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Nut Case Sailing Adventures Summer 2011
Its all about the trailer this year - in theory anyway
June 4 2011 - Halifax Harbour fundraising race
Our 2011 season is finally underway! Having the boat on a trailer really gives us a lot of added flexibility. Since we live in Halifax and there is a lot of sailing and facilities here we decided to launch for an early season event here the week before we trailer the boat to its home port of Barrachois Harbour. The event was the "Appleton Cup". This is a fun race and a fundraiser for our Nova Scotia sailing team and LTS. The host club was the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron who have a policy that when entering an event allow use of crane and berthing to trailerable boats. On Thursday Jordie, Andrew and I launched the boat using their crane and raised the mast. Was a very interesting experience as the wind was trying to blow and twist the boat while hoisted. Friday Heather and I tuned the rig and bent on the sails and Saturday we raced, rafted up and motored home. For the race we had Heather, Sheelagh and myself and in addition Barry and his son BJ who have raced a lot on a J24 they used to own. We finished in the top half of the fleet (barely) and had a very enjoyable time. This was a shakedown cruise for Nut Case and the boat and its systems worked very well - some lubricating of halyard winches and a tweak to main halyard fiddle block the only tasks identified. Sunday Heather, Sheelagh and Len helped me un-step the mast and haul the boat - a few more issues with strap lengths and wind blowing a boat around and then we were done. As a proof of concept this worked well. However 4 hours to launch and 2 hours to haul for a 1.5 hour race is a bit much... A big Thank You to RNSYS for their hospitality!
June 18 2011 - Summer Solstice race
Exploits and Fly by Wire in Summer Solstice race
With Nut Case now launched in its home port of Barrachois Nova Scotia we had our first club sailing event of the year - The Summer Solstice race. Is a pursuit race format and a great way to initiate new members to racing with the uncluttered start lines. Our cold and wet Spring had resulted in late launches so we only had six boats for this race. The conditions were 20+ so we picked a short reachy style course and had all entrants agree to running a reefed main. On board were Heather, Mike, New father Jamie from Torch and Kim from Prospector. This was our first opportunity to try our new #3 and we immediately fell in love with it. The shape built into the sail is great and really gives a lot of power thru waves. Nut Case being the only race boat in the fleet out pointed the other boats by at least 20 degrees and easily sailed to a first place finish. The boat felt really good and we all had a great time. results
July 1, 2011 - Barrachois, Nova Scotia to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Nut Case in clean air at start - looks like a post card
An island named after a prince. Fitting as Prince William and Princess Kate were to visit Charlottetown two days after our race. This 30 mile race featured boats from Charlotteown, PEI, Pictou, NS and Barrachois, NS. The night before was our annual social at the club with the racers staying aboard the boats - a favourite way to start a long weekend. The race started with an upwind leg out of Amet Sound. Our strategy was to let the other boats sort themselves out so that we could get clean air - we did this and then set out on a port tack above the entire fleet in beautifully clean air. Once again Nut Case showcased it's pointing ability. Where the entire fleet had to tack several times to clear the bay only Nut Case and the Olson 30 Ghost were able to do this on a single tack. Nut Case actually pointed higher while traveling just as fast as Ghost - an impressive feat for us!
On board we had Heather at helm, Sheelagh in pit and on trim, Larry for genoa trim and foredeck and Mike on main/jib trim. The boat once again felt really good but alas all good things eventually come to an end. The GPS coordinate we had been steering to was too high thanks to the Navigation of Mike so our impressive pointing took us too far from the Rhumb line. Result was 2nd overall and in class. results
July 14 -16, 2011 - Charlottetown Race Week
Silver Shalis - 173.88 ft LOA
The week we look forward to all year. A week where we measure ourselves against equally well prepared boats outfitted for racing. On board we had Heather, Sheelagh, Gary, Larry, Mike Hebert and Mike Hoyt. In our class were the Viper 640 Pork Chop, Olson 30 Ghost, Beneteau First 337 Intuition, J/30s Midnite, Surprise and Endeavour and the Kirby 30 Siren III
Day one dawned with a strong wind warning. Winds 25 knots sustained with gusts to 30. Racing was outside in Hillsborough Bay and the waves had a good fetch to build up to as high as six feet but very close together and choppy. Race one was a W/L race with two trips round. We opted for reefed main and our new #3. A number of boats turned back without even starting. Our first start was a messed up affair - it turns out half the fleet was on wrong VHF channel and boats were having difficulties on board that caused problems getting sails hoisted, etc ... including Nut Case as we took a long time hoisting the #3 and then were uncertain how the start sequence was running. We saw the J/30 Surprise starting so we followed - only to realize that the rest of the fleet was still in sequence. We then turned back (Surprise did not) and started with the Olson 30 Ghost. Even at this time we noted Siren III, Intuition and Midnite still looked to be in sequence and Pork Chop was nowhere in sight. We continued and decided against the spinnaker and then since we had no whisker pole we even sailed with no headsail in our downwind legs. We caught and passed Surprise that had a couple of minute head start and finished 3rd. The boat was at about its limits so we decided against the 2nd race (and to our dismay found out there was also a 3rd). It was 2.5 hours of horrible motoring against huge close waves, a strong tide and winds nearing 30 knots. Afterward we found out that Pork Chop and Midnite retired for the day without even starting the first race, Intuition and Siren had problems that caused them to be DNS on race 1 and Siren broke enough gear and sails that they retired halfway thru the first race. In the J29 class the MH Maestral was dismasted, the OB Fr Satisfaction nearly pitch poled and took on a lot of water (but continued racing), and there were numerous torn sails, broken shrouds, etc.. across the fleets
Day 2 - Gales 35 knots. Racing cancelled and Social on. Unfortunately was cold - 15 degrees. Highlight of the day was when the 174 foot Silver Shalis pulled into the dock. The tender that came out of the stern of this boat had three 350hp outboard motors!
