Last night Cheryl Miller, her nieces and I moved the boat over to Schooner Creek for repair. They pulled the boat today and said it would need a new rudder, the shaft is bent serious bad, and they can't get it off.
They will work on it more on Monday, pictures are coming.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
The diver's report is in, not good
I hired captain Ron (stop laughing), a USCG Master 100T at Columbia River Marine Assistance to dive the boat today and take pictures. The good news is the shaft and prop are fine, the bad news is the rudder isn't. The gouge is 4 inches long and 1/2 an inch deep. After tightening the steering cables yesterday the wheel had been rotated 10 degrees off center and the rudder shaft had a slight bend in her, not allowing the last 10 degrees of rotation of the wheel without the top of the rudder scrapping the bottom of hull.
So ends our racing season, win some, loose some and run over some buoys. I will be calling up Schooner Creek in the morning Monday to see what the cost will be.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Third Race Results in the SYSCO Series
Yesterday was the third of the SYSCO Summer Series. Our crew for the race was "Hit the Buoy" O'Shea, "Bossman" Aldridge, "Grinder" Miller, "Wonderboy" Reina, and "Fingers" Rhodes. The lessons from last week in getting to the boat on time paid off, we were there in plenty of time. The boat was rigged and we were off to the Race Committee boat to be registered. On our first pass of the committee boat they had yet to raise the course numbers. We were exceeding disappointed because we actually remembered the map and could wait to try our skills at once more. After passing the committee boat we raised sails. Scanning the horizon our two competitors "Vagrant" and "Hail Yes!" had made it to the race course and were ready. As time passed the committee boat raised the come within hail flag and once more we passed their boat. Although the courses for the 1-4 fleet were clearly labeled with fixed letters, the committee decided to write out the courses for the 5, and 6 fleets. Reading it was nearly impossible so we opt'ed for following the others to the first mark.
As the count down of the start approached we had set up on port tack; having once again an excellent start ahead of the majority of the fleet. The skipper select to go the Oregon side of the river holding first tack as long as possible as others tacked off to port tack heading for the upwind mark. As we neared the mark we crossed to the other side river, noticing that we had lost ground allowing 2/3s of the fleet to pass us, including both of the other Catalina 30s. When the first half of the fleet rounded the mark they bunched up blocking each others wind to the downwind mark. Seizing the opportunity we swung around buoy passing "Hail Yes!" and falling right on "Vagrant" stern (within 5 feet).
On customary playlist of Irish Classic Songs boomed through the stereo as the crew of the "NiSe" sung along, distracting many in the fleet. What they didn't notice was the wind was shifting from behind us to our port. "Wonderboy" was the first to notice as the wind shift caused an accidental jibe. In an accidental jibe the wind takes the mainsail and pushes swiftly through a 180 degree rotation. Anyone in the path of the boom is subject to serious pain. Needless to say "Wonderboy" was standing in front of the boom to prevent accidental jibes. So as the boom crossed the deck, "Wonderboy" ran trying to beat get out of it's way and we nearly lost him overboard.
The wind shift put us on a reach we trimmed sails and starting moving up in the fleet. By the time we rounded the downwind mark we were right beside "Vagrant", with our nose about 3 feet ahead of his on his windward side. Rules of sailing dictate you must not block your competitor from rounding the mark on the inside if there is overlap which was the case. We allowed them to round first and came up on their windward side, on starboard tack (advantage to us). Both boats traveled to the finish side by side, heeled at 20 degrees, crews eyeing each other. Then we passed the committee boat, "Vagrant" had beat us. I had no been watching the finish rather watching "Vagrant", otherwise I would have noticed we both crossed on the wrong side of the committee boat. "Vagrant" was too wrapped in celebration to notice either. I turned the boat around and headed back for the other side of the committee boat. As I did I saw "Hail Yes" screaming for the finish, but far enough away that we could still place first. Then tragedy struck once again this season I stuck a buoy, this time wrapping the anchor line around the rudder of the boat.
