Category: Sailboat Racing

I got a late start out of Richmond on Thursday night and finished the 2nd half of the drive this morning arriving at Brant Beach Yacht Club 45 minutes before the skippers meeting. We ended up being postponed on shore another 45 minutes before finally leaving around 12:30.

We would go out and float around another 2 1/2 hours without any wind really filling in. I tried making a GoPro video that made it look as if we really were sailing fast. Kind of glad I did – I took some underwater video and only after reviewing it later did I realize how bad the weeds really were despite not looking bad on the surface.  Also note how shallow the bay is.

Back on shore the sailors enjoyed a great dinner in the club house and watched the sunset as the club’s A-Cat Raven sailed by.

RESULTS | PICTURES

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, No Quarter Sailing, Sailboat Racing, Video No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

With all the debris floating down the bay from the dam release a couple weeks ago, today’s Smith Point Race at Fishing Bay Yacht Club was moved up to be a morning start so that it could be sailed almost entirely during daylight instead of finishing late at night as it usually does.  I sailed aboard Mayo Tabb’s Farr 37 Excitation and we started out with a nice 8-10 knot breeze. After the first two short legs to get out of the river we put up a reaching chute and followed the J109 and J105 and Nanuq flying an asymmetrical spinnaker up the bay to Smith Point against the current.

Corryvreckan had a great first 2/3 of the leg leading the J109 Afterthought until Afterthought changed to a reaching kite and pulled back ahead.  Excitation was the 4th PRHF-A boat to round and rounded in a little over 3 hours which is very fast for this race.  On the trip back south it started closehauled and after about an hour Excitation was the first to put up a chute again.  This time we put up a big reaching spinnaker.  Nanuq put up their asymmetrical and as the wind died we were able to work around them heading south.

When we got even with Reedville we saw some storms start to pass over Deltaville and the Pianankatank. We took the chute down and put up a heavy #1.  We caught the backside of the storms and saw some gusts up to 20 and spent some time getting light rain. We reefed the main and went upwind very well in the conditions and worked our way around both Nanuq and Corryvreckan.

Back up the Piankatank for the finish we were 12 minutes ahead of Nanuq and a few minutes ahead of Corryvreckan for a 2nd place overall finished. It was fun racing with Bonnie, Mayo, Chad, Carrie, Dennis and Chris. The only casualty on the day was my GoPro camera that got hung up in a line and ripped from the stern pulpit and sent to the bottom of the bay.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmo8Jpmnwas/

RESULTS | PICTURES

Red dotted line shows our track starting about halfway up to Smith Point:

By Posted on Posted in Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , ,

This morning we were greeted to sunny skies and light winds out of the North. We launched and sailed almost to Gynn’s Island in area C so we’d have the most fetch with a north wind.  We got the first race started and just as we were about the start the wind clocked around toward the east and came in a 8-10.  The mark was easily fetchable so we had another parade race.  There was some passing and it was important to stay as high as possible so as not to be blanketed by the other fleets on the opposite leg.  I rounded the first mark in 4th and then made up two spots on the 2nd ‘upwind’ to finish 2nd.

The course was reset for the 2nd race and the wind picked up to 10-14 with some whitecap and small waves. I had a great start, held my lane and used speed and hiking to pull away from the pack a bit.  Charlie and David were to leeward going out left as well. About halfway up the beat I tacked to catch a shift to the right and ended up with less air and more headers.  Charlie stayed all the way out to the left and came into the windward mark about 15 boat lengths ahead and I was almost as far ahead of David behind me.  On the second beat I tried going more left than Charlie, but couldn’t get any shifts and we held our positions for another 2nd for me.  That put him 1 point ahead in the lead again.

For the 3rd race we had a pile of boats at the boat end for the start.  Charlie and I pulled ahead a bit and we rounded 1-2 at the top mark.  I stayed within 3 boatlengths downwind and we crossed close a few times upwind before I got a shift out of phase and he put 3-4 boat lengths between us and held that to the finish.

It was great being out on the water – I feel a lot better and up to speed before going to Masters Nationals in Brant Beach in two weeks.  Thanks to Rebecca and Massey for organizing the event and to John K and all of the folks on the race committee running the races and marks around.

RESULTS | PICTURES | VIDEO

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, No Quarter Sailing, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

The forecast was pretty dismal for the 79th Annual Regatta at Fishing Bay Yacht Club and we were treated to a nice of weather as we could have gotten – I was expecting cloudy skies turning to rain by the afternoon and didn’t even take sunglasses or sunscreen out.  We ended up sailing 4 races in 0-7 and the clouds broke up and gave us some sun before the end of the afternoon.

In the first the wind started out more to the west of south and the left side of the course was favored.  David went left, while Charlie and I went right.  I bailed out halfway up the leg and got somewhat left and managed to round just ahead of Brad. We held our positions downwind and on the second upwind David covered me to the left side of the course allowing Brad to catch a lane out to the right and sail around us. I would end up 3rd.

In the 2nd race I had a great start, this time also worked my way a little left and had to pick my way back right.  Alain rounded just ahead of me and I followed him downwind.  The two of us again went left on the second beat, this time the course was set 10 degrees more to the south.  Charlie and Brad were able to sail around us and I finished 3rd again.

In the 3rd race the boat was heavily favored, I had a great start and punched out working the middle left of the course.  Most of the fleet went way to the left and I found more pressure, less dirty air from the other fleets and a favorable shift at the top mark on the first beat.  Charlie caught up to me downwind and we jockeyed at the downwind mark with me just ahead of him.  Upwind Charlie split out to the left while I stayed middle right and Mike stayed far right.  Mike caught up and crossed ahead and headed to the left while I stayed middle right and again found better pressure and shifts rounding 15 boat lengths ahead and held that to finish 1st.  That put me 1 point ahead of Charlie, David and Brad who were all tied for 2nd.

