1.
13 May 2006 — St. Brendan's Cup Race:
Two Tritons competed in this prestigious event. The
wind initially deserted the fleet but after an hour delay the Race
Committee started firing the gun to send the various fleets in different
directions. The two Tritons started with the PHRF-BCD class and
beat from the drop-mark start that was set up about half a mile SW of
Hackett Point to R2, a broad reach over to C and then a run back to the
finish. The race length was 5.9 miles and took about two hours of
racing with generally freshening wind throughout. The wind backed
and abated late in the race -- on the run to the finish -- but all in
all it was a marvelous day on the water with lots of sun, very little
waves and wakes and a decent breeze.
2. 27 May 2006 — Annapolis to
Miles River:
This
annual trek across the bay was a very quick run to the outskirts of St.
Michaels. The forecast was for mostly cloudy skies with northerly
winds in the 15-20 range, gusting to 25. The forecasters were
right on part of it. It was a bit cloudy later in the day, the
winds were from the north, but they stayed in the low teens for the day.
The four boats starting headed out on the first start of the day with a
spinnaker run past Bloody Point Light and to the turning mark to
head up the Eastern Bay. The order of the rounding was Inka,
Overdraft and Sandpiper about 100 yards from each other, and Ca Ira just
a bit further back. As everyone rounded they had to quickly douse
the spinnaker and set up for a beat up the Eastern Bay. Both Inka
and Overdraft had problems with the douse which allowed Sandpiper to
pass below Inka and above Overdraft. At the Tighlman Island
rounding mark the order was Sandpiper, Inka very close on her heels,
Overdraft and Ca Ira. That rounding was a dead downwind run to the
finish and a few gybes were required, but that is the way the Triton
Fleet finished.
The
fleet then made its way up Tighlman Creek to moor at the Kabler's dock
and enjoy the rest of the day. The run down the bay to the
Kabler's house took a bit over four hours, such was the great sailing
weather we had on Saturday. Everyone enjoyed the day sitting and
talking, telling sea stories, cooking dinner and finally singing songs
until about 10PM. It was a marvelous day for fun and fellowship.
3. 28 May 2006 — Miles River
Race Back:
If
history tells us anything, it is that it repeats itself ad infinatum.
The history of this race is that if the winds were fair for sailing on
Saturday they would be just the opposite on Sunday. And they were.
The Fleet started late in the sequence and it looked like the wind was
dying out throughout. As we started Sandpiper rounded the
Committee Boat on port and beat out into the river to run with the ebb
current as long as it was running. Overdraft and Ca Ira started at
the pin just behind on starboard and tacked onto port at the line to run
with it as well. That beat was the most delightful of the day, as
the winds died to nothing at the Tighlman turning mark. The
anticipated six mile run down the Eastern Bay turned into a
bob-and-weave shake-and-bake affair with a hint of wind once in a while.
After an hour of making one knot good over ground due to the current
alone the winds backed westerly. All the while we were calculating
the distance to cover and the eight hour time limit of the race.
The
wind filled in a bit and the boats started making for Bloody Point Light
at a whopping three knots and just as it was reached the winds died
again. We were hoping the race had been shortened to point "E" but
a quick scan of the mark provided no relief from our predicament.
As Sandpiper finally made it around "E" shortly after 5PM Overdraft
dropped sails and withdrew. Shortly afterward Ca Ira did the same,
but since Sandpiper had fought to get around the mark they felt they had
to continue. And so she found herself the last boat in the race to
cross the shortened course line at "H" and she got a gun for her
troubles. I'll bet that doesn't happen very often! It was a
long, hot day working every bit of motion out of too little air.
4.
03 June 2006 — Shearwater Twilight Race:
This is a Twilight Make Up race, as the previous
two years were abandoned because of a lack of winds. This was as
perfect a Triton sailing day as anyone could ask for on the Chesapeake.