We dropped sails, and the race committee came out to assist. Nothing could get us off the mark, so they tried catching the buoy anchor by dragging another anchor from their boat. Well this ended in a disastrous fashion as that anchor wrapped our rudder as well. Another racer brought out his Zodiac and was eventually able to free us (two hours later). The driver of the Zodiac was from "Free Bowl of Soup", our own Doug Schenk's syndicate. The damage to the boat still needs to be surveyed, so the extent is unknown. The lesson learned is to stay far away from the buoy's.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Father's Day -The Best of Shea's little girls
I had the best Father's Day doing one of the things I love to do: work on the boat. I finally got the courage to put the new hatch on the front of the V-Birth.
The new hatch looks very nice, but I went through every emotion in the book putting it on. It took a good six hours to do, but looks really nice.
The other thing that was fun was watching my real little girl Katie and our dog Kona. The two of them had a blast paddling around the marina. That's Kona in the front of the paddle laying on Katie's lap.
It was a great Father's Day.
It was a great Father's Day.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
June 14th Second Race in the Series
June 14th Second Race in the Series
Yesterday was the second of the SYSCO Summer Series. As always the drama leading up to the start of race was most of the excitement. One of our crew arrived late at the meeting point for the car pool so we didn't depart the transit center until nearly 5:00PM. I received the new jib and loaded in Kevin "fingers" Rhodes SUV, along with the sail numbers that needed to be attached. On the drive there, I had the hair brained idea that I could actually place the sail numbers on the jib while on the way to the boat. To give you an idea of what this was like: imagine yourself in Amsterdam, in the back of cab doing 120mph through the city streets, and the cab driver is a turk having just finish a combination of crack, speed and opium smoking, and you're trying to do needle point in the backseat. Kevin is one of my best friends, and I am not saying he's a bad driver, or my safety was in question while in the car; but way in the back of the SUV buried under 85lbs of Dacron sail it sure gave me flashbacks to Amsterdam. All in all, it was a bad idea, the numbers never got on, and I just got car sick. Thankfully Michelle and Marc were at the boat and all was ready when we arrived. We scrambled to get the headsail on as we motored out to the course while Marc got a crash lesson in yacht racing.
As we approached the committee boat and were recorded for the race; but then it dawned on me that we left the course book back at the dock, in haste to put up the new jib. We celebrated though having known we arrived just in time to be included in the race. Winds were out of the North-NW, blowing about 10-12 knots making it a brisk sail upwind. We set up the main, and the new jib to begin the start sequence. For the third time in a row we had a great start as we headed for the upwind mark. We jockeyed for position in the fleet and gained advantage from the new jib, beating our way to the mark.
An unprecedented three tacks were required to round the mark and set up for the downwind leg. On the down wind leg we remained near our arch rival "Vagrant", with "Hail Yes" the other Catalina 30 far behind us. Approaching the downwind mark we rounded with about 130 yards behind "Vagrant". As we approached the upwind mark, we saw the mark had moved down river 300 yards We approached on a starboard tack, which slowed the boat because we needed to pinch to get through the distance between the mark and pile. "Hail Yes" came screaming towards us on port tack (we had right of way). To avoid collision I hove the boat to and allowed "Hail Yes" pass while shouting various profane statements at the oncoming boat. I called for the red flag (protesting the boat maneuver) which was ignored by the passing yacht. We passed the committee boat on the next downwind leg and ensured they saw the red flag. By the time we rounded the last m
ark making way to the finish we had caught up with "Hail Yes!" finishing 1/2 a boat length behind her. We dropped our sails and made way to the committee boat to file our protest. The crew had the traditional pint as we put the boat to bed.
I should note that this was the first race "fingers" failed to sacrifice anything other than a spot of Guinness to the river.
Un-officially we were in 3rd (of three, sounds better than last). The protest was emailed to the race committee at 11:48pm last night just 8 minutes to spare.