For the 4th and final race the wind shifted way right as the race were getting started and it ended up as a parade lap.  Those who went high and avoided the other fleet traffic had clearer air and got ahead.  The wind for most of this was 0-3 and at one point I think we were making wind by riding the current.  I picked up a spot on the final leg and finished 3rd again.  Charlie had pulled ahead on the 3rd leg and David squeezed ahead of me.  So after 4 races in a regatta with no drop races, Charlie is 2 points ahead of me and David who are tied.

RESULTS | PICTURES

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, No Quarter Sailing, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

Day 2 at the Laser District 10 Championship and we had more wind and cloudy skies for 3 more races.  The first race was about a mile top to bottom and we did two grueling laps.  I had a great start and had good boat speed at times upwind.  I played it conservatively so as not to flip. This was especially challenging down by the bottom mark where the seawall was reflecting the waves back upwind making it feel like a washing machine and I buried the bow multiple times sailing upwind with a full cockpit of water.  I finished 11th – my fourth 11th place finish in 6 races.

The second race was more of the same with another knot or two of breeze. I started and decided to call it a day as I wasn’t going to change my finish much missing the last two races and would only wear myself out before a long drive home and before rain moved in.

It was nice to see Shore Acres Yacht Club – I can’t wait to see it when the clubhouse is finished.  Always great to sail with all the very competitive D10 sailors and I’ll be back in D10 for the Laser Masters Nationals in August.

RESULTS | PICTURES

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

Friday night after work I made the trip up 95 for the Laser District 10 Championship at Shore Acres Yacht Club in Brick New Jersey. I managed to miss most of the traffic around Washington DC and made good time arriving at the club at 11 to spend the night van camping.

In the morning we were greeted to beautiful sailing conditions and a tad more wind than had been forecasted.  The winds started out of the north east and slowly shifted to the south east over the course of the afternoon at 8-12 knots under mostly sunny skies.

21 competitors in what would be a very competitive fleet.

On the water I inconsistently sailed consistently – meaning I’d have some bad legs and some good legs and I always managed to finish mid-fleet in either 11th or 13th place in all 5 races. I had moments where I was in the top 5 and the bottom 5 of the fleet.  We sailed a modified windward leeward course that at one point was probably 1 1/4- 1 1/2 miles from top to bottom which made for a very long downwind leg. Despite the long legs and my terrible starting it was a great day of racing and it felt good to be back in the boat again.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjzuGNkjZw2/?taken-at=6479263

After racing I went for a run, enjoyed drinks and tacos on the beautiful deck facing the water and met some of the other Laser sailors and SAYC members. A band played at the club while the sun set.

RESULTS | PICTURES

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , , ,

After the Snipe broke yesterday, Jess and I were without a plan for racing FBYC’s Open House Regatta on Saturday.  At 9pm Saturday night that plan came together and we would sail on Mad Hatter with the Flecks. This race is a progressive start distance race – meaning the slowest boast start first and the fastest boats start first and whoever finishes first wins.  This year featured a wide variety of boats including a 30′ trimaran and a Wasp. The weather was slightly overcast, warm with 12-14 knot winds.

We had a great start, hitting our time perfectly.  Only two of the legs were downwind for us, so that kept the spinnaker work for me up on the bow down to a minimum. We sailed the rhumb line and kept the boat going pretty well.  In the end the boat to beat was a 29er – who were able to fly a chute on the tight reaches much better than any of the other boats.  We finished 4th.

Following the race – we rafted up with a couple dozen other boats in Fishing Bay and got to hang out with everyone for a couple hours.  Later we took the boat back around to the dock and joined the dinner and listened to the band.

PICTURES | RESULTS

By Posted on Posted in Life, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , ,

The RG65 season is underway at the Richmond Model Yacht Club on Lake Rooty and we had nice weather for the 2nd race day of the series. Unfortunately, No Quarter had radio problems and became uncontrollable after the first race.  I still got to borrow a couple boats to sail – thanks Rob & Marc.

I’ve wanted to get a slightly bigger boat that would enable me to sail it in the choppier water in Deltaville.  I haven’t decided what I want yet, but a new member came who was interested in getting into the RG65 class and I ended up selling him my boat on the spot.  The RG65 was fun to sail and great for Lake Rooty and I’ll sure I’ll find another boat in the coming months.

By Posted on Posted in Life, No Quarter Sailing, RG65-sailing, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Sunday saw the conditions lay down a bit from the winds we saw Saturday and we were back out on the ocean sailing under overcast skies and 10-15 knot winds in rather large and lumpy swells.  I made it out to the race course, but felt absolutely awful out there as we waited to get racing started. After being so uncomfortable out there I left before the first race and would get an early start on the trip back home.  I would later figure out that the breakfast bars I had been eating hadn’t been agreeing with me and had actually been making me feel bad all weekend. Make that a lesson for next time.

Even though I didn’t get as much sailing as I might have wanted, it was still nice to enjoy some warm weather, see some old friends and get away for a bit. I am looking forward to more sailing in a few months when it warms up in VA.

PICTURES | REGATTA WEBSITE | RESULTS

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, No Quarter Sailing, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

After postponing on shore in what was looking to be some gnarly winds, the race committee took everyone out to the harbor for some short course racing in an alternate format.  I made the decision to bail on the day and jump on the committee boat for a front row seat. The alternate format meant todays races only counted as one race in the regatta.  In the end it wasn’t as bad as it felt on land or was predicted and I was a bit bummed to skip sailing it.

PICTURES | REGATTA WEBSITE | RESULTS

By Posted on Posted in ILCA Sailing, Life, No Quarter Sailing, Sailboat Racing No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , ,