Added another boat to the fleet. This No Quarter is an RG65 model yacht. It’s about 25″ long and 60″ tall from the bottom of the keel to the top of the mast. I got a used boat from a member of the Richmond Model Yacht Club. After fitting a radio to it and getting a few other things readied, I got to join 6 others today for some practice. It was a bit light and we only sailed about 30 minutes before we got rained out. Thanks Rob S for helping get me going and I’m looking forward to some more racing this spring.
Richmond hosted the UCI Road Bike Racing World Championship September 17-27. I took Friday afternoon off to watch the U23 championship on the streets of Richmond. They did 10 laps on a ~17m course. I started at the east end of the course and worked my way west zig zagging my way across the city on foot to watch. After watching a lap on Monument Avenue I took an Uber back to the start/finish.
What amazed me:
How tight the packs of bikes raced
How fast they went
How many support vehicles there were and how fast they went
How many people there were out watching
And watching other parts of the race on TV/ipad really showed how cool Richmond is and I was proud to see it on stage for the world.
It was a breezy day with light clouds for FBYC‘s first day of the Fall Series. Having not spent a lot of time sailing No Quarter in winds in the upper teens gusting into the low 20’s we certainly had our hands full. Upwind in the first race we found our groove and worked the boat well. Downwind we sailed conservatively and kept the boat in control.
By the 2nd race several boats dropped out and we led the first lap and a half before Full Monty passed just downwind just before the finish.
We started the 2015 FBYC Friday J/70 Series with a nice evening to be out on the water. The wind was a little light – but enough to make a race out of it among the 4 other boats that were out there.
On board were Ron, Brad and Borna and we sailed pretty well hitting the left corner on the first beat while most of the rest of the boats went right. It worked out for us and we had a nice lead until E.L.E. was able to claw us back to pass us in the final boat length to the finish as a puff came from behind.
We started racing back to the dock and gave up when the wind died for good.
This year’s Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship was probably one of the best yet – good turnout, good weather and great food made for a smooth event. It was also the year FBYC hosted it as the Laser Masters Atlantic Coast Championship and with it, a few more folks from New England and Kansas.
For racing on Saturday we had 7-12 and clear skies. Ned Rennolds joined Mike Russom and me on the safety boat with his drone and we got some great photos and video of the fleet from overhead during the first and second races.
For the rest of racing on Saturday I did my usual of floating around and taking pictures and video. This year we even dress up the committee boat – Mr. Roberts as seen with the red lettering below.
By the end of Saturday we had gotten a good day of 5 races in for the sailors and we called it a day as the wind started getting light and fluky. We had a few visitors join us for dinner including past fleet captain and chair of this event – David Hazlehurst. Alain Vincey did another wonderful dinner followed by plenty of Laser stories and a viewing of some of the drone video for today. Sailors hung out in the club house and later by the fire at their campsite well into the night.
Sunday’s wind was much greater than Saturday and a number of sailors, didn’t go out, took advantage of the rig-swap opportunity, or retired before starting a race. Fortunately only one sailor needed any assistance and thankfully Mike R was onboard the safety boat and ready to get wet. Three more races were sailed as the fleet slowly dwindled. I didn’t get many pictures due to the waves and activities, but I did get some video of some screaming reaches.
Once again it was a very successful regatta. I really want to thank all of the folks on the race committee, Alain, Brad and all of the FBYC fleet for all of their help putting this event on. This was my 10th one and I’m looking forward to just a few more years when I can join in!
This year’s Laser District 11 Championship is being held at Tred Avon Yacht Club in Oxford Maryland. Since FBYC and TAYC have their annual regattas on the same weekend – after all these years I’ve never had the opportunity to sail at TAYC and I was excited to see the place and sail there. The racing is being run in conjunction with TAYC’s Heritage Regatta and so there were Shields, Stars and Log Canoes also out racing.
As we headed out to the race course the wind was somewhat light out of the north east with mostly overcast skies. The race committee set a nice long mile+ course and got a start going for the 20 boats in the Standard fleet. The wind was going a bit left at the start and a lot of boats were trying to win the pin. I found a nice hole about 1/4 up from the boat and started there. It wasn’t a great spot and I quickly found myself in a 2nd or 3rd row spot.
Up the first beat I knew from watching the wind pre-race that I wanted to be on the left side of the course. So as boats tacked out I just kept going left until I found myself in clear air. I took that most of the way to the layline and found a wind lane to tack back on. That worked out great because the right side of the course had less pressure. I found myself 3rd around the top mark behind only Ted Morgan and Bill Lawson who had gone slightly more left than I did.
