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Nut Case Sailing Adventures Summer 2010
Launch Day - Monday May 24
For 2010 there was no structural work to be done so after a few days work on the undersides and keel Nut Case was ready to launch on May long weekend. Earliest launch so far! After launch the traditional launch day sail was again a solo affair with just Mike and an untuned rig. Was fun but short.
Week
2. First real sail.
Nephews Daniel and Scott were coming for a sail. Daniel has been schooling in Newfoundland and Scott has been off and on in Newfoundland for the past 2 years - so this was the first time for them both on the boat. On Saturday Daniel, Scott and their friend Mike arrived straight from the airport - without even seeing their Mom yet. A great sail and the first sail for Heather. the boat is feeling fast.
Sailing with Daniel, Scott and their friend Mike
Week 3. A newly tuned rig.
Last summer we measured the rig and discovered the forestay to be short by a few inches. To remedy this a toggle was installed to lengthen the forestay and then the rig tuned and remeasured. The mast rake was now the recommended 15 inches and the mast looked straight. Heather and I went for a sail with #1 and main and for the first time since we bought them both the #1 and main looked well matched. The boat sailed upwind like a dream and was meeting targets of 6.2 knots. We were very happy with the results.
Week 4. First Race - Summer Solstice
A pursuit race with the slowest boat starting first. We were second last to start and had a great race. Winds were 15-18 knots so with just three we initially did not launch spinnaker. Then on the reaching leg realized the new chute was folded in its bag rather than packed for launching. To make matters worse the old chute was stuffed in its bag last Fall and also not packed for launch. We ended up with a relaxing reach using the #3 and main. I went below and packed the old chute and then we headed to the windward mark. Our chief competition was Prospector - a C&C 99 and they were still astern - a 4 minute head start really helps!
Upwind once again the lengthened forestay was magic. The blade and main were easy to tune and in 15+ knots the boat pointed very high and hit her numbers of 6.2 - 6.3 knots over the ground. We could not believe how well it worked to windward! By the windward mark we had passed all the slower boats and pretty much maintained our lead on Prospector. Was looking great! We opted for a side launch and since was the first of the year I messed it up royally! The chute was on wrong side of the boat! Up it went - inside the jib initially, then hourglassed, then after a bit of sorting flying properly. All in all a bit embarrassing. Somehow we hung on to our lead and finished with line honours approx 2 minutes ahead of Prospector. Our first race of the season and first win. The boat is running very well!
Approaching the finish line high and fast - Prospector in the background
First Race - Summer Solstice Club Race June 19
Week 5 - Saturday fun race
A friend getting married in Halifax at 3PM. The boat 150km away and a race at 10AM. Sounds like a possibility to race. Peter had not been sailing yet in 2010 and had blown his knee over the winter - this was a test of the knee and a chance to fly the new spinnaker. On board were only Peter and Mike. Weather was forecasted light increasing to 10-15knots SW by noon and 15-20 late in the afternoon. The race started with 5 knots and was downwind for 2 miles, upwind 1.25, downwind 1.25 and then upwind 2 miles to finish. The mad dash to the boat in the morning had us leaving the dock late. The insistence on flying chute had us late at the line by 5 minutes!
The spinnaker was launched and we both loved the shape and how it looked. By the leeward mark we were close to Prospector and ahead of the pack as they were all white sail and slower boats. Prospector had a halyard issue on takedown and our hoist of the #1 and takedown of spin made for a great mark rounding. We passed Prospector and the boat was working very well. We both commented on how much easier the sails were to tune over last year. At this time we looked up and realized the windex was loose - again. The wind was increasing and despite the forecast we were at least 15 knots gusting more as we approached windward mark. The windex was now gone. With just two we opted to not launch a spinnaker and ran with the genoa and main downwind. The wind continued to increase so we changed to the blade as we approached the leeward mark. We were well in the lead and everything had gone well to that point. This was when that ended.
At the leeward mark the genoa was still on deck and as I brought it to cockpit it washed partially overboard. With only two of us was no one else to trim the jib so we were flogging the jib and not pointing upwind. Prospector passed us at this point and were treated to the comical sight of Mike wrestling the genoa out of the water and into the cabin. We sorted this out and started sailing. With no windex we had no idea how well we were pointing but we could see that the jib shape was awful. Using the second track in the luff foil was nice but the attachment point of the tack was too high and the tension on halyard not sufficient. A note was made to fix the alternate attachment for the next weekend.
The wind continued to build. Prospector out pointed us for the first time this season - by a lot! A batten by now was missing and the tiller extension broke. The wind was now over 20 knots and gusting to 30. The heel was very dramatic and our progress to windward worse all the time. We decided to reef but the clew was not pulled tight enough so main sail shape was awful too. Another note for next week was more purchase on the reefing line and a more outboard attachment of the reef line. We eventually finished after dragging our winches thru the water a couple of times. We ended up 3rd but were extremely happy with the tune of the boat, the new spinnaker and how well Peter's knee stood up. A mad dash home and we were only 3 minutes late for the wedding. And it was a great wedding.
Down the highway in Pictou one boat lost its main, another its mast and a third broke the gooseneck on its boom. Two of these boats were coming our way for next week's Barrachois to Pictou race - 37 NM in open water.
