Race Committee in the Shadow of Sandy

I was a member of the SSA race committee running the East Coast Championships for the J-24 class; the regatta took place on the weekend before that Monday when Sandy slammed into New Jersey, about 160 miles to the east. I had done this regatta last year and the last weekend in October finds the Chesapeake Bay normally empty except for the J-24's and the IRC folks. Not this year. This year a constant stream of boats criss-crossed our course, making their way to safer hurricane holes; most working their way north towards Baltimore. On Friday, the Sandbagger's Bull and Bear sailed north with their tenders following. I was told this was their normal routine as they winter over in a barn up on Gibson Island. My friend Tom was steering one of them; he gave a cheery wave as the wind was just right for these oldster's to have a delightful sail. On Saturday, two trimarans were spotted going north, one larger one loafing along under main only and a Sea Cart 30, fully powered up, coming from West River and smoking north. Larger cruising motor yachts zipped about. In the afternoon two of the large dinner/party yachts that ply the Annapolis Harbor and Severn River with bands and booze were seen steaming purposely north in tandem. Several container ships were going south, towards Sandy; strange to our eyes but the assumption was they knew what they were doing. Saturday's clouds started at a normal height, coming from the northeast with openings here and there to let glorious fall sun play on the water, but, later in the day, the clouds started socking in low with an ominous dark band sitting to the south, always a portent of something brewing from the ocean side.

The class and club had cancelled Sundays racing as the forecast was for a full on gale commencing before the advancing hurricane. Luckily, winds never got much over 12 knots on Saturday so we hustled and got in four races to wrap up the regatta. We got off the water just before dark and on my way home I stopped at my favorite beer store to replenish my storm stock.

Kite Racing - A Primer

I suspect that I am not the only long time sailor that knows bupkis about the new Olympic Sailing Sport of kite racing. Maybe this video may help (though I still want to know how you keep from entangling these kites on port/starboard crossings - and still not sure how the weight equalization works out?).

"And we've got the big kites going"

Update: Oops! Spoke too soon. From Tillerman: The kite racers didn't make the final Olympic Class cut at this years ISAF meeting. The RSX boards will be back in for the 2016 Olympics.

This is Kiteracing ! from International Kiteboarding Ass. on Vimeo.

Bosham SC Classic Revival 2012

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that Bosham Sailing Club on Chichester Harbor (U.K.) ran a Classic event this fall that mostly featured the English Classic Racing Dinghies such as Fireflies, old International 14's, Solo's, Merlin Rocket's and National 12's and rarer dinghies such as National 18's, Thames A-Raters, and Tideway's. The event turned out to be very popular with 79 entrants. The Classic Moth, a Shelly design, with the transitional high-aspect ratio Aussie Rig that was adopted in 1969 (unlike the Classic Moths over here that have stuck with the low-aspect pre-1969 rig) won the medium handicap fleet. I have, in my usual style, pilfered some pics.

One of the Classic International 14's competing, this one skippered by Sarah Vaughn, who, I'm guessing, may be the daughter of Tom Vaughn, renowned as the eminent class historian. Hull looks to be a later Kirby design.

Addendum from a readers comment;

"Sarah Vaughan... She crewed for me in that boat at Rickmansworth (where we won the races) after I sailed the POW with her father, Tommy. That was nearly 40 years ago! Beautiful and a great crew, it's great to see her still sailing. Sarah and I became friends and I will never forget Steve Toschi saying that though he won the POW, I had gotten the real prize! How I wish!"

Ian Marshall in his Shelly Classic Moth, designed in the late 1960's.

Launching down the slipway at low tide.

Also a well done video of the event by SailTV.

Portland 2012 Wooden Boat Festival

In keeping with Earwigoagin's current theme of festivals and boats shows; from Doryman's neck of the woods, a video of the Portland, Oregon WoodenBoat Festival featuring the popular (at least in the U.S.) family boatbuilding activity, this time building flat bottomed skiffs.


Wooden Boat Festival 2012 from Willamette Sailing Club on Vimeo.

Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival - 2012 - Part 2

Continuing the photos of the 2012 MASCF sailing race.

The very quick Thistles are usually at the head of the fleet, not surprising as there are very few racing dinghies in the MASCF sailing race (this year the Penquin, a Sunfish, several Blue Jays and an elderly Comet sailed by a father/son team were the other boats with active racing class associations). This year there was two Thistles racing, with the very nicely restored woodie from Cleveland comfortably in front of the fleet. (Sorry Doryman, no Thistle from Delaware!)