Next Thursday we have another chance to climb back on top. Additionally I have registered the syndicate for the SYSCO Solstice Series with special races on the 22nd and 23rd, I will make a request for special crew call next week. The Solstice Series has only 14 boats in the race so there is a good chance for NiSe to place.
Monday, June 11, 2012
June 11th 2012
Katie, Kona and I spent the weekend days working on the boat. Several improvements were made including the new sail numbers on the main sail, the mounted BBQ grill and the motor mount for the dinghy's motor (see pictures).
Of course Kona and I spent as much of Sunday on the boat as we could enjoying the sun until we both passed out.
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| Motor mount in the upper left hand side and grill on the right hand side |
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| Sail numbers for the Main Sail |
Of course Kona and I spent as much of Sunday on the boat as we could enjoying the sun until we both passed out.
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| Kona (pirate named KONA the black) passed out after a hard day on the water |
Friday, June 8, 2012
St. Vulphy's Day
June 7th 2012
Wow its 20 MPH now gusting to 24MPH. Makes me want to mock Henry the V and the St. Cripsain's Day speech. Today is Saint Vulphy's Day…..
This day is called the Feast of St. Vulphy.
He that outlives this day and comes safe home
Will stand a-tiptoe when this day is named
And rouse him at the name of St. Vulphy.
He that shall see this day and live t' old age
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours
And say, "Tomorrow is Saint Vulphy's."
Then will he (or she) strip his (or her) sleeve and show scars
And say, "These wounds I had on Vulphy's day."
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words —
Terry the Skip, Cheryl and Kevin,
Taylor and Michelle, NiSe and others—
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
This story shall the good man teach his son (or daughter),
And violent Vulphy shall ne'er go by
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers (and sisters).
For he today that sail on a boat with me
Shall be my brother (or sister); be he (or she) ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his (or her) condition.
And gentlemen on land now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods (or womanhood) cheap whiles any speaks
That sailed with us upon Saint Vulphy's Day
First Race on SYSCO Summer Series
June 7th 2012
Yesterday was the start of the SYSCO Summer Series and the crew of "NiSe" looked great, albeit typical confusion on the course was abundant. Leading up to the race we had the new shirts delivered (THANKS LINDA!!) so the entire crew was dressed in black: the boat name boldly displayed in white block letters across the back. Wanting to make the start perfect, I purchased an iPhone apps custom made for counting down sailboat racing starts. I spent the night before programming the app and understanding the full functionality. I was ready to be first across the line. The crew was set to Michelle, Cheryl, "fingers" Rhodes, and his son "boom buns".
We motored out to the committee boat, to be recorded and read the course number. A simple start, round #1, round #3 and finish was the course. As we were putting our sails up, who should appear but the arch rivals from the week before, "Vagrant". They pulled along side and we chatted and joked about the course and the race before. With sails up the two boats took runs back and forth across the river like to wild stallions running side by side sizing each other up. "NiSe" despite only having Dacron sails, was a wee bit faster on the reach, out paced "Vagrant" with her golden Kevlar sails. Confident that I had the better crew, I was ready for the start.
We held the boat in place near the committee boat waiting for the start at 6:30PM. Precisely as the iPhone struck 6:30, the first blast went off on the committee boat, and I started the timer app. We were the third fleet to start, as I watched each of the first two count downs tick past; the horn signal perfectly timed to the apps countdown. Our start came and we counted down, 1 minute to start, 45 seconds, 30 seconds, 15 seconds, and we headed for the line. In my mind I knew we had nailed the start, like an America's Cup crew. But as the timer ticked to "0" and we crossed the start there was no horn from the committee boat. Looking over to the boat, I saw the white flag with a blue cross, meaning a call back of some boats from the previous start. That flag explained why I was fighting these little Range 20's going the wrong direction as we started.