Nut Case flying new black spinnaker
Week 6 - Barrachois - Pictou 37 NM Sat July 3
Our first race in the Northumberland Strait series. 37 NM from Barrachois to Charlottetown. Again and Oh Chute could not make the trip due to a broken mast and destroyed main the week before. From Pictou were the Kirby 25 Mac a Tack who is always in contention, the Tanzer 26 Forerunner who won the race to Charlottetown the year before and the Oday 322 Chance. From Charlottetown were Taylor 40 Wings, Mumm 30 Vanish, Olson 30 Ghost - who rates the same as Prospector, Beneteau First 33.7 Intuition - who rates within 3 seconds of Nut Case, Beneteau 311 Lelani, Beneteau 305 X Ta Sea. From Pugwash was Jason in his Tanzer 22 True Love, and from Barrachois was the C&C99 Prospector and the J27 Nut Case. A great social on Friday night and then race time!
The wind was forecast SW 15. At the start it was pretty accurate. A spinnaker start with Peter on the Helm, Paul on foredeck, Mike on main and alternate spin trim, Heather on jib trim and alternate on foredeck, Sheelagh in the pit. As usual Peter had a great start - we had a minute of fun with Ghost and Vanish where we were leeward starbord boat and Vanish was on Port - but that was all the excitement on the way out. The boat was sailing nicely and up at the front with the faster boats. After Cape John was a 20 mile reach with wind on the beam shifting aft in the lulls. Wind speed 15 -20 knots with some gusts a bit higher. Prospector opted to go offshore for more breeze while the other boats stayed close to shore where there was less current and hopefully a shore breeze. It didn't work out for Prospector as it turned out to be more breeze on the shore. We put time on Mac a Tack the Kirby 25 on this leg and kept a distance ahead of Intuition and Prospector - both who owed us time. At about that point Wings had its spinnaker blow and then launched an even bigger one.
As we approached Pictou the wind was expected to be stronger and more forward. We had the boom in the water at least six times and had all the breeze the spinnaker could handle on the beam. We put up the blade and doused the spinnaker. Seemed like a good call as it was still gusty and we were traveling at 6.5 - 7 knots. Intuition kept their spinnaker up and passed us, Prospector flew a 150 and was catching us. The anticipated freshening breeze never happened so we switched to the #1 and kept ahead of Prospector and chased Intuition. On the upwind leg to the finish Prospector was working hard to catch us. They held one tack too long and went aground - on the beach! Swimmers waded out and gave them a push but the 15 minutes aground did not help their race. Vanish managed to go aground just before the finish line and was towed off after 40 minutes. Meanwhile Intuition misjudged the line and had to ease and run down to the line. They crossed 1:25 ahead of us but owed us a bit more. Forerunner the Tanzer 26 won C class and overall, Ghost the Olson 30 won A and was 2nd overall nearly 2 minutes ahead of us on corrected time, Nut Case finished 3rd overall and 2nd in A, Intuition was 4th overall 3rd in A, Mac a Tack the Kirby 25 was 1st in B and 5th overall, true Love was first in Cruise followed by Chance, Prospector despite going too far offshore and spending 15 minutes on the beach was 7th overall. A fun race!
Nut Case, Vanish, Ghost leaving Barrachois
Swimmers wading out to push Prospector off the beach
July 4 - Pictou - Charlottetown 50NM
The second race in this two race NSTYA series is from Pictou, Nova Scotia to Charlottetown, PEI. It is one of two classic and long standing races in the Northumberland Strait with the other being Shediac, New Brunswick to Charlottetown a week later. The race started off with a lot of drama. Winds 15-20 and building to 25+ shortly after the start. Coming out of Pictou is a very narrow channel between two points. As the fleet sailed thru this the Mumm 30 Vanish broached more than once and the 40 foot Taylor Wings broached just as we approached this channel. This is as I mentioned a narrow spot and a 40 foot wall of green in front of you showing off her keel is enough to open your eyes!
On board were Rod, Sheelagh, Heather, Mike. Rod grew up in the area so we had a great start and a good approach to "the gut". We opted to start with genoa and main and gain height then launch spin which worked well and avoided the broaches. Shortly after the gut the Olson 30 Ghost blew her spinnaker followed by a spectacular explosion of the one month old spinnaker on the Beneteau 337 Intuition. As I was now on foredeck for the trip I told Rod that I did not want to gybe the chute (we would douse and gybe genoa and relaunch if necessary) in these winds as I would likely mess it up. Good thing as it was the gybe that destroyed Intuition's spinnaker. During this period we hit top speed of 11.3 knots and were sustaining over 9 knots. After dousing the spinnaker it was a reach past Gull Rock and toward PEI. The wind was too far forward to run the spinnaker so we used main and #1. We continued to sail over 8 knots and sustained 9.4 for a 20 minute stretch. A high point was when we realized that we had been ahead of the Taylor 40 boat for boat for an hour and they owed us a lot of time!
