Sailing Blog
UP NEXT – E Scow Invitational and M32s on Lake Garda »
June 28, 2010
It is always a challenge to keep your sailing calendar full to ensure that you have what you need financially. Just 2 months ago, the month of June was looking fairly slow. After a few fortunate emails and phone calls, June turned into a month where I was very busy and I now will be relishing a brief 10 days at home before a very busy July, August and September arrive. Other than being away, the only other bummer is that the sailing I enjoy most, E Scow sailing, has taken the biggest hit. Luckily I have patient teammates in Chrisy Hughes and Tony Jewett, and we are still planning on hitting both the major events later this summer.
Following what will be a great 4th of July on Lake Minnetonka, the ILYA E Scow Invitational will take place out of MYC with over 40 boats and top E Scow talent in attendance. The Invitational event always serves as a good warm up for the ILYA Champs and E National Champs and a barometer for how you stack up with the best competition from other lakes. The M-42 team will be hitting the water for a few practice sessions since our season has been cut short with schedules and boat maintenance. While I wish I could could give my best effort for this event, I will only be able to do so on Friday July 9th, since on the 10th I will be heading back to Italy for more Melges 32 racing with John Kilroy Jr and the Samba Pa Ti 32 program, and the very capable John Dennis will be filling in on the tillers of the 42 E boat.
This will be the 4th and final stop in the 2010 Audi Sailing Series, and I am personally very excited to see legendary Lake Garda first hand. As we get closer to the 32 Worlds in September, you can start to feel the intensity ramping up with each event. The upcoming regattas, especially the Nationals in Harbor Springs at the end of July will be a serious grudge match with 25 teams in attendance and 15 of them capable of winning at any time.
Of course, another 32 regatta means another weigh-in. These really are the worst parts of the events, especially when you are in a great food and drink country like Italy and have to keep away from everything other than salad and water for the first 5 days of the trip. The beer and brats have been hard to stay away from this summer… I was 199 this morning and with a weigh in weight of 190 on the 13th of July, I will be having a lot of egg whites and protein over the next week and a half.
Until then, there are a few opti and E Scow coaching sessions, as well as some good family time and even a Twins game. Standing by in Lake Minnetonka, MN.
Frustrating Day 2 at A Scow Nationals »
June 26, 2010
The worst case scenario happened this morning when PRO Jeff Butzer postponed racing at 950am until 2pm so teams could relax on shore instead of baking in the sun. While this sounded good in theory, when decisions are based off of forecasts, there is a slim chance that things will turn out well. Not 10 minutes after the decision was made to postpone, the breeze filled in at 9-12 kts out of the Northwest and the A Scow sailors were stuck on shore watching the Mendota Lake Yacht Club conduct its club racing in ideal sailing conditions.
When 2pm approached, the breeze slowly started to fizzle out, and by the time the starting gun went at 230, the breeze was under the class minimum. With several boats over early, and very little breeze on the entire course, the boats who pegged the right corner (M-8, M-1, M-2, I-7, M10) were able to survive and leg out to a nice lead. The M-21 sailed a great race after being over early and duking it out for last with the I-28 only to fight hard and recover to get 10th.
Days like this drive sailors crazy as there is nothing worse than sitting on shore and watching nice breeze fade away. We come to these regattas to race and it seems all to often that decisions are made to the contrary. Very frustrating.
Top 5 with 2 races remaining –
1). I-7 T. Freytag – 6pts
2). M-1 – Rob Evans – 8 pts.
3). M-8 – Tom Burton – 19 pts.
4). M-2 – John Dennis – 20 pts.
5). I-28 – Charlie Harrett/Terry Blanchard – 23 pts.
Day 1 A Scow Nats – »
June 25, 2010
On site at the Edgewater Hotel and Bar in Madison, WI…
2 races completed today in 8-18 mph of breeze with huge 30-40 shifts which provided a lot of position changes and headaches for the 17 boat fleet. The only boat that had it figured out today was Tom Freytag and company on the I-7 who had 2 bullets. Standings below, 2 more races schedule tomorrow and on Sunday. A lot will changes between now and then.
Top 10 unofficial standings after 2 races –
1). I-7 – 2pts – Tom Freytag
2). I-28 – 5pts – Charlie Harrett/Terry Blanchard
3). M1 – 6pts – Rob Evans
4). M21 – 13 pts – Pat Hughes
5). I-1 – 13 pts – Buddy Melges
6). V-999 – 16 pts – Todd Haines/Jim Klauser
7). M-8 – 17 pts – Tom Burton/Judd Dayton
8). M-2 – 17 pts – John Dennis
9). I-96 – 18 pts – Chuck Lamphere
10). M10 – 19 pts. Jack Strothman
The is a strong chance for a Rum Squall descending on the town of Madison this evening. More reports to come. Standing by in Madison, WI.
UP NEXT…A Scow Nationals – Madison, WI. »
June 24, 2010
A Scow teams from Lake Geneva, Minnetonka, Pewaukee and Oshkosh will make there way to Madison, WI and Lake Mendota to do battle for the title of A Scow National Champs. 18 teams are signed up which is a bit down from years past, but the competition will be solid despite the fact that defending champs on the Full Throttle will not be in attendance.
42 Marine will be working with the Melvin Racing Team from Lake Minnetonka. The Melvin has the all the tools and skills to make it happen, it will just be a matter of keeping it simple and sticking to the process of doing well at a regatta. It should be a fun 3 days of racing on these high performance, 38 ft. platforms.