We turned the boat back around looping back past the starting line, getting onto starboard tack we placed ourselves once again in the path of "Upstart". "What are you doing?" their skipper yelled. "starting" was the only reply I had. With the confusion, we didn't fair too badly in the start, only 3/4 of the way back in the pack as we progressed to the mark. Being in the back of the pack gave us a nice view of the rest of the fleet as they peeled off one by one to port-tack and head for the mark. We decided to gamble and play the Columbia River's might current to our favor and tack early. If we were wrong we wouldn't be aligned with the mark and have to tack again, if we were right we could gain everything lost and beat the fleet to the inside of the mark. As most of you know I am a risk taker, and sometimes it pays off big, this time it did. We rounded the mark on the inside pushing the rest of the fleet outward to our position pushing to 3rd place, 1st among our class of boats.
Going downwind, the command was give to play the stereo loud to psych out the other crews, and it worked too. The Pogues' song, "Stream of Whiskey" boomed from the rear speakers as we gained on our competition. The boat soon slowed, as "Vagrant" moved right behind us stealing our wind. It wasn't long before the other two Catalina 30's were behind her as well pulling us almost to a complete stop. "Vagrant" passed us but we were able to shake off the other two as we gained again on "Vagrant"'s position.
At this point in the race is where young Taylor Rhodes, (finger's son) earns his name. Taylor being the youngest and lightest on the crew at 17y/o was sent to hold the boom back from an accidental jibe by sitting on the boom near the mast. Spouting that he had yet to earn a nickname was thusly timed with his place on the boom; hence"boom buns" was coined.
Bearing down on the mark for the final leg produced more confusion as the race committee boat had dropped a second mark behind the other downwind mark. Which mark should we go with? As a crew we decided on the further one because some of the boats rounded that mark. Being right behind "Vagrant" I watched as they rounded the first and headed back. Not wanting to be beat by them, your skipper made the command decision to round the first mark and make way to the finish. We crossed the line 22 seconds behind "Vagrant", unofficially second in our class of boats. Official results come out Saturday on (www.sailpdx.org), then we will know if we did it right.
We pulled down the sails and motored back to the marina. Michelle asked, "Why don't we sail back?" Looking around at the fleet of boats still racing and having yet to finish my retort was simple, "no reason to show off now." The crew, save young "boom buns", enjoyed a Guinness as we put "NiSe" to bed and locked up. Next week is race two in the series so stay tuned.
May 31 2012
To the crew of the NiSe and Followers:
I know many of you were wanting to know; how the syndicate faired in the final race of the spring series. The spring series we entered in the SYSCO Cruising Fleet #5 A, ten boats in all with four of them being Catalina 30s. The top two boats to beat in the bigger fleet were "Barcode" and "Upstart". Among the Catalina 30's, a subgroup of the bigger fleet, "Second Half" and "Vagrant" were the top two boats to beat. In the spring series "Upstart"'s record until last night was 1st, 1st, 4th. Our nearest competitor, "Second Half" has a better record through the series of all firsts. For last night's race we had Tom Pearson, Charing Riolo and Kimi Jensen as crew as we motored out to the committee boat. By the start time there was no wind, so the race committee called for a postponement to the start. After an hour of waiting, winds increased to 5-8 knots, prompting the race officials to raise the call for the race. We waited as each of the smaller boats began their races, until the flags were raised for our class. A quick glance around the river revealed that "Barcode", "Upstart","Second Half" and "Vagrant" were making a large circle to gain a starboard side tack as they ran for the mark. Quick action by the crew of the "NiSe" allowed us to make a shorter radius circle but gain just as much speed as the rest of the fleet, putting us right up front in the pack as we approached the line. With "Upstart" on our left (yielding right of way to us), and "Second Half" on our right (giving him right away) we approached the starting line. Over my shoulder I could hear "Second Half"'s crew calling out the timing for the start, allowing me to focus on forcing "Upstart" away from the line making us second to cross the starting line in the bigger fleet. My friends, that was a textbook start for the syndicate if there ever was one. The pack made good speed as we headed to the mark and we maintained our second position leading up to the first tack. "Barcode" being a bigger boat passed us after the tack, and three of us lead boats headed up to the mark. As we had gotten within 500 yards from the mark, "Vagrant" made a bold move and tack right into our path rounding the mark inside of us as we turned downwind. Apparently the rest of the fleet believed "Vagrant"'s strategy was the one to go with as they followed closely behind. The pack's belief in "Vagrant" led to her downfall as the pack took the wind out of our competitor's sails. Since we turned wide, the fresh air was ours and we soon passed "Vagrant". Due to the light winds in the current the progress downwind was slow (8 minutes to the mark, but 45 minutes back to the line). With two-thirds of the distance covered back to the finish line, "Vagrant" had broken free from the back and had us in her sights. (in the picture you can see "Vagrant" coming after us).