Day 3 - 20-25 diminishing to 15 in the afternoon. Still form the North. Reefed main and #3 for race one and we had a great start. However we were called back as we had been OCS approx 2 mins prior to start. By the time we realized and restarted we were over five minutes behind our fleet. Race 2 was better but again was gusty. We decided to be lazy and did not fly spinnaker in this race and finished 4 seconds behind Intuition who did. Race 3 was light enough that we finally flew our #1. We had some good moments but a disastrous leeward mark rounding dropped us from 2nd to 5th in our class. We did better than Siren III though - after day one tearing the head out of their #3 and breaking the boom vang they followed on day three with a blown spinnaker, short crew and enough frustration to not finish a single race. On Nut Case we somehow broke nothing although we also performed poorly.
Robbie Robertson Commodore's Cup, July 23 2011
Nut Case overtaking Wings
What can you say about a race where you are the only boat to find the wind? This was a Pursuit race where we were the fastest boat and started 18 minutes after the first boats. On board were Peter, Troy, Steve, heather, Mike. We sailed a good race and the boat performed well. However the wind shifted just prior to start resulting in the entire fleet but Nut Case starting in almost no wind. The wind came up approximately one minute before Nut Case started and came first to where we were before getting to the rest of the fleet. The result of this was Nut Case overtaking all but two boats within the first five minutes of the race and being the lead boat after the first mile. Nut Case then proceeded to outpoint every boat in the fleet except for Wings and make the Windward mark on a single tack to sail to an easy win. results
July 25 - August 28 - a month away from the boat!
First day on Koobalibra in Chester - not everything went well
Our planned trip to Pictou for the Annual Trap Stright regatta ran smack into a weather dilemma. After beating ourselves up at Charlottetown race week we were not keen to perform a 34 mile delivery in the forecasted 20 - 25 knots and then sail all day Saturday in driving rain. All the more reluctant since we would be sleeping aboard. We therefore decided to skip the regatta and stay home to rest. As luck would have it that Saturday was the Metro Regatta in Halifax and a friend had just taken delivery of a J120 "Fly" that would race the Saturday only. Heather Sheelagh and I jumped on board and sailed on Fly with Ross Layton and his crew of Bruce, Herb, Stewart, Craig in 18 - 22 knots in driving rain. It was really fun and I loved the J120 - the interior had the teak upgrade and was very very nice as well. Afterward a social inside the boat (which has much more room than the J/27) and then a short drive home to a dry house with Sheelagh over for supper with Heather and I. A very rewarding day.
Prospector boarded by RCMP
The next week was our planned trip to St Peter's Marina on the Bras 'd'Ors lakes with our friends Kim and Andy on their C&C 99 "Prospector". It was cold and windy Friday and cold and less windy Saturday and Sunday. Nevertheless we had a great three days and managed to cruise to Baddeck for a night. On the way back we were stopped by the RCMP for a "courtesy check" (we found it extremely uncourteous). Aside from being boarded we had a great long weekend and are planning next year to take Nut Case and Prospector to Baddeck for race Week - Prospector will be the mother ship while we race Nut Case ...
