Offshore sailboat racing.
After yesterday’s Opening Day Race, Fishing Bay Yacht Club started the offshore spring series on Sunday with some buoy racing. We only had about half of the crew we had yesterday and had several new folks in new positions. Overall we held our own going 3-2-3 on the day. Results.
What a beautiful weekend to start the sailing season at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. The first race of the season was a middle distance race of 12.8 nm from the mouth of the Piankatank out to the entrance to the Rappahannock River and back. I was sailing on Wavelength, a C&C37, with Rob Whittet and Steve Utley. We were among the 20+ other boats gathered in the 8-10 knot northerly breeze and mostly sunny skies.
We had a great start in the 5-boat PHRF-A fleet that consisted of a J/109 Double Eagle, J/105s Corryvreckan and Shamrock, and modified Quest 30 Chilcoot. The first leg was a short upwind leg inside the mouth of the Piankatank. We then sailed close-hauled out to the entrance to the Rappahannock followed by a spinnaker run down to the entrance of the Piankatank. Up until this point we were hanging with everyone except Double Eagle who was starting to get away from us. At the turning mark the J/70s and the C and non-spin fleets were also using this as a turning mark.
Most of the fleet who had asymmetrical spinnakers went low on their way back to the finish up the Piankatank. They weren’t laying the mark, but making really good VMG. With a symmetrical spinnaker, we elected to take the high route with the #1 up. About halfway back we could see Double Eagle get significantly headed and then drop the spinnaker. They had to beat back to the mark, while we just cracked off and came back down to the rumb line nice and fast and closed the gap. We didn’t beat them over the line, but had enough to make up the difference and won the race on corrected time. What a great way to start the season.
This season will be bittersweet for Wavelength and crew – this will likely be the last spring series for the boat.
Following racing the club held their blessing of the fleet and opening day party. The food was great – as was the fun!
Saturday was the final day of racing for the offshore boats at Fishing Bay Yacht Club followed by an oyster roast. The race was a pursuit style race where the slower boats start first and the times are calculated so everyone should finish about the same time. I was aboard Wavelength and for once it was great having boats of all sizes all around us for most of the race. We ended up finishing 9th in the 17-boat fleet while sailing in winds that started around 8 knots and built to as much as 23 knots during the 1 1/2 hour race. On top of that we were short-handed with only 6 on board and flew the spinnaker.
After racing we enjoyed oysters! RESULTS | PHOTOS
This year for the Smith Point Race at Fishing Bay Yacht Club I sailed on an Olson 911S called Mad Hatter owned by Bob and Lisa Fleck. We sailed in the PHRF-B fleet with close competition form a Tarten 40 and a Tarten 10. The Smith Point Race is a 57nm race starting in the mouth of the Piankatank River heading east across the Chesapeake Bay then North to the the Smith Point Light house at the entrance of the Potomac River and then back to the Piankatank leaving Stingray Point to starboard.
We started out at 2pm with the race expected to take about 10-12 hours. The forecast was for an east wind 12-18 all afternoon/evening with an outgoing tide starting shortly after the start.
On the leg across the bay we were close reaching and we stayed above everyone else in the fleet. When the wind went a little south, this helped give us leverage to round in second – behind only Chilcoot from the A-fleet. On the reach up the bay we were quickly run down by the J-105 Corryvreckan. The short choppy and confused waves made the going a little tough. Towards the end of the leg to Smith point we had the chute up reaching and all of the bouncing around kept collapsing the chute. We arrived at Smith Point just at sun down.
The way back in the dark was almost upwind and the wind slowly eased from 16 to about 12. Halfway back I helmed and we did a sail change up to the No 1. When we got to the Piankatank we turned west, put the chute up and finished the race as the 3rd boat over the line and 1st overall on corrected time by 10 minutes. Results.
Saturday’s Cut Channel Race at Fishing Bay Yacht Club had a bit of everything from the weather. Light air, heavy air, storms, chop, smooth seas, etc. Lud Kimbrough, Mike Karn and I sailed the J/70 Nostalgia in the PHRF-B fleet of 6 boats out of 15 total for the race.
