|
A
Real Fun Challenge (22-1)
by Dusty Miller
|
 The
Third Annual Dusty Miller’s Challenge wound up
at the Toronto In Water Boat Show at Ontario Place.
We honoured two Masters of the Helm. One was for the
open competition for anyone attending the In Water Show
who wanted to participate. The other was the Master
of the Helm in the newly developed Marina Challenge.
While there was always a good, consistent crowd, watching
and cheering on the competitors, things got a lot hotter
when the Marina Challenge began Sunday afternoon. We
had taken Dusty Miller’s Challenge on the road
last summer, with competitions at Lefroy Harbour, Port
of Whitby Marina, Bronte Outer Harbour Marina, Bay Moorings,
Starport Landing and Frenchman’s Bay.
The top three boat handlers from these marinas were
invited to pit their skills in this final competition.
The competitors arrived at the Toronto In Water Boat
Show with their own cheering sections. Frenchman’s
Bay and Lefroy were the noisiest as many had marina
t-shirts and hats and a keen eye to keep the Dusty Miller
Challenge’s (DMC) judges on their toes.
When the spray settled, the top point achiever was from
Starport Landing. Sean Miller was the Master of the
Helm in the Marina Challenge. His top prize was a foul
weather suit from Helly Hansen. The second place winner
was Earl Mugford from Port of Whitby, whose prize was
a chart plotter from Raymarine. Mark Vasil from Frenchman’s
Bay came in third and earned a PFD from Helly Hansen.
Interestingly, there were only six points separating
the top three in about a five per cent margin!
In the open competition, the Master of the Helm was
a run-away. Steve Currie from the PCYC took the helm
on Sunday morning and ran away with top prize. Ron Kukko
came all the way from Thunder Bay to the show and took
the Raymarine chart plotter as the first runner-up.
In third place was Trevor Lambert from Bluffers Park
Marina.
With a few exceptions boaters are very aware that everyone
watches when they bring their boat in to the dock. When
they’re also being judged and are competing with
other boaters, the pressure is even heavier. Iíve
got to hand it to all our competitors. Iím happy
so many were interested, and were confident enough to
give it a whirl and we're looking forward to bigger
and better things next season.
At the Marina Challenge days during the summer, we always
included a demonstration of boat handling in a Cruisers
Yachts’ 280 CXi from Angus Yachts. At the boat
shows, we also did demonstrations that were also very
well received. This coming summer we plan to spend a
day or two putting on day-long teaching sessions. Some
of the ideas we have in mind is to have women only days.
The DMC was a great success this past season. Plans
are already in the works to make the challenge even
more exciting. (Page Top) |
|
|
|