The race started at 1705 and Shearwater set up a great course, starting
one mile southeast of R-2. The winds were in the 15-19 range so
the three Tritons which started began with a full main and a number 2,
changing to a number 1 between the second and third marks as the winds
eased to the 13-16 range. The course was a longer one with the
great wind, so we beat up to "X" and then "A", a broad reach to "B", a
run to "C", a beat back to "X" continuing into the mouth of the Severn,
finishing at "J" right at sunset. It truly was a Twilight Race.
The big boats got a longer course going down the bay to "H" and the
winds started dying out as the sun was setting, so they likely finished
in the dark.
5. 24 June 2006 — Dun Cove
Pursuit Race:
The
Tritons had the honor of the first one-design start in this
four year old race. The weather forecast was not very dry and nine
of the 20 boats which had signed up for the race did not show up, but
all of the Tritons who said they'd come out were there. The start
was at 1100 from G1 at the mouth of the South River and the only mark of
the course was G7 at the mouth of the Choptank. Consistent south
winds persisted for most of the race which allowed the fleet to beat to
the mark at hull speed for the most part. Some boats reefed the
main for a while just west of Poplar Island, and shook it about 45
minutes later as the winds started easing a bit. Triton's Fury had
the shackle on the main halyard let go shortly after the start and they
were forced to use the topping lift as the halyard. That slowed
them down a bit while they moved the halyards around but they managed to
make up a lot of time on the course, eventually finishing third.
Sandpiper seemed to be able to point better than the rest of the fleet
and used that to pass Sea Deuce later in the race to eventually win,
even though there was a bit of a calm while at the mark. The wind
filled in and the run from the mark to the finish was a very quick one
with boat speeds good over ground at 6-7 knots.
The Tritons decided to create their own raft in Dun Cove,
which was very crowded considering the forecast. All five Tritons
rafted up for a brief awards ceremony and then the fun and merriment
ensued. Dinner served, sea stories swapped and lots of fun all
around, even though it was raining. Most of the fleet went to bed
shortly after 11:00 but were awakened when a strong gust hit the raft
and pulled the anchors, causing the raft to drift down onto other boats.
After successfully fending off the other boats in the anchorage,
Triton's Fury started her engine and swiveled the raft head to wind
giving the boats enough time to cast off and individually seek a safe
spot to anchor. It was a very wet way to end the race as
everyone scrambled up into the rain to start engines, pull anchors, cast
off other boats and find a safe anchorage. No personal
injuries or boat damage was reported which means the event will morph
into another Triton legend of sorts, I'm sure. It rained most of
the night and Sunday. Cloud 10 got underway to head back about
0630, followed by Triton's Fury about 0730. At 0815 Sea Deuce and
Sandpiper left together to sail back up the bay, and Ca Ira followed at
about 0915.
The passage through Knapps Narrows was uneventful for the
Tritons, though some of the larger boats reported touching bottom on the
way through. Ca Ira reported a lightning strike about 30 feet off
the starboard bow which caused some sparking at the base of the mast but
no other damage. This was just south of Thomas Point Light while
heading back. Sea Deuce and Sandpiper were in their slips about
1400 and put away about an hour later; Ca Ira was put away about an hour
after that.
6.
29 July 2006 — Corsica River Race:
The weather forecasts for this race did not look too
encouraging, but the potential to be out on the water and the weekend up
the Chester River, anchored off of Spaniard Point, was too great for
three Tritons. And so they set out quite early in the morning to
rendezvous near Baltimore Light, start at 1105 and set off across the
bay. Slowly. The southerly winds were light at the start and
the first mark was 4.6 miles away in a flooding current. It took a
while to fight to, and then across, the line and head toward Love Point,
drifting up to the turning mark as they crossed the calm and almost
(unusually) deserted waters north of the Bay Bridge. As the fleet
got within a mile of the Region 2 mark Z (Love Point) the winds died
completely. Many boats decided to drop an anchor in hopes the
winds decided to pick up, others drifted around the now slack-tide
waters. Sea Deuce decided to hold swim call to cool off the crew.
