Roach Coach Racing Team

Hello All;

Just a quick note regarding our last race…

Who; It’s looking like the entire RC crew will be there!

What; Last race of the season and we are in contention for 1st Class C overall…we are only 4 points away by Greg’s calculations!

Where/When: Let’s meet at our new usual spot at 11:00. Anyone up for lunch duty?



Why; you know the answer!

Hello Folks


In the interest of time (Mine at the moment), I’ll keep the re-cap short and sweet……



In Boothbay…we raced, we learned, and on Sunday we kicked some royal butt! And that is all there is to it!



Thursday Night;



RC is not around….missing two in a row……that’s rough! Last Thursday was a blast though. Thank you Monica for a great dinner and Catherine really appreciated the celebration as well. I think I can speak for the whole group when I say your culinary expertise was better than expected! (I mean that in a complimentary way!).



Camden Delivery;



Who; Scott Thomas (I think Pam and Gregg are crewing so far). Scott, I have the key to RC, somehow it ended up in my pocket rather than the boat (I can get it and the GPS to you on Tuesday night. Also, when you arrive in Camden, see if you can get dock space in front of the club again….I’ll give them a check when I get up there, if not…see attached for mooring and dock info. I will be able to make the delivery back…..will be leaving just after the race on Sunday and making it back to Boothbay.



Pam, if the plan below regarding cars is all set, I will try to get my tuck to where you need it. I’ll have to coordinate with Catherine regarding if she and I can car-pool to our meetings Friday.



Where; the boat is at; Map quest…… Stevenson 10 River Bend Dr, Boothbay, ME 04537-4933 for driving directions. There will be a dingy and oars on shore near the dock. They know you are coming so no worries, they won’t think you are stealing it.



When; Give Scott an e-mail/phone if interested in delivery up.



Camden –Castine (July 28-29)



Who; (Crew)



We’re booked; Rich, Pete, Gregg, Rita, Monica, Scott, Pam



When;



Friday;



- RC comes in and will hopefully have a dock space in front of the Y.C.

- Rich and Catherine will arrive in early evening and head to the YC for check in. My number is 207-632-0317 for those trying to get together.



Saturday



– Re-hydrate

- 9:00 am, Rich and Gregg go to Y.C. for skippers meeting while crew prep boat at dock and ready to leave dock at 10:15 for probable 11:30 warning gun. The first gun has not been posted yet…..so check-in with Y.C. in case something weird happens……like an earlier gun due to weather etc.



Sunday;



- Re-hydrate

- RC ready to leave (TBA)

- After the race, I will be taking off right away to Boothbay.



Notes;



- Pam is our social director for this excursion so please give her an e-mail regarding the partying!

- I’m not sure of sleeping arrangements, so I have not included them here.



Why;



Because we can! The race instructions say so!



As per Pam’s earlier e-mail;



Hi Rich.

You have confirmed dock space at the hotel we are staying at in CASTINE, the Castine Harbor Lodge. If the weather is bad, they will have a mooring available.



Re Lunches:

Saturday: Scott and I will be at a motel with no kitchen so unless someone else is up for making lunch for the gang, perhaps for Saturday, everyone is on their own for lunch stuff. Rich what time do you want to meet at the boat in Camden on Sat am?



Sat afternoon night: cocktails and dinner in Camden. There is a bar/restaurant where we are staying at the Camden Harbor Hotel or we can wing it in town. I’ll bring restaurant phone #s so we can make a reservation when we are under sail if you want to be sure.



Beer/Beverages: Perhaps BYOB for weekend? We can pick up ice in Camden and Castine each am.



Sunday: I can shop for and coolerize lunch stuff and find a place to make sandwiches on Sunday morning. Cost will be $5 per head if you are interested, plz let me know by Wed by email or after that by phone as I will be on the road: cell: 671-8197. Any food allergies or preferences?



Return Delivery: Rich did anyone volunteer yet to help with return delivery?



Car options (If ok with respective car owners)

Here is a new suggestion:

Fri Scott and Pam drop Odessy with Monica and drive in Gregg’s to your marina in Bath to pick up you car. Scott and Pam and Gregg leave your car in East Boothbay and do boat delivery.

Friday night: Monica drives Odessy with Pete to Camden. Then we’ll have Odessy to bring everyone south.

( Reta is getting a ride to Camden on her own. Catherine said she is leaving Camden early and not available to drive any crew after race.)

Gotta run

Pam

PHRF New England’s a Bust;



A day sailing is always a better day than in the garden as they say. Saturday’s 1st race was challenging and a bunch of boats finished within seconds of each other which always makes for a fun and intense race. We ended up in third only seconds away from Scaramouch. The second race was pretty much a disaster for us as we got a DNF. Wow, I think it is the first one RC has ever seen! RC’s 150%’s bolt rope finally gave out and so did the Tuff-Luff. In hindsight we could have got the 150% up in its place, but by the time we did, it wouldn’t help with the points we would have earned. There is the “hero” factor though as we are resourceful sailors and nothing should stop us from crossing the finish line. Oh well, we’ll keep that one in mind from now on. Sunday unfortunately saw us bobbing around with no wind at all and the race was abandoned. We did get to hang out and have some brew with our guest crew. We tried to make sure they knew that this was definitely an unusual day. PHRF’s (#$x%x@!)





Thursday Night;



We’re still on!



Boothbay Pre-feeder/Delivery;



Scott Thomas will be taking RC on the delivery to Boothbay. There may be a pseudo race as 5-6 boats are leaving at 11:30 and when two or more yachts are within sight of each other…………….. Give Scott a call or e-mail regarding his plans on the Delivery.



BHYC Regatta (July 14-15)



Who; (Crew)



We’re booked; Rich, Pete, Gregg, Rita, Monica, Scott, Pam, Jane;



What: (race preparation)



I’ve got a new Tuff-Luff on order and I should be able to pick it up on Friday morning along with the 155% that is at Maine Sailing Partners and being repaired in a proper manner.





When;



Friday;



- RC comes in and has a spot at the dock at the Inn.

- Rich and Catherine will arrive on the motorboat (M.B.) and go to the BHYC for race instructions and check in, then to the Inn.



Saturday



– Re-hydrate

- 9:00 am, Rich and Gregg go to BHYC skippers meeting while crew prep boat at Inn dock and ready to leave dock at 10:15 for 11:30 warning gun.



Sunday;



- Re-hydrate

- RC ready to leave dock at 10:15

- After the race, I will be towing the boat behind the Motorboat to a mooring in Damariscotta River, then taking M.B.



Notes;



- Pam is our social director for this excursion so please give her an e-mail regarding the partying!

- I’m not sure of sleeping arrangements, so I have not included them here, though RC is docking at Sur La Mur (SP)?

- Just realized, there are two bunks available on the M.B. a little cozy, but free! We have to sort of keep this to ourselves as the Inn Keeper probably would rather people staying in

rooms rather than on the boat at the dock. We may have to keep the M.B. on a mooring or at anchor, but we do have a dingy as well.



Why;



Because we can!

Roach Coach 2nd in Class B Harraseeket, 1st for Class C GMORA;

Well, looks like we have a week off before the PHRF Maine’s. We could use the rest and some time to put the boat back together! (Not really, just the spin pole which I actually fixed last night). The Harraseeket race had some good winds and a long downwind run, just the way RC likes it. We had a down wind start, but didn’t go as planned; we tried too hard to stay out of the way of the boat starting in front of us so we were sort of jibing, snake-waking just before the gun. Also, Reta reported that the spin halyard was wrapped with the jib halyard. All worked out though pretty quickly. The breeze was in the mid teens and some higher gusts, letting RC show her stuff with bursts of speed in the low to mid teens! We had a couple of roundups that could have been prevented though. I think next time we’ll have to discuss communication before we race in heavy air. RC is pretty tender and I need to let the spin trimmer know a little earlier when I feel too much pressure on the helm. It is definitely a team effort keeping RC upright. We didn’t do badly though, some boats didn’t fly the spin or couldn’t. Reta made a good call to get some weight in the back of the boat to keep the bow from burying into the water and it did make a difference. I also loved hearing Pam call the puffs and start giggling when a big one was coming, we all knew what that meant…surfing! At the leeward mark we had somewhat of a kite flying, next time we can do a couple things to prevent that. One, I could have helped by going a bit higher above the mark and then going low to the mark so we could blanket the spin behind the main, then we have to bring in on the spin sheet hard, while the guy is let go and someone to tend it to assure the guy runs free. Then the third action, once the spin is behind the main and the foot gathered, we release the halyard and it goes down the hatch. It worked out well though compared to what could have been. Our upwind leg was pretty good considering being overpowered. I’ll get the 85% sail out and have it on board to try out when we have a chance, not sure if it would have helped or not. Don’t worry Pete, I have it on my list to bring some of the older sails Thursday night as well. One other thing we can do in the future is to trim to the puffs when on a reach. Monica pointed this out and it has huge benefits. Rather than sailing the way the wind wants you too, you sail in the direction you need to go, just have to constantly adjust for it (sorry Pete, your going to work hard on those days!). I also want to let you all know something Gregg told me after the race. When we went in between the rocks at the end of Little Birch Island, remember Gregg said it was ok to keep our weight in? Well, he said that there was 3 feet at low tide, add the 1.6 foot tide (meaning at low tide we actually had 4.6 feet on this date) and the fact that the water was flooding for 45 minutes, and that RC was at about 10-15 degrees heeling angle, we should have plenty of room with our normal 5.2 foot draft! Oh ya, he also was being diligent by assuring we didn’t go in further than the lobster pots, as there was most assuredly no water there! I definitely admire his calculations and forethought, but did ask that we play it a little more conservative next time…….nice work Gregg!