The race took us south and east and then due east across the bay before heading north up the shipping channel and back to the Piankatank. We had a great start and did well on the first upwind and reaching legs. On the 2nd downwind leg out to the channel we made a bad bet on the weather and fell back into the fleet.
After rounding the channel marker to head North we could see storms in the distance but with being so far out into the bay we didn’t have reliable cell service to check the weather. We donned our life jackets and battened down the hatch – we really did this – and prepared for some weather. We were also monitoring VHF 16 instead of the race channel so we could hear ships coming up the channel, etc so we didn’t hear any race announcements that the race was being shortened at the next mark.
Most of the storms stayed away and we could see lightning in the distance. One frontal system did come through and as the wind hit the boats behind us, we quickly executed our emergency chute down procedure to get it in the boat just before we were hit with a 25-30+ knot gust. We rode out the rest of the leg under jib and main still making 6 knots and as we approached the mark we saw Mr. Roberts there and saw the race was being shortened.
We didn’t save our time, but we had fun and got to try something different on a boat none of us had ever done a distance race with. Unfortunately for us, we finished at the farthest point of the course from home, which meant we still needed to sail upwind back home. We definitely didn’t have enough fuel aboard to motor the whole way, plus the boat goes faster under sail anyway. 2 1/2 hours later and after narrowly dodging another squall line and motoring from about 6 miles offshore once the wind died, we made it back to FBYC.
I got to sail my first Screwpile Regatta on Paul and Julie Wash’s S2 7.9 Cheeky Monkey along with Becca Wash and Mike Karn. We had a great weekend finishing 3rd in the 13-boat PHRF-C class (results). That included finishing out the regatta 2-2-1-1 in the final 4 of the 7 races.
On Saturday I got a ride to Solomons Island Maryland with the Double Eagle crew. Cheeky Monkey was still being delivered so I got to go hang out with Double Eagle for some practice. That was followed by some pool time and then boat work when Cheeky Monkey arrived to get it ready – 1st for sleeping and 2nd for racing in the morning. The transition from sleeping quarters to race boat and visa versa would be repeated each morning and evening. After getting settled I went for dinner in Solomons Island with the Double Eagle crew followed by a trip to the legendary Tiki Bar.
The first day of racing called for light wind – and it delivered. After a short postponement on the water the wind appeared to fill in and we got started. We beat the whole fleet off the start by 20 seconds and led the fleet up the beat as the wind started dissipating. Eventually we had nothing for wind and the race was abandoned.
Back at the starting line we threw the anchor out during the postponement and had fun yelling ‘starboard’ at all of the boats trying to stay near the course in the current while drifting into us. An hour or so later the wind finally filled in and we started a light wind race.
Most of the racing I’ve done lately has been on boats with 6-8 crew so coming down to a 5-person boat that I had never been on before was a bit of an adjustment. None of it was hard or really all that new, just the timing and coordination that were a little different.
When we finally did start we were a little late at the line and consequently spent most of the race just following the fleet around, ending up in 9th. In the second race we nailed the start at the boat and had options going up the course. We couldn’t quite hang with some of the faster boats, but we did well to stay engaged behind the leaders and found ourselves with a 5th putting us in 7th after the first day of racing. Not a bad start, but left room for improvement. By the end of the day we started to get a lot more comfortable as a crew and things started getting easier.
Post-racing was a trip to the pool and out to dinner with the Cheeky Monkey crew.
Racing on Monday got a lot better for us. In the first race we still had a bit of a late start and ended up in the middle of the fleet. On the plus side I think we finally got the crew work figured out among us. I was on the mast and my responsibilities were raising and lowering the spinnaker, raising and lowering the board, and calling wind. Now that we were coordinated, I got to pay a lot more attention to the wind, feeding that info back to Mike Karn and Paul in the back, and it really started to pay off for us.
