Sailing Blog
Melges 24 Worlds Recap »
May 22, 2011
Ok, I know that I have done a lot of whining about how our bodies were hurting and fatigued throughout the week, but now that the Melges 24 Worlds have come to a close, the bumps, bruises and overall achiness are still present, but it they are merely battle wounds that were well worth the pain after some very close sailing. We had the opportunity to race in outstanding conditions for 6 days, in the greatest boats in the world, against the best sailors in the world. It doesn’t get much better.
Headed into the final day, there was a feeling on board the Full Throttle that a battle was looming as the Bermudians were right on our tails, and 3 other boats were only 10 pts back in the standings. By sticking to our game plan of getting off the leeward half of the starting line clean, we were able to get a great jump on the fleet in the first race and battle for the lead. The lone Irish entry helmed by former Aussie 470 Gold Medalist Nathan Wilmot took the bullet, while we finished half a length behind in 2nd. The BER boat took a 7th which provided a bit of breathing room headed into the last race.
After checking our scores between races, taking a relax, and snacking on some gourmet pb and j’s, we had a 7 pt lead on BER 655, and an 8pt lead on IRL 607, and if BER won the race, we needed to finish 7th or better to secure 2nd place. Just as the Bermudians did the other day when they were OCS and came back to win, they had a tough start mid-line and were forced to tack out. Not being fooled this time, we expected them to come back strong out of the right, and sure enough towards the windward mark they were in the lead. On the FT, we were in a battle for 7th place and had the not so friendly reminder that regardless of where you are in this fleet, there are always good boats around that are not easily passed.
The positions remained the same after the downwind with BER holding onto their lead and us trying to fend of the Irish and Norwegians on either side of us to preserve 7th place. The leaders all gybed set at the windward mark with the breeze clearly stronger on that side of the course. After extending a small amount, we gybed in a clear lane and had a drag race to the corner. 3/4 Down the run, BER and a few other boats gybed early from the corner which would prove to be fatal as the boats who extended even further were able to hook into nice pressure.
Kristen Lane went into the corner the farthest, won the race and a battle for 2nd ensued between us, the Irish boat and the Norwegian. As we all shot the finish line, we took a 4th place, giving us second overall. The Irish boat did well enough to sneak into 3rd overall ahead of the Bermudians who slipped back to 4th.
Later in the evening, a great awards dinner was held with plenty of stories exchanged about battle wounds and relief that a long week of hard, intense sailing was finished. A cool portion of the evening came when Henri Samuel, a French Melges 24 sailor and former class prez awarded the Corinthian trophy to the top non-professional team. As Henri said, there are not many sports where you get to compete against some of the best in the field. You will never get the chance to golf with Tiger Woods. In sailing, you can race against the best, and particularly in the Melges 24 class, it is not uncommon to be rubbing shoulders with the biggest names in the sport on the starting line. This is a truly unique aspect of our sport, and a great feature of the 24 class. The Japanese entry of Eiichiro Hamazaki on JPN-783 took the overall Corinthian title, and were clearly the fan favorites of the fleet.
When we arrived in Corpus Christi, we weren’t sure how the week was going to turn out, where we would find some good food, and how we would last the 11 days in a town that is a bit rough around the edges. By the time we had left, we can now add Corpus to a list of “must-sail” destinations, and have solid memories from a very well run event by the people of Corpus Christi Yacht Club. The next Melges 24 Worlds in the US will be held in San Francisco in 2013…start getting to the gym…its gonna be windy.
Day 6 on-board footage from Full Throttle in some tight spaces here.
Finish in Sight – Day 5 Melges 24 Worlds »
May 20, 2011
We are tired. 5 days in 15-18 knots with steep chop, and incredibly tight racing requiring maximum effort has taken its toll on our bodies. Even when your legs go numb from hiking, your lower back feeling like it is going to seperate from your body, and having hands that look like you are having an allergic reaction to a bee sting from pulling on sheets with large amounts of load, easing up is not an option as you know the team behind you in the standings is pushing hard and looking for the smallest opportunity to pounce. All we have remaining is 2 starts, 4 upwind legs, 4 spinnaker sets, 2 leeward drops, and we are home free. Oh yeah, and we have to go out and defend our 2 pt lead on 2nd place with 4 teams breathing down our necks.
