the wind filled back in to the original direction of 185 degrees.  A word to the wise...."If you see the RC near a mark, look carefully to see if there may be a "shorten course flag" flying as an indication that this is where the finish will be.  Thanks everyone for coming out tonight and endurring the light winds and some rain.  Till next week.  

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Race 2

May 25, 2022      Wind Conditions: Medium

The 2nd race of the 2022 Season had 11 boats on the start line.  The wind was up and down all day but true to form the wind filled in for the 6:30 start from the south with 5 or 6 knots of wind.  A w4 course was set with "T" taking the start at the Pin End and headed toward Long Island to get the lift.  "T" keep their lead a rounded the windward mark 1st at 10:29 with Stinger, Spirit and Woot not far behind.  "T" had some spinnaker set issues where as Stinger set their chute well, managing the run to the leeward mark.  At the leeward mark Woot pulled ahead of the fleet rounding 1st at 30:17 with Stinger at 31:06.  The next group coming into the leeward mark were close together with Uncle Ludwig sticking their nose into the mark and gaing on Spirit and "T".  During the last Leg downwind the wind clocked from 180 deg to 210 for a short time, then back to 180.  The the finish Woot took line honors with Stinger taking 1st on corrected time.   Welcome to Colin Bowler on Fat Star (J22).   The after race party was held at Souchi Ouchi and was well attended. 

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Race 1

May 18, 2022      Wind Conditions: Light

Tonight was the first race of the 2022 Wednesday Night Racing series. The weather forecast 3 out of the NW. when the Race Comittee went out the lake was rather smooth. Going by the forecast a mark was set to the NW of the center of the lake. True to form, a slight band of air filled in around 6pm so the RC set a start line to the SE. Eight boats came out to start the race. At the start Spirit hit the line at the boat end while T and Stinger opted for the pin end. Not on Call took a quick tack to port at the boat end. Stinger took their tack way into the west shore farther than other boats. At the 1st mark of a W4 course it was T in the lead, then Stinger and Woot with Not on Call close behind. On the 2nd leg the wind increased slightly and went left. Stinger this 3rd leg stayed right whereas Woot tried to go to the west shore. The different strategies played out with Stinger taking line honors and 1st place. Thank you John Jacobs for helping on RC. 

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