Smooth sailing
Competitors enjoy ideal conditions in Leg 3 of Race the Cape
Competitors enjoy ideal conditions in Leg 3 of Race the Cape.
Thursday’s conditions were as close to perfect for sailing as they could get, says experienced sailor Roger Shepley of Boston.
The skipper of Seriana, based in Rhode Island, has plenty of nautical miles under his belt. He’s raced in Bermuda, Halifax, and other competitions.
But what makes the Race the Cape event different, he says, is that each of the five legs is different.
“The fun thing about this is it’s five different races,” said Shepley, who praised the work of the event volunteers. “That’s really a different and fun way of doing it.”
Seriana, an Omega 42, was built in Sweden in 1981. It was sitting idle for four years when Shepley found it in 2008 and began to restore the boat. He said the labour of love is an ongoing process.
“I thought it was the most beautiful fiberglass boat ever built and fell in love with it,” he said.
Shepley sailed up from Rhode Island via Maine by himself and picked up a friend in Halifax on the way to Cape Breton.
It’s his first time competing in the Race the Cape, an event he first learned about at a boat show in Boston. It’s his first time in the area in 35 years, and he’s always wanted to come back to sail.
“Sailing down those narrow passages from Baddeck out to the open ocean was just spectacular,” he said. “A spinnaker run all the way. The fleet was pretty well grouped and wasn’t too spread apart, so you had a lot of exciting sailing against competitors. It’s just exciting to be here in Sydney.”
It was smooth sailing for the competitors on Thursday. The third leg began in Baddeck at the Bras d’Or Yacht Club and ended in Sydney. The Great Bras d’Or Cup is the longest leg of the race at about 40 nautical miles.
Heather Douglas, a crewmember with the Halifaxbased Matador, was impressed with the entries hailing from Atlantic Canada and the United States.
“We’re from Halifax, so we do coastal racing, and being in lakes is unknown terri- tory for us,” said Douglas, in her third Race the Cape. “A lot of us have been here before for a couple of the legs, kind of learning where the currents take you and what the different land masses do to the wind, it bends and curves it.
“We had a couple of rough patches coming through the canal (Thursday), a couple of wipeouts, but it’s challenging and it makes you a better sailor. You learn as you go.”
Leg 4, the Aspy Cup, will be held Saturday. It’s about 30 nautical miles and runs from Sydney harbour to Ingonish.
Race the Cape concludes with the fifth and final leg on Sunday, the Cibou Cup, that runs about 35 nautical miles. The route begins in Ingonish and ends at the Northern Yacht Club in North Sydney.