By the time we were within a 100 yards from the finish "Vagrant" had fully came up behind us taking the wind out of our sails. For the final 15 minutes of the race we played the game of covering her every move, not allowing her to pass in front us. When we finally crossed the line we were third in the overall fleet and second in the Catalina 30 fleet beating "Vagrant" by a boat length and six inches. Yes, that's right she was six inches directly behind us when we crossed.
The un-official final series results put us tied with "Vagrant" for second place. Overall outstanding job given this was our first series as a syndicate!!
Thanks for all the help, and yes we will be doing the Summer Series starting next week!
May 17th 2012
All;
Last night we had our first good omen, Tom kept both shoes on while we left the marina! Winds last night were westerly 15-22 knots, forcing the race committee to set up another very odd course. With "One Boot Tommy", "Wonderboy Reina" and "Butter Finger Rhodes" we were well positioned in the start to actually be first across the starting. Had the skipper not cross the finish line instead we would have clearly won, but we had to restart the race. The good news is we weren't the last to cross the starting line on the official start, but we were in the back of the pack. "One Boot" and "Wonderboy" had worked out the sail trims on the tacking beautifully as ran the first upwind leg to the mark. We had gained back a good deal of lost distance to the pack in the up wind leg, only to round the mark and experience the full force of the 2 knot current. With most of the pack pulling away from us there were 5 boats still reading the name from our stern. "Fingers" did a great job in poling out the jib. At the end of the downwind leg back on the upwind course we experienced a couple of full rail burials as the boat heeled over several times pushing the overall speed over ground to 7.5 knots. The entire upwind course was an wonderful orchestrated dance of tacking and trimming thanks to "one boot" and "wonderboy". As spray from the Columbia River came over the dodger we made quick time in getting to the final rounding of the downwind mark. Once again, "Fingers" did a great job on the pole out, but also provided our weekly sacrifice to the Columbia River. Yep, it was "fingers" that gave up his hat to the Columbia, to which the entire crew said a short prayer as it floated past the boat. We kept the NiSe mid-river on the final downwind leg to capture clean air. We rounded the mark toward the finish line and were cheered by the committee boat as we landed a solid unofficial third place. The crew celebrated back at the dock with a pint of Guinness, and were celebrated by the crew of "Brenda Lee". Their skipper David Long said, "Damn you guys looked really good out there, if you get the start down we're scared." Next race is on the 24th with us having a solid second place tie and a third place finish we still have a chance to claim first in the division; especially if we can get the start right. Look for the crew call on Tuesday for Thursday's race.
May 15th 2012
All;
After the last race we still hold third place out of 4 in our fleet, the next race is Thursday. We need to meet at the Sunset Transit Center at 4:30pm on Thursday to car pool over to the marina. Please be on the first floor of the transit center, near the north side of the structure of the parking garage. The reason for car pooling is to make it on the boat and out in time (use the carpool lane of I5). I need a headcount of who will be attending, so please email me. If you can't attend on this race there is 2 more chances on the 24th, and 31st of May. It will be fun.
