"When the thunder storms rolled in at the anchorage off Indian Island on Friday evening, I wondered if we had made the wrong decision to go racing on the Sailstice.
Don’t get me wrong. Swimming off the boat on Friday evening was very refreshing – given the 105+ heat index. The light shows from the massive thunderstorms that went both north and south of us were really impressive. And the anchorage was not TOO bouncy from wind and wave. It was an enjoyable evening. But at 10PM we were still the only boat in the area and I was beginning to wonder two things: what had we gotten ourselves into, and had the race been cancelled because of the weather? Then about 10:30 the second boat arrived and I was sure we would have a race.
I had goaded Kathy into racing her new-to-her C&C 29, Arias, in the race and decided to crew and coach her rather than race my own boat. I had, after all, told her it would be a “learning experience”. And if the range of conditions encountered is any measure, learning experiences abounded.
At the start of the race we were running deep with flat water and about 7 knots of wind; and I was explaining about preventers, wing and wing, and sailing by the lee. And we were actually passing other boats that had started before us.
About 1/3 of the way in, somewhere near Pamlico Point, the wind dropped to zero. Nada. Zip. Flat water. BORING! So we watched the other boats and talked about what everyone else could have been doing better. Then the wind began to fill in, for a close reach in about 10 knots and from an entirely different direction, and we got to practice tacking and navigation as we started across Pamlico Sound. We were holding our own against the other non-spin boats, and really enjoying the ride. By the way, did I mention that we learned that the sheets on the 155 were about 6 feet too short for the lazy sheet to reach the leeward winch when we set up for the first tack. Talk about a learning experience – and a chance to add to the to-do list.
About 8 NM from the finish – ¾ through the race – the wind had built and backed ESE. We were hard on the 16-18 knot wind, smashing into a 2-3 foot chop, way over-canvassed, hobby-horsing like mad, and cursing the PO for having the reef lines so fouled up. More learning opportunities? You betcha!
But when we crossed the finish line in the lee of Royal Shoal, in comparatively flat water at almost 7 knots, and got the horn from the committee boat we all agreed, “What a COOL DAY!” And we haven’t even gotten to the after race party yet."
Rick Brass, Imzadi C&C 38 mk 2 & la Belle Aurore C&C 25 mk1, Washington, NC