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Archive for May, 2004

Last Again…

Monday, May 31st, 2004 by Tom

No time for bacon butties on Saturday morning so had to settle for an 8am eye-opener at the Somerset Police Club while Papillon was prepared. Horrors! I’d forgotten my keys to the Bar! Saturday was shaping up to be a tough day….

The start was slated for 10am so with much trepidation we set off accross the sound for the RBYC courtesy of the five horses inside the trusty Yamaha motor…The sound was proving to be as lively as she looked from up west however once inside the harbour things quieted and we were able to complete our preparation.

Chugging past the Yacht club we noticed a distinct lack of fellow racers…then with about 15 minutes to the gun we saw Solaise and Sliding Bye. Centipede joined the group giving a total of 4 J’s for the race. At least we wont come any worse than 4th.

The course was given and before we knew it, sails were up and we were off. Since the Papillon crew strive for consistency above all else, we were last over the line yet headed bang on for Two Rock. Solaise was well ahead followed closely by Sliding Bye. Centipede needed to put a couple of tacks in so as to make it through the channel which put Papillon in 3rd as we headed gingerly out into the sound.

Within a couple of milliseconds of going through Two Rock, we were all drenched from head to toe. Great. About 10 gallons went down my bib pants and filled up the legs to the knees because I had velcro’d the bottoms up. Well I drained that off and got comfy on the rail for the schlep upto the Grays Bridge BOCA mark.

Naturally, we rounded the mark in last place and proceeded to Grace Island. We werent too far behind, which pleased us. When we arrived at the G Spot, Centipede was doing funny things with her Jib. Looked like it had got wrapped around the forestay and the batten was holding it there. Siezing the moment, Papillon dramatically edged into 3rd place again and held this lead for quite some time (by Papillon standards).

Solaise and Sliding Bye were well ahead, Papillon was 3rd around ‘40′ as we headed on for the Lantana mark. Papillon narrowed the gap on this leg. Solaise had gone wide and Sliding Bye looked like she had hit some dead air on the wrong side of the mark which allowed us to catch up. Papillon came roaring in from Cavello bay area keeping the balance between flatter waters and good wind pretty good (we thought). 3rd around the mark with Centipede not too far behind, we set off for the run back up to 40. Solaise had flown her chute which, from our perspective, looked to be a bitch to handle. Nevertheless, it was this that put some serious water inbetween herself and Sliding Bye.

We elected not to fly the chute based on only 4 of us an even rookier crew than normal. Cant recall whether Sliding Bye flew hers or not however she was well ahead of us again. All eyes were on Centipede as she rounded Lantana and popped her spinnaker. Well, that was that as they sailed past us. We were upset for a moment and then in a moment of great alacrity, Centipede went over, spreaders in the water. Broach-tastic!

Their spinnaker was billowing around for a good while and we thought we might have a chance to catch them up but they quickly regained control and were back underway. By this point, Solaise might have well have been half way to America.

We rounded 40 again in last and set off for KP which, surprise, we rounded last.. .on the run back to 40, I thought it might be a good time for a spot of lunch. My lunch consisted of a Marathon bar and an apple thoughtfully provided by my wife. Unfortunately, the apple had worked it’s way from my bag into the bilge. Yum! Anyway, I dipped it in the briney which gave it a wonderful salty taste to accent the algea-oil combination it already had.

Back at 40, we had a novel twist on things. Instead of port-rounding in last place, we did a starboard-rounding in last place. Brought a cheer to us anyway. Last slog back to the finish line and we held our position (last) and crossed the line only about 150 yards behind Centipede. That’s pretty good going for us! I’m sure Neil & Co would have been on their eleventeenth pint by then. Oh well.

Anyway, we took the sails down and brought the horses up from below and set off for the slog back to Boaz Island. Despite our meteorologist cum skipper assuring us throughout the day that things would calm down, I think they had actually got worse. Back at the police club, things were in dire straits. The bar still wasnt open!!!!! I had to ring round a few people and eventually got Gippo who came with his keys and opened up. We had about 11 billion Amstel Lights and then put Papillon to bed.

All in all, a great day out. Glad we completed the course with nothing breaking. Our first time doing anything other than W/L and I think we much preferred it. Have we have had our regular crew, we would have had our kite up and I think we could have taken 3rd…which would have been great!

cheers all

Iain
(Bowman Extroadinaire)

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Solaise Worlds Update - Carbs rule!

