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1.
24 May 2008 — Annapolis to Miles River:
Four Tritons were on the line for the event, listening to the
National Weather Service issue a small craft advisory and looking around
to see if they could figure out why the advisory was even issued!
Inka had come up the night before to anchor out in Whitehall
Bay awaiting the race. Sandpiper and Sea
Deuce got underway at 0800 to join her and Ca Ira
at the line and prepare for the first run down the bay, as the winds
were northwest and a bit fluky.
Inka hit the line in a perfect start, at the
pin, spinnaker up and pulling away on a port tack. Sandpiper
crossed a few seconds later, but was not fully wired for the spinnaker.
Sea Deuce and Ca Ira were very, very close
and all were diligently working to get the spinnaker up as quickly as
possible to give chase to Inka, now well ahead and pulling away. There
were two anchored freighters in the racing area and all four Tritons
decided to sail above them with the consistent winds before falling off
for the mark, Bloody Point Light. No matter what any boat did, no one
could catch Inka, and she rounded Bloody Point and headed
to "F" ahead of most of the other various classes in the race. The
other three Tritons, however, were not so lucky. Many of the PHRF
boats, all of the Cal-25s and most of the Catalina 27s surrounded the
other three Tritons at Bloody Point, and then the winds died out before
anyone could head to the next mark. All anyone could do was watch
Inka as she rounded "F", dropped her spinnaker and head off
on a broad reach to the right side of the Eastern Bay and toward the
third mark of the course.
Eventually, the winds returned and everyone got around "F".
Sandpiper, in second place, decided to sail on the left
side of the Eastern Bay and tacked over to get up there, against fleet
wisdom. Almost everyone else had gone over to the right side of the
course, and it was likely a great sight seeing over 100 sailboats moving
along the shoreline. However, that ended up being the correct move as
the winds filled in on the left, but never got to the right side of the
Eastern Bay. Sandpiper was able to get to the third mark
about a minute after Inka and again went left to stay in
the good air. Inka continued along the shoreline and
started dramatically dropping back. At the fourth mark Sandpiper
had the lead by about three minutes, the spinnaker blossomed out and the
run for the finish began in earnest. Inka worked hard to
catch up and at the finish was about a minute back, so it was a very
close race throughout the day. Ca Ira and Sea Deuce
finished about 20 minutes later, having been caught in the wind shadows
of the bigger boats stuck on the right side of the Eastern Bay.
2.
25 May 2008 — Miles River Race Back:
The day started out with plenty of wind and, as is the usual
fluky May weather, it died off quickly in the early afternoon, to come
back in mediocrity later in the day. Four boats raced back to Annapolis
after a great raft-up and picnic at Hugh and Carol Kabler's house up
Tighlman Creek. The RC had a problem with the Cal-25 start preceding
the Triton start, so they were delayed by about 10 minutes overall. At
the gun, Sandpiper had positioned herself at the committee
boat and headed out on port tack. Ca Ira rounded the
committee boat on Sandpiper's stern and both boats
port-tacked Triton's Fury and Sea Deuce,
starting at the pin on starboard. About two minutes after the start,
all four boats were on port tack heading for the first mark. Halfway
down the beat to the first mark Sandpiper and
Triton's Fury tacked onto starboard to get into better air and
position themselves closer to the mark. Ca Ira and
Triton's Fury stayed on the right side. When it looked like
they could make the mark, Sea Deuce tacked over, but the
winds had shifted, backing almost 40 degrees as the fleet entered the
Eastern Bay. That meant that Sea Deuce would not make the
mark, and so tacked back. All four boats extended before tacking to
head toward the next mark, but Sandpiper decided to stay
on the right side of the course looking for the wind scour on the
shoreline, and found it. Ca Ira and Triton's Fury
tacked to stay in the middle to left side of the Eastern Bay. Sea
Deuce, after looking at the winds dying in the middle of the
Bay, went to the left side of the course and sailed into a hole. After
about 20 minutes of bobbing around, she decided to withdraw, started her
engine and motored along until she caught the fleet and the winds.
