Whitby Major's Cup is a fun pursuit race. I really like this race because boats start in the order of their handicap. Still Time being the smallest boat in the fleet start first, while the largest and fastest boat in the fleet started an hour after us. Theoretically, we should all finish at the same time.
The course was set as a 12 mile course to Frenchman's Bay an back.
Winds were forecast to be between 5 and 10 knots from the west.
Full racing main and #1; we entered the spinnaker class.
John brought his son Bennett out for the day.
A couple on minute before our start, we sailed past the start line doing 5 knots, and turned around after a minute, only to be enveloped by a wind hole. It took us 3 minutes to get back. Hate starting races, especially pursuit races late! Oh Well.
Winds were enough to get the boat going between 5 and 6 knots close hauled toward Frenchman's Bay. They started to lighten after half an hour, then we got a 90 degree wind shift and sat there parked for another half a hour. We watched in horror as the fleet was decending on us. The little bit of wind was not enough to overcome the wave action. We determined that the wind was there but 40ft in the air! Still Time's mast is 25ft in the air.
We got to the Frenchman's turning mark with only one boat behind us. We hoisted the spinnaker and had a good run back to the finish. At the finish the wind completely died; we watched a feather in the water for about half an hour as we bobbed around. We decided to withdrawl, as it could have taken another 2 hours to complete the last quarter mile!
Google Earth Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2014/20140727.kmz
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