May 4th 2012
All;
Perhaps it was a bad omen that even before we had left the marina one of the crew members lost his shoe to drink. In last night's results we received a DNF (did not finish). The good news is we are fourth in the fleet, but the bad news is there are only four boats in the fleet. Once we got out to the race course we had a difficult time reading the race committees boat course numbers. As a result we had no idea where the marks were to round. As the 6 minute count down started for the race we were well positioned to cross the starting line at the 1 minute mark. Our crew fair very well as we approached the starting mark on starboard tack. But a we bit early on our approach, forcing us tack right into the on coming fleet on with us on port and they on starboard tack we were forced to yield allowing the fleet to cross before us. Winds were a very brisk 15-20 knots at the start which made the start very exciting for the crew; we had to reef both the main and the jib to manage sail. The entire start was paramount to playing chicken at high speed in a fleet to multi-thousand dollar boats. After crossing the line, we lagged the other three Catalina 30's but still had an opportunity to place decently. The crew quickly found their pace and we rounded the first up wind mark nicely. As we came round the mark the boat was nicely lined up for the down wind mark, but not know the course the skipper looked for the rest of the fleet that didn't have the same alignment. That fatal decision of following the fleet rather than looking for he mark, force two jibes that we didn't need. At the same time one of the crew lost the wench handle to salmon of the Columbia. The two jibes made rounding the mark downwind slower, and at the same time the wind decreased in speed. By the time we approached the up-wind mark on the second time we shook out the reefs. Once rounding all momentum was lost as the wind died, and despite having sail up well we began to drift near the sand bar at the eastern end of Tomahawk Island. The skipper started the engine to get out of the area which ended our chances to finish. Everyone had a great time, and we certainly learned a good deal. Next run at the course and placing in the fleet will be on the 17th.
May 3rd, 2012
All;
According to the race committee this morning the race is on for tonight. Thus far I have the following crew confirmed: Kevin Rhodes Cheryl Miller Tom Pearson Terry O'Shea We need to meet at the Sunset Transit Center at 4:30pm on Thursday to car pool over to the marina. There is bottled water on the boat, and a few sodas; so if you would like something to eat like a sandwich please bring it with you. I have included a copy of the list of entrants, and the slides for the race clinic. As you can see from the list of the entrants there are 5+ Catalina 30's in the A fleet we will be racing against. Looking forward to seeing the performance of the crew and boat tonight. Next race will be on the 17th, no practice this Sunday because I will be OOP.
May 1, 2012 All; Despite a total lack of practice save Cheryl, Charing and myself, Thursday is our first official race day. We need to meet at the Sunset Transit Center at 4:30pm on Thursday to car pool over to the marina. The reason for car pooling is to make it on the boat and out in time (use the carpool lane of I5). I need a headcount of who will be attending, so please email me. If you can't attend on this race there is 3 more chances on the 17th,24th, and 31st of May. It will be fun.
Thursday April 19th 2012 Team; I have just registered the boat in SYSCO and we are ready to race. The first race is scheduled for next Thursday, unfortunately I will be in NYC. The races will be each Thursday from 5:30pm until dark through the 31st of May. I will be holding a first practice this Sunday at noon. We will meet at the boat at noon on Sunday; who ever shows we will crew with. The boat has a new fresh bottom, new folding prop, and sails so we should be very competitive. Please come out if you can, if not feel free to show up at any of the races.