Nice work to all!



Thursday Nights;



We’re still on!



PHRF Maine Championships July 7-8;





Who; (Crew)



Rich, Pete, Gregg, Rita, Monica;

Room for two more on Saturday, and three on Sunday depending on Pete’s ball game schedule.



Julia, are you in? You are invited.





What: (race preparation)



Gregg (I’ll get you the charged up GPS and cord on Thursday night prior to the race)

Gregg (skipper’s meeting?)

Rich (Lunch duty)



When;





Saturday; 10:00 at our new usual spot



Sunday; 10:30 at our new usual spot



Why;



Because we can!

Hello all;


Well, looks like we have a week off before the PHRF Maine’s. We could use the rest and some time to put the boat back together! (Not really, just the spin pole which I actually fixed last night). The Harraseeket race had some good winds and a long downwind run, just the way RC likes it. We had a down wind start, but didn’t go as planned; we tried too hard to stay out of the way of the boat starting in front of us so we were sort of jibing, snake-waking just before the gun. Also, Reta reported that the spin halyard was wrapped with the jib halyard. All worked out though pretty quickly. The breeze was in the mid teens and some higher gusts, letting RC show her stuff with bursts of speed in the low to mid teens! We had a couple of roundups that could have been prevented though. I think next time we’ll have to discuss communication before we race in heavy air. RC is pretty tender and I need to let the spin trimmer know a little earlier when I feel too much pressure on the helm. It is definitely a team effort keeping RC upright. We didn’t do badly though, some boats didn’t fly the spin or couldn’t. Reta made a good call to get some weight in the back of the boat to keep the bow from burying into the water and it did make a difference. I also loved hearing Pam call the puffs and start giggling when a big one was coming, we all knew what that meant…surfing! At the leeward mark we had somewhat of a kite flying, next time we can do a couple things to prevent that. One, I could have helped by going a bit higher above the mark and then going low to the mark so we could blanket the spin behind the main, then we have to bring in on the spin sheet hard, while the guy is let go and someone to tend it to assure the guy runs free. Then the third action, once the spin is behind the main and the foot gathered, we release the halyard and it goes down the hatch. It worked out well though compared to what could have been. Our upwind leg was pretty good considering being overpowered. I’ll get the 85% sail out and have it on board to try out when we have a chance, not sure if it would have helped or not. Don’t worry Pete, I have it on my list to bring some of the older sails Thursday night as well. One other thing we can do in the future is to trim to the puffs when on a reach. Monica pointed this out and it has huge benefits. Rather than sailing the way the wind wants you too, you sail in the direction you need to go, just have to constantly adjust for it (sorry Pete, your going to work hard on those days!). I also want to let you all know something Gregg told me after the race. When we went in between the rocks at the end of Little Birch Island, remember Gregg said it was ok to keep our weight in? Well, he said that there was 3 feet at low tide, add the 1.6 foot tide (meaning at low tide we actually had 4.6 feet on this date) and the fact that the water was flooding for 45 minutes, and that RC was at about 10-15 degrees heeling angle, we should have plenty of room with our normal 5.2 foot draft! Oh ya, he also was being diligent by assuring we didn’t go in further than the lobster pots, as there was most assuredly no water there! I definitely admire his calculations and forethought, but did ask that we play it a little more conservative next time…….nice work Gregg!



Nice work to all!



Thursday Nights;



We’re still on!



PHRF Maine Championships July 7-8;





Who; (Crew)



Rich, Pete, Gregg, Rita, Monica;

Room for two more on Saturday, and three on Sunday depending on Pete’s ball game schedule.



Julia, are you in? You are invited.





What: (race preparation)



Gregg (I’ll get you the charged up GPS and cord on Thursday night prior to the race)

Gregg (skipper’s meeting?)

Rich (Lunch duty)



When;





Saturday; 10:00 at our new usual spot



Sunday; 10:30 at our new usual spot



Why;



Because we can!

Saturday was fun, but strategically a little frustrating. We split from the fleet right out of the box thinking the tide was slack and ended right in the middle of it heading out through the Hussey. It turns about 30 to 40 minutes after it turns in the bay and then its slack for about 15 minutes before it turns again. You’d think I’d know that by now! We saw the entire fleet get in front of us, but we sailed hard and picked our way back into fourth. RC is a fast boat despite the skipper going in the wrong direction! Gregg was reading numbers around 9.5 knots and it didn’t seem that windy. Good times. We had one snag with the spinnaker but crew work was pretty much on target and we got it together pushed on.



Sunday; we saw some really strange weather and we had only 4 people for crew. The first big decision was what to use for a headsail. The breeze was up and down and couldn’t decide on the 155, 150 or 125. We decided to go with the 150 and it worked out well. We waited to the last minute but it put us out of sync at the start so once again the fleet got a jump on us. Once we got to the Hussy though (tip of Cow Island) we sailed almost onto the beach, (making as much use of the tide and back eddy’s as we could) then sailed strait across the tide almost onto the Long Island beach and up by College Rock. A few boats had to duck us because there was no place for them to go except onto the beach. I’m sure some summer home owners were wondering why all these sailboats were sailing so close and dodging their boats still on moorings. We then had a hairy rounding at the windward mark in the Hussey with a couple of boats right on our hip, the wind blowing and current trying to keep us from rounding the mark…..all the sudden the jib sheet parted. Crew work was stellar and we still can’t believe we made the mark, I think we were all in silent reflection for several minutes after the spinnaker went up. We trucked downwind and caught some of the other boats which sailed into a wind hole. That’s when all started hearing the thunder and seeing lightning…the race committee’s calls were heard all over the dead-calm bay, shortening the races, some were headed for their moorings as the storm approached. We figured the storm would be on us before we could get off the boat, so decided that if we were going to get zapped, we would do it racing, not turning tail and running! Our fleet stuck it out as we watched a black carpet unfold across the water and couldn’t tell if it was wind or rain. The wind never came, but the rain (possibly hail, it was too hard to tell) did. The lighting was quite intimidating. I took the aluminum tiller extension off and crew got in the “triangle of safety” just in case we got hit by lighting. Amazingly, two other boats did get hit. Tom Hall’s “Five” was struck and his crew got a burn mark on her chest. Also Ed Roger’s “Revolution” was struck. A crew member was touching the mast and got a shock, and then the instruments went out. All I can say is Dam, good thing everyone was all right! We made a stellar move by being the first to get the chute up when the wind settled down and we squirted past the competition. It was a risk as the wind was very light and the rain was coming down in buckets, we thought the rain itself would collapse the chute. The crew work was once again just about as perfect as you can get and kept us going strait for the finish. We ended up in second for the day which put us in 3rd overall. Not bad considering the other possible outcomes!



P.S.



Special kudos’ go to Monica for the awesome lunches and spin handling, Gregg for being all over the boat when needed and still being on top of the tactical and navigational responsibilities (dude we got close to shore a couple of times…and loving it!). He also found a mistake in the scoring (due to the length of the course being calculated wrong by the race committee), at first costing us the 2nd place. The race committee corrected the error and we got our #2! Reta of course who got the chute up without a hitch when we needed it most. That move, and the entire team being engaged in the race got us to second!



Cheers!





Thursday night race…we’re on!





Harraseeket;



Who; (Crew)



Rich, Pete, Gregg, Rita, Pam, Monica;

Only room for one more! First come, first serve!



What: (race preparation)



Gregg (I’ll get you the charged up GPS and cord on Thursday)

Gregg (will be at the skipper’s meeting)

Pete (Pete has volunteered to be our caterer and chef for Harraseeket!)



When;



Gregg is driving up to Harraseeket Y.C. for the skippers meeting at 10:30, and then hitching a ride out to the course. We’ll look for your cell call and we’ll have the radio on channel 72 so we can be sure to hook up. The rest of us will meet at the Shaw’s parking lot at our new location (at the Goodwill store). Monica found a shortcut to Handy’s. We’ll meet at 9:45. It will take one hr to get from our mooring to the start line.



Why;



Because we can!

Surprise, surprise! We ended up on the podium at 3rd place (out of the 6 boats that ended up racing). Not so bad considering where we could have been. It was a tough (slow) race to say the least, we made a few mistakes (skipper included) on board but it also felt like the wind gods were playing tricks on us. The wind was so light that during the first part of the race, boats had different wind depending on where they were on the course. Congrats to the crew (Rita, Pete, Monica, Gregg, Rich) for sticking it out and keeping engaged for the entire time. Sometimes when it gets that slow and you end up in the gutter early, it’s hard to stay in race mode….but we did. We made some ground during the second half of the race and came across the line in a heap with Go Dog Go and Down Town as we tried for line honors. We corrected at third so we’ll get a trophy for our efforts! I promise not to run out of bear this time! After the results were read, a few dirty shanties with the band…..and well, after the keg ran out, we headed for Evelyn’s Tavern and enjoyed a few more refreshments with the Tango crew and the Band from the yacht club!



Pilot Race (June 16th and 17th);



Meeting time; We’ll meet at the Shaw’s parking lot at 10:00 on Saturday, 10:30 on Sunday.