Day 5 was more of the same wind-wise, and we fought hard for a 4, 4. The first race we were able to pick off a few boats on the first run and get ahead of some key competitors. The 2nd race, we had a great start and were saved from being called over by the smallest of margins and were in 2nd place at the first top mark. Andy put us in a great spot on the downwind, we came flying into the left gate, pulled off a nice Mexican drop and rounded first ahead the Italian Audi team, and Uka Uka.
As we battled on the next upwind towards the right side, we took notice of the charge that the Bermudians were making after being called OCS and being last place after the start. They somehow got to 4th place at the bottom gate, crossed behind us on the right side of the course, tacked well on our hip, hooked into a huge righty and were leading the race at the next top mark. With them just behind us in the standings, I went from feeling ok when they were called over, to concerned when they rounded in fourth, and into awe when the crossed the finish line with a bullet. Now, just to be clear, this team is not a bunch of rasta smoking islanders from Bermuda. The boat is owned by Alec Cutler who either lives or works there, but the team he has are the 2009 Melges 24 World Champs consisting of Canadians Richard Clark, Mike Wolffs, and Curtis Florence. So while people see their country code of BER on their sail want to say “Hey, Mon!”, they might get a response of, “What are ya talking aboote, eh?” These guys are seriously good, only 2 pts behind us in third, and we are going to have our hands full trying to fend them off on Day 6.
All Uka Uka has to do in the first race tomorrow is finish 26th or better, and they will seal their 3rd Melges 24 World Championship. It is always painful to be racing at a regatta and have the champs win by a big enough margin where they dont need to sail the last race, but when a team sails as well as they have, all you can do is tip your hat and work harder to beat them next time. I hope Uka continues their campaign for years to come as they have set the bar high, and it is always good to know you are racing against the best.
When the alarm goes off in the morning, I will be like the tin man in the Wizard of Oz trying to get out of bed and warmed up for another day of racing. Stay close to Sailing Updates for up to the minute reporting from the race track. Forecast is for 12-18 out of the SE.
No video today as they was a bit of a technical error on-board, hopefully I will be able to put together some good final day footage.
Day 4 – Melges 24 Worlds »
May 19, 2011
Day 4 served up identical conditions as day 3, and the same results as the Italian stallions on Uka Uka racing were able to post another double bullet and take a commanding lead en route to their 3rd Melges 24 World Championship title. With 4 races remaining, our only hope of catching them at this stage is if their keel bulb falls off, if they get stuck on one of the many oil rigs sprinkled across the race course, or if we can somehow get the hundreds of jellyfish we see to latch onto their bottom and swim the opposite direction. They are fast, flawless on the starting line, and while teams have been able to mount challenges, they have handled the pressure and been able to secure a 24 pt lead.
We had another decent day on the FT with a 6, 4, but we were a bit frustrated as we left some points on the racecourse. In the first race, we found ourselves in a fight for the top 5 with several other boats and managed a 6th, and in the second race we crossed the fleet on port tack after the start and things were looking golden to the right side, but we could not get ahead of the Italians or Bermudians charging in from the left and we settled for a hard fought 4th place.
Our bodies are starting to feel the pain of pounding upwind and ripping downwind at much earlier stages each day, and we are ticking off the upwind legs, sets and leeward mark roundings we have remaining like days to a prisoner on solitary confinement. While we have gotten accustomed to Corpus Christi and been able to seek out some decent places to eat, our daily food bag on board of pb + j’s, cliff bars, snickers and gum has gotten seriously old, and I am looking forward to returning home to my family, and a normal diet. Not to mention, I am the chief sandwich maker each morning and the best grade I have received thus far on my pb to jelly ratio is a C+. The guys I sail with are pretty high maintenance and whiny at times, so I may just give them 2 slices of bread from here on out and tell them that I ran out of the filling.
