Shields Fleet 9

Race Spring 3 – The Importance of Being Early

On Team Grace we are all about the importance of being early. 4:00 at Ida, or else, get aboard, tune the rig, chill the brew, sail the first beat at least once to figure out the breeze and current.

Executed plan to a “T” last evening. Gorgeous evening – Rachel, long-time mastman on Grace, opted this year to forego May racing since “It is always cold, rainy, and windy”, and so she sweated ashore while Ted Hood graciously subbed. Bad call, Rachel. Matt was back from kite boarding in the Caribbean, Pete was as usual doing foredeck, John driving, me working the main.

Blowing a good 12 knots out of the SW, so we sailed up past Clingstone, found that there were some huge righties out there, and were confident in the game plan. Then poof, no wind, only to come up fitfully from the SE, with a bit of east in it. So much for our prep, so much for being early.

Line seemed heavily boat favored so started in top third, and for awhile looked really good over the crowd jammed into the pin end. Dirk on 181 was behind and to weather, and he steamed over us with superior speed – meanwhile the pin-winners, including Wendy on 138, Charlie on 145, and Jan on 33, were being lifted up beneath us with better pressure.

We did take time for a pity party for the chaps on 108 who were called back about five minutes after the gun – heard later that with the I flag up they were over the line at about 20 seconds but were clear at the gun, yet still had to re-round…. (They fought back to a very respectable 14 of 31).

We tacked to port early than the leaders so as to keep clean air, then in a puff hitched back in towards Goat. Charlie and Jan held on port too long and ran out of breeze, which gradually backed and lifted us to the mark right on Wendy’s heels. Jamie followed on 217. Long, slow run ensued in about 3 knots, and when the breeze filled in from behind from the east, by being to the left of Wendy we had a better angle and eked around the gong just ahead.

At which point the breeze freshened and it was a reach to the finish for the gun.

Next week, we will be at Ida at 5:00 sharp….

Reed Baer, Grace 107

Course: Start near Z-1-Pin-1 (changed to 2)

Cold, wet, and light was the forecast for Opening Day, 2010. We got the cold and light part when we cast off our mooring, but fortunately the rain held off. At sunset, we were even treated to a stellar light show, but there was a rather long race before that…a race that most Fleet 9 sailors would rather had never happened.

Aboard Grace, 107, Ted Hood, Rachel Balaban, and co-skipper Reed Baer made up the evening’s crew. Our foredeck ace, Dr. Peter Schott, was being honored in Providence by Governor Carcieri for years of pro bono dentistry, and spin trimmer/strategician Matthew Buechner had vacated the island to practice his kitesurfing skills in St. John.

Nineteen Shields arrived at the Fleet 9 starting line set near the Jamestown Boatyard by Dr. Robin Wallace and crew. Breeze was light southeasterly, and the tide was in the second half of the flood.

The wind was trending right before the start, so we started a little way down from the boat and held starboard, liking our position but not feeling too special about our speed. (Anyone else feel rusty, too?) The wind was very spotty, and for a while, those of us going left looked famous-Charlie Shoemaker (245), Andy Burton (201), and Wendy Lotz (138) were to leeward.

Unfortunately, we ran out of breeze toward Rose Island and the right side began to win big. Number 74 (Bill Shore and Nicole Alio) came out of that corner ahead of the fleet, despite having had to restart. Others in the vanguard from right and right center included Jamie Hilton (217) and Jay Gowell (232). We fought back from the left, rounded the first mark in about 12^th or 14^th, but jibed immediately and soon moved into 10^th.

Downwind was all port tack, still very spotty, and with the current sweeping us north. Yet approaching the leeward mark, we experienced some southbound countercurrent, so after rounding behind Stubby (59), we held port tack up toward Clingstone. Stubby tacked to starboard, following the leaders across the north-bound current, but we followed the ripples and made a few tacks toward the first bell buoy, while slowly being overhauled by 138 and 201.

With the righthand shift in the breeze, the finish mark had been changed from 1 (the race mark by Rose Island) to 2 (red nun by the Fort). To make a long story short, the breeze died almost completely and what little there was shifted to the south and it took about an hour to sail the leg. Those of us who entered the current later and closer to Clingstone had less current velocity to contend with and were able to sail to the finish without tacking, sometimes even beam reaching. Not that there was much wind…max pressure might’ve been .75 kts! And we didn’t see a ripple on the water until almost at the Fort.

For a while, 226 and 138 looked strong to leeward of us, and then 201 poked ahead to windward. But with Ted adjusting the jib every 5 seconds, we somehow poked in front at the right time, extended 10 boatlengths, and drifted across the line in first, about 10 minutes before the two-hour time limit expired.

Wendy Lotz, in 138, was next, then Andy Burton in 201, finishing under spinnaker.  Stubby (59) finished fourth. As Jay Gowell (232) approached the line, having rounded the leeward mark second and having sailed a great circle route to get to the finish, the time limit expired. He was less than two lengths from the nun.

I know Wendy and Andy will agree with me when I suggest that the principle lesson of Race 1 in 2010 is to go left on the first beat in these conditions, even though it’s faster to go right.

-John Burnham