The Celebrity class was a popular class in the 1960's. Close to 20 foot in length and based off a Dutch centerboard class, they are very comfortable daysailors. One showed up at MASCF and finished well up. Unfortunately a rare sight nowadays. (Blogger Tim Shaw in the background with his skin-on-frame outrigger canoe.)

The Cortez 16 is a stretched Melonseed that has been developed by Floridian Dave Lucas and his merry band of DIY'ers. (Dave is the MC of a boatbuilding commune just outside of St. Petersburg Fl - a bunch of different projects going on simultaneously under a large gazebo type structure; my friend Bob has seen it and he was mightily impressed.) The Cortez 16 has found favor with good sailing characteristics, a traditional appearance and an ability to carry 2-3 people comfortably. Not sure if there are plans available or if you have travel down to Dave's place and build one on the mold that he has.

Update: Readers have provided more information (and corrected some errors) on the stretched Melonseed in the Comments section. From Doryman, "The Melonseed is "Moggie", built and skippered by Mike Wick of the Delaware River TSCA.." And from the builder himself, Mike says, "Although my MOGGIE wasn't built at Dave Lucas' shop, it was inspired by him. Plans are available from Roger Allen of Buffalo Maritime Museum. Further information is available at an article I wrote about Moogie."

What looks to be a very pretty Crotch Island Pinky.

Local boatbuilder, Peter Van Dine, did a production run of fiberglass Tancook Whaler type cruising/daysailors (I think in the 1970's) which today are prized for their timeless classic style. (I remember coming across a funeral for a retired naval officer at the Naval Academy where he had requested his beloved Van Dine Tancook Whaler be moored off the Academy sea wall while he was laid to rest.)

The finish line of the sailing race is off the outermost point of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The wind gets fluky and this year it was also upwind. There are always gaggles of boats bunched up and sometimes blocking the finish with the race officer yelling admonishments, "Don't hit anybody!" (You also need to take the time to yell your festival registration number at the race officer to be counted as a finisher, as this Blue Jay is doing - the Penquin is in the background as well as a self-designed plywood cat-ketch daysailor.)

2012 Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival Part 1

On the same weekend I attended the 2012 Sailboat Show, that Saturday I bopped over to St. Michaels on the Eastern Shore to take in the varied small craft that is the the hallmark of Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's MASCF (Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival). Two other bloggers made it over this year and posted their photos. (I may have passed them on the docks but I wouldn't know these two from Adam.) Blogger Thomas Armstrong from 70.8% has photos over here and photos from Wendy Byar are posted over at her blog Green Boats.

This year I was able to wrangle my way onto the race-committee boat to take some pictures of the start of the sailing race, a race, as the PRO for the day said, "is the most eclectic sailing race in the U.S." I heartily agree. This race is governed by three sensible rules (since most of the competitors aren't racers and have no idea what the ISAF racing rules are and how they are applied);

1. Don't hit anyone! 
2. If you hit a mark, go around it on the correct side. 
3. If you are confused by the start, just go when everybody else goes.

I'll split my photos into two posts.

There is always lots of "splaining" and gesturing on the docks.

The main dock has two floating docks at the end where most of the leaving and returning takes place. A Thistle racing dinghy tied off at the end.

Unlike most dinghy racers, some competitors at MASCF consider it a badge of glory to row out to the starting line.

The race committee boat was CBMM's beutifully restored Smith Island workboat with plenty of open cockpit. Competitors are lining up to start with less than a minute to go. We can see an ACA sailing canoe with Lavertue's reproduction late 1800's batwing sailing canoe in the background. The orange sail belongs to a fiberglass catboat from Florida.

And they're off. Wind looked like it might be stronger than it was from shore so some sailors mistakenly reefed only to find a nice 8-10 with slightly higher gusts. The winning Thistle started up near the weather shore. (The Thistle sails can be seen peeking out behind the repro sailing canoe.)

I have to admit I was mightily impressed puttering around in the Smith Island work boat. The damping of the vibrations of the diesel by the thick wood hull made the jaunt to and from the harbor a delightful ride.

Header Photo: British Moth at Speed

The header photo to grace the top of this blog for almost two months is the U.K brethren class to the U.S. Classic Moth, the British Moth; in this case a great photo of one planing in some breeze. I have written about the British Moth class in this post and also this post. I snitched this photo from their website.