We are currently tied for 2nd with several teams just a point or two behind us, so if there was ever a time for a pep talk and feeling the flow, this is it. There is a better chance that Michael Jordan will make another comeback than there is that the Italians will somehow pooch their lead, but odder things have happened in sailboat racing and with a few races left, all we can do is race hard and keep the pedal down.
Several Melges 24 teams joined up at Whataburger Field on Thurs night to watch an exciting AA baseball game between the Corpus Christi Hooks and San Antonio Missions. Little did the Hooks’ promotions department know that having $2 beer night is a not a good idea with a bunch of sailors in town, so needless to say, things got a bit rowdy at the stadium and some of the visiting San Antonio players may have left a little offended.
Fresh off the editing table is the on-board highlight reel from Day 4.
Italian Ice Served to 24 Fleet – Day 3 24 Worlds »
May 18, 2011
With the wind forecasted into the high 20’s on day 3, many teams were licking their chops and preparing for a true Corpus Christi day of sailing. Clouds remained on the course most of the morning which seemed to keep the breeze down, and for the first race we saw 12-15, and maybe touched 20 kts in the second race. For a big open body of water, the breeze sure is tricky here, and it is very hard to see on the water so decisions are often based on course positioning with other boats, and hoping that you are going the right direction.
Both starts today on the FT were almost a carbon copy of yesterday of starting near the pin, leeward of the group in the middle with Uka Uka above us. Our speed is good with the boats around us, but I am highly impressed with the Italian team of when they pick their tacks and always seem to manage a critical cross with a starboard tacker to get to the right and off to the races. The first race we rounded the top mark in 3rd and were late to gybe with the group behind us which forced us to extend into waning pressure. After dropping a few boats on the run, we engaged in a full streetfight with 10-12 other boats dueling for 3rd place. Boats were lee-bowing, ducking, spitting each other out the back, and the boats who would get forced a different direction, would come back and re-start the process all over again which lasted most of the 2nd upwind. With several boats overlapped at the finish, we snuck in for a 7th place and were happy knowing it could have been a lot worse.
The 2nd race of the day was much less stressful as us and Uka, Blu Moon and the Irish boat were all able to extend from the pack. With solid downwind rides and good speed up and down, we were able to take a 4th place and finish up with a decent day. After 6 races, the “throwout” race has kicked in and we are now able to ditch our 16th place, and sit just 1 pt out of 2nd overall. The Italians on Uka Uka took both races today and now have a commanding 15 pt lead.
There are still 6 races remaining, and the challenge now will be how much longer teams will be able to take the physical abuse of sailing 2 mile upwind legs in steep chop, then ripping downwind giving the shoulders and arms an exhausting workout. Sailing on a Melges 24 is a reminder of how unnatural it is for your body to be bent in half hanging over a 5 inch wide strap for an extended period of time, and the welts left on our hip bones making buttoning our shorts a challenge. Much like the gristly, old pitching veteran Eddie Harris in the movie “Major League”, we will need to start pulling out all the high octane goods to get us through the next 3 days; sugar free Red-Bull, Icy/Hot, large amounts of Advil, and of course some ice cold beer waiting on dock at the end of the day. The teams who stay mentally tough will be the ones to excel the next 3 days.
The breeze is expected to stay in the high teens tomorrow and we are looking forward to making a strong push towards the second half of the regatta.
On board video highlights from day 2.
On board video highlights from day 3 with an action filled leeward mark rounding!
Texas Hot Sauce – Day 2 Melges 24 Worlds »
May 17, 2011
As the famous Texan George W said during his presidency, “I think we all agree, the past is over,” and our mission on the FT was to forget about the first day of racing and come back fighting for Day 2. The RC was looking very smart for postponing racing until 1pm the day prior to allow the seabreeze to fully settle on the racecourse as we were awoken with completely flat water and no wind. As the racers took advantage of a leisurely morning, the breeze began to fill from the SE and by the time we arrived at the boat around 11:30, there was already a steady 15-18 which was expected to build. After a very tough first day on the FT, we were anxious to get back racing and were excited by the conditions which suit our team well.
