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1.
Annapolis to Miles River:
Three Tritons
were able to sail this event this year, and this is the first year of
the Hugh E. Kabler Memorial Trophy for the first Triton to sail from
Annapolis to Miles River. Mike Kabler aboard Inka sailed all
morning to make it to the race in time for the start, and was a bit
anxious to get going back to Tighlman Island. As the gun went off
two Tritons and one Alberg 30 in the combined Triton/Alberg30 start were
call over early. Inka was called and turned back almost
immediately, but Sea Deuce didn't hear the call until about a minute
later, finally turning back and restarting amid the Cal-25's assembling
for their start, and crossed the line again about four minutes back.
The winds were consistent
from the South most of the day and the fleet tacked back and forth
across the bay until past the turning mark south of Bloody Point, and
then, on a broad reach, headed to the next mark. Inka, rounding
behind Sandpiper by only a few moments, raised the spinnaker and started
charging toward the front. Sandpiper was far enough off the line
to raise the chute and sail a broader course, slowing Inka's advance but
not stopping it completely. About halfway to the Tighlman Island
turning mark the crew aboard Sandpiper wondered if there was enough race
course left to keep Inka from passing them! Shortly after passing
the mid-Eastern Bay mark Sea Deuce popped out her spinnaker and started
shortening the distance herself.
Sandpiper did manage to
stay in front of Inka to the Tighlman Island mark, but just barely.
Quickly dousing the chute and heading up to a beat to the east side of
the Miles River, she watched as Inka professionally dropped the
spinnaker and rounded to give chase, closing faster and faster. At
that point the winds started kicking up more than the 10-13 that had
been blowing all day, and now were starting to gust into the 20-22
range. All three boats were well overpowered but Sandpiper decided
to slow and take a reef. Inka tacked at that point, while
Sandpiper kept heading on the previous course, now toward the right side
of the course, to be able to tack and set up a close finish at the RC.
The finish was quite close, with Sandpiper eking out the win over Inka
and Sea Deuce quickly catching up and taking a third. Inka, now in
her home waters, sailed all the way into the creek. Sandpiper and
Sea Deuce dropped headsails and went in under main until the mouth of
the channel, dropping sails and motoring into the creek. It was a
great day on the water!
2.
Miles River Race Back:
Two boats made
the return trip to Annapolis this year, so it turned into a match race
of sorts. The winds were still blowing pretty good, into the 13-18
range, and Sea Deuce set up with a full main and a number two jib.
Sandpiper had a full main up and had the number one Genoa on deck ready
to set near the downwind start. When the gun went off Sandpiper
crossed the line on starboard at the RC, intending to get out into the
channel and take advantage of the ebb current, Sea Deuce crossed on port
at the pin and bore off sharply, crossing Sandpiper's bow by no more
than two feet. It was a great start for both boats.
Shortly after settling in
for the run to the mark, Sea Deuce decided to fly the spinnaker.
Sandpiper was set up in a winged configuration with a pole on the Genoa
and decided to fly the spinnaker to keep up with Sea Deuce, who had
grown legs and was sailing away under a full chute. During the set
up, the spinnaker halyard ran through the block and they were looking at
a pile of line on the deck. Undeterred, they sent a man up the
mast to reeve the spinnaker halyard again and try to get the chute up.
By the time that was complete they were only about a half mile from the
turning mark and there was little reason to fly the chute for such a
short distance, and they watched as Sea Deuce rounded the mark 3:08 in
front of them, making a perfect sail change to start the beat to the
mouth of the Eastern Bay.
Sandpiper rounded and set
up in a hard beat, realizing that they were going to have to tack
several times before getting to the mark, so the footed off to get some
boat speed in preparation for taking a reef. A few minutes later
they were surprised to see Sea Deuce slowing with a man at the mast
looking at the sail. Then they dropped the headsail, tacked onto
starboard and started crossing Sandpiper's bow while making a sail
change to a full number one headsail. Sandpiper crossed Sea Deuce
with about a half boatlength to spare and kept going, while Sea Deuce,
now fully powered up, tacked onto port well to weather and started
headreaching. The boats started a tacking duel at that point.
