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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