Sandpiper did that as well, but only one person decided to cool off.
At around 1400 the mental math started. The course as set was 16.5
miles with a seven hour time limit. It's been three hours and the
boats had not gone four miles yet! It would take gale-force winds
and us sailing at hull speed to make the full course. The hope
that the RC would shorten the course was quite high, but the chances of
them shortening it to the first mark was not realistic. The
Tritons in the race decided to withdraw at a bit after 1400 and motor on
to the anchorage in hopes the conditions on Sunday for the race back
would be better. Sea Deuce headed out in the lead to get us a
great anchorage. Ca Ira stood by while Sandpiper experienced some
engine problems, eventually taking them in tow for a while until
makeshift repairs could be made and the engine fired off. The RC
had shortened the course by two marks and we told them we had withdrawn
as we motored by, arriving at the anchorage at 1745.
The anchorage decided upon gave us lots of room and
quiet, the evening breeze was wonderful and lots of fun was had by all.
Sea Deuce went ashore for the traditional chicken dinner, Ca Ira and
Sandpiper cooked dinner aboard and went swimming in the almost-fresh
water of the upper Chester River. When the crews of all the boats
came back after dark and the sounds of the live band echoed across the
water most of the folks decided to go for another swim and enjoy the
cool evening breezes. It was a great night out on the water.
7.
30 July 2006 — Corsica River Race Back:
The day started out questionable when the evening breeze
died out completely just at daybreak. Our start was at 0935 so we
thought that we'd have plenty of time to go ashore, pick up ice we
ordered the night before and get some coffee. After an hour of
futile horn honking we realized that no one was coming out, and so we
got underway in time to make it to the line for our start.
Unfortunately, the RC wasn't on our timetable, as they came up to the
starting mark four minutes before our start (the first of the day) fired
off a gun and said they were going to postpone for 30 minutes because
they were late. The three boats had agreed that we'd go off at the
correct time anyway as there was a bit of wind, knowing that it was
going to die off the longer the day wore on. So as we went through
the line at the appointed time we hollered to the RC that the Triton
fleet was self-starting because we didn't want to wait. The winds
were light and quite variable, but strong enough to let us beat and run
around the first three marks before it gave us indications that it was
about to die off completely. The fleet made it to the Chester
River GC-3 mark -- two miles south of the mark at which the RC had
shortened the course to -- before all wind died completely and like
Saturday, the fleet anchored or bobbed around and held swim call.
The boat in the lead at the time the wind died was Sea Deuce, but the
combination of the tides and the wakes of passing motorboats shoved them
back into the rest of the Triton Fleet. And after a while, like
Saturday, the mental math began. When it became obvious that there
was no way we could get to the line one by one we started engines and
motored back to the respective docks. Sea Deuce waited until the
time limit expired before heading back, and called the RC to let them
know that we had all withdrawn from the race.
It was a long, hot, frustrating weekend of racing on the
Chesapeake, but the evening of fun and laughter at a great anchorage
made up for most or all of it, and most are looking forward to the next
opportunity to get out on the water and have fun again.
8.
19 August 2006 — West River Twilight Race:
The forecasts for the race Saturday evening fluctuated
all week but eventually stabilized at 10-15 knots of south winds with
1-2 foot swells. It turned out to be far different, with a small
craft warning being issued beginning at 1800 and lasting through the
evening.
Five Tritons were entered in the race and three were able
to start. Triton's Fury ingested some sea nettles into the engine
while motoring up to the starting area, and Ca Ira also suffered engine
problems with air getting into the fuel lines. Both boats
eventually fixed the issues, but too late to start the race.