Both races today we again executed our plan of getting off the line cleanly, and we managed to hold our lane both times with very good boats on either side of us to get a small grip on the front pack. In the first race, reigning World Champs Uka Uka Racing tacked from the left corner, crossed us on port tack by no more than a foot and went on to lead around the first mark. We tacked on their hip shortly after they crossed, had a few narrow crosses ourselves and snuck around the mark just a few lengths in 2nd. The remainder of the race was a battle with the Italians on Uka Uka with only 4-5 boat lengths separating us around the track.
The 2nd race of the day, we got a little redemption as we were the ones who approached on port tack halfway up the first upwind, crossed Uka by the smallest of margins and went onto lead the race. Uka was breathing down our necks the entire race and we did a great job of staying focused, sailing clean and preserving our lead to beat them by less than a boatlength at the finish. Not only is it a special feeling to win a race at a World Championship, but it is a confidence builder to fend off the reigning world champs.
The word from the locals is that we will see this weather pattern the next few days, and the breeze will only build from here. The forecast is calling for 25-30 tomorrow, and the teams who can get around the track cleanly will be at the top of the leader board. We currently sit in 7th place, only a few pts out of 2nd, and need to have good races from here on to have a chance at a decent finish.
Here is some highlights from onboard the FT from races 3+4…
Full Results. Official Worlds Report.
Tough Sledding on Day 1 of Worlds »
May 16, 2011
The big Texas breeze that was advertised prior to the Melges 24 Worlds failed to arrive for the 5th day in a row, and the first race of the day began in 6-8 kts of shifty, unstable wind. On the Full Throttle, we suffered a bad start, got forced the wrong way shortly after the gun and were left hanging on by our fingernails to just be in the top fifteen around the first mark. Not only was the breeze lacking any sort of pattern, but it is also very hard to see on the cloudy water which left us scratching our heads on where to go, and hoping that the decisions we made would pay off.
Mid-way through the first race, we did a good job of battling to stay in the front group, but could not do enough, or break free from the boats around us to break into the top ten and suffered a very hard fought 16th. Not a good way to start the event. When you have a bad start in this fleet, it means you need to be spot-on from there forward to have a decent finish, and while we had good moments, we got forced the wrong way a few times which ended up costing us a chance to put up a good result.
By the end of the first race, the light NE breeze that we saw was giving way to the seabreeze out of the SE. The velocity had picked up to 10-12 kts, and there was a bit of anticipation on our boat that we would continue to see the breeze build and get to stretch our legs. The breeze was nice, but just as the first race, there were still large directional changes, and even bigger velocity changes with a very streaky wind that put a premium on being in the right place on the racecourse.
Our goal for the second start was to just get off clean and let our speed do the work which we were able to execute well and establish ourselves in the front group. The top half of the beat was a great reminder of why Melges 24s are the best boats to race on the planet as 12-15 boats were crossing each other with inches to spare, and all it took was one bad tack or bad shift and you would immediately get put into the B fleet. We hung onto 4th place around the top mark, had a decent first run, and again managed to hold our position on the next upwind…and then things began to unravel.
After a marginal set and getting stuck in the low-road out of the top mark, we had to gybe out after getting rolled by a few boats behind us. As we played the middle, a few boats extended to the far right corner and made huge gains, and 1-2 boats even got around us on the left side. Once to the finish line we had dropped 5 boats on the final downwind which was a painful reminder that if you lose focus for just a moment in this fleet, you will pay for it.
Overall, it was a hard day with results we would like to have seen a bit lower. The frustrating part is we were so close in both races of finishing well, but failed to execute at critical moments and we paid for it huge. While our team has a lot of experience in the Melges 24, we do not have a lot of time together as a unit, and we need to be better about executing, and be sharper around the racecourse. The good news is there is still 5 days of racing remaining, and the even better news is the Race Committee has delayed the first start until 1pm each day to allow the seabreeze to get established and settled in.
Stay tuned for reports from Day 2.
