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Today was a
serious adrenalin experience! The team conquered some serious conditions
today and the boat held up really well. This was one of the best days racing
Andiamo yet!
From the outset, we knew this was going to be an exciting race, perhaps too
exciting as NOAA was predicting early Southerly winds starting at 10-15
knots and building to 20-25 knots. With a light crew - Will, Amber, Jeff,
Sarah and me, and a boat with fresh halyards, mainsheet and more we set out
into the fog and breeze.
We used the trip out to the starting area to get the boat ready, and lucky
for us though I was tempted by some lulls in the breeze we set the small
heavier jib rather than the heavy #1 that was calling to me when the early
breeze fell to 10 knots. The fleet was large, but not huge this year,
nonetheless it was fun to see the big boys and the multihulls, while we
sailed around under main alone prepped the spinnaker for a downwind start.
Unlike most races in Northwest, the slower/smaller boats start first at FWB
- this makes for an interesting race where you get to pass more boats than
normal, but it also presents interesting challenges since you have to think
more tactically about how best to pass other slower boats, and how you want
to be passed by big boats. Here are a couple photos from the pre-start and
early starts, courtesy of Jeff:
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Our start was a great example of my
theme for the day - simple is fast. Rather than trying too hard and risking
mistakes, breakage and lost time, I focused on keeping things simple opting
for things that we perhaps a bit slower but much higher percentage. We setup
for the start under main only, hitting the line a few seconds late but with
a quick, orderly hoist of the chute (with the sock) and we were quickly up
to speed and in the middle of our fleet. One surprise was that Synge (a
friend's Synergy 1000) started with our fleet, rather than their assigned
fleet meaning they'd be DSQ'd which was unfortunate because they were fast.
The early part of the downwind leg was nice - Sarah had the helm, Jeff and
Will were trimming and I was sorting out a few issue with Amber to be sure
everything was in good shape for the rest of the race. After covering the
first mile or so and swapping positions with a few boats in our fleet the
wind and waves started to build, and while Sarah was doing a great job
keeping it under control, it was easy to tell she'd rather be trimming or
floating to help the rest of the crew than driving - so I took over.
Soon the wind had gone from the teen's to the twenties, and the waves had
continued to build, as did our speed going from 7-8 knots to 9-11 knots.
Around this time, I made a tactical decision to head further downwind -
sacrificing some speed for a more direct course to the FWB mark and most
importantly less traffic to get in our way and potentially cause us problems
as the wind continued to build. The biggest negative of this is that it
meant the boat would be pitching and rolling more making for a very exciting
ride which kept my heart beating like I was walking uphill on a treadmill
for the better part of 90 minutes.
The crew was awesome during this roller coaster ride - despite the carnage
going on all around us - boats broaching, spinnakers flogging and the boat
healing first to the port 20' then to starboard 25' - they stayed focused
and helped me keep the boat in control and we never broached or lost
control. We had a couple collapses of the spinnaker, but we were always in
control which is what counts and what's fast. The most thrilling moments of
this leg:
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13.7 knots
- we hit a new speed record while planing/surfing with waves and nice
sustained gust in the high 20's. During this same time we were regularly
seeing 11's and 12's, and I seriously think we probably broke 14, though
we were all too focused to look at something as trivial as the knotmeter.
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Flash Pass
- watching Flash plane right by us as if we'd deployed a sea anchor was
seriously cool. Okay so getting passed is never really fun, but if you
have too that's the way to do it - watching a 48' boat look like a SeaDo.
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Point No Point
Carnage - this year PNP included some serious carnage, as the
incoming tide hit the Southerly breeze in full force stacking up the
waves while the land mass threw in some serious curves for the breeze.
As we picked out way through the steep waves, and watch our forestay
flop in the wind like a wet noodle, we saw several boats right beside us
broach and other just take down their spinnakers to prevent any issues.
However we kept our chute up and drawing through the carnage and passed
many, many boats!
Here's a video from Gunsmoke, a One Design 35, taken around PNP during
the race. If you watch closely at the end, you'll see they start to
broach... we were about 100 yards to their port when this happened.
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Take Down
- everyone aboard gets serious props for an awesome takedown and
rounding of the FWB mark. We got things down quickly and neatly and
rounded the mark in the thick of the pack!
The turn upwind was a complete change in
feeling, though not in excitement. As we sheeted in tight, we started to hit
the full force of the PNP wind wave vs. tide experience as we slammed
through the waves. Pointing was not as important as trying to slalom the
boat through the steep waves and keep from jumping off the back of waves
like a motocross rider. Will and I snuggled in the back of the boat keeping
the boat moving well while constantly working the main and trying to keep
from sliding down to the leeward rail (the reason for snuggling - we were
both wrapping an arm around a lifeline). Jeff, Sarah and Amber worked the
rail as exceptional ballast and wonderfully attractive seawall for Will and
me. Many times when we'd hit big waves they'd take the brunt of the action
while Will and I would just smile and keep driving.
Only tiring part of the race was the long slog upwind which really tired out
everyone. We gained on and passed quite a few folks, but the wind and the
waves still made for a long leg that left everyone more than happy to seek
the warmth and shelter of land. We finished with flourish of tacks and
crosses with Moose Unknown (C&C 35) and Skedel (J130), and headed in quickly
to the marina packing up the boat in a flash and nearly jogging to our soon
to be warm car.
We finished the day off at Red Robin where we relived the highlights of the
day over beer, hot spiked cider and burgers! I think we all agreed this was
an awesome way to spend a cold Saturday in October!
Results are here.
Further discussion and pictures of the race on SA |
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