All good things come to an end. In this case was along the PEI shore near Wood Islands that the early high winds 25 gusting 30+) ended and we were becalmed in messy seas. Being green from packing spinnaker below (and maybe from the night before?) did not help much as the sails flapped and flogged for 3 hours. After 30 minutes our friends on Prospector had enough and motored back to Barrachois. We however were in a tight group with the Olson 30, Taylor 40 and Mumm 30 almost in shouting distance after 3 hours of sailing before becoming becalmed. We had excellent position in the race and decided to stick it out. the breeze started again and we managed a blistering three knots! Then it shifted, died, shifted, died, etc.. for 20 minutes and finally becalmed us again for another hour. We nearly collided with the Taylor 40 at one time as we drifted backwards while they drifted sideways. The next time the breeze tried to come was from behind. We hoisted the spinnaker but there was no way it would fill. This was even more frustrating than with the genoa so after three hours of no wind we abandoned a race that we believe we were winning. A four hour motor home followed arriving at dock with approximately one cup of fuel in the tank. Later we heard that Wings and Ghost finished the race 9 hours after we abandoned with all other boats DNF.
Intuition loses spin and breaks pole during a gybe
Charlottetown Race Week 2010 - July 13-18
Regis and Kelly interviewing John Corbet with Nut Case in background
The
week we had looked forward to all year. Sailing
with and against friends in
Up at 4AM on the road by 4:30 to depart the marina by 6:30 was the plan. Well we did get up a bit after 4 and we did leave the marina a bit after 7AM. There was little wind at first so we motored half the 30NM. The sun was out and it was a great trip. I took the time to connect an FM antenna to the stereo so we could listen to the morning shows on the way over. Finally the breeze came up and we had a great sail for 2 hours.
Day 2 was rainy and overcast all day. The priority was to book the crane to haul out for a scrub prior to the trailered boats arriving. That done we donned our rain jackets and toured the downtown. Heather was in vacation mode and loved it. I took the opportunity to replace my badly worn crocs with a fresh pair exactly the same colour – much to the dismay of everyone who has ever seen the crocs.
Racing was an experience. We had Heather, Larry and me and were hoping Peter would show up for the week. We were also supposed to pick up one crew member from the adult learn to sail program at CYC for the week. Well day one started out with no Peter and no extra crew member. Three people would be a challenge but the winds were supposed to be light so we would manage.
Race One.
We planned a conservative start. We would follow the Kirby 30 Siren III to attempt to be in the right place and ended up with a great start – ahead of Siren III and most of the other 9 boats in A fleet. The fleet comprised of a Hobie 33 “Guys Gone Wild”, 2 Olson 30s “Ghost” and “Eleven”, our friends Kim and Andy on the C&C 99 “Prospector”, Nut Case, a Beneteau 33.7 and our nemesis “Intuition”, Kirby 30 “Siren III”, 2 J30s “Midnight” and “Surprise”, and a CS30 “Whimigan”.
We stayed on the starbord tack and I noticed the entire A fleet was on the port tack on the other side of the bay! Not only that the Premier fleet of 5 boats and the J29 fleet of 11 boats that had started before our class were also on the other side of the bay. Deciding we were obviously wrong we tacked and headed to the other side – but when we crossed we realized that we had gained a huge advantage on the entire fleet. Was looking like a great week to come. A great start and a really lucky break starting out. Unfortunately that was all the good that would come of the first race. The rest of the fleet went to the left of the course and we went to the right where the J29 fleet had gone. We held the tack to make our next one take us to the windward mark and to our dismay sailed directly to where the wind went soft first. It got worse. Having lost our lead and now back in the pack we hoisted the spinnaker for the downwind leg and the wind continued to die and became shifty and then went forward pasting the spinnaker onto the shrouds. By the time we hoisted the jib and began slowly moving again the race had been shortened, the three of us nearly killed each other and we knew we were DFL. Actually we ended up 9th by some miracle.
Race 2
After an hour delay for a ship to come to port and then another hour as the wind shifted 180 degrees twice and windward marks were moved twice we started race two. We had a decent start and sailed the race without a lot of issues. Gybing went well and sail work was decent. We knew we finished close to Intuition and Surprise and ended up a much improved 7th just 4 seconds behind Intuition on corrected time. Not bad for a short crew of only three.
Day 2 – race 3
Barb our promised crew member was on board but had not really raced much in this sort of race. No problem – a 4th body and extra set of hands was a godsend. Peter was supposed to sail on day 2 and 3 but called and said he could not make it – so 4 it was. Heather took the helm for the start and by a stroke of luck we ended up between the two J30s and the committee boat on a stbd tack on favoured end of course. The start was looking disastrous and then suddenly things were looking up. On the first leg at the windward mark we were keeping up with the Hobie and just behind the two Olsons – this was great positioning! The downwind and second leg things went pretty well and we ended up 4th beating Siren III for the first time! Only the Olsons and Hobie finished ahead. We were pumped! Unfortunately this was as good as it would get.
Race 4.
Fresh
off our best finish so far we started the next race.
Trying to have a conservative start as we were tiring and kind of a
rookie crew we ended up just where we did not want to be – the windward boat
between Midnight and the Committee boat. We
did not want to take chances so we asked
Race 5.
