Some more video:
This morning I found out that MS was not in last place because Strategem was penalized for being over early. Today we did better against the fleet than yesterday but we still ce in last. No worries, we’ll come back tomorrow. Mary and Dave T. will sail tomorrow Nd we need more crew. Great party at LBYC! Video soon.
We arrived at LBYC around 4:30, secured the boat, then walked to Belmont Shore for dinner at BJ’s. After a good night’s sleep we awoke to all the activity associated with a big race. Crews arrived, gear was checked and stowed, and boats were made ready to race. At the skippers’ meeting, Dave Ullman gave his weather report and announced that this was the largest regatta on the west coast with over 140 boats in 18 classes.
There were two races today; even though we sailed well MS is not a regatta boat and we finished last in both. But we are learning and improving and having fun.
The party was held at Alamitos Bay YC. Loud and crowded.
Mike, Gabe and I are delivering Maine Squeeze to Long Beach YC today in preparation for the big regatta Friday through Sunday. The sky is overcast with almost no wind.
11:30 a.m. The sun finally broke out and the is a little breeze so we hoisted the main. We’re in the middle of Santa Monica Bay doing 6.6 kts. GPS.
2:30 p.m. We’re off Portuguese Point with a favorable current. The sun comes and goes.
June 20.
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It was a wonderful day with wonderful friends. More pictures and video as I receive them. |
John Larson was a local CIYC figure whose wife started this race in his honor. This episode, I sailed on June 13 with Randy on Out Patient (doublehanded, non-spinnaker. It was a light-air kind of day with 9 boats entered. The 9+mile course went from the CI breakwater to Platform Gina, to the West mark then finish.
We sailed well and made no mistakes, so we deserved the second place trophy. After sailing the course in two hours, we put the boat away and headed for the club (CIYC). Mary was not feeling well and didn’t race.
Out Patient, Randy Alcorn’s Cal 29, took third in spinnaker B class today. Light winds prevailed after piping up before the start. A mistake in navigation at the beginning of the 18 mile race actually gave us the advantage when the wind changed. Boats that were ahead were now behind.
The first mark was Platform Gail which we rounded to starboard before setting the spinnaker. Mike (Rambuncious) and I worked the foredeck and had a smooth set ( this was only the second spin run for Out Patient). The downwind leg to Fishsticks was slow; three knots at times. Jerry noticed that one of the boats ahead of us, a Moore 24, did not round the correct mark and was disqualified later. Pangea got first and Tortoise was second. The third place gave Out Patient more than enough points to remain in the high-point lead for the season.
This race, sponsored by Ventura YC, is for racers and cruisers alike. Mary and I sailed with skipper Randy, Jerry and Mike (Rambunctious) on Out Patient, which is the boat to beat these days. We had a good start even after Stan W. on Millie M. tried to cover us on a tack. Randy quickly changed his mind and we stayed on our course while Millie went up the beach and away from the mark. We were soon the lead boat in clean air. Just before the first mark a Beneteau 36, Paloma, passed us and stayed out in front. We were not worried about Paloma because they owed us a lot of time, over 13 minutes. The rest of the fleet could not catch us as we sailed almost flawlessly to a first place. (Results)PDF
The rules state that a commodore must steer the boat for most of the race (Randy is Vice Commodore of Anacapa YC). Everyone was surprised that the weather was very good with 10 knots of breeze to push the boats along the course. We even saw a little sunshine! At the awards party the crews were treated to spaghetti dinners courtesy of VYC. This is a fun race…and even more fun when you win!
UPDATE:
There is a good story about Randy and Out Patient in the VC Star
Mary was going to sail this double-handed race with Roxanne, but Roxanne couldn’t make it so I filled in. We borrowed Tom Warden’s Islander 44 Mystic Flyerfor this slow and windless race in foggy coditions. After a terrible start, we began to pick up steam until the wind began to veer 90 degrees, back and forth, making it difficult to find or keep a course. We were sailing a big heavy boat and competing against lighter boats that could move in 5 knots of wind. The course was from Mandalay to Gina to Channel Islands Harbor, nine miles. After an hour of sailing we were only about a mile from the start line. We considered a DNF (did not finish).Then the wind began to fill in a little and the fog lifted. Mystic Flyer was able to sail at 3-4 knots with a top speed of 4.7! Now we are happily sailing toward our mark (Platform Gina), which we could see in the left-over haze. Just as we reached Gina, a wind shift made us tack to get around the mark. During this race Mary is working the foredeck and trimming the jib while I steer. After rounding Gina, Mary set the whisker pole to trim the jib for a downwind course. The boat slowed to 2-3 knots and continued to shift. Mary jibed the sail and pole twice on the way back! What a woman!
As we approached the finish line, we heard the crowd cheering for us on the deck at CIYC. Think they were impressed that we actually finished the race. At the awards party we learned that both Maine Squeeze and Out Patient won their classes. We got fourth place because Fusee did not finish. Mary is a great sailing partner!
Tom Warden, owner of Mystic Flyer, an Islander 44, kindly has allowed us to race her in the Bob Cook. We took the boat out for a sail on Memorial Day. With us are Tom, Jennifer, Jenna and Megan (not shown). It was a beautiful day with 5-10 knots and calm seas. After the sail we went to CIYC for a barbeque.