Race to Baltimore
Date: Saturday 27 October 2001
Length: 20.1 nm
[Sail/photogallery/photo21309/real.htm]Crew
Paul Hillier, Bill Casson, Isabelle Robalino and Bertrand Bellegarde
Email send to the Chantecler Team on 29 OCT 2001
Team:
Results are in and we are fifth of eight A2 boats. One
boat, Falcon, has finished 1 mn 10 s after us but has compensated over us.
The winner is a SD J/105, Rum Puppy, who has finished more than 10 mn
ahead of us in real time. The other J/105, El Toro, has finished more than
7 mn after us. We have however beaten a boat that is usually good, Stitch
and Glue, rated 90.
At 12:45 in the middle of the race, the average wind
speed was 27 knots with maximum gust of 41 knots, the air temperature was
50 degrees and the wind chill was 26 degrees. I was relatively protected
at the back of the cockpit, but those on the rail or on the foredeck were
soaked by the waves and the spray and then chilled by the wind. Thank you
Bill, Isabelle, Paul and Bertrand.
Two things went wrong before the start: I did not have
the proper map to program the GPS for the expected marks and Don (major
car problem) and Chris did not show up. We were thus much too light for
the wind. Also, the start was delayed and we did not hear the guns for the
first starts nor any useful announcement on the VHF. We missed the A0
start because only one boat started and then when A1 started I did not
have my watch ready. The start caught us far away from the lead pack.
The situation did not improve for the long beats in the
Bay. We did not find any groove and each wave slowed us down. The rig was
tuned to 15-19 knots (to power up in the lulls) and my steering was
tentative. El Toro stayed with us on our leeward hip and there were times
when she gained on us. None of the J/105s had put a reef on the main. The
leeward rail was often in the water and the cockpit had lots of water in
it because the drain hole was quite high when the boat heeled that much.
I should have asked for the code zero to be rigged
before we turned the lighthouse for the short reaching leg to reach the
entrance of the Patpsco river, but we were not sure if we could keep it.
After we turned the lighthouse, we rigged it but did not use it because we
were already almost at the mark.
The situation improved sensibly for us when beating up
the Patapsco river mostly because the sea was much flatter. We started to
pass some boats and the gap widened between us and El Toro and Stitch and
Glue behind us.
Now, looking forward:
Because of the time change, there will be no week day
practices anymore.
I expect to get a confirmation for the IMS race soon.
Remember, the races are Saturday November 3 and Sunday November 4. So far,
I have only Don, Bertrand and Tia (for Sunday only). We need many more
people. Please tell me if you are available or not.
For the Fleet #3 championship, I have now agreed with
John on the split and we will be doing the Sunday November 11. Again, let
me know your availability.
Jaffar
This site was last updated 05/08/10