The
fleet
monitored channel 68 -- the RC information channel listed in the NOR --
and heard many boats withdrawing from their classes before their starts,
and so we were only somewhat surprised when our advertised start time of
1735 was pushed up to 1725. Two entire classes had failed to show
up. The NOR said they wanted to have a race of some 20 miles, but
with a time limit of four hours. That didn't seem reasonable for a
Triton and so we lobbied earlier in the week for a course of about 10
miles for our class. They said they appreciated our input and
would probably shorten the course. As we started the course board
indicated a course of R, P, Z which is about an 18 mile course! As
the start was announced Sandpiper asked the RC about the course length
and they responded that they gave us an eight mile course. Um,
maybe ONE WAY!
After
the start, Cloud 10 withdrew because he was uncomfortable with the
conditions on the course. She had raised sails with a
double-reefed main and a number three. Sea Deuce and Sandpiper had
a single reefed main and a number two up, and away they went overpowered.
While they were heading across the bay they conversed and agreed that a
course of L, P, Z would be better suited to the Triton as that is a
smidge over 10 miles. They beat across the bay at hull speed being
driven up the bay by the force of the south winds and the building seas,
in the face of a strong ebb tide. At L -- the mouth of the Eastern
Bay -- the fetch was interrupted by Tighlman and Poplar Islands so the
winds and seas were not as great. By the time the two boats had
rounded the mark and were heading back to the mouth of the South River
the seas had built to 3-4 foot swells at 8 second intervals and 26-28
knots of wind, just abaft the beam. The two boats were doing
almost everything they could to depower the sails short of dropping them
altogether. Sandpiper noted a GPS speed good over ground of 8.1
knots at one time.
As the
boats neared P they noted that the RC had shortened the course to that
mark, probably for safety. Sandpiper immediately dropped the jib
after finishing, got the engine started and got the main down. It
still took them nearly an hour to get everything to the point they could
sit and semi-relax with spume and seas hitting them square in the face.
Sea Deuce started dropping sails but had engine problems. They
called Sandpiper but got no response with all the noise of the engine
and seas (they were taking green water over the bow into the cockpit by
this time) and so eventually called Ca Ira for assistance. Ca Ira
motored out to assist Sea Deuce into West River Sailing Club's dock and
everyone was slowly recuperating from a rather arduous race, more than
was expected, to be sure. The one good thing for the day was that
no one in our fleet were hurt. That was not the case in all the
fleets, however.
Reports
from one of the multihull fleets was that a boat came in and beached
itself and the helmsman stumbled ashore to get help. He had a
dislocated shoulder and an ambulance was called. A short time
later one of the RC's runabouts came in with a person who had been
injured while sailing and they had offloaded him to get him back ashore
as quickly as possible. At least one collision was reported, with
injuries. Sandpiper saw one jib and one spinnaker (?!!?) explode,
one boat broach, and one runaway spinnaker as all sheets were simply let
go. For many out there that evening it was harrowing, to be sure.
The
sail back on Sunday was about as much fun as you can have in a Triton,
and a welcome break from the evening race Saturday. Ca Ira, Sea
Deuce and Sandpiper were all accompanying each other up the bay and lots
of great pictures were taken. One foot swells and 10 knots of
southwest winds clocking to northwest made for a fairly quick and very
nice sail back. All the boats were in slips by about 1400 or
shortly afterwards. It was a fun, exciting, terrifying weekend on
the water. Such is sailing and racing on the Chesapeake Bay.
9. 9 September 2006 —
Hospice Cup:
The
race format was an Olympic course (P) with an extra lap, 3/4 of a mile
in light air and a fairly strong ebb current. The participation in
this race by all classes was relatively light this year, and some
classes were combined while others had no entries at all. There were
two Tritons in this race and they competed PHRF-CD instead of the Triton
one-design start the SSC was willing to give us.