UP NEXT- Melges 24 World Championships »
May 15, 2011
Cowboys, country music and George W Bush are a few things synonymous with the biggest state in the lower 48, and for Melges 24 sailors across the globe, we will be gettin’ our fixin’ of good ‘ol Texas hospitality as the 2011 Melges 24 World Championships begin on Monday in Corpus Christi. While Corpus Christi may not have all the comforts of familiar places like Newport or Miami, and the some of local restaurants have the Italian teams perplexed as to what type of food we eat here in America, this venue was selected for a world championship for one reason, big breeze. From the handful of teams that have been training down here a month in advance, the word we received was bring plenty of spare parts for breakdowns, and get ready hang on downwind.
Just like a bad movie preview, sometimes the hype of a venue does not live up to expecations. For the 5 days we have been sailing in Corpus thus far for practice and the Pre-Worlds, we have had only 1 solid day of sailing due to t-storms and lack of wind. Not exactly what we were anticipating and many of the teams who have their boats set up for big breeze have been scrambling to get back to medium breeze settings. Despite the poor conditions however, the forecast is for a more typical weather pattern to emerge this week and provide for the 20-25 mph SE Seabreeze that Corpus Christi is known for.
While a Melges 24 World Championship continues to draw the best sailing talent in the world, the numbers of the fleet are down from what they have been in previous years to a paltry 32 teams. There are thoughts that maybe a venue in the middle of the west and east coasts is to blame for the low numbers, or the length of the regatta which is an exhausting six days making it very difficult for the weekend warrior sailors to take the time off. Whatever the reason, when the gun goes off on Monday morning, the teams here will be giving it there max effort and taking in the special feeling of competing in a World Championship.
The team on Brian Porter’s USA-749 Full Throttle has a different make-up than they have had in previous World Championships with Brian’s brother John (Owner of the Melges 32 Full Throttle), and longtime tactician Harry Melges both stepping off for this event. Andy Burdick will be calling tactics, and I will be doing my best to replace John trimming the spinnaker. Matt Woodworth, who does bow on the FT 32, will also serve the same role for us here. We have a good team, we are a little short on sailing time together as a unit, but if the big breeze does come as predicted, we should be able stretch our legs and hang in the front of the fleet.
Racing starts Monday morning with 2 long, 8 mile races schedule each day. Several sites are posting live results…
Overall Results here. Sailing Updates here.
Stay tuned for daily reports, and some good onboard footage from USA-749. Here is a clip from a light air day on the first day of Pre-Worlds…
M24 PreWorlds Race 1 – USA 749 Full Throttle
Day 3 CRW – Race…Reset, Race »
April 17, 2011
After the RC cancelled racing on Saturday for what turned out to be 25-40 kt winds, the forecast for the final day of racing at Charleston Race Week 2011 was for a 10-13 kt NWesterly breeze that would be dying throughout the day and eventually giving way to a slow filling seabreeze from the SE. Our hope on M&M Racing was to get off 3 races in ideal conditions, but it did not take long for a quick reminder that we were in Charleston Harbor and that ideal racing conditions are about as probable as a sundress on a rainy day.
The first race of the day started after a brief postponement to adjust for a right phasing breeze that was teetering anywhere from 6 to 12 kts. During our pre-race sail, the conversation onboard involved observations about the dying breeze and setting up accordingly by taking tension off our diamond shrouds and preparing to keep our boat moving fast through the water by sailing fatter angles. Getting current relief on the left side was the main objective, and any boat caught right of the visible current line bisecting the course was like a married couple slow dancing to “Total Eclipse of the Heart”…it just didn’t work. A few boats were lucky enough to get left and had breeze to round the whether mark, but after the first 4 boats, the breeze dropped and the remainder of the fleet found it impossible to get around.
On M&M we did not give the current enough respect, and instead decided to play shifts and attempted to stay in the velocity which landed us squarely in the back of the pack. After a brief meltdown on my part, we were able to catch back the middle group of boats that were stuck at the windward mark like salmon swimming upstream. Just when we returned to a decent positions, the RC made the decision to abandon the race and our hour of running on a hamster wheel was over. After 2 hours waiting for breeze and fighting off “no see-ums” we hedged towards the marina assuming the regatta was going to finish with no racing on days 2 and 3.