First Sandpiper, tacking onto starboard, crossed behind Sea Deuce and
tacked back well to weather, then Sea Deuce did the same. At some
point they both realized that they were well on the left side of the
course, almost the rhumb line by now, and they just kept beating down
the Bay. Sandpiper eventually took a small lead and kept pushing
it, rounding the mark and starting to head north to the next mark past
Bloody Point just a minute or so in front of Sea Deuce. Winds and
current started conspiring against Sea Deuce at that point and they were
not able to make up the time, and as the boats crossed the line over 20
miles from the start Sea Deuce finished only a few moments behind
Sandpiper. It was a great tactical race down the Eastern Bay and
up the Chesapeake.
3.
Shearwater Twilight Race:
Thee boats made
this event, with Triton's Fury motoring most of the day from well down
the bay to get to the start. The problem was that the winds were
undecided. There first was a LOT of wind, and then there was none
at all. The RC set up a drop mark northeast of X and had decided
upon a great course when, right at the start of the first class, the
winds died, then shifted 90 degrees. The RC postponed and after
waiting patiently for the winds to settle down, set up a series of
courses for the multiple classes of boats on the line. The Tritons
had their own start, and were the last off, so there were no interfering
boats at all. The RC had set an 8.5nm course from the start to H
(by Thomas Point) and then to the finish north, just off the Naval
Academy. As the gun went off all three boats were right on the
line, bow to stern, and all three wheeled together to beat down the bay
on starboard. Triton's Fury was set up with a full Genoa but a
reefed main and started falling back quickly. They shook the reef
and kept going, but had fallen behind Sea Deuce, and was not able to
catch up on the beat.
Sandpiper set up with a
full set of sails in 15 degree shifting winds and opened the sails a bit
to foot for boat speed. Sea Deuce was pointing better for a bit,
but didn't have the same power and fell back at the start. They
kept up once they footed, but was not able to make up the time while
pointing. At the first (and only) mark they rounded behind
Sandpiper about three to four minutes back. At the rounding,
Sandpiper had launched the spinnaker immediately. Both Sea Deuce
and Triton's Fury took a while to get theirs up, but they did and all
three boats were headed almost dead downwind on the rhumb line to the
finish. Just south of 1AH (Tolley Point) Sandpiper decided that
the shifting winds were too difficult to play with on the downwind run
and shifted tactics to work on target boatspeeds, keeping the boat
between 3.5 and 4.5 knots. They gibed over to the right side of
the course to get the full effect of the winds charging up the bay.
Sea Deuce and Triton's Fury stayed on the rhumb line course in the
fluky winds near the left side of the course. Sandpiper
eventually gibed over to head to the finish, still working target
boatspeed tactics and found that they were not able to hold the
spinnaker any longer. They doused and went to the finish under
Genoa on a broad reach, finishing well ahead of the other two boats,
probably because of the changed tactics.
Sea Deuce and Triton's Fury
stayed neck in neck all the way to the finish, and Sea Deuce pulled out
the all the stops to finish less than two boat lengths ahead of Triton's
Fury. It was a great finish to watch as no one could tell who was
ahead until right at the very point when they crossed the line.
In the meantime, the sun had
gone below the horizon in spectacular fashion, the stars started coming
out and the lights and sounds of a partying Annapolis could be heard and
seen. It was a fantastic Twilight race largely due to the great
sailing weather. Those make the sailing that much better.
4.
Dun Cove Pursuit Race:
The day started
out dreary and the forecast even more so with the distinct possibility
of thundershowers and a small craft warning starting late in the day.
The winds were expected to start southerly and veer northerly throughout
the day, and that forecast was right on the mark! Four boats
rendezvoused with the starting boat, Buloha, right about 1015, and right
on cue the southerly winds started filling in, bringing a bit of rain
with them.
