Category: Life

Saturday brought beautiful weather for Fishing Bay Yacht Club’s One Design Invitational Regatta.  Sailing were Front Runners and San Juan 21s with another boat sailing Portsmouth handicap.  I sailed a Front Runner and had Alan Williamson crewing with me on his first time sailing.

The wind started out light – which was perfect for us as we found our way around the boat and learned the routines of the maneuvers to get the sails up and down as we went around the course.  Luckily the other boats had some new crew too so we all were getting up to speed at the same time.  As a result the racing was close throughout.

We did 5 races with winds building from 5-11 and staying pretty consistently out of the east.  Our race course as a windward-leeward 1/4 mi legs set just west of the end of Stove Point.

In the first 3 races we were up and down putting up a 3-1-3.  I won the boat a couple times at the start, but never seemed to be able to live there with the other boats below us out-pointing us, so we had to tack out and make more tacks making it harder to catch up.  In the races we did well in, I was closer to the pin and was able to foot and go fast and do less tacks.  We also made sure to setup on the laylines early to give ourselves plenty of time to prepare for the roundings.

Going into the last race we were tied for 1st and it was a longer 3-lap race.  We were close to Matt Lambert all the way around the course and more than once he tried to stick it to us and almost succeeded.  But we were able to get through the turns quickly and use the favored positions to stay just ahead and win the race putting us in 1st overall and 2 points ahead of 2nd.

It was a lot of fun having Alan aboard and getting to show him sailing and racing and the level of athleticism and effort needed to do it well.  He was a quick study and really helped get us around the course fast.

Front Runner 1st: Jon Deutsch/Alan Williamson; 2nd: Andrew Boren/Brad Squires

Thanks to Parker Garrett and the race committee for running the races today!  We could have asked for a better day all the way around.  And thanks Matt Braun for loaning me the boat to sail.

Results | Pictures

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The 3rd and final day of Southen Bay Race Week was 3 windward-leeward courses sailed to the south off of Ocean View.  We had warmer conditions than past days and wind that hovered around 14 in the first race and went down to 8-10 by the last race.

PhotoBoat.com: Double Eagle &emdash; 2014 Southern Bay Race Week E 658

Our first race didn’t start well- we fouled a boat before the start and after doing circles we were almost a minute late at the start.  Upwind in the first part of the beat we made some good moves and caught back up with the fleet.  The rest of the race went well and we were able to pull off a 5th.

PhotoBoat.com: Double Eagle &emdash; 2014 Southern Bay Race Week E 644

The 2nd race of the day was a bit tougher on us and we had to settle for an 8th.  In the final race of the day we had a great start, and got around the course, but couldn’t quite hang with the bigger boats that pulled away and put a few places between us.

6/1

In the end Sea Star and Voodoo 2 got just enough points on us in the final races to tie for 4th place, leaving us just one point behind in 6th.  We came close and had a good race and definitely a fun time.  Thanks Sam Mitchener for having me along.  It was great sailing with you, Mark, Mayo, Bonnie, Melissa, Chris, Mike, Marie, & Jerry.

Results | Pictures | Photoboat Pictures

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Today was distance race day at Southern Bay Race Week.  It over an hour of pounding into waves under motor to reach the starting area just North up the bay from the mouth of the James River.

5/31

The first leg was a beat out and up into the bay.  We picked a pretty good layline from 5 miles out and rounded with the leaders.  Downwind some of the longer boats with bigger downwind sails were able to grind past us and we had to settle for a 7th.

5/31

After racing I wore my best pirate costume and spent a couple hours walking through the Blackbeard Festival going on in Hampton this weekend.  Some of the costumes were pretty amazing and they kept firing cannons all afternoon.

5/31 Jon dressed as a Pirate for the Blackbeard festival

Results | Pictures | Photoboat Pictures

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PhotoBoat.com: Double Eagle &emdash; 2014 Southern Bay Race Week A 328

Southern Bay Race Week started with triangle courses in the James River just outside the Hampton harbor.  We had some good starts and stayed in the fleet and had a good day putting up 4-5-4 in 3 races and were sitting in 4 at the end of the day.

5/30

Results | Pictures | Photoboat Pictures

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This weekend is Southern Bay Race Week in Hampton VA and today I was helping Sam Mitchener deliver Double Eagle to Hampton for us to race on.  We had a cool overcast day with winds out of the Northeast ranging from 10-16.  The 43nm trip in lumpy conditions was otherwise uneventful and we made it in just over 7 hours motoring the entire way.  Tomorrow the rest of the crew joins us for 3 days of racing and hopefully some warmer weather.  I’m looking forward to my first time at Southern Bay Race Week!