The RC used the allotted time limit of 2 pm to allow the seabreeze to fill, and shortly after 1pm, the flag on Ft. Sumter started to show a nice easterly breeze and it wasnt long before we had decent racing conditions across the harbor. Around 130 out the starting signal sounded and our shot to crack the top 5 was still possible. Throughout the weekend, I had guessed several times at what the current was doing in conjunction with the wind and was batting below the Mendoza line for all of the races thus far, so instead of relying on my own intuition, I started looking at the local Charleston Melges 24 teams that started before us to get some sort of idea what side would pay up the first beat. In the final race, we focused on local David O’Reilly and his team which started at the boat, and b-lined it to the right side. While my gut said to start at the pin and go left to take advantage of the waning ebb tide, we decided to follow the locals and go with what worked. We managed a clean start at the boat, tacked right, and rounded the first top mark in 3rd, only behind 2 other boats that were able to get more right than we were.
In typical Charleston fashion, whatever worked on the first beat is not guaranteed to work on the next, so as we worked our way to the right side on the ensuing upwind, 2 boats from the left hooked into some nice pressure putting us in 6th place headed downwind towards the finish. The confidence I regained early in the race was gone and decisions were now being based on doing the exact opposite of what we thought would be correct. Again, my thought was gybing out early would be better for current and wind, but we decided to extend on starboard gybe as far as possible, and sure enough we were able to find nice pressure and what seemed to be favorable current to pick off 2 boats and take a 4th in the final race. This was good enough for 5th overall which was outside of our goal going into the weekend, but moving into the top 5 was a satisfying feeling after a hard fought event.
Michael Kiss was very tough all weekend and with the short track racing, carnage and tight quarters that we experienced, the team on Bacio clearly has an edge when it comes to just plain sailing their boat well. On the Melges 24 course, a woman is in the headlines as Kristen Lane and her team on Brickhouse 812 took the win in a highly competitive 47 boat fleet. This is a huge win for Kristen and her team as they have been at it for a few years, been close to several wins and it is great to see her final seal the deal. Congrats. Overall results here.
Too Much Breeze on Day 2… »
April 16, 2011
When we poked our heads out of our hotel room at 7am and saw a steady 20+ already on Charleston Harbor, we started thinking about what we were going to do with our time in the absence of racing. Shortly after breakfast, we were headed to the boat to do some repairs from day 1 when we received notice that the RC had called racing for the day. With big wind already present and predicted to get heavier, and strong t-storms forecast for the afternoon it was probably the best call not to send the fleet out, especially with numerous shoals and reefs that could cause some damage for a marooned Melges 24 or 20.
Just as we finished packing the M & M Melges 20 and storm proofed it on the dock, we were walking back to our hotel room and I got the call from Andy Burdick that we were going to head out with our new formed Melges 24 Worlds team on Full Throttle to do some heavy air training and speed testing. It took me a few moments to mentally adjust from having leisurely day of 2nd breakfast, napping, lunch and napping again, to now blasting downwind on a Melges 24, having a firehose in my face, and being bent over like a pretzel on a lifeline after a hearty 1st breakfast of biscuits and gravy. After a few quiet moments to myself to adjust, we hoisted the main on the FT and headed out to join a few other Melges 24s for a solid session of practice in preparation for the big breeze that we will most certainly see in Corpus Christi in just under a month. On the sail in, the breeze was touching the high 20s and it was a good call for the masses to keep the activities on shore on Day 2.
3 races are scheduled tomorrow and the forecast is for sunny skies and a seabreeze to kick in with a nice 12-15 South Easterly breeze. Stay tuned.
Tony Tabb and his team of Justin Hood and Steve Sisson sit in 2nd place after Day 1.
Team Bacio blasts downwind en route to a solid scoreline of 3, 1, 3, 1 to lead the regatta.
The Melges 20 Fleet gets off the starting line and bucks 3 knots of current en route to the first windward mark.