Monday, May 10th, 2004 by Tom
Arriving in Noroton, after weeks of starvation, no beer, bread, pasta, and feeling faint, Team Solaise staggered to the weigh in to find that we would cruise in, under 10 lbs light. An orgy of bacon and egg butties followed, with high sugar orange juice, Red Bull and coffee laced with real suger (none of that imitation crap). Giddy with excitement, we had the new sails measured and went to find our charter boat. Some anxious moments as the keel was measured, and re-measured several times but eventually given the thumbs up. Others were not so lucky, the sound of electric sanders echoed accross the parking lot, West System filler was in abundance and crews worked late into the night with ingenious homemade oven devices to speed up the curing process. Mast up, to discover 6mm too short and we had to insert nylon blocks under the foot to make up the difference. Then a crane into the water. It took three days to measure all 74 boats.
Without dwelling on the aspects of every single race, several things struck me. Almost total disregard for rules at mark roundings, he who shouts loudest wins, and we’d been primed about the starts. Nothing, however, prepares you for the frenzy and the first leeward mark rounding. As Mike alluded to in his report, you just find a gap, stick the nose of the boat in there and shout, and hopefully you come out of the mess on the other side in a better position than you entered. We now know the Japanese for “you can’t go in there, no room round eyes.”
The other thing that struck me was the number of sailors from other countries who say “Hey, Bermuda, when you doin’ the Dark and Stormy Party?” If our performances on the race course don’t make us friends, our reputation from those that have been at Worlds before ensures our popularity. A tradition was born and long may it continue with future J24 Worlds teams.
Mike, I thought, had a great regatta, the conditions were brutal, not windy, just light, shifty and with lots of current. There was only one really windy day. We, on the other hand, were hopeful not to be DFL, and we succeeded in having a couple of top two thirds finishes. The last race, it turned out, was our best with a 45th. It was a real thrill to look back and see 29 boats still to finish. 71st from 74.
A long hard week, very unforgiving on the race course and tough in the bar afterwards. I’d do it all again in a heart beat.

Neil Redburn

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Erin Worlds Report (2004)

Monday, May 10th, 2004 by Tom
Erins Worlds Report
Hi All,Sorry no emails during the week but between the sailing, drinking and limited internet availability it was a bit hectic. Here is a summary of the Erin Crew?s highlights and lowlights:

Boat measurement: Went very well, all passed first time except the mast which was vertically challenged by 2mm. Four quarters under the mast step and we were measured in. By now the owner had gone so we begged a tow over to the crane and into the water we went.

Sundays practice race: After waiting 2 hours for some wind we did 2 practice starts where if you were 10 boat lengths from the line at the 5 min gun you were late! We did not bother to sail the one mile beat away from the yacht club, instead in true BJCA fashion we returned to the bar.

Monday: Can’t remember Monday, I know I had to concentrate real hard to keep the boat speed up in the light wind. By light I mean maxing out at 5.4knts. I do know from the results that we did really well.

Tuesday: Stayed on the mooring for a while waiting for the fog to lift. After a 4 1/2 minute postponement ashore (what was that about?) we motored out into the gloom to find the race course. In the very light wind and dampness the tell tails just hung straight down even when sailing upwind, to be honest I struggled and it showed in the results. The next race had more wind probably 5 -10 but a huge windshift on the second beat got the race cancelled.

Big Wednesday: This was supposed to be the end of Hurricane Jeanne but it all tuned out a bit pathetic really. After sitting ashore with a postponement due to high winds we eventually went out to 22knts and lumpy seas. My crew were really happy when I got a wave wrong and freezing water (60degC) about 18 inches deep ran from the bow to the cockpit soaking everyone. Ooops!As for the race, we started near the pin to head for the shore and flatter water. But a call of general recall had me ducking the pin boat that I was struggling to make. We then realised it was an individual recall and we were sailing the wrong way!! A quick gybe and port tack start had us chasing the pack (of 74 boats!!) A really good beat put us back in the middle of the fleet and a fun downwind. Much to our amazement everyone was changing to the genoa’s; totally mad. After half the next beat we found out why as the wind dropped to 10-15 and we struggled in the lumpy seas as everyone else zoomed off. A downwind change for us and a so-so final beat left us in the 60’s. After struggling through the second race we finally worked out a method of driving the genoa in lumpy seas and reasonable wind. An unexpected third race of the day (which cheered a wet, cold and battered Lorrie up no end) saw us improve our boat speed and we got a 44th.

