[Public-List] First time at the Syronelle

[Gordon Laco]

Hello friends - 

Well our first participation in an Alberg 30 regatta is behind us.  Surprise
is home at her jetty at Midland Bay Sailing Club now (not quite safely but
more of that later).

First, let me say on behalf of my crew Clint Nielsen (with the Viking tattoo
on his arm)  Steve Parm (who can almost reach the spreaders without strain)
and Peter Laco (my eldest son) that we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.   We
had no idea how we¹d measure up as a racing crew in a One Design fleet...
We¹ve done well racing PHRF here but we¹d never been up against an Alberg 30
in fighting trim, let along a mob of them.

It was great to see other boats Œlike us¹.   Alberg 30¹s are quite capable,
shippy looking sailing vessels; the way sailing yachts should look.  We kept
saying to each other when on various points of sail ³wow, I guess that¹s
what we look like².  This reminded me of my brother in law¹s comment after
visiting Holland, homeland of his parents: ³everybody looked like me; tall,
awkward with receding hairlines....²

The moments before the first race on Saturday morning were filled with a
degree of tension... I had no idea how it would go.  We finished fourth but
were starting to calm down and do what we do.  When we got to the start
sequence for the second race, we¹d designated JAZZ as our target to beat and
set ourselves to start aggressively with her.  The action in the last
moments was every bit as exciting as anything I¹ve ever experienced.  It¹s
great when crossing swords with an expert ­ you can both trust each other
not to do something un-ethical or dangerous... So you can push.  An
opportunity appeared in the last seconds and we started in a very good
position.  we managed to stride away from the others but with JAZZ in close
combat all the way around the course... But she nipped us with apparent ease
during the run to the finish.  Second in that race was our best finish.

The rest of the races were in lighter air, some with a chop that I was used
to during the days we lived and raced in Toronto, but I guess I¹d lost the
knack of dealing with.  We had difficulty keeping SURPRISE moving and my
attempts at casting the dice didn¹t pan out.  We were very pleased that our
worst race, third on Saturday I think, was also one of SAM¹s best, so our
team mate dragged us up enough that we finished fourth overall in the final
reckoning.   

Somebody asked me Œwhat happened to you guys¹ after the first day ­ all I
can say is the chop in the very light air was difficult for me and I think I
became frustrated and wasn¹t making good decisions with regard to tactics.
During our best race, aside from still being optimistic, there was enough
air that we were sailing in the area of 4.5 to to 4.7 knots most of the time
­ we had enough air to keep SURPRISE trudging along and we were able to keep
up.  A skipper I sailed for and learned a lot from once told me Œlight air
sailing is what really separates the good from the not so good racing
skippers...¹

It was a great experience.  I told my wife when I got home yesterday that
the regatta combined the two elements that make yacht racing fantastic.  We
had great battles out on the water; with good sportsmanship... And
comradeship and cooperation in the evenings.   I learned a lot and with
luck, may be a more consistent threat to the leaders next time.

So Sunday afternoon came.  With John Kitchener¹s and other¹s help we lowered
the mast onto SURPRISE¹s deck and motored away to the commercial marina for
hauling out Monday morning.  On the way across Toronto Bay we crossed paths
with an Alberg 30 named MADRIGAL III which I recall racing against when I
crewed in SURYA, an A30 which won the Syronelle when I was a boy back in the
early Œ70¹s.  I thoroughly approved of her colour scheme and told her
skipper, who turns out to have owned her since she was new (same colour as
SURPRISE).

I slept by myself in the boat and by mid morning Monday we were on the boat
transporter and rolling up to Midland.  Two hours later we were in the water
in Georgian Bay again.  Last night we motored over our Club¹s mast crane and
that¹s where things began to go wrong.

The yacht transporter had brought our mast over to the club so we wouldn¹t
have to carry it off the boat ­ very kind of him.  Upon arrival we found a
bit of a disturbance going on... An old member with a drinking issue was in
the fourth hour of trying to raise his mast and was in an altercation with a
responsible member who was trying to intervene to resolve their tangled rig
and get them out from under the crane and clear  the dock.   When we arrived
with SURPRISE on the tractor trailer rig, the difficult member accosted me
shouting Œyou can¹t launch that boat here!¹  I thought he was kidding so
said with a laugh Œsure we can, it¹s only 10,000 lbs, I¹ll use the high jib²
(normally only used for masts)  Then I realized what was going on and tried
to explain I was only dropping off the mast... He wasn¹t listening.  We put
our mast on horses and left.

I went by an hour later to see if the crane was available and found the
difficult member gone, and another yacht I¹d never seen raising her
mast...and my mast (complete with new genoa on the furler) thrown on the
ground; my horses under their mast.  I asked if they¹d done that, they said
yes.  I said Œlet¹s put it back up again please¹...they complied with poor
grace.  

I went home for supper and when I came back found the mast on the ground
again with the masthead only on a block of wood.  Not very nice.  Feeling
cranky, but with the help of friends we began the process of stepping ­ a
simple job.  We had the mast over the boat horizontally about five feet up
(the jetty is high) and were beginning to raise it.  Then a remarkable thing
happened.  The knot I¹d tied for the crane hook sling line, which I thought
was a bowline, began slipping and apparently in slow motion snaked itself
out and we dropped the mast diagonally across SURPRISE.

I was holding the heel of the mast and received quite a wallop as the heel
bucked upwards when the mast landed on the cabin top and the head went down
into the water.  We all stood still for an instant... What an embarrassing
and potentially very dangerous incident.  Damage?  Only slight luckily.  The
mainsail, bundled on the boom and laying on deck, took most of the landing
impact.  The portside lifeline, somewhat slack without the shrouds spreading
it, took the rest.  Mysteriously the starboard spreader was broken off at
the tangs, which were bent.  I didn¹t see this happen but reckon that the
sling line must have snaked around the shroud/spreader and for an instant
bore the weight of the mast before breaking and letting the mast complete
it¹s fall.  If that is what happened, I reckon the spreader contributed to
the relatively soft landing the mast made across the cabin top.

Looking back on the mast raising operation, I considered the cascade of
events that led to the accident.  The RCN trained me to watch for such
things as part of the Bridge Resource Management regime of thinking the Navy
uses; regardless, I didn¹t see any of the signs.  They taught us that one
can be on the road to trouble long before one is aware that the cascade has
started

I was tired.  I was upset by the drama happening at the mast crane when I
arrived at the club.  I was further upset by the behaviour of the people who
put my mast on the ground (new members it turns out ­ probably didn¹t know
any better)   The result?  I tied a bad knot. I remember checking it but
obviously didn¹t really look at it and feel it as I normally do.   That is
the only explanation I can offer for the sling line releasing.  I don¹t
believe it is possible for a bowline to snake through itself as we all saw
that one do.  I tied it with a long tail, so we all had time to see it go.

We¹re lucky the mast wasn¹t higher...we¹re lucky we didn¹t have the mast
vertical with people on the boat kneeling to shoot the pins in to secure the
shrouds and stays when it came down.  I am very lucky nobody got hurt, I
would have been responsible for what might have been a tragedy.  I am lucky
the damage isn¹t worse.

So, the ending not withstanding, it was a terrific weekend.  I¹m sorry the
explanation of the accident seems to have overshadowed the good stuff ­ but
I¹m still getting used to the idea that it really happened!!!

Gord
Surprise 426
(yes, I will race with you folks again.... Can¹t wait)

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