SCS 02 Report
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2002 St. Clair Solo
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2002 was the return of the multihulls to the St. Clair Solo with seven entries. There were 42 entries overall allowing three JAM and three PHRF classes to fill out the scratch sheet. As in 2001 the weather cooperated with mostly sunny skies and a northern breeze for the start which meant we had a port tack from the start to R14. Part of the impact of 9-11 was the requirement that we add a RC boat at the R 14 channel crossing to insure we kept well clear of all freighter or Coast Guard traffic, all skippers were reported as "well behaved" by our RC boat. As we sailed towards the Thames River turning mark the wind slowly clocked to the northeast at 10 to 15 knots. All the PHRF boats were anxious to make the turn and finally set their chutes to put some distance between them and the JAM fleet. Multihulls were also anticipating double digit speeds if they could only get this tight reach behind them.
Mother Nature had other ideas and the wind moved back to the north and wavered from the northwest as the wind dropped in strength, forget the spinnakers for now! As the afternoon progressed the winds became very fickle which spread the fleet across the lake while chasing what zephyrs seemed to be the lifted tack at the time. By 1600 boats were beginning to see triple zeros on the knot logs and the drifting began. But look at the bright side guys (yes once again we were devoid of any women skippers - come on out next year ladies!) temperatures were in the seventies, the sun was out, there were no waves and most importantly there were no flies. This was not a bad way to spend a day on the water in late September.
As time passed a few skippers began to drop out even with the announcement that the course had been shortened to finish at the R 28 channel crossing near the mouth of the St. Clair Cutoff. After 1800 the wind began to stir from the south, out came the spinnakers and the wind filled in with the back of the fleet receiving the benefit first. With the wind on the beam and the seas still flat the boats had a screaming broad reach to the freighter channel and R 28. The finish line boat had its work cut out for them with all but four boats finishing in a 23 minute time span.
With the setting sun and fair winds, most skippers could not resist leaving all sails set as we headed for North Star Al Merrithew and his team treated us to the traditional "Big Al All You Can Eat Steak Roast" dinner followed by the awards ceremony. All in all a great way to cap the GLSS solo racing season. Our thanks to the many people that made it happen this year, we hope to see you on the water again in 2003.
Race Chairman
Dan Pavlat
Dave Evans
Pat Nugent