[Public-List] Second race of the year

Wed May 31 17:42:02 PDT 2017

So, 

Just back in the house after SURPRISE’s second race of the year, which was the club’s third.  What a rompin’ thrash… just the thing for the middle of a busy business week.

While getting set up to head out, scattered showers kept blowing through, driven by a solid 15-18 knots of cool north west wind.  It was just like an invigorating day in October.   Clint and Steve showed up on time… we sparked up the iron mill, and headed out to the course.  I noted with great satisfaction that SURPRISE’s knotmeter is still suffering from its mental collapse and was reading a solid 9 knots as we motored out of the club.  Satisfaction?  Well I’ve ordered myself a new one and I’d have been stricken if the thing had recovered its senses AFTER I’d committed to the expense.

We hoisted the main and popped the genny out of the furler… grateful in the case of the later because tonight there was enough wind for our smallish headsail.

To and fro we foamed with the fleet, swinging back and forth as the minutes counted down to the start.  there was about twenty boats out so the mob was dense… and because there were more Sharks than ever, tension was high as those vermin shouted and jostled each other and whoever was nearby.  At the other end of the scale from the humble Shark, was a 50 foot IMS open racer named ‘TO LIFE’ sailed by our good friend John.  His speed was easily twice that of the other boats… she was flying through the mob like a wolf through a flock of chickens.

Finally the start sequence began and we ascertained that tonight a port tack start was the thing to do.  Our arch rival, MAID MARION, also had the same idea so we both stooged about beyond the pin end while the rest the herd were fighting and squabbling on the committee end.  We got to one minute horn and both MM and we gybed furiously and began close reaching for the pin.  

To our horror, we sailed into an unaccountable hole and nearly stopped.  A mass of furious Sharks all overlapping each other were charging toward us running the line trying to force eachother over early…  then we got some air again, heeled over with the rail in the water and SURPRISE picked up her skirts and got moving again.  We let two Sharks by then ducked the stern of the third and crossed going like a train on port.  

Half way up the first beat we were knocked and flipped over onto starboard… and oh what tension as we stared at MAID MARION, now on port coming in from her side of the leg… who would cross who?  Damn… they got us by about thirty yards.  

We trudged on, playing the main to keep the rail out of the water, our insane knotmeter joyously proclaiming 11 knots (probably 6-ish) as we climbed to windward.  Seeing the main crowd of the fleet flipping onto starboard tack away off to the right, we flipped ourselves onto port and made our climb toward the lay line, intending on tacking onto starboard again about 200 meters from the pin.   We ducked a Shark, crossing his stern with inches to spare, and finally reached the lay line.  I’d intended to go a bit further to make sure we could lay the mark, but there was a Shark howling STARBOARD… so we tacked so as not to foul them.  

Saints be praised, MAID MARION had overstood and was comfortably to windward and behind us, and we comfortably laid the mark, rounding with four Sharks in very close company.   

Away we went on the reaching leg, bow wave foaming, knotmeter alternating indications between 9 and 12 knots (probably really high sixes…) MAID MARION was coming on strong and we were in danger of being blanketed by a trio of Sharks all out for each other’s blood.  I eased the main, let them get ahead, then hardened up, sheets hauling in smartly, and cut close cross their sterns letting them get into our lee bow.  What startled looks they shot us as we climbled over them.   MAID MARION was now dealing with them as we hauled away hand over fist finally approaching the gybe mark.  

Round we went at high speed in very heavy traffic and onto the run with MAID MARION’s boom almost overlapping us.   I employed a technique I learned in Albacores which a friend called ‘using your elbows to get room’…. I pushed up under MAID MARION, forcing him to go up to avoid us, then as soon as he was going up, we went down.  MM naturally came down on us again, trying to blanket us… so when he got close (but not so close as he was) up we went again, and so three times till he was far enough away due to our gaining a few meters each time for us to be safely ahead of his wind shadow.  

Round the bottom mark and away we went frantically hauling sheets so as to transfigure from running to beating (we didn’t pop the ‘chute because the run was so short)

Suddenly we heard a scream behind us… and there was SKYBIRD, our friend Jane’s Shark, with TO LIFE, the IMS Open 50 about to run over them, doing more than twice the little Shark’s speed.  

There was no collision.

We battled it out with MAID MARION all the way up the beat, rounded with them right on our transom, then ran for the finish.  We considered the ‘chute, but decided that because the boats ahead were reaching, we only wung out the genny and in due course gybed it and away we went reaching too.  We crossed the finish first in our class… and with only one of the A fleet boats who started five minutes behind us having overtaken us, and that one being TO LIFE, which is really in a different solar system.

What a race!

Gord #426 Surprise