Carrie trimming the spinnaker as we sail under the Norris Bridge.
Today we took Todd’s J99 Battle Rhythm from the boatyard in Irvington, where it had been undergoing some repairs, to Deltaville. We missed the first day of the Stingray Point Regatta – but now have the boat at Fishing Bay Yacht club and ready to race. The wind was light on the Rappahannock for the 8-10 mile trip and we were able to get some sailing in. Even with just 4 of us onboard we were able to put up a new spinnaker to try out. Later as the wind shifted we did some upwind sailing too and arrived in Deltaville mid-afternoon.
J99 Battle Rhythm at Bert Jabin’s Yard in Annapolis.
For the delivery of Battle Rhythm to Deltaville we had some unfavorable weather for our original plan yesterday which allowed me to jump on the race committee for the Down the Bay Race start. After another night in Annapolis we had an early start on Saturday. Battle Rhythm is a 32′ J99 sailboat #94 and was docked at Bert Jabins near Annapolis.
Battle Rhythm under spinnaker.
Once we were off the dock and into the Chesapeake Bay, we did a quick instrument calibration and then headed south around Tolly and Thomas Points. We started with good wind on the beam and with just 4 of us onboard we got the spinnaker up and were seeing 7.5 to 9 knots under spinnaker. Eventually the wind eased and we dropped the spinnaker and motor sailed again. When we were close to the mouth of the Patomac early in afternoon the wind again built and we raised the spinnaker again.
Eventually the wind dropped off to almost nothing and moved forward so as the sun was setting we struck all the sails and just motored the rest of the way to Deltaville. We arrived just after 9pm with a total trip time of 13 hours and just over 8.5 hours of motoring.
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!
