Canandaigua Yacht Club hosts an Around The Lake Race. This is a 28 mile long distance race. The start is at the north end of the lake in front of the club. Sailors race to the south, till they can go no further, round a mark and return to finish back in front of the club. In 2020, the race is scheduled on Saturday August 1.
The start is at 9am. In very favorable conditions, this race may be completed in as little as 5 hours. This is a handicap race, so Finns start simultaneously with other Monohulls. This typically includes, J-(70,24,22)’s, Ensigns, & Catalina 25s. The multihull fleet starts 30 minutes afterwards. It’s composed of Sharks mainly. CYC has awarded the perpetual trophy to Stephen Smeulders on 6 occasions, is really tired of doing so, and invites the Finn class to please, please participate this summer.
This is a wonderful, exhausting, brutal race for Finn sailors when a front preceding breeze aligns with the lake’s N/S orientation. As a front arrives, winds will shift to the west and strengthen further. Because of the resemblance to a Scottish loch, the steep shores are triggers for vicious gusts in a strong westerly. As sailors head south they are treated to changing vistas, rising hillsides, rural aromas, and a meditative/hypnotic experience as the realization that this is a very long sail starts to sink in. Proper gastro-intestinal preparation, provisioning, mid-race sailing gear changes, exhaustion, dealing with enthusiastic J-boats, as well as circumnavigating right-of-way fisherman, are all likely entertaining facets of this race.
By August, the local temperature driven winds may be experienced if high pressure is nearby, but not over the lake. This amounts to ‘morning drainage’ and late afternoon thermals. Slightly cooler air cascades off the hills in the south & flows north in a 90’ layer along the lake surface in the am. Winds will cease as the cool air reservoir is exhausted. There typically follows a 2-4hr calm interrupted by occasional zephyrs that manage to descend all the way down to the lake surface. Near shore micro-thermals may exist in this phase at some stretches of the lake. In these conditions, wakeboarding and waterskiing, with associated loud music and wave action peaks midday. Depending on where the wakeboat passes a Finn, it is possible, regardless of point of sail, to derive substantial forward velocity off their waves. In the afternoon, a thermal breeze may first develop in the north of the lake and flow south. Like a switch, with the setting of the sun at 8:29pm on August 1, this breeze will very suddenly turn west.
This race remains interesting in moderate breezes. In the southern 1/3 of the lake, the race tends to become an incredibly tactical or fortuitous experience, depending on your POV. Light breezes, are in the realm of possibility. When light winds are forecast, the Race Committee typically sets the turning mark closer to the club so that most of the fleet may finish by 7pm. The R.C. will typically also shorten course should the breeze diminish during the day.
Registration Fee is $15 & participants are asked so sign a liability waiver. Stephen S. can house 6 COVID-free people at his lake house, 1.5 miles south of CYC. He also offers sustenance and booze for those Finn sailors who choose to participate. Participants should plan to arrive no later than Friday, 7/31, afternoon. Stephen makes available his 16′ RIB for Finn sailors to use it on 7/31 and for any coaches/spectators on 8/1. Out of town sailors are reminded that nearby Lake Cazenovia regatta is the subsequent weekend, August 8-9.