The
start was interesting as both Tritons had to avoid potential collisions
on the line as some of the other PHRF-CD boats wildly maneuvered and
eventually crossed over early and had to restart. This is a very
competitive class! The upwind leg was set up down-current and it
was relatively quick in the four knots of wind on the course, giving the
Tritons a bit over three knots good over ground, but the downwind, up
current legs were anything but quick. That made the downwind hot
and sticky in the 80-degree day, and the upwind even more so as the
chutes were packed and sheets were run in preparation for the next
downwind leg. It was a very busy short-course racing day!
The
final lap around the course demonstrated the difference between the
Tritons and the rest of the CD fleet as the winds built up to a whopping
seven knots. The other boats just sailed away from them! The
final PHRF standings were 5 and 7 of a class of 7 boats.
After
the race was complete the winds picked up to 8-10 knots of southerly
breeze and the sail back towards Annapolis made a nice sailing day even
better. It was a good day to be on the water.
10.
23 September 2006 — Queenstown Race:
The
race forecast
was not a very pleasant one with winds in the 25+ range forecast for
Saturday. Three Tritons had intended to come out but two of them
had crew issues and so combined into one entry. And so it was that
Sandpiper and Sea Deuce got underway early Saturday to sail on a run
North with the south winds. Both boats raised sails shortly after
clearing Whitehall Bay and screamed northward at hull speed under the
bay bridge to the Baltimore Light rendezvous. Shortly before the
race both boats shifted from a double-reefed main to a single reef with
a number two foresail and away they went.
At the first turning mark to head
around Love Point and into the Chester River the crew of Sandpiper heard
some loud noises from the tiller head. A closer look showed that
one of the ears connecting the tiller head to the rudder head had broken
and the strain was showing on the other one, threatening to break and
leave Sandpiper with no ability to use the tiller to steer. They
bore off to remove the strain on the good tiller head ear and started to
jury rig a strain relief to keep the tiller on the rudder head.
While that was going on Sea Deuce came by to see what was happening and
they were told that Sandpiper was going to withdraw and head back, and
why that was needed. Jon Redifer immediately announced that he,
too would withdraw and accompany Sandpiper back in case they required
any help. The incredible sportsmanship displayed was gratefully
accepted and both boats headed back the way they had come, but this time
almost directly into the winds and fetch.
The
winds had died down to a respectable 20 knots or so and the seas were no
more than 2-3 feet, but heading directly into it managed to get almost
everything wet. It was a several hour motor back. Both boats
rafted for the night up Mill Creek and had the usual Queenstown fun,
just not in Queenstown. Sea Deuce had an assured win but gave it
up to help another Triton in trouble, and that should be recognized.
Thanks Jon!
11.
24 September 2006 — Queenstown Race Back:
The
race was not run due to the mechanical problems encountered by Sandpiper
the day before. So after a leisurely breakfast and lazy morning,
both boats motored back into Whitehall to get put away for the day by
noon.
12.
7 October 2006 — Good Old Boat, Day One:
The
day's forecast was very, very unpleasant and the Shearwater Race
Committee decided to cancel the race. As it turned out it was a
good thing as several boats which did manage to make it out in another
CBYRA event (The AYC Fall Series) reported very bad conditions which
caused several broken bones, cuts and bruises, hypothermia, black eyes
and very sore muscles. Good call!
13.
8 October 2006 — Good Old Boat, Day Two:
The
day's race was run in varying conditions, starting at about 18 knots and
eventually dying out to less than three. The Shearwater RC set a
course of about 10 miles, all starboard roundings, from X, to an almost
dead upwind beat to B, a run to C, a broad reach back to X and then a
final reach to A.
Four boats competed in this event and all hit the line very well.
