| Sailing 101: For our non-sailing friends | |
Race Report: 2005 Annapolis - Newport Race Based upon what we saw in the weather forecasts, as well as heard in the skippers meeting and pre-race meeting with the forecasters it looked like this race would be a long version of a Windward / Leeward race. In this case the downwind portion would end up being three times as long as the beat down the Chesapeake Bay. This skew in favor of downwind running had a smile on everyone’s face being as downwind is what we like the best. With the weather game plan in place and the provisions packed and loaded by Ian Gordon, the final sail inventory selection was made and Team Sjambok left Spa Creek for the starting area. As Mike Jones and Dave VanCleef reviewed the routing choices, Dave came up with a plan to stay in touch with the competition while beating out of the Bay. The plan was simple: stay in the breeze, play the shifts for leverage and everyone would stay on the rail till the kites went up 18+ hours later. The first night of sailing was generally uneventful as both watches stayed on deck and sailed as fast as they could. By shifting gears and staying clear of areas known to contain fish traps Sjambok was able to keep close to the longer Donnybrook and open up a lead on the Farr 54 Yellow Jacket. In fact the last time Sjambok and Yellow Jacket had a good fix on each other was when they both past Cove Point LNG pier under the extremely watchful eye of a Homeland Security launch. In the end the strategy paid off as at sun-up just north of the Bay Bridge Tunnel Donnybrook was in sight just ahead leaving the Bay and no one else was in sight behind. At the Bay Bridge Tunnel ½ of the watch went down below to start the morning’s meal and catch some down time while some of the off watch stayed up for an extra hour to get the kite up and round Chesapeake Light. As we approached the light we found out two things: that Donnybrook was now out of sight and that the fishing at the lighthouse must have been great. As we maneuvered around the 100 boat plus fishing fleet we received some impressed stares, a several questioning looks, and a few angry glares – we found out later that Donnybrook cut right through the fishing fleet (thanks guys – didn't have the heart to tell the poor fishing fleet that there where allot more “interruptions” to come over the next 24 hours). After setting the A2 spinnaker the crew of Sjambok settled into the normal watch system and began the chase of the boat ahead in a battle of the light boat versus the boat with the waterline. Through much of Saturday and into Sunday morning the two watches balanced between rhumb line sailing and chasing the best pressure as indicated by the most recent GRIB files. Mid-day on Saturday, with Donnybrook on the horizon to the Northeast, Yellow Jacket on the Southwest horizon, and not another soul in sight, the quiet afternoon was interrupted by a very loud boom, followed by two more in rapid succession. After a jump to attention the crew came to the conclusion that it must have been a sonic boom. After the race the crew of Donnybrook, who could see the plane from their position, confirmed it. As nightfall approached the second watch returned to deck after cleaning up from dinner. About one hour after the off watch had settled in their bunks the boat felt like it had run aground. The boat speed suddenly dropped from 12 to 9 knots and then right back up to 12. Without a sound being made our only guess is that we gave a large sunfish one hell of a headache. Early in the morning on Sunday we began to fell like we were sailing in an arena, as our course had taken us into a commercial fishing fleet who where all running stadium quality lighting. At this point we could not help wondering if Donnybrook was looking for us on radar – we found that image quite funny as there where approximately 30 boats around us in a 20 NM circle. Monday morning dawned with a lot of sea smoke and exactly as predicted the breeze started to shift. Early in the race Matt Beck had asked that two waypoints be added to the course at 75nm and 50nm outside of Block Island on the routing path. As we broke the 75nm marker during the early AM the tacticians and navigator began the discussion of inside or outside of Block Island during the watch change. The decision was put off till the 50nm marker came up as the weather and the GRIB forecasts were beginning to show some better pressure trends to the NE’s. The morning continued without as we gybed a few times to take advantage of the shifts. As we passed to 50 NM marker the question of inside or outside needed to be decided – so Phil Garland was woken up to add his local knowledge to the discussion between Matt, Dave and Jonesey. After looking at the tide tables and the GRIBs the decision was made to gybe out one last time and leave Block Island to port. As the boat steadily went NE the pressure steadily increased and the boat speed followed suite. As Block Island passed to port the decision became when to make the final gybe in towards Castle Rock Light. About the same time as we gybed the final position report of the race slowly downloaded onto the computer and we saw that Donnybrook had gone inside and was doing about 9 Knots to our 17. As the fog burned off Newport slowly came into sight on the bow. After about an hour of decent visibility not only was Newport in sight but to port against the shoreline so was Donnybrook. In the last 6 – 8 hours of the race Sjambok closed the 11 NM gap on Donnybrook and was quickly reeling them in. About 30 min’s from the finish the wind started showing a small left shift and the A2 came down in favor of the A3. 2 days 17 hours 54 min and 8 sec’s after the starting gun Sjambok crossed the finish line 14 min and 42 sec behind Donnybrook and just over 5 hours ahead of Yellow Jacket. This time captured Michael Brennan’s team both the IRC 1 and IRC overall in addition to the City of Newport Navigators trophy for Michael Jones. Congratulations to all members of Team Sjambok both aboard and following the race on land. Also we wish to congratulate Team Euro Trash Girl – 1st in class & 1st in fleet - PHRF Mike Jones 2005 Annapolis-Newport Crew Michael Brennan- Skipper/Helm |
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Sjambok takes 1st in the 2005 Ft. Lauderdale - Key West Race. The 2005 running of the Ft. Lauderdale - Key West Race saw nearly perfect conditions, with an E-SE breeze building from 18kts to 30kts at times.. Sjambok averaged almost 14kts through the evening to cover the 160nm course in just 11:35:38, beating the course record by over 1 1/2 hours!