Crew (so far) Saturday; Rich, Gregg, Rita, Monica, Pete



Crew (so far) Sunday; Rich, Gregg, Rita, Monica



This is crew so far so we need at least two more people Saturday and three for Sunday (Pete has a baseball game) to come out and play with us. Let’s get on this early rather than later if possible, first come first serve.



Talk to yall soon!

Hello all;



Roach Coach is in the water! I dropped it off on Monday and Bob K. asked me to back it up to the lift, bam, it was in! Not before he ran his fingers over the bottom and sarcastically (in a good way) said “wow, that’s rough”. He noticed!



Saturday;



I will be at RC around 10:00 am on Saturday putting her together (boom, rig tuning) and getting some gear on board (sails, running rigging…..bucket!). Maybe a fun sail in the afternoon.



Sunday;



Practice/ fun sail at 1:30 pm.



All those attending, let me know, I’ll be at Handy’s, hopefully right at the dock.



Next Thursday;



The Thursday night bear can races begin….hmm any interest as practice races?



Rich

Found this little tid-bit regarding Jeff Smith and “Second Chance” onhttp://www.cascobaysailing.com/. Your skipper raced with Jeff in the neighborhood of 6 years on a J-29 and the J-24 “Second Chance”. Glad to see he’s doing so well.

Arriving at the committee boat at 1750 in the warm westerly that had been blowing since Tuesday, we pulled the sails in to go upwind and found ourselves barely laying the pin. We turned around to offer friendly suggestion to PRO Dan Holt and he suggested that we be patient. Sure enough, without moving either the boat or the pin, the boat was a few degrees favored at the 1805 start. Summary: it was a tricky night.

How does he do it?? Jeff Smith hauled in two bullets and has all but put the first Wednesday Series out of reach for anyone else. Despite the tricky conditions, he was in just the right place at the right time in both races. Picking the far right corner, over standing by a couple hundred yards and then struggling through the dead zone header at the windward mark was the winning strategy in both races. The middle of the course was a bad place to be, especially in the second race as boats from both the left and right passed those who found themselves there.

Bruce Morse in Bad Apple finished second for the evening and Pit Party with both Steve Fernald and Rich Ketchum on board turned in an impressive third. Flying Circus was fourth and there was a five-way points tie for fifths.

Two more weeks left in the first Wednesday Series and the battle continues . . . for second and third anyway, where Flying Circus, Bad Apple and Mr. Hanky all remain in contention.

Thought I’d share a few more pictures for the Gallery. The first four with with Leroy, the sailor dog, was MY first sail ever on the RC. It was Labor Day weekend 2005—the start of Scott’s & my vacation. The next day we flew to Bermuda (minus Leroy:() for a week in the sun. We were so looking forward to that trip but after two lovely day sails on Roach Coach (thank you so much for the use of your boat Rich!!!) and incredible Indian summer weather, it was hard to leave. But leave we did and it was great—so were those Goslings Dark and Stormy’s and island time…

The other shots include: 1. Dave Thomas, Scott’s rock star brother on board for several regattas. 2. The MS Regatta ‘06—with RC as the hot dog concession boat. 3. The Boothbay Regatta ‘06 - w/ Scott holding the trophy with ace navigator, Gregg and bowman Pistol Pete; (by choice, Queen of the Foredeck, Reta is outta the picture- but definitely there and in all our hearts). 4. Then there is a quick shot of our competition and M’head PHRF ‘06 with Catherine on board all weekend fun!

Looking forward to more sailing with you and the crew!
Hugs,
Pam

Hello kids!



Just an update and invitation to some folks who have shown interest in the past (or I’m trying to rope them into it!)





Scheduled Launch;



Good news! RC will be dropped off at Handy’s this coming Sunday evening and she’s in pretty good shape. The “Beam of Destiny” is in and so is the “Jock Strap”. Also, the bottom will be fair and have a light coat of hard paint….all the old stuff is gone! It is scheduled to go in on the 17th. That means I’m probably going to load it up with goodies (sails etc.) on the 19th and/or 20th and go for a sail. If anyone is interested let me know.



Crew update;



Rich

Greg

Scott and sometimes Pam!

Pete

Reta



Still looking for;



1 permanent crew

2 fairly reliable part timers



The goal is to get us to the magic # (7). Keep your eye’s pealed and send this on to someone you may think is interested for crew!



Practice/fun sail;



If the boat goes in the water on the 17th, I’ll be on it this weekend putting gear on and going for a sail, let me know if you are interested! I know I said we may not go Thursday nights, but I think I may be up for it after all. Thursday night start on May 24th….anyone interested in a race? Please let me know…..maybe we can add some dates!



Website;



Just some info and history for those interested (cut and past if the hyperlink is lost)



http://roachcoachracing.sailinglog.net/home



Racing schedule; We’ll be there at each one unless there is a double booking!











Centerboard Regatta
June 9
W
1

Pilot Race
June 16-17
W
2

Harraseeket Regatta
June 23
W
1

PHRF Maine Champs
July 7-8
W, C, E
2

MDI Series
July 8,15,22
E
3

Boothbay Harbor
July 14-15
W, C
2

Hospice Regatta
July 14
E
1

Seguin Is. Trophy Race
July 21-22
W, C
2

Handy Boat Midsummer Regatta
JULY 28
W
1

Camden-Castine Race
July 28-29
C
2

Downeast Challenge Race
August 4-5
W, C
2

Down East Race Week
August 5-10
E
5

Monhegan
August 11-12
W
2

MS Regatta
August 18
W
1

MDI Series
August 12
E
1

PHRF New Englands
August 24-26
Overall only
3

Yarmouth Cup
August 30
W
2

PYC Fall Series
Sept 15, 22, 29
W Only
3

GMORA Awards Banquet For Roach Coach “Dirigo Bowl”
When we win!






Talk to you soon!

As most of you know, Scott Thomas was skipper of Highlander Sea, a 154 gaff rigged schooner….well, here’s some “light reading” from his log that ended up in print……good stuff.

Ship’s Log
HIGHLANDER SEA
7 July 03

Entry by J. Scott Thomas, General Manager.


We got away from the dock at 1100, just late enough to frustrate the Times Herald reporter and photographer who had other assignments to cover. We had announced a 1000 departure time but fuelling and the new-crew orientations set us back some.
We motored down river against 10kts of wind out of the southwest, in no particular hurry except to cover the 90 odd miles to Lake Erie before dark. The crew settled into a 1 in 2 watch routine with members of the starboard watch covering the duties of helmsman, lookout and roundsman.

The sailcovers were peeled off in the lower reaches of the Detroit River in anticipation of the sea room the open lake would afford. We reached the Detroit Light at 2030 and rounded up into the wind to hoist the main and fore sails. The breeze was a steady 10 knots out of the southwest, it was partly cloudy.

The little schooner NIES KAH out of Penetanguishene, Ontario we had overtaken back in Livingston Channel, motored by us again as the crew hauled our big sail up. When the fore was set we bore off to the east on a starboard tack, setting the Jumbo, Jib and Jib tops’l off the wind and shutting down the Detroits Diesels at last. I feel a huge weight has been lifted, no noise now, just the gurgle of the wake under the lee quarter and the banter of the crew, almost all of them gathered around the steering box to take in the beauty of the fading light. I can sense the excitement in their voices, the anticipation of the adventure unfolding before us. I recognized the scene and smiled to myself, knowing that this was a new version of some of my most treasured memories.

NIES KAH had managed to get a couple miles ahead of us while we were raising sail, but as the HIGHLANDER SEA settled into her groove on a beam reach it became clear that we would soon overtake her again. I hailed her, to pass our regards, and our intentions to overtake her to leeward, but instead attracted the attention of the schooner AMISTAD out of New Haven CT., who had popped up onto the horizon to the west. We exchanged friendlies over the VHF and learned that they had just left Toledo and were bound for Chicago. I invited them to stop and make themselves at home at the Port Huron Seaway Terminal on their way through, expressed my dissapointment that they wouldn’t be racing, and bid them fair winds. We watched her as the silhouette of her square tops’l and distinctive raked mainsail inched across the glowing western horizon towards the Detroit Light, now well behind us. Turning our full attention ahead once again, we noticed that NIES KAH had shaken out a few sails. Perhaps she thought she could out run us. Silly Canadians.

We switched on the running lights at sunset, rolling on towards Point Peelee Light and Southeast Shoal at a comfortable 7 knots, waving as we passed under the lee of
NIES KAH and whistling to get the attention of the two dogs lounging on their deck. I missed Leroy already.

There was a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast and evidence of the same on the distant horizon, mostly the typical heat lightning of a hot summer evening. The winds were supposed to remain out of the southwest through the night at between 5 and 15 knots, then veer to the west on Tuesday afternoon and then northwest. I could see at this rate that we’d make Cleveland by sunrise and wondered to myself what plans the Captain would make to occupy the next 48 hours or so. To be honest, I was more concerned with what I might write for the first installment of the ‘GM’s Log’, it being a rather peaceful and uneventful voyage so far. I put my head down about 2300 but was up again by 0100 to sort out some button pushing problems in the engine room. I was still up when the watch turned over at 0300, the half moon had already set and it was dark but peaceful on deck. On the way back to my bunk at about 0400, the generators running smoothly once again, I noticed the lights of Cleveland looming on the horizon with a backdrop of heat lightning giving a show, almost appropriate for the ‘home of Rock n Roll’.

