Things didn’t look too promising last night. Calling the crew from the mooring around 4:10, I unconvincingly urged them to come out and bob around with me. I told them the RC was intent on getting a race in, and that they were out searching confidently for the southerly that they knew would come in (we didn’t really think it would). About 5 minutes later, however, John Burnham on 107 lit up the VHF with reports of a southerly filling in from Brenton Cove. I poked my head out of the boom tent, saw the breeze, called the crew, and within another 5 minutes we were chasing 25+ boats out of the harbor toward the RC, which was already on station. Smart RC.
Our pre-race discussion focused primarily on pressure, and then on current. With 3 minutes or so left in the pre-start, we saw more pressure on the right, and noticed the RC pointed in a direction that hinted of some leftover ebb in the channel. We started at the boat and led up the right hand side of the course toward Clingstone, with 107 and another charging hard below us and 217 back on our hip. The other half of the fleet headed toward Fort Adams on their way up to Hammersmith, all of us wondering which group would come out on top.
We were reluctant to leave the right side for the top mark, but it had to be done. 217 forced our hand by tacking out first, and we quickly followed to prevent them from getting too bow out below us. In the end, the leaders from both sides converged evenly at the top, the right seeming to have more pressure and the left a better angle and perhaps less current. In fact, we found ourselves crossing tacks with 76, the same team that gave us a friendly port tack cross at the very bottom of the beat while on their way to the left. Who knew?
We rounded the top in the top 3, with 217 and 101 and 232 and 33 close by. The run was relatively uneventful, with the lead pack compressing on the Green Bell off the Dumplings and then gybing in toward Jamestown for the final approach. We exchanged the lead with 217 at least twice on the bottom half of the run, with 232 gaining on both of us from the inside. We rounded the bottom first, heading left upwind with 217 below us and a little bow out. Working hard to keep pace, we protected the left hand side up the beat, eventually taking the gun.
Boat setup: Uppers – 800+ on (24.5 on Loos – this is our base)
Lowers – hand tight
Headstay – approx. 47 ¾” to the datum
Thanks to Chuck, Phoebe, and Pirate for making the boat go fast and keeping us pointed in the right direction. And to the RC for being patient and looking smart.
-Jeff Gladchun, Coffee Grinder 108