We had a nice day for the Open House Regatta with a light breeze out of the east that eventually built to the double digits. Jess and I were sailing aboard Todd’s J99 Battle Rhythm with me doing pit and her trimming the main.
The course would take us from Godfrey Bay out the Piankatank near Stingray Point and back up the river around a mark and then up into a finish in Fishing Bay. The first part of the race was mostly upwind while the 2nd half of the race was mostly downwind.
It was a progressive start race meaning the slower boats start first and the faster boast start last. We were the 2nd to last to to start and as we sailed east on the 2nd leg of the course we started to catch up to a group of boats. We hoisted our spinnaker to head from Piankatank 8 to FBYC B and passed most of them. On that first spinnaker hoist we had a sheet run incorrectly and had to just muscle hold it while we re-ran the lazy sheet as the new sheet and didn’t loose much ground.
By the time we got to FBYC-B we had Sting, Wendas and the Thistle ahead of of. We passed them by the time we got to back to Piankatank 8, but were only just ahead of Sting. We split with Sting and went North while they went south and after crossing we went south as we went north as we worked our way downwind to the west up the Piankatank. They stayed in better pressure of Stove point and were just ahead of us by the time we got to 12. We had a cleaner rounding, came out higher and had a little more speed to be just ahead of them at the finish and get the gun.
The FBYC Offshore Spring Open consisted of 2 days of racing with the first on Saturday being buoy racing and a distance race on Sunday.
Saturday – Buoy Racing
We arrived to a light drizzle on Saturday. Goin’ couldn’t get the hoist to work, so a couple from their boat joined what was going to be a short-handed crew on Battle Rhythm. Winds were in the 15-17 knot range out of the east as it continued to drizzle.
In the first race we were about a minute late to the start as we thought the other fleets were starting first. We started with 1 reef and were at the first weather mark about the same time as Corryvreckan.
Downwind we didn’t fly the spinnaker and as we sailed down the course we saw the wind dropping and shook the reef out. We finished the race without the spinnaker and finished 6th of 7.
For the second race we had a terrific start right at the boat, right on time, with a nice lane to leeward and we managed to shut the door on two other boats trying to start at the boat-end of the line.
In the 10-13 knots of wind we worked on tuning the boat upwind and got a little more in the groove. We rigged the spinnaker and had to shuffle people around – Todd went from the helm to the bow and Dennis drove downwind while Jon stayed in the pit. We did pretty well and held our position with Afterthought ahead and Sting behind us. We did another lap of the same and although Sting got pretty close to us and we ended up correcting behind Nanuq by only 26 seconds. In the end we finished 6 and 4 putting us in 5 overall after the first day.
Sunday – Distance Race
Sunday was the distance race – which was basically east out of the Piankatank and then North up the bay and then the triangle back to where we started.
The start was from FBYC-A which meant that the boat was on the port end of the line and the starboard end was the government mark. We had a pretty good start on starboard while many of the other boats were on port. We carried starboard to the north to have a better angle on the next mark, while the boats that were already on port were pretty tight upwind to make the first mark.
We rounded the first mark with many of the faster boats very close to us. From there we stayed upwind while many other boats cracked off to a close reach on a coarse for the next mark. Only the current was streaming down the bay and the boats that cracked off quickly found themselves getting swept and having to sail upwind again. The wind was still pretty light and our angle and positioning to the North allowed us to carry much more speed and catch the new wind to the North and rounded the next mark in second with our entire fleet behind us. Mad Hatter in the B fleet played the current even better and beat us to the mark and the C fleet boat Wendas was just behind us.
The next leg took us roughly upwind and up current to the North. There wasn’t much relief from the current but we went to the west side of the course along with Mad Hatter. Afterthought had caught up to us, but split to the east and lost a couple minutes by the time we got to the north.
On what was the final rounding to the finish, we rounded and set the chute. In process of getting the sail set, we lost track of where we were to be heading and spent a few minutes going downwind further than we should have. Had we kept on a tight reach, we would have been able to sail longer on a straighter course to the finish. But because we went low, we had to douse the chute a little earlier and go back to an upwind mode to fetch the finish. At times the wind was barely nothing and the current continued to rip down the bay making it hard for us to get anything in the sails. Eventually the wind filled, but Afterthought would correct to almost 25 minutes ahead of us and Nanuq corrected to 5 minutes ahead of us. We managed to stay enough ahead of Corryvreckan to correct over them by 30-some seconds for 3rd place.
On Saturday, I helped Todd deliver his J99 Battle Rhythm from its winter home in Irvington VA to Deltaville for the summer sailing and racing season. Ann was along as well and we had a nice motor down the Rappahannock River and did some sailing when we reached the Chesapeake Bay in the lightish winds.
We had 4 boats at FBYC for the ILCA Spring Regatta on a cool and overcast day. Mike C, Mike M, Todd and myself went out for 5 races alongside a couple Melges 15s. The Flying Scots elected not to sail. Out on the race we had a steady 13-14 knots with some white caps.
In the first race Mike C, Mike M and I all dragged race out to the left. I went a little further left and got some breeze wrapping around Stove Point and almost overstood the mark. I was just ahead of them as we went downwind, but I was able to keep a loose cover on both of them just behind me to finish first.
Race 2 was windy and shifty out of the east at times. The wind had gone a little more left which meant we were a little more sheltered behind Stove Point. I again played the middle left of the course and was able to stay just ahead of Mike C and Mike M.
Race 3 didn’t go as well – I was about to be leading at the top mark, but I missed the cleat after a tack and let the sail out while I was hiking and plunged the boat over me to weather while the other boats sailed by me. I caught up 1 boat to put me in 3rd, but I was never able to catch up to Mike C and Mike M to finish that way.