Day 1 Charleston Race Week – Where to Begin… »
April 15, 2011
Saying that the first day of Charleston Race week was crazy, dangerous, head shaking or frustrating would have been an understatement. With 47 Melges 24s and 23 Melges 20s mixing it up on a short track with 15-18 kts of wind and 3 kts of current, there was no shortage of confusion, carnage and overall mayhem on the course. We survived the day on the M and M with minimal contact, but finishing a day with a host of unforced errors was frustrating to say the least.
While I cannot go into the details of what happened on Day 1 in under 5000 words, there were a few highlights that deserve recognition. The first race, we snuck in for an eighth place which was the most uneventful race of the day. The second race, we did a nice job tacking at the pin end, port tacking the fleet and establishing ourselves in the front group, but an error on my part at the first layline put us into second place and kept us there most of the race. We rounded the last bottom mark and noticed our tackline had gone under the bow and was dragging under the boat which resulted in our boatspeed suffering. The decision was made to send Peter up to the bow to put the tack line back above the deck, and we all were about to gain an understanding of the dangers of being a bowman on a 20ft boat.
Pete shimmied up to the front on his belly, cleard the tack line and on his way back, lost his grip and fell off the windward side of the boat while we sailed on port tack. He did manage to grab the tack of the jib, partially pull himself back on the deck then for the next 30 seconds, Mary Anne and I watched Peter do a crab dance on the bow balancing between having an awesome save, or falling in the water. I did think to myself, “I should probably go grab his ankle…”, but I was to enamoured with watching if he was going to be able to save it or not to do anything. One bad wave came, and over the side Peter went, fully losing his grip this time. I leaned over and extended my arm, and just like Sly Stallone in the opening scene of Cliffhanger, Peter and I latched arms and the process of getting him back on board began.
I say process because hauling in a 185 lb man who is now fully wet with sailing gear is not an easy thing to do. After another 10-15 second struggle, we finally got Peter back aboard, trimmed our sails and made our way towards the finish. The boat was pretty calm at this point as we were beyond getting upset of frustrated. We did only lose 1 boat and managed to take a 3rd place which was a decent finish, but with my bad call on the layline, and losing Peter overboard, it felt a lot worse.
It was clear all day that the RC had no concern with the timing of our start and it almost seemed like they intentially started us at a time where the two fleets would be as mixed up as possible so they could sit back on the comfortable power boat and watch the carnage from a distance. The start of race 3 saw the 20 fleet get off cleanly, and as we got about 1/3 the way upwind, the Melges 24s were rounding their leeward mark directly on top of us. Our nice 23 boat fleet had just turned into a 60 boat fleet and we were trying to go upwind with boats around us that were faster and continually either rolling, tacking in front, or hitting us. But nothing could prepare us for what we were about to experience at the top mark.
We approached the windward mark on the port tack layline and with 3 kts of adverse current, Melges 24s and 20s were having a very hard time making the mark on starboard tack which resulted in a lot of boats having to gybe below the mark to make another run at it. By the time we got the to the mark the first few boats in each fleet had gotten around, but what was left was a 40 boat mess of circling, tacking, ducking, gybing and trying to avoid each other while hoping to get around the mark. There were even a few swimmers in the water that had fallen off there boats which only added to the excitement and after we finally got around and set the spinnaker after 2 attempts, we could only shake our heads, laugh and mutter a few explitives about the situation. We didnt really know what position we were in most of the race, but once the 24s cleared out, we saw we were in 10 place and would have to just chalk that up to a crazy race that we couldn’t get too bunched over.
The final race seemed docile after the previous heat, and it was a sprint to the right side of the course towards Folly Beach to get current relief from the middle of the course. Even if it meant sitting in multiple bad lanes for minutes on end, it was worth it to get out of the adverse current. We took a 5th in the last race which was a good note to end with. Overall, we survived the day, with a 8, 3, 10, 5 and good enough for 6th overall, but it was not easy. Huge breeze is forecast for day 2, and with 4 races scheduled our only hope is that the RC will be a bit more kind in our starting times to keep the fleets separated a bit more tomorrow. Results here.