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Swiftsure-04

Race Week 2002  (aka) Summer Camp for Big Kids

Hi all,
Snuggled on the East side of Whidbey Island Washington is an old WW-II Seaplane Base and the town of Oak Harbor. Just south is Penn Cove. Above is a blue sky that with very little imagination could be Hawaii or Bonaire. The rebounding spray off an ama reminds you that this is Puget Sound.  Around you are 127 sailboats. Some are cute, some look big and ungainly, some look just plain fast, and some are fast. This is Whidbey Island Race Week and it really started yesterday.

Linda, Cuttlefish's skipper, and I trailered the F-27 to Oak Harbor from its home in Edmonds, Wash about 60 miles away. On a sleepy Sunday we pulled in toward the ramp and rig up area.  I was delighted to see a dozen other boats being set up as well. Set up and polished and scrubbed and polished. We smiled as a pair of young moms asked a 5 year old to hand them a toothbrush to polish another spot (Brown, blond babes in bikinis). Another fellow had a power buffer and was shinning an already spotless sugar scoop with wings. Then, there was the fellow who drug his rolled sail out of the way over the blacktop. The harbor was full and still filling with boats, rafted and tied to any spot large enough. The neat thing was...they almost all had masts.

It wasn't the first time we have launched with a minus tide, but the old WW-II Seaplane ramp was designed to drive seaplanes up not launch boats and with my rear truck wheels awash I allowed Newton's 3rd law to come into play. The one about backing up and firmly applying the brakes.

We snuggled into our birth and soon were joined by 2 more F-27s (Chris Sherman on Raven and Mark Gumley on Y-III). Kim Alfreds brought his F-31 Cheekee Monkee and Monkee See, the Alfreds' beautiful, hmm(?), party boat. Our four boat multihull fleet was, shall we say, graciously allowed a start. Class 1 out of 10 classes. Skippers meeting, a welcome, some announcements lots of free drinks (pineapple juice with something else was my favorite) and off to bed. We are going racing tomorrow!

Wayne Erickson, the local Corsair dealer, had agreed to be our third man for the first three days, as Linda and I usually double-handed Cuttlefish.  He had just sold me a new Calvert full batten jib with the promise to show me how to use it. This was the first head sail we have had that didn't simply get in the way of the main. There is the signal that there will be a race and the exodus began. An orderly procession out of the harbor to the race area.

About half way there I suggested we hoist the main and loose the Mercury. Half way up I heard the sound of new blue jeans caught on a barbwire fence. First day and I've ripped the luff tape around the boltrope for two feet in the middle of the sail. A quick inspection and we carefully fed it into the mast slot and ran it up tight. We will worry about it later.

I would love to give a detailed account of the racing. The starts were... interesting. The race instructions said to keep the start area clear. Apparently some racers can't read. Linda drove and Wayne stratigized. I trimmed and we all worked well as a team.  We knew Cheekee Monkee would steadily stretch her lead but with a -12 phrf handi-cap (I think that's right), it would be at the end of the race before we knew how much.  The 3 F-27 were tight Cuttlefish at 76, Raven at 75 and Y-III at 73 and this proved to be the kind of racing that I have dreamed of. Wayne quietly told us that Chris Sherman's Raven was the one to beat. A good light boat and a good sailor.

We learned about covering and dirty air but we were the ones dealing the dirt. At the finish we had beaten both Raven and Y-III boat on boat and I began to see the great friendship that existed between Chris and Wayne as their banter spanned the short distance that separated the two boats. The sportsmanship exhibited was worth the trip alone and I'm glad I witnessed it. Not to be out done Mark and his kids on Y-III came by with their "well done" 's as well. It was about then that Cheekee Monkee came by and informed us that we probably beat them as well.  Kim was the one who said, "If you want to go fast, get a Calvert full batten jib!" when I asked his advice. It turns out he was also right about it being a pain for cruising.

Race 2 was announced and we scurried into position. I had this silly grin as I commented that we had more pressure to show it wasn't a fluke. Tactics, lead changes, sailing an aggressive course thru the entire fleet twice, playing the tide and currents. At the horn...another second. This was still day ONE! Laughter, good feelings and good people have a marvelous effect. Chris came over and gave Linda a hug as we finished putting the boat to bed and Mark soon joined us.

I took one look at Marks nets and offered him a spare set I had back at our warehouse. There were several large holes and his crew (some of the nicest kids you will ever meet) were patiently sewing them up. We had Gramma and my daughter Laura (They had been minding our business for us) bring them up Tuesday evening and we all pitched in Wed morning to put them on.    

This was how it was.  On the course it was boat against boat but afterward the coaching began. You were oversheeted at such and such. There is a stronger current at this point. Kim and his crew opened up to Linda and freely answered her questions. The same was true for Chris and his crew. When the days recognition awards were given out, we all cheered.  We cheered because we all were better and that was neat.