Well we finally found last place. Surprisingly it was not as disastrous a race as the previous one and we were not all that upset about it. We finally had our conservative start and were sailing reasonably well with no issues. At the windward mark we lost the spin halyard. With little delay we then hoisted using the port side spare jib halyard – which is under the forestay. One gybe and a mile later we were at leeward mark and hoisted genoa – then found we had a stuck halyard on the spinnaker. We somehow wrestled it down most of the way – with the jib as a result half hoisted and the sails half sheeted. The race was now pooched. We eventually made it to the windward mark and opted not to hoist a chute initially as the halyards were all jammed. When we would normally gybe the chute we decided to douse the genoa and raise the spinnaker – since we had plenty of room to douse after the finish. Of course we were still on the spare genoa halyard and of course it was badly jammed so we only could achieve 80% of full hoist. We sailed it anyway and when the race committee announced about then there would be a 4th race that day we were in complete agreement to sail back to the club and skip the race. With a jammed mess up top and a missing halyard we could not have raced in any event. Yep – Last place. Add in a DNS for race 6 and we were now last in class.
Day 3 - Race 7.
With our halyards retrieved and sorted we started the last day with one more crew – no not Peter. This time was Mike from Shediac who had sailed a lot but had not raced much with a spinnaker. Finally 5 crew even though two were a bit green. I don’t remember a whole lot about that race other than we broke a winch handle, no one was stuck in any split rings, the halyards again ended up twisted somehow, and Mike was pretty good on a boat. I guess I will now have to be Old Mike and he can be young Mike for clarification. Oh yeah – now I remember this race. I liked it better when I forgot it. It was 18 knots and supposed to increase at the start. A number of boats tried blades and a number with #1. A few sail changes just prior to start and we started with the #3. WRONG! Ended up with a bad start, in the dirty air from about three boats with no power. Wanted to tack to clean air but that would put us on port tack directly in the path of three stbd boats. We held on a bit, fell off a bit for room and then tacked and ducked Surprise and made it across Prospectors bow. Wind was definitely softening. So we used the second track on the foil, the spare genoa halyard and changed headsails to the #1. It went smoothly and Mike continued to impress by picking up on potential problems after the change. We were definitely not on a good spot but the #1 was working and we had a good upwind leg. Of course when it was time to douse the spinnaker the next leg we realize that there is a major problem with the shiv on our spare genoa halyard at the top. Again the halyards were tangled and again we lost time. We managed to finish the race with no more problems and were in our now familiar tenth place position. Ugh.
Race 8.
Well it can’t get worse right? RIGHT! We sailed a decent race with no major issues. The only problem was when starting our last upwind leg and I decided to tighten the main halyard but there was a stubborn pocket at the bottom. The Cunningham was off so I put the halyard on the winch and cranked and then cranked some more. The pocket did not ease but there was a snap and pieces of something flew through the cockpit. We discovered that the Cunningham was caught on the reef hook as the culprit and the block at the mast base for the main halyard exploded. The shiv came out in pieces as did the bearings. The good news is that I had sufficient force on the halyard that the main stayed tight. We sailed to a respectable 7th (by our standards) and had a great sail under spinnaker the three or four miles back to the club. An enjoyable last race.
Summary.
We were last, met some people and had a great vacation.
Commodore's Cup Pursuit Race and Poker Rally - July 24 & 25
Every year we have our major fundraising event as the Commodore's Cup. The last two years we have followed with a Sail and Power Poker Rally the following day. Combined this year we raised $1200 which saves members from flogging raffle tickets. Our corporate sponsors are Maritime Diamond Drilling, Chabasol Bugden, MacLellan Moffat Financial, MJM Energy, Scotiabank Tatamagouche and Truro, Tri County Ford, Burchill Macdougal, Caldwell Roach Insurance. I mention the sponsors because they should get all the exposure we can give them. They are what the weekend is about - more so than the racers.
This year we again decided on a Pursuit race format for Commodore's Cup. This is the first in a three race series for Club Championship where we have one drop. I am not convinced that a Pursuit race belongs anywhere near a championship of any sort because it is flawed by nature - no matter what you do. It is time on distance with a predicted wind speed and set distance. Time on Time is much better. However our sailors love Pursuit Races for the uncongested start line and the in theory common finish time for all boats. Pursuit races are just plain fun.
On the day of the race the forecast was for very light wind from the North. We set a course that would be good for keeping boats moving and easy to shorten. So of course come race time the wind was from the South and built to 12 - 15 knots. On board Nut Case was just Heather and Mike. The plan was to run the chute in light wind but as the race turned out to be reach and 13+ knots we opted not to fly it shorthanded. Was a fun sail with Nut Case working its way thru the fleet. By UD4 heading back in Prospector was on our tail and Wings was within reach but a bit too far to catch on a short down wind leg with no chute. Ahead of Wings and out of reach was Meltemi - Jamie and Andrea's new to them C&C25. By the finish Prospector finished a few seconds ahead of us in 3rd following Wings in 2nd and Meltemi with its first win ever.
Meltemi and Psyche in Commodores Cup
Sunday was the Sail and Power Poker Rally. The day was overcast and threatening rain but the event took place regardless and was in fact a success in spite of the weather. Nut Case was one of the stops and Hat Trick the other. Was an enjoyable day on the water at anchor despite the intermittent showers. Ironically the winner of the best hand went to Jamie on Meltemi and second to Wings. I guess it was their weekend!
