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Bermuda Race Wrap Up… »

June 23, 2010

After a quick few days at home following the NYYC Annual, it was back to Newport to make it in time for a 3:50 start for the Bermuda Race on Friday.  As with any major event, there is a huge emphasis placed on the forecast and the outlook was for a very light, upwind race.  Not only did this effect sail selection, rig set up and provisioning, it also meant a few guys on our team would be on the chopping block to help save on weight, me being one of them.  I received a phone call from Tomac on Weds night letting me know that I should still hop on a plane to Newport, but it would be a game time decision if I did the race.  While there was a huge part of me that was disappointed about not doing the race, there was a part of me that did not mind missing out on freeze dried food and having to use a toilet with the seat circumference fitting of a 5 year old for the next 3 days.

The dock was buzzing Friday morning with teams schlepping sails on boats, family members saying good bye and numerous photographers snapping photos of neighboring Speedboat, Rambler, Puma, Ran, Beau Geste and Bella.  The “executives” on the Bella (Hap Fauth, Dee Smith, Tomac, Eric Doyle) spent most of the morning having a final weather and gulfstream debrief to make solid decisions on gear and crew, while the rest of the team made endless trips back and forth from the boat to the container to ditch any unneeded gear. As a few of us sat below escaping the sun and going over the equipment list, we nearly had everything checked off; Water for 18, food bags, sail repair kit, crash kit, life rafts…and…mmm…poo bags? I figured this was code for some useful piece of equipment and decided to hold off asking until I could figure it out.  When the executives returned,  Tomac poked his head down the main hatch and relayed the message that the forecast was looking a bit fresher for breeze and we would be going with all 18 guys.  I handed my passport to Rob O who put it in the crash bag, loaded my personal 15 Liter dry bag with clothes for the next 3 days, and made a final call to Jenny to let her know I would be out at sea for Father’s Day.

Dock-off time approached quickly and there was still one item on the inventory list.  With list in had, I walked over to former AC sailor and Offshore veteran Matt Smith, and pointed to the unchecked item. Matt quickly walked me down to the head and gave me a demonstration. “Drain the head of water, grab one of these biodegradable gallon bags, put it in the head, put the seat down, do what you need to do, tie it up, throw it over board.” While this option seemed much better than the slightest potential of clogging the head, I began to mentally revert to my holding out tactic used in the BI Race as using a poo bag seemed like a last ditch decision.  I looked at the 4 rolls of poo bags, checked them off the list, and we threw the dock lines off and headed out.

With final sail preparations to make on our jibs and Code Zero prior to the start, we had about an hours worth of work to be completed.  As we looked past Fort Adams towards the entrance of the Bay, conditions could not have been more ideal with a 12-15 kt Sea Breeze and sunny, clear skies. We could see the various fleets that had already started making their way to Bermuda cheered on by a mass amount of powerboats and people on Castle Hill; it felt like watching the under-card boxing matches before the heavyweights entered the ring.  The starting area is a relatively decent sized area, but with hundreds of power boats, sailboats preparing for later starts, and the 5 70+ ft. boats in our class, there was little or no room to maneuver before the pre-start. We pinged both ends of the line and had a white knuckled 5-10 minutes avoiding boats while doing 10-12 kts.

At 70 ft., we were the smallest boat in our fleet behind the 90 ft. Rambler, 80 ft. Beau Geste, 75 ft. Titan XV and 72ft. Ran. Although comparable in size, Speedboat (100ft), Puma (70ft.) and Genuine Risk (90ft.) would all be in a separate fleet do to the fact they had canting keels and were rated much differently. Being the smallest, our goal was to start to whether of the group so we could avoid getting rolled and having to eat bad air for the first portion of the race. The gun went and we managed to get stuck below only Titan and had them roll us shortly after the start which we were able to recover from quickly.  With helicopters buzzing around for photos and spectator boats trying to keep up with us, we made our way to Bermuda on a soft upwind angle at 50 degrees true. Time to settle in on Starboard tack…we would be spending a lot of time like this for the next 2.5 days.

As night fell on day 1, we had sailed through to leeward of most of the boats that had started hours ahead of us and could still see remnants of Rambler and Beau Geste who had sailed a much higher course than us, Ran to whether and ahead, and Titan who was directly in front of us. Just like a buoy race when you see your competition darting to the other side of the course, even though we had a well thought out game plan, you can’t help but wonder if you are missing out on something.  We could also look behind and see the massive profile of Speedboat starting to gobble up miles even after starting 30 minutes after us.  Once darkness set in, the breeze clocked slightly more SW and we were able to use our new code zero for tight reaching which performed very well. The breeze also backed from the nice 12-15 at the start and we found ourselves doing 10-11 kts of boatspeed in 5-6 kts of wind and almost glassed off conditions…a very cool feeling.

With 18 guys on board, we divided our watch system in to 3 separate watches…On for 3 hours, standby for 3 hours and off for 3 hours.  “On” meant you were actively sailing the boat with the 5 other guys on your watch, “Standby” meant you would be on deck and available to help with any sail changes, and “off” was time to crawl into your bunk and make the most out of the much too quick 3 hours of rest.  With everyone getting a chance at some rest before the sun rose, we were all eager to see what had transpired through the night.