I really want to thank the gang at Quantum Sails. They were a sponsor and provided an emergency sail repair service.  We took the old Smyth main off and waltzed into their tent with it and they looked at it and said "tomorrow morning", scratching their heads as they said it. There was a fair pile of others and they must have been up most of the night. They also didn't take credit cards and just shrugged and said "Take care of it next week."  When I stopped by and paid the thirty dollars and said another thank you he shook hands and said he appreciated it. Seems no one else bothered to say "Thanks". A class act at a class show.

Day TWO and the racing is even tighter and as the sun set it was Cheekee Monkee 1st, Cuttlefish 2nd, Raven 3rd and Y-III 4th.  The race was a blur. We sailed closer to other boats on converging courses than ever before and sorted our way through the pack with greater ease seeing, for the first time the interplay between the positions of the boats like a giant chessboard, each piece producing an invisible wind effect on every other piece.  This probably is obvious to you pros out there but it opened a whole new strategy to Linda and I.  Wayne got the biggest kick out of just sharing this newfound knowledge.  Raven is a tad faster upwind but we are as much again downwind. Y-III is flying a symmetrical chute without a pole and is rapidly learning how. Parties, entertainment and camaraderie...the stuff of the evening.

Day THREE.  Don't stop racing until you are sure the race is over. Fluky winds plagued us for the first several hours and when we finally got the start off it was late. We chased Raven and they wouldn't be caught.  Upwind they stretched their lead and then downwind, they still had a bit more than us. A mistake and we closed a little only to tie our own chute in a knot as we doused it.  Well ahead, they continued to stretch out their lead and we broke off the chase in search of better air. Not enough, we had a last downwind run to overhaul them. Alas, we found the course shortened at the weather mark and unknowingly crossed the wrong finish line, with me muttering about the committee boat not being very accurate with their horn!  They were accurate all right!  We DNF.  Ouch!  Instead of 3 points for 3rd we got 6 points for number of finishers + 3.  Didn't even see the second committee boat flying our class flag.  Disappointed? You bet.  Did we learn something?  Sure did.  Wayne felt terrible.  Felt responsible.   But we all knew it was correct and fair.   It was racing.   We both had burned fingers from  previous mistakes (Both mine).   This we would have to try to recover from, too.   Wayne had to leave, so we would have to do it with Linda's brother Dan who came up from Eugene, Ore for the last two days.  That night the barbecue at Chris & Kathy's was great.

Day FOUR.  Standings are Cheekee Monkey, Raven & Cuttlefish TIED and Y-III in fourth.  With two races today and one Friday, we can throw out one race!  Even better lets clinch it with 2 more seconds.  First race (Race 5): we have Cheekee Monkee to leeward and port with Raven on his port hip.  That is the committee boat we are pointing at and they will not let us drop down. They have rights and they are going to use them.  An F-27 can do a 360 really fast hard on the wind at 6+ kn.   The committee boat is really glad and Linda is still absolutely delighted that the other boats took us seriously enough to exercise their rights.  A fun race with some tacking  duels. We knew we could catch Raven downwind if we stayed close enough and then give them dirty air to slow them down. Ugh? We are not catching them. They were double slotting the chute and that gave them the edge they needed. Result , they beat us by 11 seconds.

Second race (Race 6). It was the most thrilling part of the week. 12 to 15 tacks under Raven's lee and only once were we more than 4 to 5 lengths away.  Downwind they were faster and we tried double slotting as well.  Not a wise move.  We had the right idea but not the skill.  We cruised to another 3rd. This was also the race that we actually could have protested another boat.  It was a big pale orange hulled mono.  Dan hailed "Starboard"..., "Starboard!"..., "StarBOARD!!!"  It was the first time I ever heard his voice go up an octave that way.  Someone peaked under their genny and then did a fast tack. Linda jinked up at the last moment to avoid contact and swears they were still 2 feet away.  I was looking at it and saw their stern occupy the space our port ama just vacated.  I used to think 10 feet was close.

Last Day.  We need at least one race for a throw out.   Once again the wind gods laughed at us.  We actually started our race and got maybe a quarter of a mile when they sounded the general recall and canceled for the day.  We didn't get our 7th race and had to live with what we had.
Results:  Cheekee Monkee  F-31, first.   Raven  F-27,  2nd.   Cuttlefish F-27,  3rd.   Y-III  F-27,  4th.   We had fun, met new people and learned.   We sailed and told stories and sailed some more.  Was it fun?  I thought so.  Was it wild?  At times the close competition and even closer proximity of other boats made it pretty exhilarating.  Would I change anything?  Yes.  I am lobbying the race committee to set a reaching mark for the faster boats.  They are dead set against it but I see no reason it cannot be done.  There were a bunch of Melges and Martins that would probably opt for a reaching leg as well.  Sure it would be more work for the organizers but for these boats, I think it would be worth it.

Fair winds from the Northwest,
Martyn F Adams  1st Mate Cuttlefish