Tag: Offshore Racing

Offshore sailboat racing.

Tomorrow starts the 2013 Down The Bay Race and I’ll be racing on the Farr-Dickinson 37′ Excitation owned by Mayo Tabb from Fishing Bay Yacht Club. We’ll be sailing with 8 other boats in the A2 fleet among 32 boats sailing the race. They range from 24′ to 52′. Here’s the scratch sheet.

The typical wind for the Chesapeake Bay this time of the year is out of the south, sometimes the west and occasionally the east. When it blows out of the North it’s often not for long. This is a rare year that the wind will be blowing strong out of the North from the start of the race in Annapolis to the finish in Hampton. It’s almost certain that the course record of 13 hours by Running Tide, a 60 foot Sparkman and Stevens design owned by Al van Metre,
will fall this weekend. It’s possible half the A fleet might finish under the record. Either way it’s going to be a wild ride and we are going to have a blast!

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This was the 2nd day of the Spring Series at Fishing Bay Yacht Club and I got to helm the J109 Double Eagle to two 2nd place finishes in the 6-boat fleet.  With winds in the low 20’s the fleet was racing a 1.04 mile leg in the Piankatank up into Fishing Bay. Anytime the wind is out of the North in there it’s very shifty which made driving challenging.

2013 FBYC Spring Series #2 Double Eagle Downwind

In the first race we trailed Afterthought all the way around the course.  They were shorthanded and sailed downwind without a shoot, but made good enough VMG that we had to stay in good pressure with a kite up to make up on them.  On the 2nd downwind we picked it right and were able to nip them at the line.  Unfortunately Nanuq was too close behind and was able to correct over us.

In the 2nd race we were a bit late at the start and were just never able to really make up the deficit to challenge Afterthought and wound up with another 2nd.

I just want to thank Sam Mitchener for the opportunity to drive Double Eagle and wish his family the best and am sorry he wasn’t able to sail with us today.

Results: Race 1 | Race 2

Photo courtesy of Carrie Russell.

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It was great to get back to sailboat racing this year at Opening Weekend at Fishing Bay Yacht Club.  On Saturday I sailed on Wavelength – a C&C 37 owned by Rob Whittet and Steve Utley.  The course was a middle distance race and the light air and chop was not kind to us.  Even without a great result it was a fun day on the water that ended up with a Opening Day dinner and party at the club.

4/13 FBYC Opening Day: Wavelength:

On Sunday we sailed the first day of the Spring Series.  After waiting around for wind, we had a sea breeze that built until just after the start of the 2nd race.  Both races were nice and long and while we still couldn’t touch the J/109’s, we still sailed well and had fun.

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Wavelength winning the start.Photo by Bruce McConnel

We had plenty of wind for the first day of the offshore fall series at Fishing Bay Yacht Club and the race committee elected to head inside Fishing Bay to run the races.  With winds over 20 at the start of the first race we all had our hands full getting around the course.  By the end of the last race the wind was down to 8. We did well and put up a 4-3-4 for 3rd overall out with 3 excellent starts.

After racing we had to deliver a boat from Jackson Creek to Fishing Bay and we timed it to see a gorgeous sunset on Fishing Bay.

Results | Photos

Top Photo by Bruce McConnell

Melissa, Mark, Matt, Jon

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We took Wavelength out on Saturday for the Smith Point Race at Fishing Bay Yacht Club with a short 5-person crew of Steve U, John H, John W, Rick and myself. We were sailing against 2 other PHRF-A boats and started the 42nm course at 2pm just south of Stingray Point on the Piankatank.  The race started as a beat and the wind eased from 15-18 down to 10-12 by 5:30 and down to about 6 at 8pm.

For the final 5 miles to Smith Point we went east expecting the wind to go right.  We found a nice lane of wind and even overstood while the boats inshore to the west were left becalmed.  We rounded Smith Point around 8:30 and just as we rounded and were setting up for a broad reach under spinnaker, the wind went even further east and we ditched our plans for the spinnaker under what would now be a close reach.  I drove the 2nd half of the way back and we finished around 12:30am, beating a faster J105 to the line and ending up just 13 1/2 minutes behind the winning J109 on corrected time.

Final Results | Photos | 2011 Smith Point Race

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Finished up this video from the 63rd Down the Bay Race for the Virginia Cruising Cup May 25-26, 2012 aboard Glenn Doncaster’s Sabre 42.6 Nanuq from Fishing Bay Yacht Club.  Read more about the trip here.  Photos can be found here.

This was shot over two days with the Nikon D7000, 3 GoPro Hero2, an iPhone 4s and a Canon SD-1400.

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Last weekend was the Leukemia Cup Regatta at Stingray Point Harbor Marina with racing put on by Fishing Bay Yacht Club.  I sailed on Wavelength in the PHRF-A division.  We sailed 2 races on Saturday in pretty light air.  We got in one more race Sunday morning in a dying breeze.  I had to go up the mast Sunday morning to get the sail up.  All in all it was a fun time and thanks to mostly Rob’s efforts our boat raised over $13,000 for the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society making our boat the 2nd place fundraiser.  Included in that was a photo of mine that sold for $375 in the live auction.



(photos credit: Stephen Boling)

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Here is the crew aboard nanuq as we started the Down The Bay Race this morning. PHRF had a bit of a crowded start with some boats wanting to be in other boats space. The wind started out pretty light but we did get a couple hours of good wind as we passed Thomas Point light house. Later this afternoon the wind has died to under 4 and we are currently off Sharky’s Point lighthouse using all of the current we can find to get south.

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On Friday the Annual Down The Bay Race starts in Annapolis, Maryland and races to Hampton, Virginia.  I’ll be aboard Glenn Doncaster’s Sabre 42.6 Nanuq from Fishing Bay Yacht Club.

Here’s the breakdown of the 39 boats that will be taking part.  I’ll be posting updates and pictures as time permits on Twitter: @jondeutsch.

 

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