To the crew of the NiSe and Followers:
I know many of you were wanting to know; how the syndicate faired in the final race of the spring series. The spring series we entered in the SYSCO Cruising Fleet #5 A, ten boats in all with four of them being Catalina 30s. The top two boats to beat in the bigger fleet were "Barcode" and "Upstart". Among the Catalina 30's, a subgroup of the bigger fleet, "Second Half" and "Vagrant" were the top two boats to beat. In the spring series "Upstart"'s record until last night was 1st, 1st, 4th. Our nearest competitor, "Second Half" has a better record through the series of all firsts. For last night's race we had Tom Pearson, Charing Riolo and Kimi Jensen as crew as we motored out to the committee boat. By the start time there was no wind, so the race committee called for a postponement to the start. After an hour of waiting, winds increased to 5-8 knots, prompting the race officials to raise the call for the race. We waited as each of the smaller boats began their races, until the flags were raised for our class. A quick glance around the river revealed that "Barcode", "Upstart","Second Half" and "Vagrant" were making a large circle to gain a starboard side tack as they ran for the mark. Quick action by the crew of the "NiSe" allowed us to make a shorter radius circle but gain just as much speed as the rest of the fleet, putting us right up front in the pack as we approached the line. With "Upstart" on our left (yielding right of way to us), and "Second Half" on our right (giving him right away) we approached the starting line. Over my shoulder I could hear "Second Half"'s crew calling out the timing for the start, allowing me to focus on forcing "Upstart" away from the line making us second to cross the starting line in the bigger fleet. My friends, that was a textbook start for the syndicate if there ever was one. The pack made good speed as we headed to the mark and we maintained our second position leading up to the first tack. "Barcode" being a bigger boat passed us after the tack, and three of us lead boats headed up to the mark. As we had gotten within 500 yards from the mark, "Vagrant" made a bold move and tack right into our path rounding the mark inside of us as we turned downwind. Apparently the rest of the fleet believed "Vagrant"'s strategy was the one to go with as they followed closely behind. The pack's belief in "Vagrant" led to her downfall as the pack took the wind out of our competitor's sails. Since we turned wide, the fresh air was ours and we soon passed "Vagrant". Due to the light winds in the current the progress downwind was slow (8 minutes to the mark, but 45 minutes back to the line). With two-thirds of the distance covered back to the finish line, "Vagrant" had broken free from the back and had us in her sights. (in the picture you can see "Vagrant" coming after us).
By the time we were within a 100 yards from the finish "Vagrant" had fully came up behind us taking the wind out of our sails. For the final 15 minutes of the race we played the game of covering her every move, not allowing her to pass in front us. When we finally crossed the line we were third in the overall fleet and second in the Catalina 30 fleet beating "Vagrant" by a boat length and six inches. Yes, that's right she was six inches directly behind us when we crossed.
The un-official final series results put us tied with "Vagrant" for second place. Overall outstanding job given this was our first series as a syndicate!!
Thanks for all the help, and yes we will be doing the Summer Series starting next week!May 17th 2012
All;
Last night we had our first good omen, Tom kept both shoes on while we left the marina! Winds last night were westerly 15-22 knots, forcing the race committee to set up another very odd course. With "One Boot Tommy", "Wonderboy Reina" and "Butter Finger Rhodes" we were well positioned in the start to actually be first across the starting. Had the skipper not cross the finish line instead we would have clearly won, but we had to restart the race. The good news is we weren't the last to cross the starting line on the official start, but we were in the back of the pack. "One Boot" and "Wonderboy" had worked out the sail trims on the tacking beautifully as ran the first upwind leg to the mark. We had gained back a good deal of lost distance to the pack in the up wind leg, only to round the mark and experience the full force of the 2 knot current. With most of the pack pulling away from us there were 5 boats still reading the name from our stern. "Fingers" did a great job in poling out the jib. At the end of the downwind leg back on the upwind course we experienced a couple of full rail burials as the boat heeled over several times pushing the overall speed over ground to 7.5 knots. The entire upwind course was an wonderful orchestrated dance of tacking and trimming thanks to "one boot" and "wonderboy". As spray from the Columbia River came over the dodger we made quick time in getting to the final rounding of the downwind mark. Once again, "Fingers" did a great job on the pole out, but also provided our weekly sacrifice to the Columbia River. Yep, it was "fingers" that gave up his hat to the Columbia, to which the entire crew said a short prayer as it floated past the boat. We kept the NiSe mid-river on the final downwind leg to capture clean air. We rounded the mark toward the finish line and were cheered by the committee boat as we landed a solid unofficial third place. The crew celebrated back at the dock with a pint of Guinness, and were celebrated by the crew of "Brenda Lee". Their skipper David Long said, "Damn you guys looked really good out there, if you get the start down we're scared." Next race is on the 24th with us having a solid second place tie and a third place finish we still have a chance to claim first in the division; especially if we can get the start right. Look for the crew call on Tuesday for Thursday's race.