The Poker Rally
Trueman "Trap" Stright Memorial Regatta - Pictou - July 30 - Aug 1
Nut Case in Gull Rock race - wind came up at the end
Trueman Stright was always the first person to help you when you docked in Pictou. He would grab a line, let you know where to dock and then have a friendly chat whenever we visited for the Pictou Island race. One year at the Pictou Island race Trap was talking with Heather about his upcoming operation to treat an aneurism. He was scared and we could tell. Heather's grandmother had died of complications from the same operation a few years earlier so it did hit home. Less than a month later Trap was gone - although I do think he did win that Pictou Island Race. That was the last time we ever saw Trueman.
This year the format was a Friday evening race, two short inner harbour races Saturday and a NSTYA category B Gull Rock Race Sunday. In previous years was a short Friday race that we never took seriously or tried hard in, the NSTYA Pictou Island Race (Cat B) Saturday and Gull Rock (Cat B) Sunday. As we compete in NSTYA series the two NSTYA races were why we were there - as well as in honour of Trap. This year's format was different since it was a better series event rather than a collection of individually important races. Our Friday night relaxing race attitude has to go away because it is now as important as the other races.
First things first. The boat has to get to Pictou. Of course tides meant no departure before 10AM Friday and the race was 6:30 PM 37 NM away with an adverse current. A day off work and I took the boat solo. Another very early wakeup, 2 hour drive and long delivery - oh Yippee! Prospector was leaving same time but they had crew and were looking forward to the trip. I dumped everything in the cockpit, untied and left. As I was motoring out our Bay I used a tiller tamer to steer while I stowed things and then effected repairs on the cabinet that serves as our step and holds all tools and everything else. Meanwhile enquiries came via VHF from Prospector if I knew there was land and a reef in my path - good old "Rope" - he is companionable but a lousy helmsman! "Rope" is my name for the tiller tamer. The autohelm was sitting in the back of my car and not yet installed - oh well. Looking at the time and lightish wind I realized I could not arrive in time for race if I motored the whole way. So being the careful sort I launched the chute and had a great spin run for an hour with little work involved. The wind died so I doused the chute and motor sailed a bit. Then I noticed that despite motor sailing the main was out and drawing so I launched the other chute and sailed with spin, main and motor despite being single handed. Went from 5.5 to 7.3 knots. Managed to make it to Pictou on time and with "Rope" at the helm had the main rolled, two spins packed and the boat ship shape when I arrived in Pictou. I was in the mood to relax after a 7 hour sail but we had to race.
On board for Friday race was Mike Hebert who sailed with us in Charlottetown, Heather and myself. It was a light wind casual affair with one altercation that had us do a 720 in no wind. We were 11th and Prospector did nicely with a 4th - which their crew reminded us of right up til the start of the next race.
Saturday we had Sheelagh and Peter join us. Things went much better but the races had short legs and were not really memorable. Was a nice day on the water despite my getting hit on the head with the spin pole and being labeled the "Foredeck Fairy". I normally do not do foredeck but who is counting. We had a good result in the morning and an OK result in the afternoon. Kevin on Prospector was no longer reminding us of the results from the day before as our results had silenced him ... but not his brother Mike.
Sunday was a light wind against the tide 20 mile race. Gull Rock. Paul joined us on Sunday and we used his knowledge of the area to our benefit. Unfortunately we went to the wrong side of the course when leaving Pictou and had to claw back after that. One of the more memorable things of the race was the taunting of Mike from Prospector as he was trying to goad Peter all race long. I have to say that he was having fun trying to get under our skin - and succeeded. After the race Peter and Mike were best buddies - go figure. The winds were light and the tides strong. After rounding Gull Rock buoy (AP2) we launched the spin and 10 minutes later we were only 40 feet away from the same mark! The speedo was showing 3 knots while the GPS 0.0 for a time. We eventually managed to make some headway toward the shore and less current all the while looking for small pockets of breeze. Meanwhile Prospector and some other boats went further out. Not sure which strategy worked since despite us making a big gain on prospector the Kirby 25 immediately behind them made huge gains on the Kirby 25 following us.
Again we traveled to a race only to race against Prospector the whole weekend. We beat them 3 of 4 races by small margins while they killed us on the Friday race. A great evening on the boats Saturday with Mike's guitar and singing and a lot of hospitality all round. Good weekend as usual. And also as usual Trap's son Billy won first overall on Titan - although Ghost did give him a run for his money. So in summary Pictou was as usual a great port town for really nice evenings and the racing and camaraderie was fun. We also met a new very interesting friend. Kevin's brother Mike takes the prize for the single most interesting person I met that weekend. Being from the BVIs he was always cold and wore a down vest in 25 degree temperatures but he kept everyone smiling.
Pictou Island Race - Aug 7 2010
This race has long been Heather's favourite. For me - not so much. Is fun going out and coming back but I really do not like bashing upwind against the waves on the North side of the island. This year we had left the boat in Pictou from the previous weekend so no pre race delivery - YAY! It was an early start Saturday so we stayed with our friends and chief rivals Kim and Andy of Prospector in nearby Seafoam. Was a great evening on Heather's birthday with Kim, Andy, Kim's parents Russ and Verda and Kim's sister Kelly, husband Jon and daughter Logan. A good start to a weekend.