I guess it was just before 0500 that I woke again, the creak of the hull timbers marked a change in conditions above, we were still on starboard tack and the heel of the ship was increasing steadily. Already, before I could scoot down to the edge of my bunk I could hear the ship’s propellers winding up, driven by the water rushing under the hull. I could sense that we were heeled over at least 25 degrees as I pulled on my shorts and groped in the dark for my shoes. In my mind I’m shouting out orders: ease the sheets! Bear away! Then I remember we still have the jib tops’l up.

Up on deck I see two figures in the dark, struggling with the wheel. The ship is heeling excessively. The mains’l’s been eased. The frothing wake of the ship glows in the night. The GPS reads 12.9 kts. I scramble forward to help the crew with the JT. There are three of them up there, hauling together on the downhaul but to no effect. There’s too much wind in the sail. I help haul, but soon abandon that effort and move aft to the sheets. Mike is there and I scream over the howling wind to blow the sheets. I run back aft to make sure the Captain is up. He’s at the wheel. I wonder how much sea room we have on the present course. The GPS reads 14.4 knots. A quick look at the radar and I see we’re only 6 miles offshore, less than 20 minutes of safe water ahead. The Captain yells above the growing din for the engines. I acknowledge and race below.

The engine room is oddly peaceful in comparison to the upper deck. I climb up to the starboard side to open the valves that keep the sea out of the exhaust. One opens readily but the other sticks. I open the tool chest to find a persuader but as I unlock the drawers they all slide open. I push the start button on the starboard engine. Nothing. Flip the battery switch on and try again. Now I get the clunk of the starter motor meeting with too much inertia. I fight with the tool chest and find a pair of channel locks and a big box wrench and set to opening the other valve. As the port engine rumbles to life I see water pouring out of the breathers on the starboard engine. We won’t be having that one anytime soon, I think to myself, and rush back up on deck….

Ship’s Log 2

9 July 03

continued…

Back on deck the wind is howling, even more fiercely than before. The lake is wild. Breaking waves have already formed and we are only ten minutes into the ordeal. The spray licking over the windward rail stings my face. The captain and I exchange knowing glances. I shove the port engine control in gear and yell to him we must tack soon. The crew on the foredeck have managed to get the JT down but are still fighting with the jib. The Captain moves forward to warn of the impending tack.

As the ship’s head passes through the wind and sea, she pitches violently upon the steep choppy waves, easily 6 feet by this point. I squint at the echo-sounder and note the water is still 42 feet deep, not much less than the average depth of Lake Erie. I steady up with the wind on the port bow, the main is left to flog for the moment, cracking and snorting and shaking the whole ship. We must get the jumbo and fores’l down first. I pass the helm over to Pete and make my way forward to see how things are going. Just then the sky ignites and I swing my head round to try to take in the extent of the bolt of lightning that branches out across the sky like the tributaries of the Mississippi across America. The branches join and connect with the earth to the south of us. I dread the intensity of the attendent thunder but it is drowned out by the howl of the wind in the rig and the cracking of the sails.

The ship lurches violently forward down the face of a huge wave. Derek, now out on the bowsprit trying to haul the doused sails out of the sea, disappears from sight as he’s dunked below the surface. I take little comfort in the knowledge that he’s clipped in and feel momentary relief when the bowsprit re-emerges and the black sea falls away to reveal him there still. I catch a glimpse of something plunging into the water to leeward. I don’t even have time to think the worst because I recognize the object, but I can’t believe my eyes. I look aloft for confirmation.

It must have been that most violent lurch. We weren’t making more than 2 knots headway, but the head-on collision with the monster wave that followed the cavernous trough we plunged into created massive moments of inertia aloft. The topmasts, suspended 70 feet above the deck, weigh in at well over 500 pounds each. Flung so violently forward, like crash-test-dummies, with lap belts but no shoulder belts, towards a windshield.

If I continue the analogy you might picture what happened. The fore topmast was wearing a shoulder belt, in that the running backstay was set, which is like wearing a shoulder belt around your neck. Unfortunately it was the starboard running backstay, still set from the previous tack. When the fore gaff and boom experienced the same accelerating forces , they lunged forward, slamming into the running backstay which in turn yanked even harder on the top of the foretop mast snapping the 8 inch diameter spar off at the top of the dublin. The 30 foot pole dangled briefly from the mess of shrouds and stays that draped themselves over the fore gaff, then fell away into the sea and disappeared into the darkness.

We spent the next four hours cleaning up the mess. The sun came up, the driving rain came and went, the estimated 50 knot winds subsided and the seas calmed almost as quickly as they had built up. I dispatched the engineer and his assistant to see if he could drain the water out of the port engine and get it re-started. The Captain and Derek went aloft and began lowering pieces of the standing and running rigging down to the deck.

Not too long after the topmast came down, the winds began to subside and I ventured below to check on things. When I looked into the galley the cook looked up and smiled as she stooped to place a pan of pumpkin bread dough into the oven, as if all was normal.

We secured alongside our assigned berth in Cleveland at noon that day, just 25 hours after departing Port Huron. The pumpkin bread was delicious.

Hello all,

This is a little bloggy and has nothing to do with RC, but I have to put it somewhere. It has to do with the New World Challenge before it went bust (boats had sponsors but no race title holder). It was written for NWC and also a website I had looking for sponsors. It’s more of a log that I was keeping as I was planning on doing the race as first mate…and maybe another race later as skipper.

Race Updates

Updated 4/3/99

My first experience with the New World Challenge was actually a delivery during the winter of 1999. The Skipper, John Reed who is presently a skipper in the BT Global Challenge, invited me to help sail Courtaulds International, a Challenge 67, on a 950 mile sprint from Miami to Annapolis. Being the last week in February, I figured this would be a good introduction to the race yacht in a potentially tough environment and satisfy my hunch, that I really did want to do this race.

I had been at the Chicago Boat Show to meet Sir Chay Blyth. He personally interviews each applicant for the race. Some say he is too blunt, or just rude. I found him to be blunt, but not rude. It was just the kind of sincerity and honesty I was expecting, considering the undertaking we applicants were signing up for. The meeting went very well. He was interested in knowing who we were and what we were expecting of the race as well as very informative and entertaining. He told us about his accomplishments and the history of the British Steel and BT Global Challenges, which gave us insight regarding the race we want to undertake.

I think my enthusiasm showed. We were told that we would be informed of our acceptance, or not, after 48 hours and careful consideration. But later that day, Sir Chay gave me a hint at the end of a presentation he made to the general public. As he was leaving the conference room, he leaned over, shook my hand and said with a wink and a Scottish accent “I’ll be see-in ya in trainin”. Later that same day, I received John Reed’s invitation for the delivery. My day was made!

It was only a couple of weeks later when I stepped onto the Challenge yacht in Florida just after the Miami Boat Show. We were planning to leave the marina, and John was carefully studying the weather information he received from the marina office. An observant delivery skipper from another yacht saw we were preparing to leave. He asked John where we were headed and added that he was not leaving the marina due to the bad weather predicted. John seemed not interested in the warning, what with the shrug and all. He and the first mate had us prepare to slip and I figured, what the hell!
At first I thought I had over dressed for the occasion. The weather was 80 degrees and sunny. A few hours later and approaching the Gulf Stream, I was happy to have the clothing I brought. The wind was a steady 25 to 30 knots from the NW, waves were tumbling down the impressive 67 foot deck, and a few of the other crew were getting sick. The seas were getting rougher and the air much colder. A few brave soles took shifts preparing dinner below. We figured there would be less chance of feeling sick eating it on deck in large doggie type bowls. No salt please! I then shot down to my cabin for sleep. To my surprise, I found about six inches of cold water sloshing around in my canvas bunk along with my sea bag. Apparently a dorade (vent leading to the deck) needed some maintenance. It was an interesting situation. It was the first night out, all of my gear was soaking wet, including the ones I was wearing, the weather would only get worse, and we had four or five days to go.

For the rest of the trip, I would either sleep in another crewman’s bunk when they were on shift (called hot bunking) or use the skipper’s bunk. Most often I used the galley, improvising a foul weather jacket as a blanket. Surprisingly, sleep came quickly.

I also made a discovery. Some people take showers in the morning to wake up; others exercise or drink a lot of coffee. Not that it is a regular practice, but I guarantee getting up wet, putting on wet socks and clothing in near freezing temperatures will wake you up quicker than anything else I know! The thought of doing this just before your graveyard shift on deck and in a near gale doesn’t help though.

By the third evening, we were trying to dodge squalls with impressive showers of lightning. At one point, we were all blinded from a flash, and then a few seconds went by as we all tried to gain our night vision back. The skipper checked the instruments to see if they were affected by the strike. We were all happy to here his report that we were not hit. John is somewhat of an expert in this area as he has been hit before on that very boat. It was also recently reported that his boat was hit again in the BT Global Challenge. In my innocence, I asked (or rather shouted) to John who was looking for abnormally large waves, if there were better places to stand/sit than others, when avoiding exposure to lightning strikes. He gave me a funny, maybe nervous look, and said “What? You think lightning is discriminating!” Enough said.