The other three boats were tacking back and forth across the
Eastern Bay in the now consistent winds. Eventually, the winds backed
more southerly and Sandpiper, in the middle of the Eastern
Bay on the rhumb line to the mark, decided to fly the spinnaker on a
broad reach. In an indication on how fluky the winds were,
Triton's Fury and Ca Ira, on the right side of the
course near the shoreline, also decided to fly the spinnaker on a run to
the same mark! Sandpiper got there about five minutes
before Triton's Fury and Ca Ira, who were
side-by-side rounding the mark. Then began a 30-minute wait for the
winds to shift and build again, during which most of the boats bobbed
and weaved in what little wind they could find. When it did fill in
again it was now an East wind, everyone had shifted to a broad starboard
spinnaker reach on the way to the next mark. Ca Ira and
Triton's Fury traded positions for quite a while before
Ca Ira started falling back a bit and Triton's Fury
finally got clear air and took off in pursuit. The RC had shortened the
course to the mark everyone was going for, and Sandpiper
took the gun with Triton's Fury and Ca Ira
about five minutes back. It was a long day on the water looking for
wind.
3.
31 May 2008 — Shearwater Twilight Race:
This was probably one of the best sailing days on the Bay
we're likely to have this year, but it didn't start out that way. A
cold front that hammered the Great Lakes area a day ago was making its
way toward Annapolis, due to hit in force at midday and last the
afternoon. A tornado watch was in effect earlier in the day and small
craft warnings were out until at least 1700. The storm did hit about
1300, the deluge and lightning were enough to get many people’s
attention, and about half of the boats registered for the event invoked
Rule 4 of the Racing Rules of Sailing. There were four Tritons signed
up, but only two were on the line at the start at 1815 for the 11-mile
course set up by Shearwater.
The storm abated at 1500 and both boats got underway shortly
after. It was still drizzling a bit but fair skies were sighted to the
west heading their way. The seas were flat calm after the storm, but
the winds were still in the 10-knot range from the southwest building to
15, making for some of the best sailing we have had all year. The RC
set up a drop-mark starting line just west of "X" and set up the course
to go to "H" south of Thomas Point Light, up to "C" at the north end of
the measured mile, and a finish at "J" just off the Naval Academy in the
Severn River. The Tritons had the last start of the day, combined with
the two Cal-25s who showed up to race, and away they went.
Sandpiper hit the line at speed at the pin end and Ca Ira
was at the Committee Boat at the gun, hardened up and headed out into
the bay, beating toward the first mark. There were three freighters
anchored in the racing area, so no one wanted to sail above them or too
close to them as they were blocking the south winds while the tide was
shifting into an ebb. Ca Ira made the first tack to open
into good air and Sandpiper tacked three minutes later.
Ca Ira stayed there for about ten minutes and tacked back
onto starboard to set up the first crossing, but Sandpiper
had the lead by about two boat lengths, and they set up for a close
cover of Ca Ira for the next several tacks. Ca Ira
was pointing better all day so it was a tough job for Sandpiper
to stay ahead.
At the first mark, Sandpiper rounded about 30
seconds ahead and set up a course to head a bit lower than the second
mark in order to have a hotter angle once the spinnaker went up.
Ca Ira rounded and when she raised her spinnaker,
Sandpiper did the same but because Sandpiper was
on a smaller angle to the mark she had a bit more boat speed on the run,
extending the time ahead by a bit over two minutes as they went around.
At this point, a force majeure popped into the picture as a deep draft
car carrier was heading up the channel that everyone had to cross to
head to the finish. Sandpiper was far enough ahead to
make it across with no problem, but Ca Ira and six other
boats in other classes stayed on the west side of the channel and waited
for it to go by. It was a prudent, but probably maddening, decision.
After the deep draft went by they turned to resume to race and finished
six minutes behind Sandpiper, heading into a beautiful
sunset off Annapolis.
It was a close race, in almost match racing conditions, great
weather, beautiful sunset and just an all around great time on the
water. It rarely gets any better than this!
4.
21 June 2008 — Dun Cove Pursuit Race:
The race began on time, but just barely. The RC had come out
and anchored at West River G”1” in light air, but then the winds
completely died off. There was some talk before the race began about
either shortening the course or delaying the start, but they decided to
start on time and let events take their proper course.
