Code Blue The 2006 Vineyard Race We've maintained from day one that our forums would be the life blood of SA, and that has certainly been well proven. This story, though from a race last month, was posted today, and is a good read. Story and pic thanks to Tom McCarthy - be sure to check out the M32 video as his site opens. Enjoy. by Steve Benjamin There were 53 entries in the fleet, 27 boats that actually started, and only 3 that finished: Blue Yankee (RP 66), Snow Lion (Ker 50, and Lora Ann (Express 37). Aboard Blue Yankee we had maxed out the crew to our IRC limit of 20 and left the dock in Stamford about 3:00 pm for our 4:20 pm start of IRC Class Super Zero (Class 8). Our plan to start with the full main and best genoa quickly got modified when we saw solid white caps on the Sound and steady winds over 20 knots, directly out of the East, putting the first mark Buzzards Tower precisely upwind and 120 miles away. The decision to start with the first reef, and # 4 genoa was reached, and executed inside Stamford harbor. We held starboard tack off the line, to get some current relief off Smith Reef and Long Neck Point in Darien, in the last of the flood. Quickly we realized our biggest adversary would be the waves. Blue Yankee’s targets call for 10.5 knots upwind in winds over 20 knots. But we found that pounding into the waves at that speed would almost certainly break either the boat, or the crew, or maybe both! So we began to formulate a plan to minimize exposure to the seaway. On port we fetched Eaton’s Neck, and carried on into Smithtown Bay. Normally you would never sail inside Smithtown Bay fearing light winds, however in this Easterly gale the Bay (South of the Line of Death) provided welcome relief from the waves on Long Island Sound, and five to ten knots less wind. Meanwhile, Chris Williams of North Sails was below repairing the damage to the #4 so we could use that sail again if conditions moderated (they didn’t, but we got the sail up on the run home). At each point especially off Port Jefferson we had to step out into the Sound, and throttle back, to avoid damage. Past Port Jefferson we found relief from the seaway all the way East to Horton Neck, where a discussion among the afterguard about the best solution to exit the Sound ensued. Basically there were two choices since we were determined to avoid The Race. One option was to tack starboard and go North of Fishers Island, where I was certain there would be calm seas. The Northerly solution was appealing, but the navigation through Fishers Island Sound, especially at night in winds gusting over 30, was daunting. We decided to exit the Sound through the Gut which was a good solution. Nice and flat seas and the wind angle kept us beating on port tack. We ignored the conventional strategy of short tacking Plum Island in the early flood, and held port for a landfall just West of Gardiners Island looking for relief from the seaway. After a short starboard tack out and around 1GI on the North side of Gardiners Island, we held a long port for Montauk. Again, we found relief from the seas the closer we got to the South Fork. As we approached Buzzards Tower around 10:15 am on Saturday, the wind temporarily dropped below 30 knots. Thinking about the run home, and reviewing our forecasts which said the winds would peak between 9 and 12 on Saturday, we decided to shake the first reef before reaching the Tower, since it would be very hard to do downwind. Bad idea! At the Tower the spinnaker decision was mine. Tim Powell asked for the masthead 3A and I should have listened. Thinking we had true running conditions in under 30, and checking the polar sailchart, I called for the 4A (maximum size masthead runner). The combination worked great for about fifteen minutes and we were off, hell bent for Block Island, in winds around 30 plus knots, with boatspeeds steadily over 20. Finally, she answered the helm (always return the rudder to centerline after broaching, blow the vang, hike like crazy, and pray quickly) and bore away. We regained control with the tack of the asym on the tack line and were absolutely flying. The feeling on the helm was this combination was quite unsustainable. After about ten minutes, and another hard broach, I called for the 4A drop. The crew did an awesome job, got the 4A down quickly with a letterbox drop, and immediately set up the 5A reduced area heavy air fractional asym. Always try to have some headsail up for tacking in heavy air. We almost did not make it. But the boat kept just a little speed and we were off again on starboard with full main aiming for the North side of The Race. Next debate – what headsail or spinnaker? Ian Walker and Tim Powell argued for the Jib Top which was a great call, and we made short work of Rhode Island Sound on starboard, aiming for Race Rock, winds gusting 40 plus, and steady boatspeed still around 20 plus. I think this is where Tim hit the peak speed for the Race of 29.6. Tim did a superb job helming through these waves. Heading up at just the right time, and skillfully guiding the boat through this minefield. His Volvo experience shined through, and he said later that it rarely got this bad even on the Volvo race. In truth this is one of the longest periods of sustained gales I have experienced to date, certainly on Long Island Sound, and rivaled only by the Hemingway Cup and Sardinia Cup. We were breathing a little easier after making it through The Race, and planning a strategy of three tacks into the finish back in Stamford. Eddie Warden Owen came up on deck and started to quiz us. What is the highest gust you have seen? What are we going to do if it really picks up? His questions were well presented. Shortly thereafter we started seeing gusts into the 50’s. The full main and jib top was clearly too much sail. We brought the masthead starboard halyard aft and secured it to the spinnaker turning block padeye to add support to the mast. Next decision – how do shorten sail on this dead run? Mother nature left us very little time for discussion. Several more gusts into the 50’s and skipper Bob Towse instructed us to shorten sail. We sent the bow team, lead by Mitch White, forward and dropped the Jib Top. It washed part way overboard, and broke a couple of stanchions in the process, but the crew wrestled it back aboard. Now bare headed, we luffed head to wind in 50 knots, and dropped the main. Once running with the Storm Jib, we quickly got the Storm Trysail set and were making steady speeds around 15 knots in the winds still gusting over 50. After several minutes we regained the nerve to replace the Storm Jib with the #4. Good call, and we made great progress Westerly down the Sound, straight toward the center of Ernesto! This storm was one of the rare occasions where I have actually sailed downwind into the strongest winds. Usually the gusts overtake you from astern. On this run home to Stamford, I actually felt like I was being sucked into the center of the low. The further West we sailed downwind, the windier it got! Around this time we recorded the peak gust for the Race at 62 knots! Next, the Storm Jib went back up as we approached the Cowes Buoy. The sail combination was ideal for the reach into the finish behind the breakwater, and we crossed the finish line reaching faster than 20 knots, in 50 knots of wind! Blue Yankee completed the course of 238 nm in 25 hours 20 minutes and 2 seconds elapsed time, to win the race in the IRC Fleet with a corrected time of 37:44:51. Snow Lion placed second with Lora Ann third. Blue Yankee was awarded several trophies:
Back ashore as night fell there were no lights on in Norwalk. Ernesto had knocked out the power and there were trees down all over the place. The next day the local news reported 150,000 homes without electricity in the area. The crew of Blue Yankee
All photos by Tom McCarthy. Please visit his website My Webpage for more photos and the Vineyard Race video. 10/25/06 |