The winds from the squalls were impressive, at times reading in the fifties and sixties. We also saw a gust reading of 72 knots! The triple reefed main and storm staysail (the staysail had blown out) kept us punching into the rough seas at 9.5 knots. Standing at the wheel in this kind of weather was exhilarating. It was very impressive watching and feeling the river-like water rush down the deck, wrapping around the mast, deck hardware and past me in the cockpit. If you weren’t grabbing on, the water would!
We sailed around Cape Hatterus and up into the Chesapeake on our way to Annapolis. I’m not sure what the temperature was that last night, but it was pretty cold. Being soaked for five days and the endless, biting wind was finally getting to me. I thought I could feel it in my bones. We took short shifts at the wheel in teams of three. One driving, the other back to the wind, blocking it for the driver. The third perched low in the cockpit keeping a look out. Then the shift would change with a fresh crewmember coming from below and another ducking down the hatch. You begin to have a new appreciation and respect for those you are sailing with. You begin to share stories, talk about favorite (warm) foods, TV shows and significant others. This sport has a way of doing that. As we headed into the Chesapeake, a thin layer of ice was forming on the cold steel deck. We started dancing, or rather bobbing up and down like frozen popsicles, to the music of Presidents of the United States of America to keep warm. The wind started dying off and an eerie yet inspiring sea smoke started to form just over the water. When we got to the marina, we all took long hot showers and just made the breakfast deadline at a restaurant down town.

Several times during the trip, I wondered why people do this sort of thing to themselves. I also wondered (and still do) what the last leg of the race will offer besides 45 days and a wrong way Cape Horn rounding. Whatever it is, the adventure will probably pale this past trip in comparison.

Updated 11/27/99

My Induction training commenced in October of 1999. The Challenge 67 was in Annapolis for the boat show. I arrived a day early and was able to enjoy the boat show and also to help other show goers around the boat. Our Induction Training was actually a combination of a delivery and training as we were to bring the boat back to Boston.
Each “Crew Volunteer” or CV, as we are called, must follow a training program consisting of manuals and offshore instruction. The manuals are produced by the race organizers and the offshore instruction consists of at least five courses: Induction Training, Continuation Training, Development Training, Consolidation Training and Race Yacht Training. While these courses are very thorough, we are also advised to do as much training on our own and take advantage of as many deliveries as possible.
I had never taken a sailing course in my life, other than what I have learned by sailing with others and on my own. I quickly realized, especially with my previous experience on the delivery, that the training skippers and their mates are talented people who really know their stuff. The course started with safety talks and information regarding the operation of this particular boat and it’s equipment.

We even had a short talk on using winches. This, at first, seems quite remedial. But I paid close attention. Previously on the delivery from Florida to Annapolis, I was given the same instruction in rough weather as the first mate and I put a third reef in the main sail. First, we made our plans back in the cockpit and reviewed a couple of hand signals that are used in place of shouting over strong winds. We then went up to the mast. Never get on your knees with your back to the seas while at the winch and always make sure you have at least one foot planted on the deck. With a lot of water rushing down the deck, you can be carried away and you won’t see the water coming. It can also feel like someone is pointing a pressure hose up each pant leg, no mater how good your foul weather gear is.
The winch handle must be in one of two places: In the winch as you are taking up on a line, or in the storage pocket at the mast. It is a dangerous weapon in any other spot. A skipper was seriously injured in the last BT Global Challenge by falling on one. If the pawls in the winch let go, the handle can break an arm or worse as it spins wildly, or a line can flip it off the winch and onto some ones head. Keep in mind, the yacht can carry up to 4,020 square feet of sail and will encounter extreme conditions. In some respects, the training is like learning to sail all over again. One must also remember, that these details must be like second nature when, as our skipper put it, the sh-t hits the fan.
We also went through an improvised drill on what to do and how to act when going a ground in a fresh breeze. I remember sitting in the cockpit after removing our poled out # 2 Yankee. We had practiced putting the pole on, jibing, and doing a crash stop, a maneuver used in a man overboard recovery. We were now cruising along at about six or seven knots to get back out into the middle of the Delaware Bay and to continue on our way to Boston. I also remember just noticing a change in the color of water just in front of us. I looked down at the depth gage and noticed the reading go from 8 meters, 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 then….. I looked up at the Chris, the first mate and he looked at me. We had both been just noticing the same thing at the same time. He was as shocked as I was, but he jumped up and shouted down the hatch to John. The whole thing was like a car crash. Just as the words came out, we came to a dead stop, and the first mate was propelled forward like a rocket. I must admit, both John and Chris were cool as sea cucumbers. As we bounced along the hard muddy bottom in the six-foot waves, John rushed on deck and instructed us to bring down the #2 Yankee. Chris and CV’s went to work automatically as John took the helm. We went up the windward side of the deck and past the huge shrouds, which went limp as the 67 footer crashed down on the bottom. I think I ducked as I passed them on my way to the bow. My job was to pull on the luff of the sail to bring it down as quickly as possible while others gathered the sail on deck. The main sail was brought in tight as John skillfully tacked the boat around and headed out the same way we came in. We all waited as the last thump occurred and we sailed into deeper water. John coolly looked forward at his crew and with a stiff upper lip and his British accent said, “Well done, not quite what I had in mind however”. A bilge check shortly ensued.

We continued with man overboard drills, spinnaker work, navigation and even a very informative talk on clothing. We will be allowed no more than 9 lbs. of personal items during the race. This includes all of our clothing, toiletries, etc., excepting foul weather gear and sleeping bag. I have since learned to live for five days or so comfortably without changing clothes, aside from a pair of socks. As long as others do the same, it dose not become a problem. On our continuation sail, the first mates mom came on board at the end of the week. Let’s just say she didn’t spend much time below. On our last day we formed teams, made some rules, placed wagers consisting of pints of beer, and commenced reefing races. Each four-person team would start at a sitting position in the cockpit behind some designated winches. The timing would stop when the reef was complete, lines stowed, and the sail drawing again. Each team could do it in just over two minutes. Not bad for such a big sail!

At the end of the week, we discussed our performance with the skipper and were able to critique the course, and, of course, it and the crew got strait A’s all around!

7/25 /00

Hooray! I have received my RYA/DoT shorebased course certificate for Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore. Since I’ve joined the NWC, I’ve decided to get as much out of it as I can. I am attempting to get the same qualifications that are required of the skippers, which is the Yachtmaster Ocean with commercial endorsement. The RYA can boast that these certificates of competence have worldwide recognition and the most comprehensive training around. This is the first step in getting there. The next step for me is the practical test. I will keep you posted.
10/24/00
Another one down. I have passed the practical exam for the offshore certificate! It was quite an experience. First I started with a four-day practical course to prepare for the exam. The examiner, then came aboard on the last day and gave a roughly ten hour practical exam.

Our instructor was surprisingly intense. He claims a 100% passing rate, and if he thinks you are over your head, he will let you know early on, and suggest you pack your bags. We started at 7:15am every morning. Our training was constant, through each meal and into the evening, usually around 11:00pm or later. I wasn’t sure if it was the jet lag or the fear of failure that kept me up until about 2:00am each morning. I am stretching our budget, and coming home to Catherine and Alexandria (our daughter) empty handed was not on the agenda.

50% of our training was leadership, and the other 50%, sailing skill. There were six people on the boat: the instructor, two of us were going for the Yachtmaster, three for competent crew. It was the Yachtmaster hopefuls job to teach the competent crew and lead them through maneuvers.

We practiced man overboard drills, boat handling, anchoring, slipping, mooring, pilotage and navigation. We were also quizzed on passage planning and meteorology. When I read the course contents, it seemed like review, until I started reading the tidal rate atlas. England has some of the greatest tides in the world and it felt like we were constantly sailing in a rushing river, sometimes we were. The reality struck as I noticed large tanker moorings appear to be partially pulled under by the current as we were sailing out of an inlet we found for practicing mooring under sail. My favorite exercise was a game called blind navigation. You basically run the boat from the navigation station to get from point A to point B under sail. Using radar or GPS is cheating. The exercise is meant to sharpen you navigation and communication skills. By the way, the crew cannot communicate what they see from the deck unless it is within one boat length!

On the third day of our course, the instructor told us that the examiner was going to come a day early and in the late morning, meaning a portion of the exam would be at night. Our instructor was apparently worried about our performance, as his intensity grew. He now had a sleep deficit of his own and had irritated a previous back injury during the week. At one point, we had missed a man overboard maneuver causing a second try. The nstructors response from the stern was “I’m wasting my $% time and should have stayed at the %$# dock! The sound of a deep breath and slow release was common throughout the week.
The weather all week had been cold, rainy and windy. The low-pressure systems seem to march through, one after another, and according to locals, its par for course. Sailing in October in England, what was I thinking! On the day of the exam, however, the sun came out, had relatively warm weather, and pleasant wind. The examiner came on board and we breezed through the exam. I had actually felt very comfortable and confident during the exam. I didn’t even flinch when it came to the blind navigation.

My mission was to sail from an anchorage near the Queens Battery Marina, up the river past the Naval Station in Plymouth. I was to take a fix, go to the chart table, and lead the crew to sail through the traffic and tide to the new anchorage. The examiner gave me sound signals and bearings to let me know where the traffic was. It was an interesting challenge sailing by the chain ferries. These are large car ferries, which pass back and forth across a river at staggered intervals. It immediately reminded me of the arcade game frogger. Why these were chosen over a small bridge is a mystery to me. At any rate, we accomplished the mission.

Our exam and debrief ended about midnight. We thanked the examiner and headed for last call at the local pub. We all, including the instructor, ordered and sucked down a couple of drinks in record time. 100% he exclaimed, and I believe him!