Joining us Saturday were Sheelagh and Mike Hebert. The winds were again forecast to be light but turned out to be North 15 shifting to Southwest 15 gusting 20. We had a great sail out to Pictou Island with #1 and main. A bit reachy but fun. Very wavy on north side and we sailed too far out around island to stay away from shoals. Late spin launch with short crew in waves but a nice gybe. The crew was excellent and Mike is great on the pole during gybes. At the West end of Island instead of a Spinnaker run back to Pictou was again a close reach as the wind had shifted. We were a bit overpowered with the #1 but kept it up anyway - would have been just as fast or faster with the #3. We opted to err to windward due to the tide pushing us down and expecting a shift on the shore and went too far to windward as I had plugged the wrong red mark in the chart plotter. The entire fleet followed us with the exception of Prospector who beat us by 4 minutes corrected. Was a great sail and the fastest Pictou Island race ever for us at 4:15. The nature of an around the island race means you don't always get a lot of windward and downwind work. While this can hurt boats known for windward strengths or spin work the course for Pictou Island made for a very enjoyable day sail. A fun race and a nice change.
After the sail we went to supper where we all received the correct food orders since Peter was absent. Following that we met and spent the evening with Steve Buck and Maria who have the largest interior I have ever seen on a 28 foot sailboat on their Hunter 280. Mike and Maria dazzled us and other dockside viewers with their singing and guitar playing and we had such an excellent evening that no one was in the mood for a delivery the next day against SW 15-20 knots - on the nose.
Mike and Alan ferrying the boat back from Pictou. Gusts to 30 knots
Home at last and Chester Race Week
On the Monday following the Pictou Island race Alan Grant of Exploits joined me as we brought both boats home. Of course it was windier than the previous day with 15 knots rising to about 20 and a few gusts up to 30 knots. As we passed Seafoam we received a phone call from Maria saying we were flying. No guitars or singing at the time.
I then spent the week on Koobalibra a C&C 115 racing in Chester Race Week - the largest Keelboat regatta in North America I have been told and dating back to 1858. In our class we were the slow boat at 63 and we raced against some very interesting boats. A Nelson Marek 43 rated 18, Tripp 41 fractional rated 6, Farr 11S at -12, 1D35, a pair of Farr 30 and a couple other boats including another C&C115. A great week!
On Saturday I attended my niece's wedding on a tall ship and then Sunday helped deliver Koobalibra home to Halifax - approx 40 NM. It is a much easier delivery on a 38 foot boat - almost like sailing an armchair!
Heather, Andy and Dave enjoying a day of not racing
Season Ends at BHYC and two Earls
On August 21 we finally had a weekend to relax on the boat. Our friends Dave and Erica from the C&C 115 Koobalibra were in the area and came for a sail followed by a swim and BBQ on the boat as we rafted up with Kim and Andy on Propsector. It was a wonderful day and our friend Doug and Suzanne on Fly By Wire and Alan, Judy and Daniel on Exploits also anchored nearby only a short swim away. Afterward there was no wind so we motored back and then were invited by Dave and Erica to a wonderful Beef Tenderloin supper followed by a bonfire on the beach. A very relaxing and enjoyable day.
August 28/29 brought our season ending Earle Forshner regatta and year end social. Since BHYC is in cottage country our club basically shuts down at about this time of year. Congratulations to Kim and Andy on Prospector with first place in the regatta (we were in 4th) and Bryan and Heather on Wings for the Club Championship. Two days of light and shifty winds.
September 4 weekend brought another Earl. This one a hurricane! All boats were secured and Nut Case's racing sails removed for the season. Maximum wind speeds in the province were 135kmh but much less at our marina. The following day Norm and Valerie Taylor hosted a corn boil at the club and Heather cooked up some of her famous ribs while the marina owners provided fireworks and a fabulous bonfire on the beach. Jamie tried out the recliner on Nut Case before trading that in for the plastic covered Chesterfield on a nearby boat. The following day Jamie, Andrea, Kim, Andy and Nate took out Jamie and Andrea's C&C 25 "Meltemi" (soon to be Torch) to try out their spinnaker for the first time - in 20 knots!
Meltemi flying spinnaker for first time
Beancrock - 4 clubs in three days
On September 18 we hauled the boat and then sailed to Charlottetown with Kim and Charlene on Prospector for the Shellfish festival and hauled Nut Case back to Halifax Sunday. The new trailer worked very well and tows nicely behind the Grand Cherokee. The bottom was cleaned and then we re-launched at Bedford Basin Yacht Club Friday evening and Heather, Kim and I had a great evening at the club with our friends Marc and Allison Rubarth.
Ready for launching at BBYC
Saturday was the "Beancrock Race" at Dartmouth Yacht Club. It is a fun end of the season distance race from DYC to the outer harbour and back. Being a last minute decision we were very short on crew. Heather (with a sprained wrist in a splint) was on helm using her one good arm, Kim from prospector ran the main and I ran the genoa. Forecast was 25 knots diminishing to 15-20 gusting 25 from SW. Accordingly we entered the white sail C class. In actual fact the winds were 0 - 5 knots gusting as high as 8 - race results reported average wind speed at 1 knot!
