Sailflow was showing 4-8 knots of westerly wind for the race. Most of the crew bailed out except Michelle, who is fairly new to the boat, but I figured since it was light wind everything would be okay. As I was rigging the boat a fellow sailor walked down the dock and commented on the squall warning out in the Strait of Georgia. I assumed he meant a gale warning as sailflow had shown some stronger winds developing in the Strait. I merrily went about things rigging the boat and when Michelle arrived we motored out of False Creek towards the start line.
It was eerily calm as we motored out. There was no wind and the sea was completely flat. There was bright overcast clouds above us and I could see more of the same way off in the distance. What was unusual though was a band of black low cloud and dark water ahead of us. We commented on it and I noticed how fast the clouds appeared to be moving. I noticed the water begin to be tickled by a little breeze and then it hit. 20-25 knots of westerly wind, hail and freezing rain blowing horizontally.
I had never seen anything like this. The genoa that was loose on deck shot up the forestay. The boat began to heal over. I ran up the windward rail and yanked the sail down. The hail was stinging my face so badly I couldn't look forward. I went back and looked about. There was too much wind to have the 140% on so I grabbed the 110%, slapped on some snowboarding goggles and a ski mask and crawled forward. I threw the sopping genoa into the v-berth through the forward hatch. The other sail was lashed down and rigged. I made my way back to the cockpit where Michelle had been helming and minutes later it was over. The sun came out the black clouds disappeared to the east. It was surreal. Now with about 8 knots of wind I went forward again and replaced the 110% with the 140%.
Despite the earlier dramatics it turned into a great race. The course for division two was Start - Freighter (dead west off of Stanley Park) - Freighter (close to shore off Spanish Banks, just West of Jericho) - and Finish. We had a decent start and crossed the line about 40 seconds after the horn, the firs or second in our division.
The first leg was going well as we beat towards the first freighter. I noticed SHAPAW start to gain on me then pass me by doing maybe a full half a knot faster. They rate slower than me and in no time they were 10 boat lengths ahead and pointing better. My jib cars were too far forward and the genoa was too deep. The car was under too much load so there was nothing I could do. The main was also a little baggy and needed to be pulled up. Again it was under too much load to take up so I put on the cunningham which helped. We rounded the first freighter well behind SHAWPAW with CARLITO's WAY not too far behind and DESIDERATA and KLATAWA far behind.
Now things were getting tactical. The options were to head over to the southern shore and work up the second freighter or take a long tack out towards point atkinson and head over to the freighter. I would have thought to go to the southern shore would have been best but we were going fast and the wind seemed to be a bit better in the North half of the Bay. We decided to stay to the North. SHAWPAW went south. By the time we neared the mark it looked asthough we had beaten SHAWPAW.
As we rounded we were within a boat length of SHAWPAW and in the increasing breeze we bore away and hoisted the kite. With just myself and Michelle who was new to the boat and spinnakers we had a shaky start getting it up and the boat settled down. The fact that the wind was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 15 knots didn't help. Even SHAWPAW with a full crew was having a tough time. We flew downwind but needed to gybe to hit the finish line. this was going to be tricky. Michelle wasn't tall enough to stratle the tiller and handle the spinnaker sheets. I cleated them off and went forward. Getting the pole off was easy and althought the boat careened from side to side we didn't prematurely gybe or broach. I took the pole and began to try and catch the other spinnaker line. The pole caught the shackle and in a split second the spinnaker blew off and was wrapped around the forestay. Now having had a lot of accidents like this occur on my boat I was prepared I got Michelle to hold her course and keep the speed up. I went about dousing the spinnaker into the forward hatch. Returning to the cockpit we gybed over and made for the line. SHAWPAW was now ahead of us and CARLITO's WAY was making up ground with their kite still flying. The jib was about to come up when I noticed it was fowled. Michelle went forward to clear it. We were doing 7.5 knots of ground speed with just the main. I would have liked to have the jib up boat as we were rapidly closing on the finish line I let it go. My only concern was CARLITO's WAY fast gaining on me with his kite still flying in the strong wind. He passed me just as we reached the finish line. Just before crossing he broached to the starboard and lost control. We passed over the line ahead of him and 3 minutes and 7 seconds behind SHAWPAW, making us second across.
With the mission accomplished we ran into False Creek under main alone doing between 6-7 knots. The boat was a bit of a mess but it was the most exciting race of the winter series and I learned that although a newbie Michelle could step up. She helmed the boat for most of the race and did a great job.
VRC Polar Bear Series Results:
For details click: HERE
Race Three: December 7th:
Vessel: Corrected Time:
SHAWPAW 0:56:16
CARLITO's WAY 0:59:26
CARLITO's WAY 0:59:26
SEA WEASEL 1:00:36 (2nd across the line)
KLATAWA 1:01:57
DESIDERATA 1:07:37
Overall Standings:
Vessel: Points:
SHAWPAW 3
SEA WEASEL 10
DESIDERATA 11
KLATAWA 12
CARLITO's WAY 15
SARANDIS 15
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