We arrived home and two days later were in Chester, Nova Scotia for Chester Race Week - the largest keelboat regatta in Canada and also one of the oldest. Rather than haul Nut Case and trailer it to Chester we took our entire crew of Heather, Sheelagh, Barry, Gary and me over to our friend Dave's C&C 115 "Koobalibra". Heather and I had been crewing on Koobalibra all season and welcomed the chance to sail with the faster fleet. My favourite part of Chester Race week is looking at all the boats! There were one design fleets of J24, J29 and well over 20 Bluenose sloops. Classic fleets with William Roue designed Roue 20s, Chester C and International One Design as well as Hayseed - a magnificent wooden racing vessel from the distant past. On our course there were Nelson Marek 43, Farr 11S, another C&C 115, C&C 37R, four Farr 30, 1D35 and a number of other interesting boats. It was a joy just to see all the boats! Day one was 18 - 22 knots gusting 26 and as usual cold. We were in Alpha 1 class with boats from PHRF 12 thru 63 or so. Our crew of 12 were good sailors but had not sailed much together so it was an interesting day. The day culminated with a spectacular broach as we raised the large rather than small spinnaker. I must apologize to Dave for making that the only picture I have here of his beautiful boat. Day 2 we switched to the Distance fleet and were rewarded by sailing alongside large Swan sailboats, a pair of J120, Farr 11S, J111 and a host of other magnificent boats. There was no race day two due to lack of wind but Days 3 and 4 offered spectacular sailing in and around the islands of Mahone Bay - wow! We all had a great time and to top off the end of the week our friend and crew mate Sheelagh announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend Gary! That was a great setup for a weekend off sailing to attend my niece's wedding reception in Chance Harbour, Nova Scotia.
August 27 2011 - BHYC Poker Rally and finally back on Nut Case
First swim of the year - long overdue!
Wow - over a month since we had been on Nut Case. Saturday was our club's annual Poker Rally. This event is set up for both Power and Sail and consisted of three stops around Tatamagouche Bay to pick our cards. Heather and I had a relaxing sail and for the first time was just us on board. Afterward the tide was too low to go into the marina so we anchored alongside Prospector where Kim and Andy picked us up in their inflatable "Nugget" and we motored into the club. Afterward we went back to the boats and then joined by Andrea and Jamie on their C&C 25 "Torch" along with their 2 month old son Patrick we anchored for a raft up, BBQ and swim in 25 degree water (Celsius). To cap off an amazing day Heather and I then went to visit skipper Dave of Koobalibra who had together with Jennifer rented a cottage right on the beach. A fabulous supper and followed by a bonfire on the beach. Sailing, swimming, anchoring, beach bonfire, great food and good friends. Isn't that what summer and sailing is all about?
September 3 & 4 2011 - Earle Forshner Memorial Regatta - BHYC
Boats in Earle Forshner Regatta
The year had begun with terrible weather but this season ending event at our home club enjoyed some of the best weather in years. 25+ degrees and sunny both days with pleasant winds. Aboard Nut Case for the weekend were Heather, Sheelagh, Dave, Andrew and Mike. Dave is the skipper of Koobalibra who we raced with in Chester and in evenings and Andrew is regular crew on Koobalibra. We had great sailing both days. Saturday we had a great night aboard the boats with our friends from Torch and Prospector and our marina owners Don and Mike while Sunday we again had a great supper and beach bonfire at Dave's cottage with Dave, Jen, Jordie, Heather, Andrew, Heather and Mike. I cannot think of a better way to close out our summer season!
Nut Case is now home in Halifax awaiting relaunch for some Fall sailing. Since many of the vessels in the Earle Forshner regatta are cruising boats and we all stay in the same marina we did not bother to scrub Nut Case prior to the regatta as skipper Mike felt that would be more fair (and was feeling lazy). The visiting Kirby 25 Oh Chute from Pictou had recently scrubbed his hull and it was very apparent. Nut Case sailed well but felt sluggish in the lighter winds and was obviously not performing as well as it could. However since most of the other boats in the regatta had similar bottom prep it was treated as a fun race rather than a serious race.
This is not fast!
September 10 - 11 2011 - Prince of Wales and Wenonah on Koobalibra
Made by same silversmith as America's Cup
The Prince of Wales regatta in Halifax goes back to at least 1860. The prince was here at that time at the event. We took another break from Nut Case to sail on Koobalibra in this very prestigious event. In this race were Helms Deep - Soto 40 (PHRF -18), More Trouble - Farr 11S (-12), Climax - 1D35 (33), Blast - J/111 (39), Illicit - Beneteau First 44.7 (39), Dogsled - Kuafman 47 (39), One More Time - Farr 30 (51), Wikked - Farr 30 (51), Koobalibra and Triumph - both C&C 115 (63), Third Wave - C&C 37R (63), Harrier and Craccker Jack - J/35 (72), Duck - Beneteau First 367 (75), Mischief - C&C 40 (87). Winds were 15 - 23 knots in a 28 mile race. On board we had Dave, Gordie, Wendy, Andrew, Trevor, Peter, Kevin, James, Jen, Heather, Mitch, Tony, Malcolm, Mike. On Saturday in the big race we finished First overall! On Sunday we had four less people and did not do so well - were referred to as the Bookend Boat with a first and a last in the series.