Five Tritons were on the line for the start, clustered around
the pin end of a short line, waiting for winds in the slight ebb
current. Sandpiper had gotten there earlier and tossed an
anchor down, waiting for the start to hoist anchor. About a minute
before the start, some very slight wind filled in from the south
allowing the fleet to start in light air mode. Sandpiper
crossed first, about a minute late, followed by Overdraft
and Sea Deuce, then Ca Ira, all on
starboard. Triton’s Fury had to duck the slow moving
fleet while on port tack and after crossing the starting line continued
to the west side of the bay. Sandpiper and Ca Ira
continued out into the channel to take advantage of the slight ebb while
the other two boats went to the shallower waters on the west side of the
course with Triton’s Fury.
About an hour into the slow moving race, beating into about
eight knots of south wind, the boats on the right side tacked out to
join Sandpiper and Ca Ira. They crossed
well behind the two boats, but continued over to the east side of the
bay before tacking and again heading south. At this point, the fleet
separated and each went their own way in accordance with the strategy
they chose. Overdraft footed off for boat speed and
eventually overtook Sandpiper – who was leading the fleet
at the time – on the low side. A few tacks later they took advantage of
a lift and went into the lead, and was able to keep it all the way to
the shortened finish at Choptank G”7”. Sandpiper finished
a few minutes later, followed by Sea Deuce and Ca
Ira. Triton’s Fury was trapped on the west side
of the course in the very light breeze that was over there and decided
to withdraw, motoring through the Knapp’s Narrows channel to get to the
Dun Cove overnight rendezvous before the rest of the fleet.
The raft-up was fun with the boats gathering for dinner and a swim, and
then making sure the anchors were well set against the expected storms
the fleet could see rolling in. The storms missed the cove and the
evening was quite comfortable for everyone, getting underway early on
Sunday and heading to their respective docks for an early day on the
bay. Another fun event in the books!
5.
12 July 2008 — WRSC Twilight Race:
This event is usually scheduled for August, but was pushed
earlier in the racing calendar to try to capture the early-summer winds,
and the West River Sailing Club did a great job with that this year.
There was a consistent 15-knot wind throughout the afternoon and into
the evening, giving the sailors in all classes the benefit of a 20+ mile
course.
The four Tritons started across the line at about the same
time, but no one could really claim a great start. Sandpiper
and Sea Deuce had started out a bit late from the dock in
Whitehall and had a tough time motoring into the southerly winds and
2-foot chop coming up the bay, arriving only moments before the prep
flag went up. Ca Ira and Triton’s Fury had
both been there a while, having left much earlier in the day, and were
well set up for the conditions on the bay. As the gun went off,
Sandpiper was at the pin with everything powered up,
Triton’s Fury and Ca Ira at the Committee boat,
and Sea Deuce had just gotten all sails up and working to
power up as quickly as possible.
With the fetch and a slight flood, the fleet decided to stick
to the west side of the bay in the area of reduced current as they beat
down the bay to the first mark. In some of the closest fleet racing in
several years, the fleet divided into two-boat sections, each crossing
tacks with the other every 10 minutes or so and neither section able to
take a clear advantage as the lead passed around. Eventually,
Sandpiper and Ca Ira eased ahead, getting to the
mark just ahead of Sea Deuce and Triton’s Fury.
Each boat’s spinnaker blossomed out and they shook the reef in the main
as they rounded and the pursuit was on.
At the leeward mark the RC had given the racers a broad reach
to the next mark. Each boat doused in turn, and getting to the next and
final mark before the finish, they shifted into another beat. The
winds, however, had not died and the boats were well overpowered. The
final leg of the course was about 1.5 miles, and most didn’t want to
take the reef again, but Sandpiper decided to do that and
was rewarded by being able to point higher toward the mark. In one of
the closer finished of the day, Sea Deuce was firmly in
control of third when, at the line, they had to tack to cross and get
the horn. They had a problem with the tack and Triton’s Fury
managed to pass them at the line to take third by 22 seconds.