We were third and final class to start and observed the A and B spinnaker fleets crowding the committee boat starbord end of the line on Starbord tack. The pin end was upwind and favoured - so we started there and had clear air and an excellent start. We were immediately ahead of the 11 boat C class fleet. Within five minutes we were overtaking some of the B fleet boats that started 5 minutes before us - but they were all slower boats anyway. We tacked around the upwind mark and started the long trek out the harbour in a dying breeze. We had by this point caught the A fleet J29 "C'est la Vie" who started 10 minutes ahead of us and were feeling pretty good. Unfortunately we had damaged the windex the evening before on launching the boat and it was not much use in such light wind. We continued to sail out the harbour in very fickle, shifty and light winds and no matter how bad we felt about our performance we seemed to be doing better than the rest. of course having just launched with a clean hull was probably the reason. We ended up with line honours as the C fleet sailed the shortest course and were 15 minutes ahead of the next boat over the line. It was a fun race and relatively short at only 3.5 hours. Our friend Gordon Hart on his Kirby 30 "Five of Harts" sailed the entire race single handed! We ended up 2nd in C fleet on corrected and Gordon was 3rd. Only 3 of 11 boats in C class finished the race, 5 in A class and 4 in B.
Plaques were given out to top 3 in each class
Sunday was time to bring the boat to its Fall home - a mooring off my parents wharf on NW Arm - actually their neighbour Barry Clarke owns the mooring. The first part of the trip was same course as previous day but winds were 15 knots - boat spent the entire single handed trip between 5 and 7.5 knots with just the main and the deflated dingy strapped to foredeck. As I was sailing upwind in NW Arm in now light and shifty wind I passed the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron at a remarkable speed of 1 knot. prior to that the Armdale Yacht Club fleet passed me going out in their Club Championship race 2. I chatted briefly with Paul Bezanson on Gersemi who was far out front and watched the other boats fight it out with Norman Schneiderman on his Thunderbird - was interesting to see friends from a different area in their home club race. Next up was the task of attaching temporary bridles to the mooring and then inflating the dingy on the foredeck. After all that was done a short paddle back to visit my Mom and Dad.
Nut Case at her mooring in NW Arm
Turkey Bowl - a weekend of eating and beautiful Fall weather
Following the Bean Crock there was a relaxing weekend with no or light wind where we motored to the Armdale Yacht club with Jan, Thomas, Patrick, Heather, Sarah and Mike for a breakfast followed by a great but short solo sail. A great reminder of growing up sailing on the Arm.
The next weekend was October 9 - the Turkey Bowl at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in honour of the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Proceeds from Race Registration fees are donated to Feed Nova Scotia and also each boat donates non perishable food for the same organization. Sort of makes you feel good about sneaking out for one of the final races of the season!
On board were Sheelagh, James, Andrew, Heather and Mike. The forecast was for 25 knots and cool. Before the race it was in fact 22 knots gusting to 28 knots at the dock! The race was in the Halifax Harbour approaches and was a short upwind leg to Hens and Chickens, followed by a downwind leg approx 1 mile to Outer Middle Ground, upwind around Georges Island, out to Mars Rock off Herring Cove and then upwind to Hens and Chickens and finish. We started out with a reefed main and #3 jib. Was all the sail needed for the day.
At the start of the race we quickly established a tail end Charlie position in the fleet before we got the boat moving properly. We were heeled quite far for much of the race with constant attention to main traveler and sheet. It was quickly noted that gloves were necessary on the main sheet or there would be rope burns and the tone for the day was set. On our upwind leg from middle Ground to George's Island we appeared to be gaining on the Sabre 34 coincidentally named Middle Ground as well as the C&C 33-2 Intrepid. All gains were lost as we rounded George's Island (with a watchful eye on depth sounder). On that leg we passed the C&C 37/40 Essence which had just retired due to we think a problem with main sail. After George's Island the wind seemed manageable so we eventually hoisted the spinnaker - at about the same time Highlander performed a 360 degree maneuver with their spinnaker flying (not intentionally). The wind was not in fact diminished and we soon doused the chute as it was not giving us any additional speed. Approaching Mars Rock we passed the Beneteau 49 Festivus going the other way with a mainsail ripped in half - scratch another Premier Class boat! Finally our last 2.75 mile long upwind stretch in increasing breeze. We spent most of that leg with coaming in the water seeing just how far a J27 can heel without feeling out of control. We seemed also to be fighting 1 knot of tidal current so we were well relieved when we finally arrived at Hens and Chickens for our final mark rounding and then finish. The mark rounding was itself an interesting experience but par for the day. We finished 8th of 8 in our class. Max speed 9.2 knots and upwind speeds 6.7 - 6.9 knots. The entire crew had a great day!
After the race it was off to the country for Thanksgiving celebrations and good times with friends and family. The marine forecast had of course been revised and was in fact 25 knots with gusts to 35. Yep - it was all that!
Rub a Dub Dub and a wet day on the water
Three of us rowed out in this.
A chance happening. My sailing friends from the 1980s Jim and Peter Hughes were home from Vancouver, BC and Mt Laurel, NJ while we actually had a boat in the water in Halifax. There was exactly one day during the week where the weather was nice and the three of us rowed out and back in our 25 year old Achilles dingy for a short but gorgeous Fall sail. No less than three cruise ships left the harbour that evening.
