Hi Al

Many thanks for a fantastic time in Canada!

And thanks for everything you did for us!

Hils din søde kone mange gange.

Mange hilsener

Søren    

----- Original Message -----

From: Jesper Friis

To: Al Schonborn

Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2004 6:17 AM

Subject: W-Worlds 2004

Hi Al & Julia,

Thank you for a splendid week in Toronto. We are still rather surprised with our good result. Thank you for all the work all of you did to make this great event as perfect as it was. We had a nice trip back. However, the check-in people in Toronto Airport made life a little difficult for us when they at first denied us to have the sails with us and later made it possible if we agreed to pay 175 CAD. This we now have handed over to our travel agent to sort out.

This weekend we have the open Sjællandsmesterskab in Farum. I am not able to participate as I have to go to a 60 years birthday, but Søren & Annette will be there and do their best I am sure.

I look forward to see if some good pictures from onshore will show up on your website.

I will be in touch soon again.

Love to all,

Jesper.

----- Original Message -----

From: keith haill

To: uncle-al@cogeco.ca

Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 4:26 PM

Subject: Worlds & Wayfarer 882

Hello Al:

Good to see you at the World's. Nice work on breaking into the top ten. My brother was kind enough on the day I sailed with him [Thursday] to let me drive the last race. Things were going good, we were up near the front at the first mark and got the spinnaker going with a nice plane taking us down to the leeward mark. All smiles and chuckles till we did the jibe and the spinnaker went all funky on us and I took him for his first swim with his new Wayfarer. The board was glass and was letting out great sounds of protest as we stood watching the parade go by. I lost my hat, my brother his water bottle, but got to keep his sunglasses, and I was left with a little pride. We got it all back together and finished the race.

I am writing also to tell you that I am taking my boat off the market. It is coming with me to Nova Scotia. I'll be moving to a house on the Lahave River Bridgewater, which  is short sail to the ocean and a whole bunch of islands to play around in/on.

I thank you for all you have done  for me and the Wayfarer class.

Regards.

Keith  Haill

Al, John, Mike, George

Just a note to thank you all and the Wayfarer Worlds Organizing Committee and volunteers for a most fantastic week of sailing.  The event was more than well organized, the races superbly managed, the venue tremendous (special thanks to Bill Taylor for that last and envied front row spot at MSC), and nature kind enough to provide a good spectrum of light through heavy air and water conditions to test the sailing. 

I learned a great deal about sailing my Wayfarer and am very glad I made the trip .... especially as Lake Ontario is warmer than Lake Superior for swimming.  We greatly enjoyed meeting other Wayfarer sailors and can't say enough about the friendliness and willing help of all those involved.  It also seemed fortuitous that those of us somewhat distant from the S. Ont Wayfarer heartland and with small fleets i.e.., Fredericton, North Bay, Thunder Bay, Charlotte, and Vancouver seemed to meet and hook up.  It was nice to encounter those 'familiar' from the web-site regatta photos, and the early PCYC home for the boat was a great introduction to those from overseas! 

Thanks to Mike, George, Bill, and Sid for their help and accommodation with travel and measurement difficulties.  And particular thanks to John for allowing me a crew alteration to sail a day with my brother prior to his departure from Toronto for Nova Scotia.  We won't forget that three-sail wipe-out for some time!  I also thank you Al for your help and early encouragement to attend the Worlds despite only having my boat since last September and having never raced it against a Wayfarer before.  The downwind leg of the practice race was in fact the inaugural spinnaker hoist on water.  Needless to say there is room for improvement, but the goal of not being last was met.  

I look forward to future opportunities to sail again with boats with a W on the sails and will start bugging a Danish friend for language lessons.

Much thanks and appreciation for all the hard work

Andrew Haill   /   Julie Colbourn
W9657  Njord
Thunder Bay, Ontario

PS   If I may offer a suggestion, it occurred to me part way through the week that asking some of the top sailors to do say a brief 15-min talk after the days awards on a topic of their choice ....compass use, picking the correct side of the course, sail trim, spinnaker handling, whatever.... would produce 4 or 5 great learning opportunities and be a real help to those of us filling out the bottom of the fleet.   Although this is possibly unusual at a 'World Championship' level, the reality is that not all are at that level, and adding an educational aspect to a regatta would seem a great addition to the beer at the bar discussions and a means to strengthen and bond the Wayfarer community.

----- Original Message -----

From: Tony Hunt

To: wayfarer.worlds@sympatico.ca

Cc: Rob Wierdsma ; uncle-al@cogeco.ca

Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 7:27 AM

Subject: Belated Thanks

A bit late, but the fact I'm writing now shows I must mean it, right?

 

I want to say just what a fantastic choice of souvenir the CD of pics from the regatta was. It's great to have photos not only of ourselves but also of our rivals; a slide show brings the whole regatta flooding back.

 

And very many thanks for the whole organisation of a marvellous event; I still haven't worked out how you arranged the perfectly-varied weather though...

 

Tony Hunt

'Just the crew' on W.10201  

Hi Al

 

Thanks for the note... it was nice to also meet you ... if there is a regret from the Worlds it was that time to hang around the bar to chat with people was significantly minimized by family commitments (also very important) that took care of most post-sailing hours.  As for the letter of 'thanks' - you are welcome... the week of sailing was a terrific experience.

 

The concept behind the 15-minute talk idea was to provide a bit of an educational component to a regatta by asking a number of the top of fleet sailors (not just the day's winner) to talk to the bottom of fleet sailors about any topic.... the initial thought was not so much how the day was handled (although that would also be interesting) but more general aspects -- picking windshifts, assessing the course, using a compass, particulars of sail trim, spinnaker handling, starts, tactics, etc., as these skills come immediately to mind as ones that clearly separate top from bottom.   I'm sure most top sailors would be willing and could chat and answer questions about their chosen topic for 15 minutes with little preparation required.   Following the awards seemed a convenient time and gathering of people and could of course be followed up with a beer or two.  I think it would be a great way to pass on knowledge and experience to assist the bottom of the fleet, and would create introductions and familiarity amongst Wayfarer sailors.

 

I took my Wayfarer for its first overnight cruise last weekend on Dog Lake (a rather largish and mostly uninhabited lake north of the city).  Despite having seakayaked /canoed /camped for years it still was rather neat and different to anchor my own boat in a little cove and sleep in it.  Only had a tarp over the boom for a 'tent' so fortunately it wasn't really tested by the weather, but getting up and sailing again the next morning was fun... even though the wind switched overnight and so required tacking both outbound and inbound.  Bigger and better things for next year.... and a real tent.

 

In a somewhat similar vein I've had preliminary emails with Paul Robinson in Winnipeg about pulling together a NW Ont/ Manitoba/ Minn Wayfarer gathering for next summer, with the suggestion that Lake of the Woods would be a great cruising area and geographically somewhat midway.  More details when they get decided over the winter (I'd welcome any advice you could offer), and if we can make this happen, an invite of course to come up and sail some northern waters...

 

cheers,

Andrew Haill

W9657

Thunder Bay

807-344-6578