Koobalibra in Prince of Wales race
Koobalibra Crew with trophy
September 12 -15 2011 - Home in Halifax for the Fall
Nut Case at Fall mooring on NW Arm
On the Monday after the big boat race we launched Nut Case in Halifax on the Monday, tuned and rigged on Tuesday and raced in a Wed evening race at Dartmouth Yacht Club on Wednesday. The bottom was freshly scrubbed and with just two people we sailed to a third place finish in white sail in winds 6 - 20+ knots - speed ranged from 1.3 knots to 8.6 knots. Thursday the two hour motor to the NW Arm from DYC in very thick fog thru Halifax Harbour. The Chartplotter was very worthwhile!
September 23-24 2011 - Beancrock race at DYC
Halifax shrouded in Fog - delivery to DYC for Bean crock race
The Bean crock race is the start of the fun fall racing in Halifax. It is the last open race of the season at Dartmouth yacht Club and is followed by a supper, band and dock party at DYC. Forecast had been changing all week - at one point was supposed to be sunny and 10-15 knots, another 20-30mm rain and 15 - 20knots and a third was no wind and rain. Unfortunately ended up with no wind and rain all day. Nut Case slipped her mooring at 8:10AM and motored thru no wind and a lifting fog to DYC - arriving at 9:30AM. The rain started 20 minutes before arrival and did not stop all day.
The race was postponed an hour due to lack of wind and the traditional distance course scrapped. In the end was a 7 NM race in a clockwise circle around Bedford basin. Not so much a challenge to sail as a challenge to host given the lack of wind. Nut Case sailed to third in A fleet in a diverse fleet that ranged from a 1D35 at PHRF 33 to a Shoal Draft Tartan 10 at 138. Winds varied from approx 4 to 8 knots. Not much to say about the race other than that sitting on leeward side beneath a loose footed main in the rain is very wet. The other notable is that we had a great group of people on board. Barry, BJ, Sheelagh, Tim, Ashley and Mike. Tim does foredeck on a well sailed J/29 while Barry and BJ sail regulary on a J/29 and formerly owned and raced a J/24 with Sheelagh. Wet soggy fun was had by all. .. and of course the very next day was a beautiful 28 degree sunny day with perfect wind ...
Course was 12S, 20S, 21S, 14S, 16S, 8S, 10S, finish - a big circle
October 8 2011 - Turkey Bowl at RNSYS
Bonfire with friends after a day's racing
What can be better than a great day's sailing with friends to kick off a Thanksgiving weekend? Weather - Perfect; Wind - Perfect; friends - Perfect. The Turkey bowl is one of the last open races of the season at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. The registration fee goes to Nova Scotia Sea School and a donation of non perishable foods goes to Feed Nova Scotia. The weather was sunny and over 20 degrees. Shorts and Tee Shirt weather. Winds were 14 gusting to 20 knots at start and diminished to 10 - 15 as the race progressed. On board we had Sheelagh and her fiance Gary, Barry, Heather and Mike. The course was a bit reachy but there was nothing bad that can be said about the day. It was the single nicest day we have had on the water this year. Afterward we drove to the country for a Thanksgiving feast with our friends Kim and Andy from Prospector - bonfires, hot tub great food and great company!
October 15 2011 - Danginn Cup at BBYC
Container Pier in Halifax as seen across Bedford Basin
Windy. Still warm but windy. Forecast was for 22 knots gusting to 30 and ended up 32 steady gusting 38 at one point. On board we had Erwin and Dianne with whom we raced the Silver Sail, Sheelagh, Heather, Mike. We opted for the #3 and reefed main with max backstay etc... Prior to start one boat dropped out because was too windy and the boat could not handle it. Also prior to start two other boats tore their mains and retired. This left only 5 boats to actually start the race. A varied fleet with a Tartan Thomas 35, J/29 Fr, J/27, J/24 and a Bluenose sloop. All boats but the J/29 had reefed mains - on some double reefed. We had a short upwind leg followed by a reach and then a longer upwind leg. During this point in the race the windex blew off - again! That is now the 4th windex - three have blown off and one damaged by a crane. Approx 2/3 thru the long upwind leg we had max everything and reefed main flogging. Rail and stanchions still buried with just the blade pulling. Was at that point we decided to abandon the race and relax. Small tear in luff tape on jib was only damage and with the warm weather was very enjoyable.
