I have to say that Scott must be more used to heavy air sailing than I. All those big wind days in Squamish have prepared him well for Friday. Glad to see that he exited at the proper moment. Spoke with a J/109 skipper today. He was telling me that he hit 19.7 kts under #2 alone in 50+ kts of wind. Spent the night in Nanaimo at the west end of the course.
For those who are interested here is a summary of the carnage from Friday. Wind was about 25 kts at the start. This is in English Bay where there is almost no fetch for an Easterly. Apparently there were quite a few broaches, some gear issues, two dismastings, at least one MOB, and a couple of crew injuries that forced several crews into port. Wind built steadily and was reported as 50-55kts at the west end of the course by about 16h00 or so - around the time it was abandoned and that Incisor sank. Apparently it was a J/30 crew Radiant Heat that was first on scene, put out the mayday and recovered the crew from the water. Remarkable considering there are not so many of us J/30s around these parts.
It's almost a miracle that no one was killed.
More details here:
http://www.threesheetsnw.com/blog/archives/8812and here:
http://www.theprovince.com/life/Win...cht+racers+sinks+boat/2760955/story.html
