2006 Beasley Cup at Houston Yacht Club

I caught a ride on John Denman's J/24, Airodoodle, for this year's Beasley Cup at the Houston Yacht Club in Houston, Texas. The regatta is part of the Texas J/24 Circuit and usually draws close to 30 boats. This year was no exception, with 28 boats attending. Many of the crews are gearing up for the upcoming Sailing Anarchy J/24 Nationals, to be held at the same venue in late April.

Racing was excellent, with 5-10 knots of breeze on Saturday  and 10-15 on Sunday. Small shifts were out there, if you looked for them. And racing was highly tactical amongst same speed boats. It seemed like the top boats had a bit better speed than us, especially in the short, steep Galveston Bay chop that developed on Sunday.

Saturday's racing went well for Airodoodle. The boat is very fast upwind in the light stuff. We had some ah... interesting starts, but always managed to pass boats during the racing. The favorable up-course current was a little stronger on the right hand side of the course. And with the forecast calling for a permanent righty, most of the top boats worked the right side on the upwind leg. Welcome to Galveston Bay sailing. Right is right. Since we weren't one of the top boats, we had to be content with clear lanes on the middle right.

Our typical Saturday race went something like this:

• Start about 25th. Maybe 20th.
• Tack a few times for clear air
• Work the shifts on the right side. Maintain a clear lane. Pick up a few boats.
• Come in on the port lay line to avoid the wicked nasty starboard lay line train.
• Jam the nose in at the windward mark, just outside the 2 boat length circle, so we've got some rights.
• Sometimes hit the windward mark. Sometimes not.
• Circle if we hit the mark.
• Work course left on the downwind, out of the current. Maintain a lane. Get a few more boats.
• Round the leeward mark right next to one of the top boats that is having a bad race. Remark to one another, "Well, at least we're in good company."
• Repeat first beat. Get a few more boats.
• Repeat first downwind. Get inside the pinwheel and pick off a few more boats at the leeward rounding.
• Identify one boat on the final upwind that we really want to pass. Once we pass him, identify one other boat.
• Very occasionally, check to see if any of our close competitors are crossing close behind. If conditions dictate, tack on him; especially if we can force him over to the horribly un-favored left side.
• Almost lose three boats on the final third of the last beat because we gambled out left.
• Finish in 9th place, overlapped with 2 other boats, sweating bullets that we're gonna get rolled in the last 100 yards.

The partying was decent, to say the least. Marc Holdaway organized the regatta. If Marc organizes a regatta, you can rest assured that he will have plenty of free alcohol on hand for the racers. Marc brought in 60 liters of rum, several kegs of beer, and a shot block on Saturday night. I arrived at the party about 9:30 pm, when the zydeco band was in high gear. The alcohol supply inevitably led to predictable results: You have a few rum drinks and, suddenly, you think you’re a washboard player.

My wife was hit on by a minimum of 3 inebriated sailors. And an energetic young woman tried to hump my leg. Although Airodoodle did not win the regatta, we damn sure won the party. Ask anybody. The shot block was a big hit. I have it on good authority that some people woke up Sunday morning with the delicate aroma of butterscotch schnapps clinging to faces and clothing.

Sunday racing was a bit different. The wind came up, so we tightened the rig, moved our genoa cars back, and reacquainted ourselves with the vang and cunningham controls. We were racing about 60 pounds light, which helped us on Saturday. But we knew Sunday was going to be tough. The current was much reduced on Sunday, but the top boats kept going right. We started a little better, and had our best race of the regatta on Sunday’s second race. We picked good lanes, nailed a couple shifts, and managed a nerve-wracking final beat where we tacked underneath two fast boats with just 100 yards to go and still layed the pin favored finish. Good stuff.

We immediately followed a good race by concluding the regatta with our worst race. The wind came up to steady 15 knots. About half the boats switched down to the smaller jib. We were too lazy to fuss with our existing setup, and reasoned we’d need the big genoa in the heavy chop. Turned out to be a bit of a mistake. The left side finally came in big on the first beat of the final race Sunday, turning the standings upside down. At one point, we had two of the top three boats behind us, but were unable to hold them back.

I’d tell you what the winners were doing differently than us, but I really don’t know. They definitely had a slight speed advantage on Sunday. I’ve copied down the top 10 results down below if you’re interested in that kind of thing. Results are up at the Beasley Cup Site and should hit the J24 Texas Circuit site this week. I’d share what I learned about sailing the J/24, but I suspect the SA crowd would rip me to shreds if I offered any advice, so I’ll bite my tongue on that one.

I can say that the race committee did a nice job with the courses. At least two different boats made favorable comments on the nicely square starting lines. Marc and several helpers organized a sweet regatta. And the racing was unbelievable. I’m looking forward to the Nationals in April.