The four boats started
with a split tack. Sandpiper and Ca Ira started at the RC on port
while Sea Deuce and Triton's Fury worked hard to get past the pin on
starboard. About 30 minutes into the race all four boats were on
starboard beating down the bay fighting telltales plastered to sails
with the rain, not being able to see more than a few miles, and
intermittent rain which stole wind. The inconsistent winds would
first let the boats beat high of the mark, then a few minutes later they
were knocked about 30 degrees and the cycle would repeat.
Eventually, the winds started staying fairly consistent and the rains
started tapering off, allowing the telltales to dry and let the boats
enjoy the day that much more. Sandpiper found herself well to lee
of the fleet and heading directly at Poplar Island, so she tacked to get
back out to the rest of the boats, passing astern, in order, of Triton's
Fury, Ca Ira and Sea Deuce. Once past Sea Deuce they tacked over
to beat into the center of the bay and was rewarded, like Sandpiper,
with a great lift. Dueling back and forth for a while, they lost
track of the other two boats over by Poplar Island. When they
tacked back on a knock, they saw about a mile in front of them Triton's
Fury on port tack just in front of Ca Ira, battling for the lead.
It was going to take some doing to catch up with those two!
Suddenly, Triton's Fury
checked up and they dropped their Genoa in a hurry. Ca Ira
immediately went by them, but kept looking back and calling on the
radio, with no response. Sandpiper was quickly approaching as the
windward of the two boats who were beating toward them. Once abeam
they tacked over to see if everything was okay, and it turned out it was
not. They immediately doused their Genoa and rounded up to heave
to nearby. When Sea Deuce saw that they tacked over to come render
assistance as well. Since there was a lot of help near at hand, Ca
Ira kept going but made frequent calls back to make sure that everyone
was okay. If we were all going to drop out, she was going to as
well so that she was not the only boat of the four who would finish.
It turned out that
Triton's Fury was so intent on taking the lead and winning the race that
they broke their tiller just forward of the tiller head! Sea Deuce
had a spare tiller aboard and passed that over, but it was too large for
the tiller head and wouldn't work. Sandpiper passed some hose
clamps and aluminum stock over to use as a splint, and that worked.
They used that and the boathook to splint the two halves of the tiller
back together. Meanwhile, Sea Deuce rallied and headed off in hot
pursuit of Ca Ira, now well in the lead. It was obvious that
Triton's Fury was done for the day and withdrew, and Sandpiper withdrew
to make sure that Triton's Fury was able to make her way home without
assistance, sticking around until they were satisfied that Triton's Fury
was able to control the boat with the jury rigged tiller contraption.
Once that was accomplished, they took aboard one of Triton's Fury's crew
to haul back to Annapolis and each went their own way. Triton's
Fury headed south to their dock and Sandpiper headed north to theirs.
Meanwhile, in the race,
Ca Ira had a commanding lead and kept going, rounding G7 before anyone
else in the race. They were overtaken by one boat before the
finish and so took overall second place in the race, but was the first
Triton to finish and so took the win. The winds were still
southerly for most of that, but were veering for Sea Deuce, who finished
on a broad reach rather than the spinnaker run for Ca Ira. Such
was the day progressing that the conditions on the bay rapidly changed,
and the small craft warning was well timed. Once they finished, Ca
Ira went up into the anchorage and waited for the other boats to show
and raft. However, no other Triton did that as Sea Deuce finished
and then headed back through Knapps Narrows and back up the bay to the
dock in Whitehall, arriving there around 2300. They did that in
anticipation of a rough weather day on Sunday.
Ca Ira got underway early on
Sunday and, after motoring through Knapps Narrows themselves, found
themselves continuing to motor up the bay into 20-25 knot winds dead off
the bow. A few hours later they set a double-reefed main with a #3
jib and worked up the bay with that until the winds started abating.