Downwind I made my way down the same side of the course I had come with and made sure I was the outside boat. The better pressure and a little better current there helped me pull just ahead of the rest of the fleet at the windward mark.
With the wind starting to die out the RC shortened the course at the next windward mark. With the patchiness of the wind Joe Moran and I traded the lead a couple times before I ultimately banged the left too hard and he, Luke Shingledecker and Jeff Robbins were able to slip by leaving me 4th at the finish.
After the race we sat around in no wind as some light showers moved through the area. We eventually called it a day without any further racing. Back on shore we had a great vantage point of the Log Canoes capsizing – 3 of them.
In the first race I didn’t have a stellar start, but tacked out immediately and was able to cross a few boats on port and get to clear air on the right. I worked my way up the middle left of the course and rounded the top mark in ~5th and turned to go downwind. Only I wasn’t supposed to turn downwind – I missed the offset and had to sail back upwind 100 yards. By the time I did my obligatory capsize and returned to round the offset I was in last place. I stayed there until the 2nd upwind beat and I started sailing fast and picking up boats. I continued to do that in the next two legs picking off 8 boats and managed to get back to 11th.
By the 2nd and 3rd races the current started to come in and was coming right down the course. As a result our speed over ground was diminished and it felt like we had much less wind than we did. Couple the wind/current with a little chop and the going started getting a lot tougher only because the feel of the boat was off. I didn’t have great starts and found myself bouncing around in the middle of the pack and pulled a 9-7.
Going into the final race the current started to slow down a bit and I got my head on straight and I was determined not to make any mistakes. I won the favored end of the start at the boat and just sailed to windward of leaders Luke Shingledecker and Henry Amthor. I lead at the first mark, but Luke had better downwind speed and overhauled me. Henry got me on the next leg and I continued to follow them around the course finishing with a 3rd.
While I had hoped for a top 5 finish, I ended up with a 6th and it goes to show despite flashes of brilliance it still came down to time in the boat and some unpolishedness that pulled me back. All in all it was a fun event. I was glad to finally have a chance to visit Tred Avon Yacht Club and the volunteers there including PRO Mike Waters did a great job putting on our regatta. Congrats to Luke and Henry who sailed a great regatta!
Another beautiful Friday night for some J/70 sailing at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. This evening I was sailing with Steve Quiriconi on his new boat Hotty Toddy along with Jerry Latell. Steve and Jerry had been out earlier in the afternoon to get everything setup and tuned and so the three of us got out to the race course a little early to practice some maneuvers.
In the 4 races tonight we did pretty well. The very short line made for very tight and late starts, but the shifty winds meant anyone could catch a shift up the beats. We did well to keep up with the leaders and got through our maneuvers pretty well without any major goofs. We even did some gybe sets and a Mexican take down at one point.
The final race was 2 laps and then the trip up the channel back to the dock. We were the first boat to legally complete the course and a nice way to end the night and the first time out for the boat.
Saturday started out as a nice day for sailboat racing at Fishing Bay Yacht Club for the 2nd Sea Breeze regatta before storms chased us off the course. I sailed in a 3-boat Front Runner fleet with crew Anna Matchett against Mark Stephens/Matt Braun & Kevin Cross/Matt Lambert.
In the first race we had a great start and won the boat shutting the other two boats out and forcing them to start behind us. Up the first beat we had good speed and worked the shifts on the right side of the course.
We made a few crosses just ahead of the other two boats but lost out to Mark who snuck ahead of us right at the mark rounding. Downwind Mark played the middle while we went hard right. The 2nd upwind leg was a little flukier. We again played the middle right while Mark played the left and Kevin went up the left. At the top mark we were in 1st, Kevin came way back to round in 2nd just ahead of Mark. The final downwind was a drag race with us about 4 boat-lengths ahead of Mark and Kevin and in the end Mark edged Kevin out at the finish for 3 and some close racing.
Right at the end of the race Mark had a gear failure so it was just at two boat race for the 2nd race. We had a terrible start, were slow crossing the line and lost a lot of ground to Kevin. Halfway up the beat we heard on the radio that the course was being shortened so we did our best to play the shifts, but knew we were being sent in and a 2 was good enough to win the day.
Thanks Anna for coming sailing with me today. And thanks David Hinkle and the race committee for running races for us.