On the same day in the Halifax Harbour Approaches there was a J/24 one design regatta. They recorded winds 30 to 39 knots. On day 2 winds were marginally less but still windy enough that no spinnakers were to be flown. J/24 "Fred" apparently tried to fly one and sank as a result - no one hurt and all the beer was recovered.
J/24 Fred before sinking
October 22 2011 - Die Hard Race at AYC
October 23 - Sunny and warm
Some people just cannot get enough. It is for those people that Armdale Yacht Club hosts the Die Hard race for. This race is usually cold. Since it is late October also we expect wind - lots of it. The forecast was for a sunny day 16 degrees with winds S 10- 15 knots. That is nicer than almost any day we had in July this year! The best part was that the forecast was close - except that it was even warmer than forecast!
This was our season ending weekend. Race with whoever wanted to come followed by dinner, drinks and crew party afterward. The wind at the head of the NW Arm was light and fluky. The missing windex from the Danginn race would haunt us and since it was a fun excuse to sail race the lack of a scrub was probably silly as well. On board we had Heather, Sheelagh, Kim and Mike. Barry, Gary and Marc all had commitments that kept them away. Tacking up the NW Arm is an art at the best of times - and we do not sail in this area. On this day it was even more difficult than usual - the wind would puff, then die, then shift 80 degrees and die again - on top of that a half knot current against did not help. On several tacks we tacked thru 100 degrees only to have jib backwinded! After a frustrating forst half hour where the entire fleet sailed by us we finally decided to just point the bow in the direction we wanted to go and wait for the puffs to fill our sails - Heather used this tactic masterfully and snuck us out the Arm - finally passing boats we owed 50 - 100 sec/mile to. Once out of the NW Arm the wind was perfect, the temperature perfect and the crew all good friends. One of the nicest sails of the year as we continued to pass the boats that were supposed to be well behind us. The race finished at the head of the Arm again and of course both the wind direction and tide had switched while we were out. Very light breeze upwind to finish - we once again just pointed and snuck up the Arm on one tack - finally passing the last of the much slower boats 1/4 mile before finish. Was a great day on the water! This was followed by a great dinner and evening with friends and crew.
One of the many Cruise Ships that visit Halifax in the Fall - taken during the Die Hard race
October 23 2011- Sail with Sarah and friend
Sarah and Ceilidh rolling the sail
Our daughter Sarah had not ever sailed on Nut Case despite practically growing up on our previous boats. She had asked to go for a sail in the Fall with friends but worked every Friday, Saturday and Sunday all Fall. On the last day before teh boat left its mooring to be hauled we finally got out at 5:30 PM. Sarah, her friend Ceilidh and Mike rowed out in the dingy (an adventure all its own) and decided to go for a short sail despite wind of approximately three knots.
The first thing noted was the missing outboard! Less than 24 hours had passed since the boat was moored after the Die Hard race and in that time items had been taken from the boat - notably the brand new Tohatsu outboard. Bummer. Not to be deterred Sarah cranked the stereo to her favourite music station and we set sail. With only three knots of dying breeze and no auxiliary power we sailed in the immediate vicinity for a mere 20 minutes. Despite the shortness of the sail and the missing motor it was fun to have an outing with the girls and I hope that they enjoyed it as well.
The girls enjoying the dingy ride
Fuel hose cut and motor gone
October 24 2011 - Last sail of the season
Haulout was planned to be done at Bedford Basin Yacht Club - a 10 NM trip from our mooring within Halifax Harbour. First task was to borrow an outboard from Marc and Ben Rubarth who have a J/24 named Dark Star. This is the second time we have used a Merc 2.5 hp motor on the boat - hopefully this time we would not have a 30 knot squall blow in! An uneventful motor and sail on a warm Fall afternoon had Nut Case tucked in at BBYC for mast de-stepping and haulout the next day.
There have been lots of Cruise ships docked at Pier 21 this Fall
An interesting note on the end of the season. In 2010 we entered 4 fun races that we think of as bonus races in Halifax after concluding our season at Barrachois. These are season ending fun races with cobbled together crews for the most part. We did not scrub after relaunching Sept 25 in 2010 and the boat came out clean at the end of October. This year we did the same - cleaning the hull before launching Sept 12 and then thinking these were fun races so why scrub? Below is a picture of the rudder after hauling on Oct 25. Wow! Nothing anywhere 3 inches or more below the waterline but the rudder is disgusting! Could not decide whether to use a pressure washer or a Bic Razor! Lesson learned.
Yuck!