There was a huge ebb as a result of the storms of the last few days
which lasted throughout the day. The race was a very close one
throughout, with Sandpiper and Sea Deuce battling for most of the first
two legs. Sea Deuce took the lead twice and positioned herself to
prevent Sandpiper from tacking but the ebb caused her to fall a bit
lower and allowed Sandpiper to tack and regain the lead. At the
second mark rounding -- which was a spinnaker douse -- Sea Deuce had a
halyard problem and was not able to drop the spinnaker for about five
minutes. That was the eventual reason which allowed Sandpiper to
take the lead and keep it. The third leg was a particularly
frustrating one with the huge ebb pushing us all down the bay and a
lightening wind slowing everyone down. As a result the RC came
back to X and shortened the course there.
With
the winds dying and the ebb flowing strong all of the boats had to fall
below the committee boat and beat back up. Sandpiper sailed almost
up to the red buoy (R2) before tacking to head across the line and even
then was swept down the bay to pass close by the RC boat. A few
minutes later Sea Deuce tacked to cross the line but was swept too far
down and had to tack back to try again. That opened the door for
Triton's Fury which by now had come across the bay to be within striking
distance of Sea Deuce, but Sea Deuce managed to fight against the
current enough to try and cross the line again and this time made it.
About 35 seconds later Triton's Fury crossed in one of the closest
Triton races of the last few years. Ca Ira finished a few minutes
later after fighting the current in much the same way as the rest of the
boats. It was a great day on the water.
14.
21 October 2006 — 2006 Triton Fall Classic:
The
Triton Fleet decided to change the published schedule and race in the
Annapolis area rather than sail to Baltimore this year. Mr. Chris
White of the Chesapeake Traditional Sailing Association graciously
offered to start a Triton-only race that we could sail instead, and the
fleet rendezvoused at "A" for the start of a 13 mile course (A, C, A, B,
X, C, A). Four boats were able to come out for the race as the
crews for Triton's Fury and Overdraft combined into one crew to race
Overdraft for the weekend. The winds at the beginning of the race
were fairly strong in the 15-18 range from the northwest. Most of
the boats were shorthanded and so decided to take a reef early as they
set up for the start. Overdraft was the only boat not willing to
do that and set up with a full main and number one.
The
downwind start was set up perfectly by Sea Deuce who hit the line
exactly at speed and took the early lead. Overdraft, Sandpiper and
Sea Deuce set up on port tack after the start and extended on the left
side of the course, while Ca Ira took the right side looking for the
extra wind coming down the Severn River and spilling into the bay.
She was the only boat to set a spinnaker for the run to the first mark
which was slightly right of dead downwind. She had a problem with
it about halfway to the mark and did a douse, setting the Genoa for the
run to the mark instead. Meanwhile, the other three boats managed
to dice their way to the mark and rounded with Overdraft in the lead
followed closely by Sandpiper and Sea Deuce.
The
beat to the second mark demonstrated that there was going to be some
significant wind shifts throughout the day, and Overdraft and Sandpiper,
who both went left at the mark, began a tacking duel shortly after
rounding. After the third tack Sandpiper sailed into different air
than Overdraft, who stalled at about the point where she wanted to tack.
She was never able to regain the advantage from that point. Sea
Deuce went to the right side of the course and sailed into the air that
caused Overdraft to stall a bit and battled to catch up.
The
rest of the day was to demonstrate how unpredictable the Chesapeake in
October can be, with winds shifts about every 9 minutes of up to 40
degrees back and forth, lightening up to about three knots in the usual
afternoon Chesapeake doldrums and then building back up to about 12
knots for the finish. Sea Deuce passed Overdraft on the third leg
until the next-to-last leg when Sea Deuce went right and Overdraft went
left. The air was sufficiently different that Overdraft was able
to pass Sea Deuce to lock in a second place finish. Ca Ira was
caught in the shipping channel when the doldrums hit and about that time
a deep-draft car carrier came out of Baltimore heading out to the open
sea. Ca Ira was forced to start her engine to clear the channel
and decided to withdraw from the race at that point rather than take the
CBYRA safety-of-ship redress that allows a competitor to do that as long
as they do not advance their position as a result. She graciously
motored to the finish and anchored to give us a finish line and throw
donuts as the other boats crossed the line.