By the 2nd race of the day we had a decent start, were one of the top boats around the 1st windward mark and kept playing it smart and fast to pick off a little more time on the boats ahead. We ended up being 2nd over the line to a much faster boat who only corrected out 3 seconds ahead of us – ie: 4 seconds faster and that would have been a 1 for us instead of a 2.
The 3rd race of the day went much the same. We had a good start, played the shifts upwind, had no major foul ups with the spinnaker at the marks and continued to chip away at the boats in front of us. Unfortunately, the story played out the same and we were over the line 2nd, but the boat ahead corrected to just 5 seconds ahead.
We were happy with a 7-2-2 on the day bringing us up to 6th with a 4 point spread between the 3 boats ahead of us.
Today was our day and our wind. With a more steady pressure of 8-10 knots and partly cloudy skies we were poised to sail well. We had a good game plan and a good read on the weather that proved out to be dead on by the end of the day. Mike and Paul got us a good start and having watched the fleets ahead of us and the wind, I picked out a pretty distinct pattern in the shifts and clouds. From there we punched out, stayed ahead of the shifts and lead wire-to-wire. Right at the finish a few boats rating either the same (Spinster) or faster than us (Easy Button) came up pretty close, but we managed to get over the finish line just ahead of them.
The 2nd and final race- this one a 5-leg race was similar to the earlier race – only the shifts got even more dramatic. But the pattern remained and after winning the boat at the start, we got out to the right, picked a couple shifts while covering the fleet and lead at the first mark. Downwind we got caught by some boats who brought pressure and we found ourselves rounding the bottom mark with boats right on our tail. We played it a little more conservative up the middle-right side and Easy Button hit the right corner when a big righty came in, and just went right by us. The 4th leg-downwind kept everyone about the same as the wind began to give out a little bit. Many of the boats played the middle left where there happened to be pressure at the beginning of the leg. We knew it was going to go away and eventually come in from the right – just as it had in the previous leg, so we kept ourselves to the right side of the fleet. When it finally came in from the right and with pressure, it came way more than we were expecting and we went from being in the middle of the course to laying the finish while all of the boats out to the left were hung out. We took the gun and our second bullet of the day.
We were really thrilled at how we did in the last 4 races to string together a solid set of 1s and 2s. That jumped us up to 3rd overall and were definitely the best boat on the day with 2 bullets. Congrats Paul and Julie Wash – you’ve put a great program together and it was a lot of fun sailing Cheeky Monkey to a podium finish.
RESULTS | PICTURES | SPINSHEET PICTURES | VIDEO
Top photo from Spinsheet.
This weekend I sailed aboard Wavelength in the the Southern Bay Leukemia Cup Regatta. On Saturday we started with a postponement while few storms moved through the area. An hour later it cleared up and the wind continued to build throughout the day. We started out with a new No 1 Genoa and we liked the way it was working and how we were able to point. We did well in the first race, had good crew work and maneuvers and finished 4th. While we were beating a couple faster boats on the water, we were just not able to reel in Afterthought, Double Eagle and Voodoo to be able to correct over them.
By the 2nd race of the day the wind picked up and we switched down to the 2. Just after starting the wind dropped down for a short time before the sea breeze really started to crank. By the 2nd downwind we were seeing winds in the low to mid 20’s and along with a few other boats – we elected not to fly a spinnaker. We had a 4 & 5 on the day to keep us in 4th.
The party was fun and the live charity auction featured one of my prints that raised some money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
On Sunday we pretty much just had light air all day. We did two races and sailed well, but still weren’t really able to reel in the 3 boats at the head of the pack. All in all it was a another fun weekend of sailing with the Wavelength team! Thanks Rob & Steve for having me and if anyone would like to donate to our fundraising effort this link can be used. Results.
Friday’s Down The Bay Race (read my account of it here) kept my hands pretty busy. I was only able to catch a few minutes of video during the calmer/clearer times. In these shots you are looking at the backs of the waves, so it looks much calmer with smaller waves than it was.
