C22 Whitby Race Night

Forecast was for LOTS of wind from the NW 13 knots with gusts to 25.  Wind instrument on big Still Time was registering constant 20 knots with gusts over 30 at the dock.

Four of us on the Still Time Melissa, John, Chris, and I.

Over a dozen of  us from dock 8 had pizza on Commodore Berry's boat.

We decided that we want to get a sponsor for our little race boat:

There's Still Time for Maclays

I have always had Maclays on the boat and in the dressing room when playing hockey.

Looking for something light tasting, no after taste? Then try the ‘pride of Scotland’ Maclays. A traditional pale ale, light in colour, very drinkable, even a casual beer drinker will enjoy this one. So grab your kilt, fire up the bagpipes and ring in the New Year with a beer, forget champagne, have a beer, and why not a Maclays, or one of the other many fine beers available.

Macklays is one of the budget beers ($36 for 24 cans) in Canada that is drinkable; is actually made by Sleemans.

Back to the race...

I was worried with the NW wind that the 2hp motor would not be enough to push us out of the slip, but it did it no problem!

We went out with a double reefed main and storm jib.  I have not used that storm jib in a couple of years!

Heading out the channel, we saw a J/27 Tenacious lose their backstay and have to retire from the race.  At least it happened when they were putting up their main; if the backstay had snapped with full sails up on a reach/run, they would have lost their mast!

With all that wind, we had the minimal amount of sail on the boat, and she was powered up nicely and in control.  Many skippers decided not to race.

Once we got into race mode, I put the companionway hatch boards in.  An absolute must, as if we got knocked over by a gust or pooped by a wave, water would rush into the cabin, and we would sink very quickly.

Course was set to 2 medium.

Start and first leg

We were waiting to hear announcements on the radio of the start, but didn't hear anything.  We probably missed the first couple of cannon shots for the boats in the first start.  We could not see the flags on the committee boat.  So, we started late, and it took us 10 minutes before we crossed the start line.

The race committee set a bad start line; it was more pointing to mark 1 instead of mark 2.

Upwind, John had to feather the tiller almost luffing the headsail to keep the boat on its feet.

Leg 2 (%$#@!!)

The next leg of the race was from mark 2 to mark 4.  Because we had such a bad start, we didn't have any boats to follow to the next mark.  Someone put mark 5 in the GPS and we sailed merrily to the wrong mark! What should have been a quick downwind leg turned into a beat upwind into the waves!

Leg 3/4/5

Leg 3 was uneventful.

Leg 4 was a beat to windward to round the RC boat and mark 9.  During the tacks, Melissa had her arm in the water when grinding in the sheet after a tack.

Leg 5 downwind was easy and fast.

Finsh

We finished 2nd in our fleet of 2 (so last really) a full 30 minutes behind Footloose (C&C 27).

We were all soaked!

We spent some time on big Still Time with heater on and re-hydrating.

Despite all the wind and waves, and the mess ups, we sailed the boat well and in control.


Trip Odometer: 12.35 miles
Moving Average: 4.8 knots
Moving Time: 02:34:00

Max Speed: 9.1 knots!

Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2014/20140813.kmz