[Public-List] ... Just another Wednesday race...

[Gordon Laco]

It was just another Wednesday race…

Because it’s September, and days are getting shorter, we had to rush out to the start 30 minutes earlier.  As things go, I had a business Skype meeting to do right at the end of the day, so I was literally dashing out the door as we said our polite goodbyes after the work.   Perhaps I was a little abrupt, but I’ll blame that on the connection dropping… ya, that’s what it was.

Down at the boat Steve was just arriving.  Because Clint was away sailing on holiday it was going to be just the two of us aboard.  And it was blowing.  Out we went and got the sails up just in time to catch the start sequence.  There was SUNDANCER, our arch rival, thanks heavens also short handed.   MAID MARION, also our arch rival, was doing their race committee duty.

We got into the swing of things charging back and forth while the start counted down… whoa man there’s a Niagara 26 in irons right in front of us… can’t go under him because there’s a Shark pushing us up… can’t go over because there’s a boat coming head on from the far side of the Niagara…  Luckily the chess pieces all moved and a hole opened up… into it we dashed and away.  Phew.   

One minute to go and here we go, speed over 6, the whole fleet around us all crowding in, the shouting starting… I used a start tactic taught to me by a skipper I used to crew for back in the ’80’s.  He called it ‘using ones elbows to clear space on the line’.    I let SURPRISE sag down on the boat to leeward of us till he noticed and began shouting UP UP UP at us.  I nodded politely then jammed up until I was crowding the boat above us and shouted ‘UP UP’ at him.  He obliged.  Then I sagged down on the guy under us again till he noticed, but this time I had lots of room above me… and once up again, I had lots of room under me to bear away and gain speed.   That’s using ‘elbows’ to clear room on a crowded line.

We hit the line right on the hoot of the horn.  Fantastic.  The guy to windward, who could point higher than us anyway, began climbing away… so I bore away a little for speed… Oh did I mention, the boat below us was SUNDANCER hahaha.     We crept ahead enough that we were pooping great gobs of turbulence onto him… he couldn’t head up like he could normally nor could he bear away because of a boat to leeward of him jamming him up.  He was in misery… how wonderful.

I told my crew I was going to try to sit on him as long as we could…  Finally to relieve his agony, SUNDANCER flogged his main, dropped back a boat length, then tacked across our stern.  I was waiting for this and tacked to stay on top of him.   Oh so evil, oh so clever… We held him down until along came a Shark crossing us on starboard, so we had to take the verminous thing’s stern.  Loosing ground as we did let SUNDANCER out of the poop I was holding him in, and he was able to cross our wake pointing like he normally does…   

We now trimmed for speed and although outpointed, we were able to foot along enough that we still crossed him when we reached the lay line and tacked onto starboard for the mark.  SUNDANCER over stood and we gained a few more yards…

We rounded the mark in clear air and going like a train.  Down we ran ‘reading both pages’ (aka wing and wing) under white sails.   We held our lead on SUNDANCE to the leeward mark.   

We rounded the bottom in heavy traffic and alas on this beat SUNDANCE caught up and passed us.  Oh hell, well they owe us time anyway, so all we have to do is hang onto them.   Up at the windward mark we’d caught up a little, down we came again with SUNDANCER just out of reach of our wind shadow ahead…

The course tonight was the hated #5 which features a leeward mark past the committee boat, so we didn’t finish downwind, but had to round the downwind pin, then beat the last 100 meters back up to the start/finish line.   There was heavy traffic with Sharks all around us and all went well until the Shark ahead and to starboard suddenly rounded up out of control right across our path.  We were only one boat length from the mark… we had SUNDANCER all wrapped up… but there was this Shark, this vermin, broadside in front of us in irons with their spinnaker all over their forestay and mast.

I realized that we could sink this Shark and be in the right.   So we rammed him squarely - I felt a hearty  crunch as drove him under us. One of them reached up and grabbed our bow for a second, looking just like Queeg in that scene in Jaws when he’s going down the throat of the monster.   I looked back and saw his bow and stern rising as he sank in two pieces… the plaintive cries of the three man crew come up from astern as the waters closed over them.

Ahead was another Shark, also out of control, also in irons athwart our course.   I cut them in half too… what a feeling of catharsis and satisfaction. This one’s crew grasped our rail for an instant as we smashed through but my crew stamped on their fingers with grim determination.  We carried on, caught SUNDANCER and won the race with a commanding lead while the people in the passing tour boat cheered us.

Well actually that’s not what happened.  

It did cross my mind that I could ram the first Shark, but I’d never do that.  So I gave up rounding the mark and catching SUNDANCER.  I threw the helm down.  We missed him by inches… our boom smote their cabin top like a baseball bat and caught their windward shrouds for an instant, twanging them hard.  This Shark then careered away and nearly T Boned the other Shark which was also rounding up out of control, but they were able to fend each other off.  Being just Sharks, there was no monstrous momentum to deal with.   We gybed and came at the mark again and finally got around but we’d lost SUNDANCER and eventually crossed the finish in the midst of the pack.

I could have sunk that Shark, maybe I could have nailed both of them… and it would have looked like an accident…a perfect accident.    Really, they both rounded up right in front of us… what could I do?   hmmmm  Alas, I chose the high road.  

Onwards.

Gordon Laco
#426 Surprise