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!