11/11/00

I have returned from my continuation training with the NWC. The first evening was spent getting to know others as they arrived. As with all the training, and the race itself, it’s about the people. Time is not only spent learning how to operate the boat, but also spent learning how to work in a group to achieve a common goal.

The following morning, the generator starting was our wakeup call. Directly after, we found ourselves standing in the cool November air in running shorts, preparing for a run, which was accompanied by some aesthetic exercises and another run. The message simply being; try to improve your health and learn to push yourself.

The week is full of exercises designed to improve your general sailing skills, from sail changes, navigation, rules of the road, and being on a watch system. All of these activities require a team environment. People must not only get along but also, work together. You have to learn to do tasks as trained by the skipper and mate, as it will be the only way to do your team justice. You also have to be willing to listen and learn from your teammates.

Near the end of the week, our skipper decided to have us sail to Jeffrie’s Bank and back. His name, you must understand, is John Jeffrys. Once we got there, he made sure we got a picture of it, although you have to use your imagination, as it is under water.

On the way out, we practiced more drills including a man over board. These drills really drive home the importance of using the right method, and being good at it. We did a mob drill at night with very little wind. A floating boat fender tied to a bucket was used to represent our victim. When mob was shouted, we all sprang into action. Part of the plan is to immediately throw a danbouy into the water which has a light attached, and to hit a mob button on the GPS. The GPS (Global Positioning System) will then direct you back to the very spot the boat was in when the button was pressed. We found both the danbouy and the fender. We picked up the danbouy first and circled back around for the fender. We knew we should have picked the fender up first, but, the danbouy was closest and there was no real emergency. It was a surprise, though, when we circled around for the fender and found it was gone. We searched the whole area using the GPS and a spotlight. Our pointers, people whose job it is to keep an eye and a pointed finger on the person in the water, couldn’t see the fender through the mist. Just like that, we lost the fender. A good lesson learned on how easy it is to lose a person if they go over the side.

On the way back, it was getting quite rough due to an approaching low. The weather was behind us though, and made for an exiting run back to Boston. The wind was at it’s strongest when I was off watch. Although operating with less sleep than usual, it’s hard to go to sleep when you’re having fun. If you’re a baseball fan, picture yourself watching your favorite team, your bed is in the middle of the field, and your job is to fall asleep. Could you do it? Neither could I, at least at first. My bunk was just under the cockpit and I could clearly hear the conversations of the crew above, talking louder than usual due to the wind. To the left, I could hear the rushing seawater slide past the hull, inches from my head. I could also hear the wind, vibrating through the rigging and passing through the entire boat. The sounds of sailing are amplified below and sound much more dramatic than they really are. At one point, the crew above had to take in another reef. They had to swing the boat around into the wind. I bounced out of the bunk and landed on the wood slats running along the side of the hull. It’s really not an uncomfortable place to sleep when the boat is healed over. A few more waves and I was back in the bunk again. I heard the skipper grumble to the first mate that the reef should have gone in earlier. The 1st mate, also named John, admitted that it should have, but he was having too much fun watching the surge of speed with each passing wave. I started laughing to myself. It’s just a training week; this is going to be fun! I was out in short order.

The last day was probably the most instructive for the entire crew. We were presented with a challenge. We were given a list of drills (sail changes, mob, heaving to, rounding navigation marks and islands, reefs, rigging emergency tiller, tri-sail, etc) to be competed within a time limit. Each drill completed would give the team points. We had to work as a team to pull together a strategy so that we could perform as many drills as possible throughout the day. We constantly had to work together: deciding which task to perform, which marks to round and how to get certain jobs done as quickly as possible. There were some very smooth moments and a few intense discussions throughout the day. In the end though, we pulled through and actually set a new points record for this challenge, albeit, the wind conditions were perfect. I think we had less than two minutes left when we crossed the finish line!

The last morning was spent cleaning every part of the boat we could reach. This is probably the least fun part of training. I am a bit of a neat freak, so I really don’t mind. It is also a good way to get to know areas of the boat that you would not otherwise see.

All is great!

I made it out of Florida alive and somewhat rich…not so much anymore. For almost a year I’ve been living in Oregon with one of my oldest and dearest friend. I’ve sold out to the corporate beast for health insurance and work for Starbucks. To supplement the money that I don’t make and have become accustomed to, I cocktail at a dive bar on Fridays and trade a desk shift for free yoga, but all that is about to change on May 1st. My brother-in-law is going into active duty and my sister has asked me to come and live with her for a year, Savannah, GA of all places! Before I commit myself to a year of sobriety and church (not really), I’m going to New Orleans to ride on the back of Will’s motorcycle, not going to church and definitely not being sober. You might remember me mentioning him. I think that’s the short hand of what’s been happening! Tell everyone hello for me and offer a vacation place in Savannah, I’m going to need visitors! Good luck in the upcoming season and take care!!!

Melissa

Hello Gang!

1st, who’s committed for GMORA races?

Spring is coming so I thought I’d get in touch with everyone. Initially I think we should figure out who is game for a full season of racing. I spoke with Scott and Pete and they are definitely game! Pam may be predisposed racing her own boat this summer so it’s looking like we may need a replacement there (we will miss you!). We officially would like to invite Rita and Greg back for any all and races; this would be sort of like having the wonder twin super hero’s on board (no Rita, if you choose this mission we will not make you wear a cape.) Not sure what Pam S. and Linda S. are up to but we are looking for as steady a crew (seven people) as possible for weekend racing and you two are invited. Once we get some idea of commitments we can start recruiting for more…..If we are to do well, 7 is the magic number. We are also going to be somewhat picky about the recruits….experience isn’t needed, but we need folks who will fit in with the group and are willing to learn and be competitive.

2nd, who’s committed to Thursday night races?

Not me at this point, it will be a busy summer for me, and also committed to Tuesday nights on Pam’s boat if needed. I am also considering coaching/instructing for my daughters school for a small Sunfish fleet and will have to decide on that soon.

3rd, How’s Roach Coach doing?

So far, so good. Check out the pics above. Remember the new bottom I swore I’d give it. Well, I’m in the middle of stripping the old paint off (with soy oil of all things) and it’s halfway off. It is a very messy job, Scott came up to check it out and he can attest to that. He did some scraping underneath to see if we could get some more off but the paint was still gooey from the stripper. Hmm, scary at the moment! BTW Scott it did harden up again! Any way, with any luck we’ll get the rest off one way of the other and get a hard, wet sandable, slippery, lightweight bottom paint on…yahoo!

Next, I’ve got the parts to put on the “Beam of Destiny” and the “Jockstrap”. This will stiffen the boat up quite a bit which was a problem last year. I’m pretty exited to see what difference it will make.

4th, Volunteers?

Certainly not a requirement, mostly for fun and or experience. I’ll be working on the boat this Friday afternoon/evening spreading more soy oil all over the bottom, then covering it with plastic wrap (like in the pics above). Then Saturday, will be scraping/pressure washing it off. Depending on how long that takes, I may start working on the “Beam of Destiny” and or Jockstrap” Saturday afternoon. I’m not if I’ll be working on the boat Sunday. BTW, the barn is warm and cozy…..with a fridge!

5th, Website update! http://roachcoachracing.sailinglog.net/home

Not sure if anyone actually reads it, but it is updated. This year we are going to takes Scott’s advice and pass around a race log book and then we’ll post it! Let me know how your all doing…and let’s think about getting together in Portland somewhere for kicks.


P.S. Scott have a safe drive this weekend!

1ST Place Overall GMORA Winners in class C! RC was also 1st Western Region and 3rd Central Region.

What a great season! Remember in the last post I wrote that the PHRF New England’s gave us a couple of points, and that it was significant. Well, here’s why. The New England PHRF Championship was the last race on our schedule and was our last chance to get points for the season. At that point we were in 2nd place overall. Commotion was in first place by a fraction of a point! The spread between boats is usually anywhere from 20 to 50 points! And here we are the last race of the season and a fraction of a point different! Intense! Commotion and Roach Coach were in tight competition all year, both boats making every race they could. This race was no different and both boats were on their way, skippers and crew gritting their teeth, hungry for points. RC’s placement added several points to the season standings and RC ended up first for the season! Phew! That was amazingly close! I’m so proud of the crew and skipper for not choking in such tough race. We are expecting the same kind of competition and camaraderie this season so I’m hoping to see as many of the veteran crew back for the 2007 season. If RC is going to do as well or better (there is still the Dirigo Bowl to be had!) RC will need the entire team!

Thanks to;

Peter Farris
Rita Nappi
Scott Thomas
Pam Thomas
Gregg Carvel

And also thanks to our all guest crew members as there were quite a few and they all played an important role.

Guest crew;

Dyonisia (Gregg’s better half)
Linda Sheehy
Pam Stuppy
Shannon Fitzpatrick
Dave Thomas
Andrea Rand (and friend Fred)
Bruce Schwab
Cain Stevenson
Alexandria Stevenson

Cheers!

It’s been awhile, as the season heated up, so did the competition, so there wasn’t much time to update the web site. I’ll try to briefly summarize (according to my short term memory) how the rest of our season went.

PHRF Maine’s was not a spectacular race for us; I forget where we finished, I think 4th Place so it wasn’t good, what with a few fouls involved (but no protests).