Friday morning we set out on Excitation – a Farr-Dickinson 37 for the Down The Bay Race from Annapolis to Hampton in what would be an epic race. The forecast was for north west wind moving north and bringing the wind right down the bay making for a very fast trip south. Sailing the race were 30 boats ranging in size from a 24-foot J-24 to a 52′ TP52.
The race started just after 10am in Annapolis with winds in the mid-20’s and light drizzle. We got underway in the A2 fleet and headed down the bay on a broad reach under full main and #1 (our largest headsail). Many of the boats with asymmetrical spinnakers were able to carry them and they all just took off. Some of the symmetric boats were able to carry them as well. For the early part of the race we just cruised along rarely under 8 knots and with 1-2 knots of favorable current we averaged over 9.5 knots over the ground for the first 3/4 of the race.
Every hour we switched off drivers and main trimmers. They were both working hard keeping the boat moving through the 4′ seas in the early part of the race. We’d surf waves when we could and all competed to see who could drive for the top speed of the day. At first we thought hitting 11 knots was fast. Before long we were getting bored with only hitting 10 knots in a boat that rates 87 PHRF.
About 1/3 of the way into the race the waves stabilized a bit and the wind was down into the low twenties and we tried to put a small kite up. It was a bit squirrely and we just couldn’t keep the boat under the sail. Eventually we lost it, almost broached and wrapped the chute around the head stay a few times. After a few tense minutes trying to unwrap it and get it down we got it on deck and continued under main and the number 1.
By mid-afternoon we were approaching the mouth of the Potomac. The Potomac is a very large river with a lot of current that comes out of it and into the bay. Here we found the most confused seas and with waves now 4-6′ it was a handful to keep the boat going especially with random waves that would occasionally break into the cockpit.
South of the Potomac the waves got a little more regular and the wind stayed in the 25-32 knot range. Occasionally we saw low 20’s and up to 36. Through this part of the course we continued reaching along the rhumb line.
Last year at 5:30 am we were passing the Piankatank River (our normal FBYC sailing area just south of the Rappahannock River). This year we were there by 5:30pm and making fantastic time down the bay. As we got into the lower part of the bay the wind stayed steadier in the 28-32 range and the waves built to 6-8′ and even some 10′ for the final 20 miles down the bay before rounding a channel marker and taking a right turn to sail the last 9 miles into Hampton. It was this downwind stretch that we did some of our fastest sailing. Not because we were trying to push it, we weren’t – we were trying to sail conservative and safe, but because we had to sail the boat entirely by feel with almost no light to see the waves with. It just felt right to go fast.
At one point we just dropped into a 6’+ wave and it felt awesome with a nice trough to our right and I just rode it for all I could. It was just like sailing a dinghy down waves – except this was a 11,000lb 37′ boat. We had hit some 12 knots earlier – but on that wave I hit 13.46 knots through the water. What a rush to have such a big boat slicing across the water like that.
At the final mark to the finish we’d have to go from broad reaching to close reaching. With full main and number 1 genoa up we knew that would be a challenge – and it was. With no way to carry the genoa, let alone the main, we had a very difficult time getting the genoa down so we could finish under main alone.
The course record was around 13 hours set by a 60′ boat back in 1974. We finished at 30 minutes after midnight which was in 14 hours – just one hour off the record. Over 1/3 of the boats sailing finished under the old race record. The new record holder – the TP52 Irie finished in just 7 hours. They were at the bar just after 5:30 pm. That’s an amazing record that’s going to stand for a very long time. Full Results.
We docked shortly after 1 and it was a relief to all be back safe and sound and on dry land. We swapped stories with other sailors in the bar. Only 2 boats wouldn’t finish the race – one after a demasting. Eventually we all just crashed on the boat – exhausted from an epic ride we won’t soon forget. (Update: Watch some video of our trip here)
I’d like to thank owner Mayo Tabb for doing the race this year and having me and to the other crew who did a great job keeping us going in some very difficult conditions.