Stay tuned to 42marine.com for up to the minute race reports….
Standing by in Madison, WI.
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.
Bella Completes Bermuda Race in 66 Hours »
June 22, 2010
After a very mild, upwind race, the Bella Mente completed the Bermuda Race in just over 66 hours and managed to take 2nd overall in its division. Check out the Bermuda Race page for results and photos. Full report to come…still trying to catch up on sleep and shake off the post race Dark n’ Stormy’s.
Bermuda Race Tracking Info… »
June 17, 2010
If you are at work and looking for a good distraction, or if you have an interest in which Super Maxi is going to take Line Honors, than here is the info for live race tracking information for the Newport Bermuda Race. You can visit the regular Bermuda race page for last minute press releases, history of the race and general information.
The forecast thus far is for moderate conditions with most if the race being upwind or tight reaching. This bodes well for the Bella Mente since the lighter conditions will allow us to hang with the big heavies who would normally be a spec on the horizon in breezier, reaching conditions. The start is scheduled for late afternoon, roughly 330 (I was not paying attention at the briefing) and we will do our best to carve out a lane on the start and gain some footing for the first few hours of the race.
We had our last normal meal at the crew house this evening, and I will be taking advantage of the last functional toilet that I will be seeing for the next few days before we depart. Stay tuned to the Bermuda Race page for the latest updates and race info. Standing by in Newport…
NYYC Annual Done, 635 Miles to go… »
June 15, 2010
2010 continues to be a great year for the Bella Mente as it has chalked up another victory with an impressive win at the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta over a very tough fleet of grand prix boats. Tom McLaughlin (Tomac), the program manager of Bella Mente has done a great job of putting together a group of guys that gel very well together and work hard toward a common goal. The Bella Mente may not have the star power of other big name programs, but over the last few events, our blue collar work ethic and positive attitude has gotten the job done.
After a celebratory crew dinner on Sunday night, Monday was a big work day as the team made endless trips from the boat to the container to swap out the inshore, buoy racing gear and with the offshore gear in preparation for the 635 mile Newport/Bermuda Race. Items like the life rafts, food supplies, boat and sail repair kits were put in their respective places, and several changes to the rig and boat were made with consideration of the forecast. There is a massive checklist to be ticked off and a lot of work to be completed before the start of the race on Friday.
As for the our competition in for the Bermuda Race, well, it will be like going to play an important game at the other teams venue. The Bella is much lighter an more nimble compared to the other boats we will be racing against which helped during the buoy racing we saw last weekend. However, much less manuevering taking place which will allow the heavier, ocean race oriented boats like Puma, Rambler and Speedboat to get rumbling, we will have to sail the Bella to the max and sail mistake free to stay close. These boats are built for distance racing and to break records.
We will also have our hands full with Ran and Beau Geste, which are similar to Bella in terms of it can handle the buoy and distance racing. All of the above mentioned teams are stacked with pro sailors and each of the teams are expecting nothing less than a victory. With 3 to 4 days expected to make the trip to Bermuda from Newport, it will be who can keep the pedal down the longest, and which Navigator can find the most favorable breeze and current. I personally am looking forward to the challenges of a longer distance race, and thankful I do not have the responsibilities of our Navigator, Dirk Johnson as the calls he will make will decide the fate of our 18 strong crew.
The races begins at 1:50pm on Friday afternoon just off Castle Hill in Newport. Standby for live race tracking information and updates forecast information. Looking forward to a few solid days of rest, food and functional toilets before we depart.
Fog, Swell, and a Victory »
June 13, 2010
After a 2-3 hour postponement due to light air, Race 4 got underway in lumpy seas and a 8-10 northerly breeze. Despite a few mistakes around the track today we were able to hang on for a second place and secure the regatta victory. Details and reports to come…the mudslides are getting warm!
3 Bullets on Day 2… »
June 12, 2010
With a slightly earlier start today, the Bella Mente lumbered out to the racecourse around 930 in dreary conditions and made preparations to the sails and mast once we reached the starting area. We had several different weather reports on the breeze, so it was anyones guess as to what the day would bring.
All 3 races had a similar feel to them with breeze out of the 240 direction, ranging from 9-14. We did a very good job of taking care of the basics (starts and staying in phase) and sailing fast and clean around the course. Race 2 was our smallest margin of victory as we got beat on a gybe set by Ran and got rolled shortly after. Getting rolled is always a bitter pill to swallow and being the competitive bunch that we are on Bella Mente, we will be sure to correct our mistake in that scenario again in the future.
Despite the fact we are racing on a handicap system, there was plenty of tight racing going on, as was the case with one leeward mark where 5 of the 6 boats in the fleet rounded at the same time. That is about 400ft of boat trying to squeeze through 2 marks seperated by 100ft.
After a longer day than expected, we put on our Bella Mente whites and headed to the NYYC party. It is always fun to go New York Yacht Club as the grounds are pristine and you can feel the tradition of past America’s Cups and famous races, that is if you can get over the bow ties and pink pants that a lot of the members seem to think are in style. A few of us even tried to talk the 2 Italians on the boat to do the infamous slide down the massive hill on the front lawn of NYYC on kitchen trays. This has been rumoured to happen on a frequent basis after a few dark and stormy’s, but I have yet to see it…and I won’t be the one to try it.
2 more races tomorrow…check out nyyc.org for details.