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For the final day of the weekend I invited a few friends to come sail Lasers.  Len loaned me his boat and we had mine and two others to take 4 people out.  It was a beautiful day as the wind built and Bob, Lisa, Jenn and Mike all had a great time sailing around.

Bob:

Once they had their fill and the wind really settled in, Len and I went out and did some tuning by doing a couple laps on a 1.5 mi course.

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We had 4 Front Runners among the dozen or so other boats for Fishing Bay Yacht Club‘s One Design Spring Series #3.  After cutting my teeth on the boat in yesterday’s Open House Regatta I was racing against my crew yesterday as they found their way around a Front Runner today.

5/25 FBYC Piankatank Regatta Spring Series 3

To start the day the wind was on the light side so most of the racers sat on shore and communicated with the race committee by radio until it looked like the wind was going to fill in.  From there the wind began to build gradually throughout the day and really made for some nice racing.

5/25 FBYC Piankatank Regatta Spring Series 3

Matt & A.L. Braun were once again stellar winning all 4 of our races.  Mark Stephens and I traded 2nd and 3rd place with me getting the better of him to take 2nd on the day.  My crew Jess Hardin learned quick and did a good job getting the chute up and down.  All in all a very successful day on the water.

Results | Photos Sharon Wake | Photos Tom Roberts

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Fishing Bay Yacht Club‘s first ever Open House Regatta was Saturday. This year we tried something new and replaced a distance race for the bigger boats-only with declining participation with a shorter distance race for all boats held at the club and on surrounding waters.  It was cooling being part of the group that came up with the ideas last November and seeing it carried out and how well it went and how great of a time everyone had.

The goal of the event was to have racing at the club – since it’s centrally located where we all like to go anyway, and it’s a holiday weekend so everyone is down at the river.  We also wanted to involve all of our boats and to invite friends to come racing with us in some casual racing.  We finished it up with a raft up and dinner/band in the evening.  Caroline Garrett, Elizabeth Staas, Len Guenther, Mark Hayes and Matt Braun and all of the other volunteers did a great job making the ideas a reality.

5/24 Open House Regatta

I sailed a Front Runner and introduced fellow member Christin Lipscomb and her boyfriend Mike Walsh to the boat as my crew.  It was my first time on the boat in nearly a year.

The race was a progressive start race – meaning the slowest boats start first and the fastest boats start last and whoever crosses the finish line first wins.  The different start times handicap the boats based on their speed.  There was a second progressive start for the >22′ boats which sailed an even longer course.

Our race went alright.  We didn’t have the best first leg and weren’t able to catch the breeze that allowed the boats ahead to really stretch out and not get caught in a wind hole further back.   We had fun and still managed a 6th place and 3rd Front Runner to finish. There were a few other fun moments like where we were unsure which side of the mark we were to round and had boats going both ways.

After racing we put up the boat and joined the raft up of the bigger boats as they finished.  The goal was to make a sunflower where we complete the circle of boats, but we fell short a few boats and ended up with a crescent.  Still it was a fun time having everyone rafted up together hopping between boats and catchup up with everyone and seeing how their races went.

5/24 Open House RegattaJon Deutsch at the top of the mast to take a picture

Once we had most of the boats rafted up – I went up the nearly 70′ mast on Destiny to get a picture.

5/24 Open House Regattaview of the raft up from the top

5/24 Open House RegattaJon Deutsch

Post-raft up I bumped into a Flying Scot sailor at the dock and sprained my ankle which left me laid up icing it for the rest of the evening.

5/24 Open House RegattaEric Bokinsky with Jon Deutsch

Results | Photos

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For the start of the Memorial Day Weekend I got to do some Front Runner with Matt Braun who was graciously loaning me a boat for the weekend.  Needless to day I don’t think either of us had broken so many things on a boat and had to fix so many things on a boat in one sitting.

5/23 boat maintenance on a Front Runner5/23 boat maintenance on a Front Runner w/Matt Braun

In the evening we got the young adult members (<40) and guests of FBYC together for a cookout.What a great way to start our weekend!

5/23 FBYC Young Adult Member & Guest CookoutHolly Roper, Jon Deutsch, Carol Bokinsky, Julie Wash, Eric Bokinsky, Abigail Whorley, Miles Kimbrough, , Ellie Dew, Tomas Roper, Massey Whorley, Eliza Strickland, Katie Branch, Mike Walsh, Austin Mill, Christin Lipscomb, , , Spencer, Jessie Hardin

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