When
everyone finished we all sailed up Whitehall Creek. Ca Ira joined
the overnight raft up Ridout Creek and the others went to the marina for
the night. It was a fun day on the water and we look forward to
doing that again next year!
15.
22 October 2006 — CTSA Dean Worchester Memorial Race:
The
day started out with very light winds and we were concerned that the
race would be a drifter. We couldn't have been more wrong!
It did start out a bit light, but by the time the race started the winds
were from the south southwest at 15+, and built throughout the day to
finish in the 20+ range. The course set up was A, E, Z, X, meaning
a six mile beat to the first mark in building winds and a 2+ foot fetch
so a lot of boats and people got wet! The second leg was almost a
beat and the final leg round Thomas Point Light was an almost dead
downwind run.
Overdraft hit the line perfectly, followed by Sea Deuce and a half-boat
length behind by Sandpiper right at the Committee boat. Ca Ira was
caught on port tack at the start and had to duck the rest of the CSTA
fleet in a combined start to beat toward the first mark. Most
boats started out almost overpowered and by the time everyone got to the
first mark all of the boats were definitely overpowered.
Sandpiper set with a full main and number one and managed to outpoint
the rest of the fleet, and that eventually was the difference.
With a bit of a slower beat, but not as weatherly, she got to the first
mark a few minutes ahead of Overdraft who had footed off to ease the
effect of the fetch. Sea Deuce and Ca Ira slowed to take a reef
and shift to a number two headsail; they stayed very close to each other
throughout the day.
Sandpiper was the second boat in the CTSA race to round both the first
and second mark, with Overdraft right behind. We were both
following a canoe-hulled white ketch named Honilee who was very fast and
which apparently enjoyed and relished the lively winds and seas.
After the second mark with the winds in the 20 range no one wanted to
set the spinnaker, but instead set up on a starboard run to clear Thomas
Point Light (which was a mark of the course, leaving it to port.)
Eventually the boats would set wing-in-wing with a pole on the foresail
and speeds through the water of over seven knots were seen by everyone.
Sea Deuce reported an eight knot good-over-ground speed on her GPS
heading up the bay.
Honilee
rounded Thomas Point Light and went to the left side of the course while
the Tritons (and most of the other boats in the CTSA) went right to get
into the main fetch coming up the bay. The bad part to that was
that the Etchells were having a nationals regatta just north of the
lighthouse, and their Olympic course stretched across the bay. We
were going to have to cross their course to make the finish line.
Sandpiper somehow managed to hit their fleet just perfectly and crossed
the Etchells course as they rounded the weather mark and headed to their
finish. And so it was that for a short period of time a Triton was
leading the Etchells fleet! They eventually came up and crossed
astern of Sandpiper who took pains not to interfere with their race.
Sandpiper jibed close to the mark and took line honors for the CTSA
race, finishing the 13.81 mile course in 2:50:50. Six minutes
later Overdraft finished second overall, with two other CTSA boats
within a boatlength, so it was close to say the least. All of the
Tritons finished within 13 minutes so it was a very respectable outing
for the fleet. We just need to get more boats out there on the
line! The boats started engines and most doused sails to head back
in the continually building conditions, and all made it back to their
respective docks with no materiel failures or personal injuries. A
good time was had by all! Hopefully we will get another invitation
to be part of that race next year.
16.
28 October 2006 — Clipper City Ghost Regatta:
The
day's
forecast was changing daily
throughout the week and finally settled down to a low-pressure cell
moving through the area on Saturday bringing high winds and heavy seas,
with a bit of rain. The forecast was such that the RC decided that
the risk of damage to the racers was too great to accept and cancelled
the race. As it turned out, it was probably the right call as
winds exceeding 40 knots were recorded in the area for much of the
weekend. And so the Triton Racing Season comes to a close. |