Slowly they started shaking the reef and it eventually turned into a
wonderful sailing day on the 2009 Solstice.
So, the race was an interesting
one, with Triton's Fury taking the win in the race to Poplar Island.
Unfortunately for them the race was actually to Dun Cove, and THAT was
won by Ca Ira! It was a hard fought win and, if none of the boats
had dropped out, it was going to be very hard to catch them. They
had a fantastic start and kept at it throughout the day, and they earned
the race win.
5.
WRSC Twilight Race:
What an
interesting day on the water. Ca Ira started out very early in the
morning to get down to the West River in time to pick up her crew.
Triton's Fury started out early and ran before the wind all day to get
to the starting area just south of Thomas Point light. Sea Deuce
and Sandpiper left the dock at 1240 to travel the nine miles south to
the start, which was scheduled for 1555. Lots of time to make
that! However, time and tide wait for no one, and both conspired
against the two "late starters". The south winds had been building
all day in the cloudless skies over the Annapolis area, and had reached
a constant 23 knots gusting 28 by around 1400. The two later
starting boats were left battling 2-foot seas with occasional forays
into 3-footers south of the Severn. It looked like they would both
make it if they just kept chugging away, but Sandpiper noted that a
Hobie Cat had turned turtle and could not right themselves. There
were two people in the water, so they turned to render assistance.
As they got there they noted that the Cal-25 fleet had all withdrawn
from the race and had turned to run before the winds to return home.
As the Cals and Sandpiper worked to get the Hobie upright, two more
people jumped into the water from one of the Cals, and with that
Sandpiper opened the area to give them some maneuvering room. They
were eventually successful in getting the Hobie up and sailing again, no
injured people and all swimmers recovered.
As Sandpiper put up
the double reefed main again they saw Sea Deuce returning, running
before the now constant 24 knot breezes and surfing in the waves the
Chesapeake were creating with the 150nm fetch. They had decided to
withdraw. Sandpiper gamely tried to get there, but the engine
decided it didn't want to cooperate, and eventually it became clear that
there was no way to get there in time. The other two boats, Ca Ira
and Triton's Fury, were at the start dancing the prestart dance, but
neither one actually started. Triton's Fury had sick crew aboard
and was forced to withdraw before the start, and Ca Ira didn't want to
be the only one to start, so she withdrew as well. As it turned
out, only nine boats in all classes started the event, so it was not all
that well attended, due to the weather.
Ca Ira and Triton's
Fury sailed over to the WRSC dock and spent the night there while
Sandpiper's crew drove over to Galesville with part of Sea Deuce's crew
and met the boats for dinner and fun. The next day Sandpiper's
crew helped Ca Ira sail back up to Annapolis while Triton's Fury ran
before the now northwest winds all the way home. While no one
actually raced, all boats came through with flying colors and all people
were okay. Another successful outing! On to Corsica...
6.
Corsica River Race
Three Tritons charged up the bay to sail over to Corsica River, and we
all got to the starting area in plenty of time. It was a nice day
for a sail over, with great winds and favorable currents most of the
way. It was a tactical race up to the first mark, when we beat to
Sandy Point Light and then ran in lighter air to the mouth of the
Chester River. Ca Ira and Sandpiper started at the pin on the
right side of the line to take advantage of the slightly stronger winds
and the current outflow from the Magothy River, and Sea Deuce started at
the RC. They were set up the bay by the circular current there,
and at the first crossing they were about a half mile behind the other
two boats. At the rounding all three boats set the spinnaker and
enjoyed the run up the bay, and Sea Deuce worked to the right side of
the course and caught up pretty well. The rounding to head up the
Chester was very close for all three boats. As the day progressed
other boats in the race got in the way, and the winds really picked up,
splitting the fleet a bit. It was a nice sail over.
