Spring Series 2000
Winter Finale - Feb. 26, 2000
It must be Kerr Lake when a downwind leg becomes an upwind leg, and in spite of the beautiful afternoon (considering it was February), every combatant had something to say about the flukey wind conditions.
In the first of our season ending "out-and-back" races, four boats took to the water for a lengthy afternoon contest. In his return to racing action, Ed Walters and Pickpocket walked away with first place honors, beating the second place boat by more than 25 minutes. The next race, which begins the Spring series, is scheduled for March 25. The captain's meeting is 10:00.
In light of the fact that the last race, the "out-and-back" affair, is one race . . . it tends to leave our series a little short. With a series consisting of three, two race dates and one, one race date, we end up with a series of seven races. After the throw-outs, that leaves five races that count. I'm wondering if we should try to hold three races on the first three race dates, and one on the last, for a total of 10 races for the series. I would suggest that once everyone is up there and racing, holding three races rather than two would not be problematic. Well, the forum is open . . .
Congratulations to Craig Ambler and the Boat Formerly Known as No Name for winning the winter series. It goes to show you what a lot of dedication and a little rig tuning can do.
Winter 3 & 4 - Dec. 5 '99
I know this is blasphemy, but I think we could all do ourselves a favor and collectively beseech the wind gods to put some of our recent largesse into cold storage for the summer months. We've had wonderful winds for the October race, the Bluenose, the November race, and I thought we would have something in the range of 5-15 knots Sunday. Its funny how the picture changes when you ease out of the shelter of the marina and find yourself in 2 foot swells, observing 15 knots of wind at your back when you are already moving 5 knots with the wind. I began to believe that there can be too much of a good thing.
Both races could be more aptly described as wrestling matches as sail boat races. With the exception of Raptor (who was busy laundering his spinnaker and collecting debris in its keel ), all boats were battling knock-downs, round-ups, and varying degrees of equipment failure. Ron William's Row Boat demonstrated how to sail with a yawning spinaker, resulting from an equitorial split from luff to leach. Since downwind speeds often exceeded 7.5 knots, the added visability (peering through the split sail) was useful. Craig Ambler's boat (the boat formerly known as No Name) reported a severed jib halyard, my Tacks Break suffered from the failure of a $0.45 retaining clip that held the main-sheet block to the traveler, Mike Ferrell's light-air master Mibote spent the afternoon over-powered, and Richard Auerweck's Kiwi just opted out of the headsail altogether. Sailing in conditions like those provides the perfect escape, for you can't help but think of nothing but sailing (survival?) while you are out there.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, and look forward to seeing you again January 8, 2000.
Please note, the standings have been adjusted for the disqualification of 4 boats in the first race for not observing the stated course.
Winter 1 & 2 - Nov.14 '99
Sailing the same course for both races, each race had its own charactor, thanks to a shifty, strengthening breeze generally out of the Southwest. With the welcome addition of another new boat, Paul Pierson's Catalina 25, "Second Wind", took up the challenge of the difficult conditions. Go to the "schedule and results" for the schedule and results.
Fall 7 & 8 - Oct. 24 '99
The Fall series is now over. Congratulations to Mike Ferrell for winning the series. Craig Ambler gets an award for making all of the races.
This weekend's races were a blast - thrills, spills, and chills from the wild spinnaker rides and cold winds. Read Brant's writeup below and view the results. It doesn't get much windier than that up there.
Lesson of the day - when overpowered with the chute up, release the boom vang and then the spin sheet. Then bear off and square the pole. That should depower the boat. Don't do like we did and dump the halyard, sheet, and guy all at the same time - your spinnaker will look like a UFO 20' out in front of the boat!
What fun a little wind can create! For the first time in a long, long time, race strategy included issues like "Should we reef?", "How little a head sail do you think we can get by with?", and "Do you think we'll break (or possibly, tear) something if we fly the chute?" Yes, the wind was blowing. Yes, it was cold!! A lot of sails we're reefed right up to the first start, and conditions led many to wait and watch to see if someone else was crazy enough to fly the spinnaker on the long downwind leg. Sure enough, someone did, and everyone else (actually, I think Ambler passed) got 'em up to stay in the race. Following that was a continuous demonstration of how to wrap and shred spinnakers by Williams, Ferrell, and Auerweck. The second lap of the race witnessed a little more careful consideration, for only Gelbert and Williams unfurled the chute again.
