(Port Credit, Ontario, Canada)- A long time ago (back in the 1950’s),
the vast majority of what we now call racer/cruiser yachts were custom
built, usually of wood, and at the west end of Lake Ontario the only
measurement handicap system was the Cruising Club of America (CCA) Rule.
There were two major drawbacks to this rule: (1) you had to have your
yacht weighed, and (2) in almost all cases you had to have a set of
plans. Tough nutters those old handicap guys were, eh??In the spring of 1955, Doug Hood, a member of Port Credit Yacht Club, approached George Cuthbertson (of C&C Yachts design fame) and offered to put up a trophy if someone would produce a simple measurement system for handicapping yachts. They decided to try it out with Doug donating the trophy named after his brand new bouncing baby daughter Susan (e.g. the namesake of the Susan Hood Trophy Race). Approximately 25 boats were measured and the first race was held in early June. The course was Port Credit to Oakville to Port Dalhousie and back to Port Credit. In spite of a fire on one yacht, very little wind, and Doug winning his own trophy (in a Cruising 6 Metre “Junge”), the race was a great success.
Today, the race continues in that grand tradition of breaking new ground and welcoming all forms of offshore sailing to the event in the first great race of the Lake Ontario sailing season. This year’s race runs on Friday, May 29th from Port Credit YC. Boats typically are back at PCYC mid-day or during the afternoon of the following day.
Over the course of time, the race has continued to attract passionate followers that count on getting their boats ready for their inaugural race of the offshore season. The race can be anything but a “cakewalk” across the lake course. It can as benign as a cruise around the track in gorgeous spring conditions- 70 deg days, sun and 12 kts of breeze and an evening on the lake watching the Northern Lights dancing in the evening skies while your sails are lit-up with a spring monster moon. Or, it can all be in fog, like the year one famous Canadian sailor, Terry McLaughlin, spent with his partner figuring out how to make a J/105 go fast. Or, it can be a hair-raising, beyond fresh-to-frightening ordeal fighting a massively fast-moving frontal system whipping off the Midwestern prairies with God’s light-show blitzing your retinas every few seconds while you try to rationalize why you even bothered to start the race in the first place with the prospect of 1” hail and 45 knot gales blowing down the companionway hatch and exploding your $500 Kaenon sun-glasses! "Aahhh," say those hardy Midwestern and Canadian folk, “that’s just the way it is, eh??” Such is the mentality of ice hockey players used to playing pond—hockey in sub-zero gales and frozen-lake iceboat sailors once it’s time to sail the soft-water stuff. It is a different world for those northern types.
Loving every minute of it are a certain breed of fun-loving, living-it-on-the-edge J sailors who relish the chance to hop in their boats just after Lake Ontario has melted (meaning un-frozen) and begin to carve new trails of adventure across their beloved lake. The IRC Class of fourteen boats has three veterans taking on some of Lake Ontario’s best offshore teams. Nevertheless, Murray Gainer’s J/109 LIVELY from Toronto can more than hold their own against them. In addition, Leszek Siek’s J/35 JAEGER has proven that “classic” can also mean fast; the same can be said for Andrew Sharp’s J/92 SWITCH from Olcott YC in New York.
Sailing the Solo PHRF Fleet will be Geoff Cornish’s J/124 ROULEUR from Royal Canadian YC in Toronto. In the PHRF FS-FC1 Class is past race winner, Bob Eckersley’s J/109 BLUE STREAK from Toronto as well as Graham Tom’s J/120 THE CAT CAME BACK. In FS-FC2 class is a quartet of fearless J/105 teams such as Peter Wolniak’s ANOTHER HAZARD, Geoff Clarke’s CASUAL ELEGANCE, Tom Accardo’s SOTTOVENTO and Ed Berkhout’s ALI-KAT. Finally, in the NFS-FC1 class is Wendy Northcotte’s J/30 NORTH CAUGHT from St Catherines, Ontario. For more Susan Hood Trophy Race sailing information
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