The early portion of the race, from the start in Ft. Lauderdale to the Miami sea buoy and on towards Fowey Rocks, was a tight reach in 18-20 kts of breeze. With a jib-top and staysail up for much of this leg, we quickly separated from the other TP52 Rosebud during the afternoon hours. By sunset, we could barely make out Rosebud behind us. Even early on in the race, with an average speed of 11kts, we knew this was going to be a quick race. The breeze continued to build as we began the gradual right turn down the Keys towards Key West and we soon hoisted the A5 spinnaker (fractional-hoist reacher). That's where the fun began, as our boat speed jumped to 15kts where it would stay for several hours. Navigator Michael Jones kept us a comfortable distance off the reef and while this meant a slightly longer course to sail, it provided a prudent buffer. With speeds well into the upper teens and low twenties, dodging the mine field of mooring balls and unlit marks in close to the reef would have been a challenge. With nearly all the crew piled up on port side behind the wheels, the helm rotated between Michael Brennan and Gavin Brady, with Terry Clarence and David Van Cleef providing well-deserved relief on the helm throughout the evening. For the next 130nm, the breeze built to 30+kts and as we followed the gradual right turn of the course, the breeze shifted as well. We worked our way back and forth between the A5 to the A4 (masthead runner) and the jib top as the breeze and course demanded. Active sail selection and pushing the boat hard throughout the evening would prove to be invaluable when we came to the end of this 160nm race. At one point, as we were moving along at 17kts or so with the A4 spinnaker up, we experienced a significant header. Sailing at these speeds, at the upper limit of the the A4 masthead runner, the subsequent course change necessary to keep this kite flying put us on a course that was rapidly converging on the reef. As navigator Mike Jones began to tap his foot more and more insistently, the call was made that we didn't have time to peel to the jib top. Bowman Pat Shaughnessey stepped forward into the fire-hose of green water coming off the bow and spiked the tack of the kite. Once it was in the boat, we quickly hoisted the jib top and were back up to speed. As we started to close in on the Key West sea buoy, many eyes on board were trained on a set of lights that had been slowly gaining on us. Given the conditions and our confidence in our performance before sundown, we were quick to dismiss them as a multi hull, after all this would be their conditions. When they got close enough, the night vision scope came out and mastman Mark Jefferies saw what looked more like the other TP52, Rosebud. Upon announcing this to the others who were camped out in the transom, denial set in and all quickly "rationalized" that thought away. We were sure we had put a fair bit of space between us before the sun went down. Closer inspection revealed that it was in fact Rosebud and it was clear that she had made an excellent comeback from the pre-dusk performance. Perhaps she had benefitted from not having to do a bare-headed change, perhaps she had just the right sail for these conditions, perhaps the modifications that they had recently made to the boat had really paid off. Speculation continued on board. At 12:40 am, with more than a few eyes trained on Rosebud, Sjambok made her way across the finish line off of Ft. Zachary Taylor just 2 minutes 8 seconds ahead of Rosebud. We had covered the 160nm course in just 11h35m38s, beating the course record by 1h 38m 43s. Rolling into Key West just 1h 11m 36s behind the R/P 81 Carrera, meant that we had not only won the race on corrected time- but most importantly, we still had time to get to Schooner's Wharf before last call!. |