The evening was a
very eventful time for the three boats. Sandpiper had tossed an
anchor in the water and the other two boats rafted to her. Swim
call was held and it felt great to cool off. While the crew of Sea
Deuce went ashore aboard a tender, the other two boats cooked dinner and
chatted, until we noticed a bank of very dark clouds approaching.
Scrambling to put everything away to keep the approaching storm from
blowing it all over the side, the crew of Sea Deuce got back to the raft
just as the storm hit. Gusting to 30 knots and lots of stinging
rain. Sea Deuce and Ca Ira had their engines going in case we
needed to split the raft, everyone in foulies and laughing with the
absurdity of it all. The storm blew over a bit before midnight and
the stars popped out one by one, and the rest of the night was just
relaxing.
7. Corsica River Race Back
The race back was
shortened quite a bit because this event usually loses winds about
halfway through the race. So the RC went to an area almost to the
mouth of Queenstown, and waited for a bit more winds before starting us.
At that point the winds were almost abeam, so it was a drag race to the
first mark. All three boats were pretty close at the first mark
and it turned into another pursuit race. Once the winds kicked in
after the start they built quickly, and the race was over fairly
quickly, ending where it started yesterday. It was such a nice day
to sail that most of the fleet decided to sail as far as the bridge
before motoring through as the winds started dying off in the late
afternoon. It was a great Chesapeake Bay sailing day.
8
Poplar Island Race
The
race started with three Tritons at the line:
Ca
Ira,
Sea Deuce
and
Triton's Fury.
The conditions were very light winds, making the race a lot harder than
it had to be. This race allows the racers to go either clockwise or
counterclockwise around the course. All boats, with the light winds,
decided to go clockwise around taking advantage of the current and in
hopes the August wind would build.
The first
leg from H to E was in brutally light air conditions, with what little
wind available shifting from NW to SW. The windex's were spinning like
roulette wheels. Eventually
Triton's Fury
made it to E about 50 yards ahead of
Sea Deuce
and
Ca Ira.
All three boats headed down the Bay on
starboard until they had to tack around Bloody Point.
Sea Deuce
and
Ca Ira
slowly gained ground on
Triton's Fury
and
Ca Ira
eventually crossed in front to take the lead. As the three boats
approached Q,
Triton's Fury noticed
there was an RC boat directly East of Q to thankfully shorten the race.
They were quickly sailing out of position to go through the finish line
and had to immediately tack. They got into a brief tacking duel with
Sea
Deuce,
first crossing ahead of them, and then
being crossed by Sea Deuce. At the finish line
Ca Ira
took the Triton gun, followed very closely by
Sea Deuce
and then
Triton's Fury.
All three boats finished within a few boats lengths of each other for
another tight race.
9.
CRAB Regatta
There was absolutely no wind today. You could look over the side
and comb your hair, it was that calm and glassy. The RC abandoned
the race and invited everyone to the party which started a lot earlier
than planned.
10.
HISF Race
Three Tritons sailed in the first Herring Island Hugh Kabler Triton
Invitational. The winds were light and fluky and there were a few
times when we all wondered if the current was going to set us into the
now-submerged Herring Island, but they were all able to take advantage
of what little winds there were. Sandpiper rounded the windward
mark barely ahead of Inka, but Inka were ready with the immediate
spinnaker set while Sandpiper had to wire it up for launch. That
allowed Inka to take the lead and they never gave it up the remainder of
the event. Sandpiper and Ca Ira duked it out, though, with each
passing the other a few times on the run. The finish was a fast
flurry of tacks up the river to the Mile River Yacht Club where folks
were cheering as Inka crossed. It was very fitting that Mike
Kabler, grandson of Hugh Kabler, and his family sailing aboard Inka won
the first Triton Invitational. This will surely be one
not-to-be-missed race in the coming years.
11.