Thursday: This was a day from hell. Crazy light winds with huge 40 deg wind shifts made you lucky or unlucky very quickly. It was possible to gain 20 boats upwind or downwind with good wind calling. It was also very easy to drop the 20 boats again by screwing something up such as a bad tack and slow speed by not being settled. Race 2 was a joke where the fleet parked just after the top mark and Neil managed to catch them up and park with them (he thought it was a raft up!). We on the other hand never even rounded the top mark as they abandoned the race and removed it before we got there!! Hooray! Just the type of day to be rounded off by the traditional Dark ?n Stormy party ? 11 litres of rum gone in 15 minutes!

Friday: The last day was another very light wind day. We waited for an hour or two because one side of the course was a glassy pond and the other had a massive 3 knts on it. After a 90 deg wind shift the RC set a course and stated we would be starting in 2 minutes. I thought it was crazy as it was soooo light. Anyway we had a reasonable race to get 52nd. The last race was the best for me. On the start I got my best hole of the week and held my lane for nearly half a beat, my best effort to date. As soon as you get dirty air and tack away that is it, you have to pass stern after stern to find another hole to get left again. After the first downwind we rounded the right gate just one boat behind Brad Read. The boat above was a pincher so I footed and he eventually tacked away leaving us and Brad to duke it out. I kept footing and waited for him to tack. After the copy tack just above him we kept going high putting some reserve in the bank, this paid off as the race was shortened to a top mark finish and we got knocked coming in so we rode over the top of Brad Read to beat him at the finish (where we ended up 31st, cool).

Neil’s best move was on the day when about 20 boats parked in between the two leeward marks. As we were fighting for the left mark I looked inside to see Neil ?you could get a double decker bus through here? Redburn going bow first into a 2 ft wide hole which started off a cascade of screaming from various boats, very amusing. Fortunately, Tim Wilkes took a photo of it, below is the link. It is the top right photo on page 2 of Neil?s photos. If the link does not work just search on Bow43 J24W04 for Neil or Bow01 J24W04 for us.

http://www.timwilkes.com/search.php?searchtype=all&searchoption=all&searchtext=Bow43%20J24W04&more=2″>Links to Photos

Mike Lewis

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Stuart Jardine wins the J24 Class by one point for the Gripper Trophy

Tuesday, May 4th, 2004 by Tom

(Story courtesy of http://www.yachtsandyachting.com)

This years Race Week turned out to be the most competitive J24 regatta that has ever been held in Bermuda, the Bermuda Fleet have improved beyond measure and now all their boats have been fully overhauled, their crews are the equal of most Fleets in the World, as was shown in the results with all four of their selected teams taking 2nd to 5th overall. Only the UK entry could win one race, the remaining 8 wins in the 9 race series were taken by Bermudian teams.

As those of us that have attended International Race Week before, the Dark and Stormy’s, the Parties and the Hospitality are almost impossible to beat. How often does a loosing team come up to the winners with two bottles of champagne to celebrate the victory. The International J24 Class is in great heart and no where better than in Bermuda.

Three points separated the top three J24’s going into the last race. Jon Corless (Bermuda) led Stuart Jardine (UK) with Mike Lewis (Bermuda) third.

In the final race Mike Lewis finished 2nd and Stuart Jardine just slipped passed two boats on the finish line by a metre to take 3rd with Jon Corless 6th giving Stuart the overall victory.

Overall Results: (9 races, 1 discard)

Pos Sail No Helm R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 Pts
1 GBR 4215 Stuart Jardine 4 1 4 2 2 2 6 2 3 26
2 BER 12 Jon Corless/T Olson 3 2 5 7 1 1 2 1 6 28
3 BER 3254 Mike Lewis 2 3 1 5 4 3 3 3 2 26
4 BER 3942 Trevor Boyce 5 4 7 6 5 DSQ 1 4 1 45
5 BER 19 John Nicholls 1 6 9 1 3 5 4 8 7 44
6 USA 5291 Mike Hill 7 5 3 4 7 4 7 5 4 46
7 USA 5253 Scott Snyder 6 8 2 3 6 6 8 6 5 50
8 CAY 1 Jane Moon 8 7 6 11 8 7 5 7 8 67
9 CAN 4101 Anne Aylmer 10 10 8 9 9 8 9 9 9 81
10 CAN 4468 Ken Clarke 11 9 10 8 DNS 9 11 11 10 91
11 CAN 578 Dale Robertson 9 11 11 10 10 DNS 10 10 11 94

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