Saturday was the Danginn Cup at the Bedford Basin Yacht Club - just over 10NM delivery. Friday was nasty - 25-35mm of rain and winds 30-40 knots gusting to 50! Accordingly Mike rose early Saturday and did a solo delivery 2.25 hours. The forecast was originally less than one mm of rain and showers with light - moderate wind. In the end it started raining approx 30 seconds after arriving at the boat and only stopped 20 minutes prior to end of the race. It was not showers nor even a light rain as predicted. During this very wet delivery I counted the navy ships in town - no less than 6 of our frigates, two destroyers, one supply ship and two submarines in addition to the two cruise ships. Was anybody at sea?
The winner of the Danginn Cup is required to fill the bowl of the trophy with rum and coke from which everybody drinks afterward - that is 2 full 40 oz bottles. Being cheap my goal was second - nice thought! On board we had Heather on helm, Sheelagh in pit, Mike Hebert mast/foredeck, Mike Hoyt genoa trim and spinnaker trim/setup (not ideal) and Andrew Tibbetts who had spent some time on a J27 years ago on main/tactics. Prior to the race it was raining heavily, then we readied the boat and hoisted the main and soon forgot about the rain. We had a decent start with spinnaker and soon passed a couple of slower boats but then had a tangle of spin and genoa sheet on genoa launch - my fault! With that sorted out we had a nice upwind run and passed the last of the boats slower than us (a Niagara 26 which is what we used to sail) and then hoisted spin for our second downwind leg. The next takedown was not bad and on the upwind leg we had some great tactical decisions that brought us very close to the leaders (J29 Colmonel and C&C 33-2 Defiant). The spinnaker went up without incident and then we had some issues ... the halyard let go three minutes after hoist and we promptly sailed right over the spinnaker. Ugh - a brand new spinnaker no less. The main was doused to lessen the speed and we managed to get the chute aboard somehow with no damage - Yay! The spin halyard was now up the mast and the spare genoa halyard prone to jamming so we opted to go wing on wing with the genoa for the rest of the leg. Our last leg was upwind and we managed to cross the line third - (we should have been second based on handicap). Our result was 5th and third in class behind Colmonel and Defiant. The rain was forgotten as soon as we started sailing and the wind was maybe 12 knots - it was a great day on the water.
Following the race Andrew joined us for dinner along with fellow club members Andrea and Jamie of Meltemi for a very enjoyable evening and a setup for the Die Hard next week which we plan to load up the boat with friends to sing out the season! How windy was it? The batten pocket was torn from the main - how weird is that?
Ridiculously Good
After Die Hard - the entire batten pocket is gone!
The Die Hard race at Armdale Yacht Club is the last race of the season in Halifax and our fourth club in a month. Long anticipated as Nut Case's last Hurrah for 2010 we had invited all crew and friends who were still at all in sailing mode for a "fun" day on the water. Racing to be secondary and Fun to be primary concern. It all started out well with a gorgeous Fall morning ferry to AYC on Friday morning and a houseful anticipated for the weekend with a great dinner to follow. the forecast was a bit sketchy with wind forecasts varying from 20-25 knots to 30-40 depending on when you looked. All was looking up Saturday morning as the forecast had diminished to 20-25 knots and looked like it may be even less....
On board heather and I had our Ace main trimmer from the Bean Crock race - Kimmy who trimmed us to a second place finish. We also had Jamie and Andrea from Meltemi who had bested us in the Commodore's Cup race in July as well as Sheelagh and Mike Hebert. We all showed up at the dock looking like we were going sledding - forecast high was 7 degrees Celsius with a North Wind - toques and gloves were in order.
It appeared windier than expected at the start but we had a good crew so were not worried. We ran with a reefed main and #3 jib for our downwind start. Some interesting moments with the jib hoist were sorted out and we were off. Sailing downwind with no spinnaker, a reef and the little jib and we were well over 7 knots hitting the high of 10.3. Was a great ride in a pack with Highlander the DB1, Defiant a C&C 33-2, a Sparkman and Stevens 34, a Beneteau Oceanis 40 that looked warm and our little J. All was well for the five mile downwind leg and then we turned upwind and learned that the forecast was a bit off. Gusts to 35 knots, max backstay, 7 people on high side and main completely eased and we still had the coaming under water in the gusts! The wind was blowing toward the North Atlantic and we were in the outer harbour with all safe havens upwind ... The boat and crew responded well. We withdrew from the race tacked back to the NW Arm. During this time we were occasionally hit with more gusts 30 and 35 knots and on one particularly bad tack the main was not released in time and Nut Case was further over than it had ever been in our time with her. Andrea was caught on the leeward cockpit seat during this and found herself up to her waist in water still in the cockpit. Kimmy's iron grip made certain Andrea was safe but it was a sobering moment and the start of a very cold trip for Andrea the last 3 miles to the dock into a biting North wind.
We followed the race with a fabulous Prime Rib dinner and a campfire. The following day was the trip to BBYC to haul the boat for the season. Naturally it was sunny, much warmer and the winds were 15 knots. While all the crew performed well and had fun the award for the biggest Trooper had to go to Andrea who never even mentioned she was cold til we docked - despite being soaked for the last 30 minutes of the sail!
Approaching BBYC for haulout after the last sail of the season. It is finally sunny