Following Southern Bay Race Week Jess and I joined her parents in Kitty Hawk for some beach time. In the two days I got to stay we spent a day at the beach and visited Manteo including a tour of Outer Banks Distillery.
On the way home I picked up the J/70 left in Hampton and returned it to Deltaville.
After arriving yesterday and setting the boat up, we were all set for what would be a very light day for racing on Friday.
The wind eventually filled and we got in 5 races and found ourselves 4th out of 7.
Racing Saturday at Southern Bay Race Week started light and we were at the inshore course close to Hampton. We got out there and there was a whiff of a breeze and so they started us, but by the time we reached the weather mark, the wind had died and the current was running and nobody could get around it.
An hour or so later the wind filled nicely allowing for 4 more races. We dropped a spot overall, but closed the points gap with 3rd place.
Sunday ended up being the day for wind. It started out light as we were heading to the course, but as we were arriving it piped right up. We quickly re-tuned the rig for the windier conditions sailing all the way across and up the river near the naval base.
Dave, was our secret weapon. As a local Harbor pilot he quickly identified a current line up the right side of the course upwind. On the other side of the current line we had almost 2+ knots of favorable current. At one point we were 50 yards from another j70 going slower on the other side of the current line and they couldn’t figure out why they were so much slower going so far as to check they weren’t dragging something. We made good gains out there before the rest of the fleet started to figure it out.
Downwind in the breeze we played it conservative with the spinnaker keeping the boat under us and getting around the course cleanly.
A second place finish in the 2nd and final race of the regatta gave us 3rd place for the day, but left us in 5th for the regatta.
This the 3rd annual Open House Regatta which has become one of my favorite events at FBYC given the mix activities, people and sailing being done. A bring-what-you-got progressive start race for boats 10-50+ ft all racing each other. Followed by rafting up and socializing followed by dinner and a great blue grass band.
Given I would be sailing my J/70 in Hampton next weekend, it was packed up yesterday and so today I joined David Hinckle and Tommy Roper aboard David’s J/70 – Air Speed. We had a good start and did well in the light air on the way out. On the way back we picked the wrong side of the course and let Nostalgia sneak by us while we couldn’t quite catch any of the boats ahead and settled for 6th.
After returning the boat to the dock I took a launch out to the raft up already in progress. I managed to go boat-to-boat around the entire circle visiting with folks on each boat. I also got to go up the mast of one of the larger boats to capture an aerial view.
And despite a little crummy weather late in the evening, we still had fun inside.
Started the holiday weekend with a great picnic with the the young adult members (<40) and guests of FBYC on a beautiful night.
Last summer/fall some Laurie, Jess and I started a project to build 4 sets of nested 1/2 weight corn hole boards. We were inspired by a cornhole board set we had seen recently and came up with a design that would take up less space and not weigh as much as a standard set built with 3/4″ plywood and 2x4s.
Using 1/2″ plywood and some 1×3 pieces of wood we built a set that contained 1 inner and 1 outer board that would nest together with a handle to carry them. The cornhole bags could then be stored in between the boards. The playing surface of the boards is the standard 24″x48″
The ‘outer’ board has the 1×3 border going all the way around the outside. On one side, a wide hole is cut in the middle of the 1×3 to pass a rope handle through. This hole weakens the board a bit, so we added another strip of 1×3 just inside the bag hole to provide some more strength seen below in the middle and right boards.
The inner board has the 1×3 offset inside the edge so that it can fit inside of the outer board. The top and bottom of the board have the 1×3 offset by just 3/4″. The sides of the board have the 1×3 offset with enough space for the legs of the boards to fit in between. When the boards are nested the holes & legs should be at opposite ends. That way there is just enough space for 1 width of legs between the inner and outer boards when nested.
Beyond the actual construction of the boards we had a lot of fun painting them with our own designs.
On top of the paint – we use a clear glossy polyurethane to give it a nice finish and protect it.
Other resources:
While I had the J/70 back in Richmond a few improvements were made including mid-boat storage cradle for the engine. This puts the engine low next to the keel underneath the cockpit and not taking up valuable space up front nor adding weight to the front of the boat.
Using a piece of teak from a retired trophy – I build a bracket that mounts to a bulkhead under the companionway. It has a notch cut for the engine to hold it just below the power head. And the way it is set up and angled it’s easy to slide the engine towards the center of the boat to get it into place.
Beneath the power head of the engine is another block of wood mounted to a stringer with some foam padding added to it. This tips the head of the engine upright and keeps oil from getting into the parts of the engine that it shouldn’t.
Having used it a few times now seems to work well and I like the space we got back in the bow for storing
Fun night for a Richmond Squirrels game! Sat in the party box and got to go on the field before the game.
I had seen this idea when I sailed the J/70 Winter Series last year and finally had a chance to add it. In short I cut a hole in the aft end of both dock boxes on the trailer and added a screen with a vent cover over it. This allows a little more air flow into the dock box in case any wetness ends up in there. The vents are on the back of the trailer so no rainwater gets in when trailering in wet conditions.
Parts:
Tools
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Sunday was the Fishing Bay Yacht Club J/70 Spring Regatta with 6 boats racing in 14-16 gusting to 20 out of the West. With Andrew, Evan and Mark on board we had a great crew and were really able to get the boat around the course well in the higher winds. We even kicked it up a gear planning downwind when we could.
We sailed 5 races with some pretty tight finishes with the other boats. In 3 of the races we finished a boat length or less behind someone. The shifty and puffy conditions made it both challenging to stay in phase and hard to keep changing modes to keep the boat going fast.
We finished a consistent 1-3-3-2-2 including having to restart on the final racing having been OCS. Another great day.
The series concludes next Sunday at Spring Series #4.
It took a while to get out on the J/70 for the first time this year and it was a great day for it at the Fishing Bay Yacht Club Offshore Spring Series #3. Onboard today were Andrew, Evan and Nathan and there were 3 other J/70s in the fleet among the 20 other boats out racing.
Saturday started light WNW around 6-8 and built to the 10-13 by the end of the 3rd race. We had good boat speed up wind, played most of the shifts well and went 2-1-2. On most of the downwinds Ron Thompson sailing Nostalgia put on a clinic and either pulled ahead if he was ahead or caught up if he was behind. The next day we realized we had the spinnaker rigged wrong and wasn’t getting it to full hoist.
All in all a great first day back in the boat and excited to continue the season this spring.
Following racing we were hanging around the club as it rained and cleared and we were treated to a beautiful rainbow.