Boothbay was spectacular, both for the racing and also for the overnight stay. There was a pre-feeder race for fun and we ended up sailing right into Boothbay Harbor through a bunch of traffic in plenty of breeze with the spinnaker up (surfing in the low teens during the gusts)…good times! Scott and Pam’s Inn had a dock (where RC docked) and veranda that overlooked the harbor and Yacht Club (also close to downtown bars) so we had great access to the boat between races. The racing was challenging with lots of boats, several starting lines and an island in the middle of the course! After two days of racing we ended up in 2nd place. Not bad!

Camden to Castine, another fantastic away race. We got in from the delivery to Camden at dusk just in time to watch a thunderstorm roll in, and then we all ducked into a cozy tavern for some chowder and beer. Great times! Saturdays race saw the wind behind us all the way….the Olson kicked her heals up and we blasted toward Castine carrying the spinnaker, dueling it out and even beating some class A boats! The next day, much to our surprise, saw wind blowing us right back to Camden. We carried the spinnaker the majority of the day with plenty of wind until Robinson Rock which we had to round to get to the finish. The wind died and it was an all out battle to get through the glassy waters surrounding Robinson Rock. I think the entire fleet (including class A and Tri’s) ended up there like a big parking lot. We worked hard to get to new air before the other class C boats and we did! We were off and gone while our competition had to be spitting nails watching it happen! It was a workout getting to the finish in wildly shifting breeze, but we persevered. Pete and I dropped the rest of the crew off and headed to Portland while the rest stayed for the awards. We received a cell phone call with limited reception, but we heard all we needed to hear…..1st place!

Monhegan! Every now and then I write an e-mail summarizing a race for those who didn’t make it. Here’s part of an e-mail sent to some crew who missed out on this years Monhegan aboard “Roach Coach”.

Thursday nights pre-race was pretty exiting so I’m adding the story here;

Crew on Thursday night…..Pete in cockpit for Monhegan Race training (He worries at times….”I don’t do well with lightning” and “if this is what sailings about, forget it!” but remembers priorities “Gregg brought Boddingtons’s Beer”), Greg on foredeck…. (Details matter to him even in the face of danger, “where exactly is the anchor?” and as you’ll understand later “I think the barge is tied off to both moorings!”..., Linda as mast-woman, (safety is always on her mind, “Shouldn’t we be wearing life jackets!”, Dianicia, she just pops up when you need her, “there’s a knot in the halyard!” and Rich driving, “please, calmly put the hatch board in and close the hatch…don’t worry, this is just a precaution”.

The race….While racing we watch a huge area of dark clouds approaching and discuss possible future events…...”I don’t do well with lightning”....we decide to go commando and stick to our strategy, we watch flashes of lighting and soon hear loud claps of canvas (carbon and Kevlar in some cases) getting ripped apart off to our left and dark shades covering the water coming our way and masts going horizontal (a J-29 decided to run before the weather and crossed our stern headed for the Hussy, the skipper reported a top speed somewhere near 14 knots under ripped main alone, we believe him). We got less than two minutes; get the spinnaker down…its down most of the way except…..”There’s a knot in the halyard!”....thank Neptune she found the problem, relax, untie, and finish the job just in time! Bam! 50 knot blasts, settling down to 30-35 knots until the next 50 knot blast! Sail the main, everyone on the high side, oops, there goes the main….”“where exactly is the anchor!”....not sure the racing anchor will do the job and what felt like to long babying a ripped main… “Please, calmly put the hatch board in and close the hatch, don’t worry, this is just a precaution” as we watch the boom drag through the water… and then… “Shouldn’t we be wearing life jackets”, while tacking back and forth….”I think the barge is tied off to both moorings”...so we tie off on the end of the barge, deep breath and “Gregg brought Boddingtons’s!”

Believe it or not, it didn’t stop there, we cleaned up the deck, let the race committee know we were ok (who by the way did a great job of locating and accounting for the racers, including a non-racing boat which capsized, crew swimming, got picked up by a lobster boat and attracted the attention of the coast guard) drank Boddingtons’s and when the wind dropped to around 25-30 knots, motored to the business end of Clapboard to get around the tip so we could be blown back to the mooring, only to be interrupted by the motion of the waves which splintered the motor mount to allow the outboard to do a cartwheel (first time I’ve seen an outboard run upside down with the engine gurgling under water and the prop mimicking a wind generator), anyway, Gregg took the helm and headed down wind, I realized as I had my head near the water off the stern wresting the outboard that it was blowing pretty hard as we had no sails up and no prop in the water, yet we had a wake. I then called up “jibe and head back to clapboard”.
Despite the apparent anarchy, I’m very proud to say that no one lost their cool and we systematically went to work on deck, took care of any unexpected events, offered assistance to the RC boat and even joked about calling the race committee to ask “hey we’re at the finish mark but can’t see the RC boat!” (We’re pretty confident not a single boat made it to the finish area…but we would have/could have if there was money or more beer involved!). We kept our priorities and ended up at our haunt at the Falmouth Grill for food and drinks.

To Monhegan;

Downwind start (Gryphon Solo, an Open 50, asks us for some egg and cheese sandwiches over easy….roach coach…get it?) we watched other fleets go, lots of round-ups, broaching…bla, bla…..we’re on it, order of the day is this is a long race, we have only three crew compared to their seven, lets do things slow and easy, no mistakes…chute goes up…we’re out of there, no broaches for the roaches! Dodge a tanker and the Cat (ferry to N.S.) changes course allowing us room (we owe them big, after we change our underwear, we’ll send them a thank you note). We’re first to the first mark hitting 12 knots… jibe/broach….back up around 11 knots+. Off Sequin…more wind…Pete witnesses 12+ knots…a few more waves and wind, we’re at what feels like somewhere above 13 knots, maybe up to 15, but we’re not lookin when the coach gets cookin (I like saying that). We needed all three of us concentrating on the spinnaker. Seas were getting bigger, but we were going faster than the waves, burying the bow on occasion, yeehaw! We put some distance on the fleet and round at Monhegan 11 minutes in front of the next boat in daylight! Strategy counts on the way back, we can only carry the 125% with only three on board, and others are carrying their big sails as the breeze lightens considerably. It’s dusk now. We go low and fast….see bunches of meteors and maybe a whale (whatever it was, it was a couple of feet from Pete and Gregg’s ankles as they sat on the rail). Rip Curl reports hitting a whale as does another boat. We watch Sequin for hours as usual, can’t see where the competition went (we are either doing well or need to start looking in front of us). Several hours later we find the finish, and listen for other folks calling in their time on the VHF. We are first to finish, but wait…...Go-Dog-Go calls in 1.5 miles from the finish…...they cross the line in the dark just before dawn 7 minutes after we do…drat…first on corrected time is theirs by 5 minutes. We listened for the other finishers but luckily keep our second place, but we also got line honors and the first to finish Ocean Midget Trophy (second year in a row).

In the end, the three of us sailed a marathon on this race and the crew earned lots of respect from the skipper. My hats off to Greg and Pete! Congrats guys!


MS Regatta, This is always a race worth doing, there are so many boats it’s like driving in rush hour traffic. Most boats have a sponsor and a theme with costumes and so-on. This year on RC, we decided to keep with our name and loaded up the grill with hotdogs; we zoomed around the fleet during the parade past Western Prom and fed as many of the fleet as we could, all the while dodging water balloons from attacking vessels. Good times! We ended up not placing well; I think 5th place, we’ll just blame it on being overfed!

PHRF New England’s. By far the most challenging all year, we’ll have to go back next season as we have no idea how we ended up where we did each race, which was usually inconsistent, and at the end of the regatta we were somewhere just below mid-fleet. If I knew the exact number I’d probably not report it! Surprisingly though, it gave us a couple of points for our season standings, and in the next post, you’ll understand why that’s so significant. This regatta saw two days of racing, romping around Marblehead, staying at a borrowed house (thanks Pam!) and rubbing elbows at the Corinthian Yacht Club. At one point, the crew and I were sitting in the trophy room hanging out and listening to Bruce Schwab “Ocean Planet” and Rich Wilson “Great American, II, and III” casually discussing Rich’s upcoming campaign for the Vendee Globe. Very cool! The delivery back to Maine took two days due to lots of wind and chop on the nose, the Olson really doesn’t like it, being so light and just me onboard. But it was still fun, getting to stop in York Harbor for a night and hanging out in a local bar that was decked out to look like the interior of an old ship. More good times!

So there it is, I tried to keep it short which was hard to do….I have to say there are so many great memories made this past season it was hard not to put them in print, it’s one of those things where you have to be there to appreciate how much went on, I’m sure the RC crew and all those racing know exactly what I’m talking about…so I guess I’ll see you all next year so you don’t miss out!

Roach Coach had an exiting day during the Harraseeket. For starters, we had world famous Bruce Schwab on board! He is a fan of the Olson 30’s and is familiar with roach coach. He gave us some pointers on some more upgrades we can make to our deck and was also great as he coached us along giving us some pointers. I’ll be practicing a few things I’ve forgotten about, but I can’t tell you what they are as they are now our trade secrets! We also had our seasoned crew Scott Thomas (cockpit) and Reta Nappi (foredeck) aboard. We were still short on crew until Thursday night before the race. Andrea Rand and her friend Ted joined the crew as Painkiller (a Mumm 36) had plenty of crew and Andrea was looking for a change of pace for the weekend. We gladly invited she and Ted aboard. This was a pursuit race, so we felt really slow at first (I also think my driving was a little off or we carried some seaweed on the rudder….at least it is a great excuse (#@*&!), but with some good strategies and paying attention to boat speed/handling we passed a few boats here and there and wound up in 4th place. Not bad. The scores are not posted on the PHRF web site yet, but we should be scored as second place for class C for the race. This will definitely help us in the season standings.