All boats then headed into the West River to tie up at the
WRSC docks to spend the night where they cleaned up and had dinner at a
nearby restaurant and to enjoy the evening and fun. It was a nice sail!
6.
26 July 2008 — Corsica River Race
Three boats sallied forth from south of the Bay Bridge to rendezvous
between Sandy Point Light and Baltimore Light for the 67th
annual race to Corsica River. The southerly winds had been blowing
strong and consistent for several days, so they were all hoping for a
great sail up the Chester River. They got it!
The RC had decided that since the first leg of the race to the
mouth of the Chester was a beam reach they wanted to add a leg to have a
windward start. They posted the change on the RC boat and announced it
on the radio, but somehow in all the radio chatter Sea Deuce
did not hear it. A fisherman, not happy with the racers, decided to
start singing his disdain (literally, and badly) on the RC starting
channel, and that is what made many boats start badly.
The Tritons were the first to start, and as the boats started
on the north side of the line with a reefed main and number two up,
Sea Deuce was on the south side with a full main and number
one for the beam reach over. At the gun, Sandpiper
crossed the line on port as Sea Deuce crossed the line on
starboard going the other way. Ca Ira passed Sea
Deuce’s stern a moment later. It took a few minutes before
Sea Deuce figured out the course had been changed, turned
around and started with the stragglers of the Cal-25 fleet, which
started five minutes after the Tritons. Sea Deuce gave
the other two boats an eight-minute head start.
The beat to windward to Sandy Point Light was eventful only
because of the flood current, south winds and seas and the large number
of anchored and trolling fishing boats around which the fleet had to
sail. Of the Triton’s, Sandpiper rounded first, then
Ca Ira and finally Sea Deuce.
The winds were strong enough to keep the boats at hull speed
without the need for a spinnaker, and no boat flew one. Sandpiper
and Ca Ira shook their reefs on that leg so they could
match the configuration of Sea Deuce, now rapidly gaining
on the other two. Sea Deuce had not taken a reef in the
first leg to Sandy Point Light, and was overpowered a bit, but made a
lot of ground on the run to Love Point. The fleet rounded and started a
beat up the river in the still-strong air sliding through the Kent
Narrows expanse. Sandpiper and Sea Deuce
eventually took a reef to control the boat better, when each noted that
Ca Ira had dropped her headsail. Shortly afterward she
was seen heading under main only back down the Chester and into the bay
to head home. A phone call later told us that they had broken both
winches in the winds and was heading home to fix them. A bolt had
broken on one of them destabilizing the winch and they cross threaded
the sheets to the other winch, only to see the base start lifting from
the deck under the load.
Not knowing that, Sandpiper and Sea Deuce
continued up the river to finish the race. Sandpiper
launched the spinnaker but when Sea Deuce did not choose
to do that then Sandpiper doused, and that is the way the
20.2-mile race ended. The evening raft-up and Triton party was one of
the better ones in quite some time, and made better when Kristin of
Ca Ira drove over to party with the two boats. She spent the
night and sailed back to Annapolis with Sandpiper the next day.
7. 27 July 2008 — Corsica River Race Back
The race back started early and the winds were uncharacteristically
still strong. Both Sandpiper and Sea Deuce
had a number two and reefed main up at the starting gun. Sea
Deuce started at the RC on port at the gun, and Sandpiper
was at the pin on starboard about 10 seconds late. Sea Deuce
had to bear off and duck Sandpiper, who noted that the
winds were dying quite a bit and decided to shake the reef before the
first tack of the race. At the first cross, about four minutes into the
race, Sea Deuce had about a five-boat length lead. They
shook their reef as well on that leg. At the next crossing the gap was
about half of what it was, and Sandpiper decided to switch
to a number one headsail at the next tack; the gap went back to about
five lengths, but it was clear that Sandpiper was pointing
better, so Sea Deuce changed headsails, too. Then the
real fun began as the lead changed back and forth several times in the
three-mile leg. Sandpiper eventually rounded the first
mark ahead of Sea Deuce, but only by about two boat
lengths, and they decided to sail a close cover of Sea Deuce.
