|
|
1998 Islands Race of Lake Erie
click on any photo for a larger view
My annual trip to Lake Erie was made more exciting this year thanks to the generosity of Bill and Judy Kellner, who invited me to crew aboard their Sabre 28 during the annual 32 mile race around the islands. Our large 7-person crew readied the boat in somewhat dreary conditions, scarcely noticed in the building excitement of the race. In addition to Bill and Judy, their friends Peter and Penny, Phil (races a Paceship 23), Greg (a horse breeder), and myself, made up the crew. We were probably not the most experienced crew in the race, but we worked well together and by the second spinnaker set seemed to be finally getting the hang of things!
|
Readying the boat for sea. From left to right: Greg, Phil, and Captain Bill. |
|
Our first of two equipment failures occurred while we motored out of Sandusky Harbor. A loud pop issued forth from the engine followed by a discouraging "lub lub" sound. At first there was concern over a failed cutlass bearing, or a separated shaft coupling, but fortunately the cause was simply a spark plug that somehow had worked itself loose and popped out. We shut down the engine and sailed the remaining distance to the start line.
We prepared for a spinnaker start in light winds and flat seas, or more accurately we thought we were prepared for a spinnaker start. It turns out when the starting gun sounded the spinnaker wasn't ready to be set. As other boats moved out, those of us in the cockpit watched helplessly as confusion reigned on our foredeck. The incident cost us valuable time, but as you will see we acquitted ourselves very well during the remainder of the race, even if we could not completely atone for the abysmal start.
|
We steered south of South Bass Island toward our first mark at Green Island under spinnaker, making anywhere from 2-4.5 knots in light, shifting winds punctuated by periods of rain. At this point we finally overtook a Pearson 26, urgently pressing our advantage since she enjoyed a time handicap over us. Then at the southwestern tip of South Bass we were becalmed. Tensions mounted as the spinnaker hung limp and we fought to coax even 1/2 knot out of "Second Wind." Our exasperation was made worse since we could plainly see that the boats which sailed past us at the start had avoided the dead spot. Here I am manning the spinnaker downhaul.
|
|
After the winds finally picked up we experienced our second equipment failure. There was a loud "pop." Seven sets of eyes looked anxiously about, with all quickly focusing on the spinnaker pole, whose bridle had snapped. Fortunately we were close to striking the spinnaker anyway, so we made our mark, dropped the spinnaker and began a close reach toward Put-in-Bay in moderate conditions. Phil and Judy jury rigged a new bridle. As we reached past Put-in-Bay toward open water a Hunter 34 attempted to pass us in the narrow channel at Ballast Island. He was too late to get by us to windward, ran out of sailing room, dropped to leeward, and cruised by us. Although he was not in our class, our progress relative to the larger Hunter will provide a clue as to how the tables would turn, as you shall see below.
|
Getting passed by the Hunter 34. |
|
Immediately on reaching open water on our way to the mark at Middle Island, the wind and waves began to build quickly. Winds approached 25 knots right off our bow, waves built to 2-4 feet. The boat behind us dropped his jib; we learned later that other boats reefed and/or switched headsails. The Hunter 34 ahead of us was having a rough time of it, and kept heading up. Now we had the advantage: with six crew on the rail we kept up full main and 150 genoa. Overpowered to be sure, but under control, we flew along at an exhilarating pace. The knot meter reached 6.9 before the transducer lifted out of the water!
|
The crew shouted in exuberance. This is what sailing is all about. We began ever so slowly to reel in the Hunter 34. (Note the tilt of the horizon as I had the camera level with the deck) |
|
Close hauled, we just cleared Middle Island and turned downwind for the rush down the homeward leg. The Captain gave order to ready the spinnaker, but changed his mind after studying storm clouds behind us and to the East. It was best not to be caught off-guard by a squall while flying a spinnaker. Instead we poled out the jib and breezed along wing-and-wing
|
Wing-and-wing on the home stretch. Here Judy adjusts the preventer. In the enlargement, you can see the Hunter to port. |
|
That proved to be a good decision. We surfed along at times over 7
knots (according to the GPS our ground speed reached up to 8.5 knots) with
moderate rolling. We overtook the Hunter! About 4 nm out, the winds began to
diminish noticeably. Time for our final spinnaker set, which went fairly
smoothly once we thought everything through.
The Hunter caught us at the finish line. His winged-out main nearly made contact with our spinnaker, we were that close. He beat us in by a boat length, but we had done very well on the last two legs, and besides, the Hunter had started ten minutes before us!
|
This "racer" seemed intent on running us down--wonder what his handicap is? |
|
We motorsailed into harbor, dodging some traffic as we tidied the boat. Back at the sailing club, 7-1/2 hours after the start, we wound down with burgers and beer. Later we learned that we finished 2nd, only 24 seconds behind the winner. Without doubt it was a great experience.