Queenstown Race:
Three
Tritons signed up for this race, but two started. The weather was
nice, but the winds and seas were against the fleet as they motor sailed
up to Baltimore Lighthouse to start. The north winds were in the
upper teens pushing water down the bay, and both boats started with a
double reefed main and a number two headsail, knowing that after the six
mile beat across the bay the run up the Chester River would be great
with a full main and number two. The beat across the bay was won
by Sandpiper and then it was a pursuit race to the finish off
Queenstown. While running up the bay the fleet caught up with Ca
Ira, who had decided to cruise over to the raft-up and race back the
following day. With only two aboard it was going to be challenging
to control the boat with the conditions present at the start.
The
raft-up was nice, though other boats charged over and tossed an anchor
in the water with a 1:1 rode, inside our anchoring circle. We
almost bumped once so we motored around as a raft until we could
establish a decent anchoring point. The sunset was fantastic and
then we started looking for satellites, and then it got a bit cold.
It really was a fun evening...
12. Queenstown Race Back:
The day started out enjoyable, with great
temperatures and some wind, but it died out completely about an hour
after the start. All three boats, being becalmed with no prospect
for additional winds in the foreseeable future, withdrew from the event.
13. Good Old Boat Regatta, Day One:
Too much of anything isn't good. Today was one of those days.
Getting underway at 0930 and heading toward the rendezvous it seemed
like a great day to be on the water. Within an hour most
boats were double reefed and had laid out a number 3 headsail to fly as
the winds really kicked in, pushing the seas before it. The day
was a wet and bouncy one, and looking at the various "Good Old Boats" on
the water and their crews, the RC decided that it was too rough to race
and abandoned the event for the day. Most of the boats that made
it out motored into the seas and headed into Mill Creek or a ship
somewhere and headed to the party. The three Tritons which made it
to the area of the RC set sail and enjoyed a great Triton day on the
water.
14. Good Old Boat Regatta, Day Two:
As much as there was yesterday, there was that little today. The
RC did a great job in waiting the doldrums out as the fleet motored
around the bay looking for even a breath of air. It eventually
filled in about 90 minutes later and a short course was immediately set
and started. The four Tritons hit the line very close to the
starting gun and headed off for a very slow, drifting race with lots of
wind shifts. Sandpiper rounded the first mark barely ahead of
Triton's Fury and in order spinnakers were set by all four. While
Sandpiper and Triton's Fury were sailing a "boat speed" course, Ca Ira
and Sea Deuce sailed a "Rhumb Line" course and it really didn't seem to
make a lot of difference between the two, except that Ca Ira rounded the
second mark ahead of Triton's Fury.
The RC
had decided to shorten the course, so the next mark was the finish line,
but that was to prove very difficult to get across. When
Sandpiper rounded the winds were more from the North, but when the other
three rounded the winds at the mark were more from the North East,
giving them a much shorter course. They took advantage of that and
Triton's Fury and Ca Ira passed well ahead of Sandpiper on the first
cross of the leg, and Sea Deuce was challenging the entire way.
Near the final mark the winds died out and the current took over,
becalming Triton's Fury and Ca Ira. Sandpiper and Sea Deuce saw
that and went right on the course to stay in what wind there was.
Eventually some winds filled in for Triton's Fury who tacked toward the
line and stalled less than 20 feet from crossing. Less than two
boat lengths away Ca Ira could do little but watch as the breath of wind
passed them by.
Sandpiper and Sea Deuce just kept plugging away, barely able to overcome
the current as all four boats converged on the line. A bit of wind
was all that Triton's Fury needed and they got it, crossing the line and
getting the gun. Sandpiper drifted across second just a few
minutes later. Ca Ira got the same breath that Triton's Fury had
and crossed third with Sea Deuce a very close fourth. It was a
very challenging race the entire way.
15.
Triton Fall Classic:
Lots of rain, seas and winds caused a lot of folks to bail from the
event, so it was not sailed this year.
16. Jack Niedringhaus Trophy Race:
Winds and seas prevented even the hardiest folks from venturing out as
Gale force
winds were forecast.
Well, many of the crew wanted to spend a warm day inside, too.
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