The race consisted of six legs. The first three were beats,
the fourth and fifth were reaches and the final one was a run. The
close racing of the first three set up for the chase at the end, and it
was clear that Sea Deuce was the faster boat on the water
that day as they kept slowly eating away at the small lead
Sandpiper had managed to acquire. The finish of the shortened
course was at the mouth of the Chester River and Sandpiper
managed to get there just a bit over a minute ahead of Sea Deuce.
A very close race and lots of fun!
The reason the race was shortened was the violent storms
forecasted for the afternoon, and the clouds and rumbles of thunder
could be seen and heard heading toward the fleet from the west. All
boats hastened to home, but the two Tritons were still about 10 miles
from the dock heading into the seas and winds, and the storms. Both
frantically stowed as much as they could and tied down the rest as the
40-50 knot winds hit in force in front of the rain. Sea Deuce
headed west to hug the shoreline by Sandy Point looking for a lee from
the winds. Most of the storm and lightening strikes were right along
the western shore so Sandpiper decided to head to the
center of the bay to have more room to maneuver and avoid the bulk of
the storm. The problem was the funnel effect at the mouth of the
Magothy River, which amplified the seas. Sandpiper
reported that one wave, the top of which was somewhere between the boom
and the jumper struts, put her on her beam-ends, spreader in the water.
At the crest, she bore up to take the next three off the starboard bow,
green water swamping the length of the boat. Shortly afterward, the
engine quit with all the tossing around, and she dropped an anchor to
drag the bottom to slow the drift to leeward and wait it out a bit.
Sea Deuce had problems, too, but did not experience the huge
waves and her engine never missed a beat.
Sandpiper restarted the engine about 10 minutes
later as the seas calmed a bit, and upped the anchor to continue south.
After a deep draft car carrier heading down the bay went by in the
channel Sandpiper crossed over to the western shore and
into another violent rainstorm with continual lightening strikes all
around. Visibility was less than 500 yards south of the bridge for
another 15 minutes and then the miracle of nature showed itself again as
the skies cleared and the sun started shining through as if to
congratulate all the boats for having endured the storm. Everyone made it through safely, all boats undamaged. It was an amazing finish
to two days on the water of the Chesapeake.
8
16 August 2008 — Poplar Island Race
The race had three Triton entries starting with the PHRF CD class, and
it
was not obvious as to which way to go around the course, clockwise or
counterclockwise, as the racers had a choice to make for this event.
The course was nearly symmetrical based on the winds. The current,
however, was expected to ebb for the first hour or so of the race so
most of the boats headed clockwise to get into the deeper water of the
channel and take full advantage of the ebb more quickly.
Triton's Fury managed
the best start and was able to carry the chute high enough to fetch the
first mark (Region 3 mark "E") while
Ca Ira flew her jib.
On the run down to Region 3 mark "Q"
Triton's Fury stayed
with the pack with a more direct route to the mark while
Sea Deuce and
Ca Ira hugged the
Eastern Shore. As the pack approached the approximate half way point of
the course at "Q" boats started to pass each other from both directions
so there was no obvious advantage to the direction chosen around the
marks at that point. Triton's
Fury rounded first, followed about 10 minutes later by
Ca Ira and then
Sea Deuce. On the leg up to Region 3 mark "Z" light
winds fizzled to almost nothing and there was serious doubt as to
whether any of the Tritons would finish within the time limit.
Ca Ira and
Sea Deuce eventually
dropped out but Triton's Fury
– having never won a race before – decided to stick it out a while
longer. As luck would have it, the winds eventually backed enough to
allow them to carry the chute and the boat picked up almost two knots of
speed as they launched. Finishing under the time limit became a reality
again. As it looked as though it was going to happen a bit of last
minute drama in the form of a 30-degree header forced a hurried douse
and a couple more tacks were needed to get across the finish line with
23 minutes to spare. The crew didn't stick around for the party at the
West River docks but were rewarded instead with a great trip south to
their marina as a steady wind filled in from the west and the current
started to ebb again. Triton’s Fury made it back in 4.5
hours under the bright full moon while Ca Ira and
Sea Deuce headed north to the dock and a well deserved rest.
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