May 15th 2012
All;
After the last race we still hold third place out of 4 in our fleet, the next race is Thursday. We need to meet at the Sunset Transit Center at 4:30pm on Thursday to car pool over to the marina. Please be on the first floor of the transit center, near the north side of the structure of the parking garage. The reason for car pooling is to make it on the boat and out in time (use the carpool lane of I5). I need a headcount of who will be attending, so please email me. If you can't attend on this race there is 2 more chances on the 24th, and 31st of May. It will be fun.
May 4th 2012
All;
Perhaps it was a bad omen that even before we had left the marina one of the crew members lost his shoe to drink. In last night's results we received a DNF (did not finish). The good news is we are fourth in the fleet, but the bad news is there are only four boats in the fleet. Once we got out to the race course we had a difficult time reading the race committees boat course numbers. As a result we had no idea where the marks were to round. As the 6 minute count down started for the race we were well positioned to cross the starting line at the 1 minute mark. Our crew fair very well as we approached the starting mark on starboard tack. But a we bit early on our approach, forcing us tack right into the on coming fleet on with us on port and they on starboard tack we were forced to yield allowing the fleet to cross before us. Winds were a very brisk 15-20 knots at the start which made the start very exciting for the crew; we had to reef both the main and the jib to manage sail. The entire start was paramount to playing chicken at high speed in a fleet to multi-thousand dollar boats. After crossing the line, we lagged the other three Catalina 30's but still had an opportunity to place decently. The crew quickly found their pace and we rounded the first up wind mark nicely. As we came round the mark the boat was nicely lined up for the down wind mark, but not know the course the skipper looked for the rest of the fleet that didn't have the same alignment. That fatal decision of following the fleet rather than looking for he mark, force two jibes that we didn't need. At the same time one of the crew lost the wench handle to salmon of the Columbia. The two jibes made rounding the mark downwind slower, and at the same time the wind decreased in speed. By the time we approached the up-wind mark on the second time we shook out the reefs. Once rounding all momentum was lost as the wind died, and despite having sail up well we began to drift near the sand bar at the eastern end of Tomahawk Island. The skipper started the engine to get out of the area which ended our chances to finish. Everyone had a great time, and we certainly learned a good deal. Next run at the course and placing in the fleet will be on the 17th.
May 3rd, 2012
All;
According to the race committee this morning the race is on for tonight. Thus far I have the following crew confirmed: Kevin Rhodes Cheryl Miller Tom Pearson Terry O'Shea We need to meet at the Sunset Transit Center at 4:30pm on Thursday to car pool over to the marina. There is bottled water on the boat, and a few sodas; so if you would like something to eat like a sandwich please bring it with you. I have included a copy of the list of entrants, and the slides for the race clinic. As you can see from the list of the entrants there are 5+ Catalina 30's in the A fleet we will be racing against. Looking forward to seeing the performance of the crew and boat tonight. Next race will be on the 17th, no practice this Sunday because I will be OOP.
May 1, 2012 All; Despite a total lack of practice save Cheryl, Charing and myself, Thursday is our first official race day. We need to meet at the Sunset Transit Center at 4:30pm on Thursday to car pool over to the marina. The reason for car pooling is to make it on the boat and out in time (use the carpool lane of I5). I need a headcount of who will be attending, so please email me. If you can't attend on this race there is 3 more chances on the 17th,24th, and 31st of May. It will be fun.
Thursday April 19th 2012 Team; I have just registered the boat in SYSCO and we are ready to race. The first race is scheduled for next Thursday, unfortunately I will be in NYC. The races will be each Thursday from 5:30pm until dark through the 31st of May. I will be holding a first practice this Sunday at noon. We will meet at the boat at noon on Sunday; who ever shows we will crew with. The boat has a new fresh bottom, new folding prop, and sails so we should be very competitive. Please come out if you can, if not feel free to show up at any of the races.
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