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Hello IRC Sailors,
We are leading into a busy stretch of events for the Lake Ontario IRC fleet.
2016 IRC Canadian Championship and North American Championship
Join us on July 9/10 for the 2016 IRC Canadian Championship at Port
Credit Yacht Club which will be held in conjunction with their
annual open regatta. Last year's Canadian Championship was held in
conjunction with the Etobicoke Yacht Club Open Regatta and it was a
spectacular event and we expect this years Nationals to be no less.
This is the last IRC championship event in the region that will take
place prior to the IRC North American Championship which will be
hosted by the Etobicoke Yacht Club on August 27/28. This will be our
premier event of the season and should be circled on everyone's
calendar as not to be missed.
Lake Ontario 300
On the weekend following the IRC Canadian's, our second event in the
IRC Offshore Series - the Lake Ontario 300 - will be hosted by PCYC.
We hope all of our IRC competitors from past and present will enter
the LO300 in IRC so we can create three strong and competitive
divisions for this event. At the moment we have a substantial number
of IRC competitors preregistered in the less competitive PHRF
divisions and we are working with the LO300 organizers to correct
this. Possibly many of these owners did not realize there would be
multiple IRC divisions which are very appropriate for their boats to
compete in. We are working very hard to ensure we have a great
place for all of you to play. The LO300 offers divisional awards for
IRC racers and the Sperry Trophy for first overall in IRC. Please be
sure to join us. Here are our proposed and expected divisions for
the LO300. Note that registration is still open so additional boats
are expected in all IRC divisions.
IRC 1
Afterburn, Spitfire, Hot Water, Gaucho, Razorbill, O'Canada
IRC 2
Ace, Xoomer Xpress, IMXtreme, Happy Puppy, Lively, Hammertime,
Neptunes Car, Snapshot, Tango, Tonic
IRC 3
Baccarat, Blast, Cerulean, Jaeger, Shorthanded, Jeannie, Victrix,
Renaissance, Rebel, Katbird, Jersey Girl
IRC Great Lakes Championship at the RCYC Open Regatta
For the second year in a row the IRC Great Lakes Championship was
run in conjunction with the RCYC Open Regatta. A great contingent
from Rochester and other areas beyond the immediate Toronto area
contributed a deep fleet of competitive boats. Saturday
saw very light and shifty breeze that struggled to settle. In all
four divisions consistency in these trying conditions was rewarded
with a spot near the top of the leaderboard at the end of the day.
Sunday saw a little more breeze and
a much more consistent direction that allowed Mike Milner and his
team the opportunity to produce three good races.
In IRC 0, it came down to the last race with a single point separating each of the top three boats. Hot Water claimed two bullets on Sunday to make it interesting for her higher rating rivals Rampage and Spitfire. Spitfire won the last race of the weekend with Rampage in second followed by Hot Water in third - and that how they lined up for the final results for the weekend. In IRC 1, Notorious lost her chance at a divisional win by placing fifth in the first race of the weekend. The consistent sailing of Xoomer Xpress provided them with a score line that showed a single third place, mixed in with a string of first and seconds to win the division by a single point over Notorious. Ken Bruce's Beneteau 40.7, Zone, took third in the division by also sailing a very consistent weekend that included a first and three thirds to finish in third place overall, just five points behind Notorious. IRC 2 was the largest division with a deep and competitive field of 12 boats that had many taking their turn at the front. The strong contingent of Beneteau 36.7s really made this division highly entertaining for all involved. Neptune's Car started the weekend off right with a bullet in the first race. From there it was J35 Stryder, winning race two, Five Fifteen winning race three, A35 Great Escape taking race four and IMX 38 IMXtreme winning race five. Again, it was consistency that prevailed with Five Fifteen taking the win by a single point over IMXtreme. Zingara placed third overall with a tie for sixth place with Stryder being their worst race and an average of third place for all of their other finishes. Now that's close racing! The IRC 3 fleet was the smallest division but featured well sailed MORC 30's that kept the racing tight. Sandy Steffen's G&S 30 Zoo won the weekend with Michael Flynn's Andrews designed Starwatch in second and Doug Henderson's Kirby designed Hat Trick taking third.
Congratulations to Five Fifteen for taking the IRC 2 divisional win
and being crowned the overall IRC Great Lakes champion for 2016.
Great racing so far, see you next weekend at PCYC.
IRC Lake Ontario Fleet Executive
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