Knowing that this was our time to take advantage of the lighter, upwind sailing conditions, we figured we might be ok with our larger, heavier rivals who would have a tough time in these conditions.  Once the sun rose, we could not only still see the boats in our fleet, but we had gained on them.  As the morning continued, the breeze clocked back to 190-200 and we got instructions from our Navigator Dirk Johnson to continue on our general course, but to play the shifts as needed.  Nearly after 24 hours since the start of the race, we were on port tack, crossing Titan by a boat-length…pretty amazing considering all of the ocean available to both boats. With the goal of entering the Gulf Stream at a specific point where Titan was headed, we tacked, and watched Beau Gest, Ran, Rambler and Puma head off on port tack and to the West of us.  Shortly thereafter, they were specs on the horizon and gone. One comforting fact for us and Titan was that Speedboat was on our line on starboard tack and with Stan Honey as their Navigator, we had renewed confidence in our game plan.

A major factor in doing well in the Bermuda Race is when and where you enter the ever-changing, fast moving river of warm water current known as the Gulf Stream.  Enter and exit it at the right time and it can be like a standing on a moving walkway while your opponents run to catch up with you.  Enter or exit at the wrong time and you can find yourself getting caught in an eddy with 3-4 kts of adverse current and getting sent backwards.   With the sun setting on day 2, we could see the puffy, cumulus clouds above the warm Gulf Stream which gave all those on deck a bit more energy. We could also see the water temp changing on our instruments from the 59 degrees at the start in Newport to the low 70s.  Darkness set in, the watches continued to cycle with a new group popping up on deck every 3 hours, and the water temp had crept up to 80 degrees, and the seas had become much rougher indicating that the fast moving current was working against the wind and creating a sharp chop.  We were in the stream, and it was time to take advantage of our time in it.

The breeze continued at 12-14 kts at 190-210 and each watch pushed the boat to the max through the night, ensuring we were at full speed.  As morning approached, we couldn’t help but feel that we were making huge gains and would be in great position for Day 3.

Excitement was the initial reaction when morning light revealed that we had a boat behind and to windward of us.  Since we entered the night with all our competitors just ahead, we assumed we had gotten ahead of at least one of them. We broke out the binoculars to get a look only to realize the bad news; the boat on our hip was the 65 ft. Vanquish who we had passed in the early evening of Day 1 and did not see at all in Day 2.  Not only did we lose touch with the boats in our fleet, but we could not break free from Vanquish.  As each watch came on deck during the day, they would instantly look to see if we had separated from Vanquish only to find out they were still there.  In a distance race, where things like gummy bears and putting hot sauce on freeze dried Beef Stroganoff are real morale boosters, having a smaller boat on your hip for over 10 hours can be a serious downer. Not to mention since the late hours of the previous day, we had been on the same starboard with no sail changes which meant, hours of endless hiking on the rail.

Finally, at the end of Day 3, we separated ourselves from the Vanquish after cracking our sheets a bit and sailing a slightly more generous angle. This would provide a slight glimmer of hope as we were now the Eastern most boat in the front group.  In previous editions of the race, the breeze has known to clock East, making it very challenging for the boats on the right to make it to Bermuda. Day 3 drew to a close and while we saw a few direction changes in breeze, we did not see anything in the 30-40 degree range we were hoping for.

On night 3, our soft upwind angle remained, but the breeze hovered in the 6-9 range which is in Bella’s wheelhouse.  This breeze would continue through the morning and as the sun rose, we were able to see 2 very faint boats on the horizon which meant we had made slight gains overnight.  As we continued towards Bermuda, correspondence began over the VHF of boats that had finished.  Speedboat, Puma and Genuine Risk were the first boats across the line, followed by, Rambler, Beau Gest, Ran and Titan.  With perfectly sunny skies and a great view of approaching Bermuda, the Bella Mente crossed the finish line with a time of 66 hours, 10 minutes and 14 seconds.  Not feeling great about or performance, we took solace in the sense of accomplishment of completing the race and finishing on Monday morning.  We also took solace in the 3 cases of ice cold Coronas that were dropped off immediately after we finished.

Once in the harbor, we tied up, imbibed in a few dark n stormys and realized that while our performance was not the best we could have asked for, it was good enough to finish 2nd on corrected time only behind Ran. This of course only spurred on more Dark n Stormys and a very fun filled evening.

Up Next is the A Scow Nationals in Madison, Wi. Stay tuned for up to the minute race reports from Skip Jewett’s legendary Supra, and tales from the town of Madison.


2 Comments »

  1. Comment by Sarah Robbins — June 24, 2010

    Great report Sam! Thanks for all of the detail. I’ve linked in from the Bella racing site. Feel free to direct your fans to http://www.bellamenteracing.com where I will be posting pics and stories from the rest of the season over in the Med.

    Cheers,
    ~Sarah

  2. Pingback by A Week Well Deserved « Bella Mente Racing — July 26, 2010

    […] a funny piece about some onboard logisitcs and coming in #2.  New crew member Sam Rogers keeps a blog as well and wrote a detailed wrap […]

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