The 4th race saw a shift to the left, I went down to the pin at the start and almost laid the weather mark with a comfortable lead and finished that way.
For the 5th and final race of the day I knew I had to finish 3rd or better to win first overall. Mike C was ahead as we approached the weather mark and I flubbed the tack allowing Mike M to get by me as well. On the second upwind Mike M would struggle around the weather mark allowing me to sail by him to a 2nd place finish.
All in all it was a really fund day of sailing in a solid breeze and mixing it up with Mike C and Mike M in some close racing. Thanks to the Race Committee for running the race for us and we’ll be back for the Summer Regatta in August.
Served as the race committee for the first one design event of the year at FBYC. Ended up with a beautiful day for the Flying Scots and Melges 15. I also got to try out a new insta360 X4 camera.
Got 4 races before the wind died on us.
Thanks to Mason Chapman, Laurie Pierce, Jess Deutsch, John Koedell, Todd Blekicki and Frank Murphy for helping on RC.
As was the case in 2022, the club was short a PRO for the first spring series of the year and so I stepped in last minute to be the PRO. We had a small but mighty team and gave the racers the best we could given the weather, volunteers and equipment we had available.
PHRF-BC start with GOIN’ and Mad Hatter
While it wasn’t windy by windy standards- the conditions were still cool, the wind was up and the waves were a bit lumpy from this direction. We were able to set up a 1.5nm weather leg and ran two races for both fleets on that course. The cruising class intended to do a triangle derivative of this, but through some miscommunication to the RC, we sent them on a triangle that was way beyond what they were intending and weren’t finishing even the first lap of that until almost after the other fleets had done two laps and started their next race.
Paula and Jon doing flags at the back of the boat while Cathy calls time.
Thanks to Paula, Cathy, Mary and Paul for their help on RC.
This was also my first chance to try out a new insta360 X4 and here’s the 360 video in 8k of driving the boat out of the Jackson Creek Channel.
This weekend the Battle Rhythm crew joined the Race Committee for the Opening Day race. The 3 fleets did a middle distance race out into the Chesapeake Bay and back. The wind was light and took about 3 hours to do the ~15nm. We had a 4-6 knot breeze in the Piankatank the entire time. The boats out in the bay saw much less than that at times and many of them abandoned when the current started taking them faster than the wind.
Being on Race Committee this was a perfect opportunity to get some video of the boats and try out a borrowed 360 camera.
It was the first weekend in December and the plan had been to race in FBYC’s winter series but fog and lack of good weather on future weekends for a delivery to Irvington for a haul out meant today was the day to make the trip.
With the winter series going on, we left the dock and sailed out into the fog in the mouth of the Piankatank where the other boats were racing. We could see maybe a 1/2 mile at time. We sailed by the other boats and then headed out to Stingray Point and around it and into the Rappahannock. The fog was a little denser out there and that was the only run in with another boat when a 25′ center console fishing boat went buzzing across our bow with barely visible lights.
The rest of the trip was smooth and the fog lifted as we closed in on the bridge.
Once in Irvington we pulled the sails off, did a few other clean up items and carpooled back to FBYC.
Allan and Jon starting an ILCA race from the signal boat.
For the 2023 FBYC Frostbite Regatta we were short on RC and so I pulled the short straw to run races. Thankfully Allan, Rick and David volunteered to help. We had 10 ILCA and 5 other double handed boats out there too.
ILCA sailing downwind while Flying Scots and Melges 15 sail upwind.
We didn’t have any wind when we planned on starting so we postponed about an hour. We could see it was coming out of the south and had the fleet out there and got started around 12:15. We ran two different course options and the final race included a 1mi downwind leg to the finish at the FBYC dock.
Rick and David on Marie’s Mink setting the starting pin.
I also go to try out Allan’s big camera with a monster lens and he tried out my mirrorless camera. It was nice to have a chance to finally photograph some sailing from the water with the Nikon Z50 I had gotten a couple months ago. The other innovation we tried out was a starting countdown timer video connected to a Bluetooth speaker telling us on the signal boat when to raise and lower flags so we didn’t have to keep time ourselves. Needs a few tweaks, but worked pretty well.
Great end to the season and while I’m disappointed I didn’t get to sail, it was nice to make it a great event for everyone and I’m looking forward to getting back out there next year.
FBYC closed the regular season with the Closing Day Distance Race. The weather was absolutely gorgeous with beautiful fall foliage – it felt more like September than almost November. Except there wasn’t much wind. Knowing it was a distance race with little prospect of more wind later and oysters to be eaten this afternoon the RC chose to start us on time and let us make the most of what wind there was.
I was sailing on Battle Rhythm, we were the 3rd fastest boat and thus the 3rd to last boat to start. We were just behind Tradition as we came to the line and ended up underneath a bunch of boats who had parked up just above the line. It took us a long time to sail around them and after 35 minutes to the weather mark – we set a spinnaker and headed due east out of the river to the next mark of the course.
We soon passed a few boats that had rounded the first mark ahead of us. With the spinnaker up, we were a little low and eventually had to drop it and go back to a jib as the wind went a little south. By the time we reached the far mark we were around 7-8th place. On the way back to Stove Point we passed two cruising boats leaving only Afterthought, Nanuq and Goin’ ahead of us. We didn’t catch them, but had a good time to get at 4th and learned some things about how to make the light reaching spinnaker work in light wind and close reaching.
Following the race were oysters and we had a great time catching up with a lot of folks for possibly the last time of the year.