RC ended up with a pair of six place finishes for the weekend, but the second test drive for RC could still be called successful (because we found some things we can improve!). The wind was predicted to be 11 knots, but the sea breeze kicked in and it increased a fair amount. RC definitely needs a new tuf-luff as we could have used a couple of sail changes, but decided not to due to having only one groove. The halyards have to be lead back through the jam cleats and to the winches. When we hoisted the sails…they would creep back down (x#!). With more wind we need to have the ability to hoist the sails…and have them stay there! Also, we discovered the rig was too loose; the leeward shrouds were flapping around while close hauled (maybe why we were so fast in light air for the CYC regatta). During the CYC regatta, we heard a faint “sprong”, but couldn’t figure out what it was, we didn’t look that hard both because it was faint and we were paying attention to the race. Either case most everything else worked. There are still a few things to work out to make things go more smoothly (at the time of writing; two double mast-base blocks, one deck organizer and a mast-track end-stop have been installed; another deck organizer is on order ; also a few lines have been shortened and led back to the winches and the rig has been tightened). We can thank my daughter Alexandria for being a big help in holding the screw driver on deck while I worked the wrench from below deck. I had to convince her to help by calling this a fathers-day-re-do as we were racing on Fathers Day). This between swims off the stern of course.

Saturday, we had Rich (driving), Greg (cockpit), Pete (mast-man), Shannon (foredeck). I included a picture of Shannon’s knees and elbows to prove just how hard she was working…also to show the world how well Will Rooks does non-skid as she is sporting deck rash. She didn’t get any blood on the sails, so she gets to drink the extra beer. I have to say that Pete and Shannon (both fairly new to the foredeck) did a great job. We had the spinnaker up and flying on some close reaches with plenty of wind. They had to work together fairly quickly working out the spaghetti that materialized on deck from the lines during and after each sail change. Nice work, especially where the skipper couldn’t really give any direction…I had laryngitis both days! Each time before a maneuver….I had to bang on the deck, or tap Greg on the shoulder. All the rest of the instructions came from Greg. Thanks Greg!

Sunday, we had only three for crew; Rich (driving), Greg (cockpit), Reta (foredeck). So…we decided to put up the new 125%. Rich was feeling under-the-weather (not hung-over btw) and tied the sheets to the tack?!?. This made for a fire drill before the start and obviously we were quite late. We worked hard though and caught up to the fleet, RC is definitely fast as long as we go in the right direction. The skipper made an under-the-weather decision and ended up taking us through more current than expected and lost several positions. Lesson learned and another mental note added to the local knowledge bank! Also, kudos to the crew for doing such a great job, there were only two working all the running rigging, trim and sail changes and they still kept the boat moving fast. I’m sure they both slept well Sunday night!

Altogether, we had fun sailing! The weather was fantastic and we can only hope for more. Until next week!

The weather forecast was calling for lots of rain and wind, but our spirits were not dampened as we headed for CYC on Roach Coach. As it turned out, the wind was light and the rain come only in drizzles (of course we were pretty focused on racing, so if it poured, we didn’t notice).

The Start and first windward leg; we knew there would be a crowd at the start so we decided to make it conservative. It is the beginning of the season and several of the group are sailing together for the first time. Also the deck layout is completely new and this race served as a shakedown sail. We ended up in bad air, but luckily we had a clear lane to tack and go right. It then started to look like we were on a favored tack, FIVE was also on the same tack which gave us confidence to stay the course. It worked out and we were one of the first boats to reach the first mark.

First time around the course; we had a few snags getting the spinnaker up as we rounded the mark, but the foredeck crew did the right thing. We saved lots of time and headaches because foredeck didn’t panic and didn’t rush, they thought through the process, worked out the issues and the spinnaker was flying, and we lost very little ground. Sail trim must have been on the mark as well; we had speed on the other boats and passed them one by one. We owe GO DOG GO a favor. The Roach Coach skipper was a little rusty and we almost sailed through the starting line (against the rules). The skipper of GO DOG GO called over and reminded us. Few! Saved! For the rest of the race we played nice and made sure we kept clear of their wind.

Second time around; Second time upwind we held our speed (credit to spectacular trim
and keeping the boat flat). We turned the windward mark and we were off and running again. We even had the fun experience of passing a 45 footer (rating 75) on speed alone!

Finnish; Around the leeward mark and we chased a J 109 (B fleet) to the finish line and crossed only seconds after. We then enjoyed a nice sail back to the mooring, and then drove to Centerboard Y.C. We literally walked in the door just in time to here Roach Coach announced as 1st place for Class C!

On schedule and crew…....also here is a report on some recent activity.

DONE;

1) Paint and non-skid applied (sprayed on and looks great)

2) Deck hardware installed …....cool stuff, halyards have cam cleats on the mast/ foreguy lead at mast base/ jib tracks moved to cabin top/ primary winches are on
cabin top/ harken jamming foot blocks for Genoa/ harken spinnaker leads and ratchet blocks/ custom raised main traveler (courtesy of me)/ new ultra light
outhaul/new backstay configuration and Ronstan block/ pony horse shoe ring (light)........somebody stop me….please…...

3) Tuff-luffis now installed….much lighter than our furling system…also has a luff guide and runs up much more easy.

TO DO

1) Install new rudder bearings (still waiting for order to arrive)..............never mind, I just got a call from FedEx for directions!

2) Wax topsides.

3) Paint bottom. Unfortunately the bottom did not get stripped and faired….so it is going to get a coat of single season ablative. I did manage to
get a layer or two of old paint off (I was surprised to see how many layers are on there), so if anything the bottom will be slightly faster. Next
year…..the bottom is the priority.

4) Boat launch. Handy’s will hopefully be getting the boat in the water the week of the 5th. This is late, but it was the best date I could get given
the shape the boat was in a week ago.

RACING SCHEDULE;

1) Weekend regattas; The first regatta is June 10th, and as long as the boat gets in the water the week of (or before) the 5th…we’ll do this
race.

2) Thursday night races; Thursday night races start on the 25th, we obviously won’t be ready for this but we will for June fifteenth. If we’re
very lucky, maybe the boat will be in the water and ready for an impromptu Thursday night on the 8th (but I wouldn’t hold your breath).

CREW;

1) Points East crew party. I have a list of folks who want to temp on weekends. No full timers, but this list should provide us with
some extra rail meat…..some may develop more interest later…..the beer was tasty too.

2) Reta Nappi, We have a keeper…....Reta and I raced together for several years on Haymaker, a j-29. She has also been racing on other yachts
since. It was a smokin campaign. She has plenty of experience and is great company, she’ll fit right in. She gave me a call and is committed
to weekend racing. Glad to have you aboard Reta!

3) Shannon Fitzpatrick, Hi Shannon! Shannon sounds like she has plenty of experience and wants to go out on a couple of Thursday nights. Sounds
like maybe she could help us figure out what direction to go in. That would be a bonus!

Talk to you soon!

Roach Coach renovation; we are in the home stretch on getting the boat together. I’ll send pictures soon, but here is what’s happening in a nut shell;

DONE

1) The boat is at Falmouth Boat Works getting two coats of epoxy primer on the deck and then some epoxy glossy paint. It should be ready for me to take home
this coming Tuesday.

2) I have decided on a deck layout (after consultation with Will and Bruce and my alter ego) and equipment which will be ordered this coming week, I think your going to
like it.

3) Pete has taken measurements of the forepeak cushions and the bunks. He is working on some new red ones to match the rest of the boat.

4) Winches have been completely torn down, cleaned and regreased.

5) I have sanded csc paint off the bottom….it’s ugly. I also have the dent in the keel fixed and is fair. The nice slick bottom will have to wait till next year though as it
will take more time than thought to get it right. That will be next winters sole project as I’d like to do it only once and get it perfect. The bottom will be slightly
better than last year as it is a little lighter and there’s no dent to contend with. Next year though….a new bottom should prove to be a big improvement.

6) the mooring is all set to go in and all fees have been paid…..I’m looking for the PHRF cert. in the near future.


TO-DO

1) Hopefully next week I will have the non-skid ordered and start to roll it on. I may actually keep it at Will’s shop if he has room so I can have his guidance.

2) Install deck hardware (maybe a good time for a crew party!) as this is the fun stuff.

3) Paint the bottom, install new rudder bearings

4) Install new equipment to mast and remover furling gear for tuf-luf. (I should get this done this weekend)

5) Maybe…..only maybe if there is any dough left…...install a tac-tic…..only maybe….we’ll see….no promises.

5) Install Pete’s fine upholstery, wax topsides and dunk into the water!!! No date yet, but I’ll get one.

6) The points east crew party is May 10, 5:30 to 8:00. Should be good. We have 4 core crew for weekends and we should try to get a couple more to keep the boat flat and fast.


Think about which position you want to have. With the four of us and the new set up, there will be at least 4 distinct positions. We should iron this out so we know what we are looking for at the crew party (I haven’t placed an add anywhere yet either)

-driver
-cockpit
-mast man (will be important this year)
-foredeck (will also have added responsibilities)
-eventually we need a (navigator) or (navigator/tactitian/mastman all in one)



Talk to you soon!