The second race saw a little less wind, which allowed Ferrell to sail his boat a little more upright, pushing up his finish from 6th to 2nd. The rest of the fleet diced it up on a little different standing, and the results were shuffled for all combatants.
Bluenose - Oct. 2 '99
Four boats participated in the 1999 Bluenose on Oct. 2nd, quite possibly the best sailing day of the season! The wind didn't appear until about noon which really hurt the early starters, but it filled in from the SW at a solid 10 - 15 knots by my estimation. The temp must have been around 75 or 80 degrees, and the sun never stopped shining! Incredible.
The course went from the shoal markers near Steele Creek Marina up to gov't marker #14 and back for a total distance of 34 NM. The start was staggered based on PHRF ratings. First to start was Brant Sprunger at 10:00 am, second was Richard Auerweck at 10:19, Craig Ambler at about 10:27 or so, and finally, the F24 trimaran "Raptor" at 11:30 or something. AARGH!! (guess who won).
As mentioned, conditions early were pitiful. Brant made the best of a bad situation and built a sizable lead in the light air. Auerweck and Ambler had a great downwind match race (chase) and rounded the shoal marker near the dam at the same time (close enough). Actually, Auerweck took a risk and kept his chute flying to overtake Ambler at the mark, but Ambler rounded inside and was able to regain the lead with some nice boathandling as I fumbled trying to make a downwind sail work upwind.
The conditions were great and Sprunger maintained his lead until... To say there was an area with no wind would be a gross understatement of the *amazing* vapor lock we encountered. Auerweck and Ambler continued the match race and noticed that Sprunger was parked in a glassy portion of the lake. What in the world was going on? We found out soon enough. We eventually joined Sprunger and sat there waiting for wind. Fortunately for us, but bad for Sprunger, the wind filled in but only helped Auerweck and Ambler gain a lead over Sprunger before the gusts finally hit him too. If the wind hadn't been cruel to Sprunger we would have had a hard time catching him.
At about this time, Raptor joined the party (no doubt aided by strong winds the whole way ; - ), but he showed no pitty and picked us off one by one, but not without a fight. First he came up on my stern to meet us and wave to our dog, but then commenced to racing. I maintained my upwind position and had a good tacking duel going on (for a short time) until he threw in a fake tack that made my head spin. Check this out: I see him "tacking" and say to my wife "LET'S GO!" and we wipped out an ultra fast tack - I was determined to give Raptor a hard time. About 10 seconds later as I'm feeling good and checking the sail trim she says (in a tone of voice like Raptor was a dummy) "Where's HE going?". I looked back...GUMP! What a moron I was! How embarassing. Nice move Raptor! After that there was no hope - he was gone.
Of course Raptor rounded 14 first, followed by Auerweck a while later, then I think Ambler rounded next followed by Sprunger, but I'm not sure at this time. Not long after that the vapor lock moved in again. Auerweck sat in a pool of glass while Ambler popped his chute and walked over me like a door mat. Good job. BUT, the wind played a gag and shifted about 120 degress forward. I'd swear I saw Ambler going backwards with his chute pressed hard against the mast! HA HA! Well, that seemed to even us out, but Ambler maintained a good lead until we reached the powerlines where I was able to take advantage of a nice lift and tack to regain my lead over him. Don't forget that Raptor was long-gone though. The trip back from the dam was a long upwind sail, but was very nice though with great wind.
Raptor finished first followed by Auerweck a LONG time later at about 5:30 pm or so. As far as I know Ambler finished ahead of Sprunger, but I'm not sure at this time. I apologize if I made a mistake.
Overall, this was a great race and was a blast! Congrats to Raptor and to everyone else for a good race. I'm sure we all are looking forward to the next long-distance race.