Fall Racing
By Tomasz Dvorak
Fall racing is finally here! Well, actually, fall racing has been here for the last month, but Luciole’s skipper hasn’t been. Perhaps “fall racing write-ups are finally here!” would be more accurate, although that lacks pithiness and punch.
By Wednesday, the weekend’s nor’easter had blown itself out, and was remembered only while crews re-attached storm-prepped spars. A south-southwest wind sprang up, not too strong, but enough to get us moving (most of the time). A mooted course of ApDpAp was adjusted before the start to be HsDpApDs. For many Knockabout skippers this means something. For those unafflicted with terminal CCK-itis, I’ll translate: we’d race upwind to the southern tip of Nonamesset, turn around, sail downwind to the entrance to the Hole, turn around again, go upwind amongst the shoals, then finally sail back home (the final Ds added solely to keep hapless racers from being run down in the darkening dusk by ferries plying the Island route). A consistent ebb meant there’d be a strong north-west current in the Hole proper, and a building south-west tide out in the Sound. What about in-between the Hole and the Sound, you ask? What’s happening there is anyone’s guess.
Today, the start presented an interesting conundrum; it was a shorter rhumb-line to Can 9 from the pin, and the current flowing in from the Sound might offer a bit of a lift. It was a longer direct-line from the boat, but there wasn’t the foul-tide effect, chances of clear air were better, and one could call for room at the usual traffic jam around the first respecting mark.
The fleet started spread-out, and beelined for the can. Ragwagon hit the line near the pin end perfectly, then bore up with Luna Nova in tow. Skimmer started high and made tracks for the mark with Jilt, Escargot, and Rumblefish following. Luciole and Who’s There, starting a smidge late and in the middle of the line, got the fleet’s bad air, and yielded room to pass to Jilt and Escargot. Seattle Gray and Ghost were in there too (don’t ask me where).
Luciole arrived at the mark before the majority of the fleet, but in poor position. Jilt and Escargot, having established an inside overlap, blanketed her, forced her down, and proceeded to pass her around the mark. Rumblefish, confident that she too had an overlap, barrelled towards the buoy. Luciole, skeptical, slow, and seething after being sat on by the fleet, pointed up and slammed shut the window that Rumblefish was aiming for; the legality of this decision would later be intently debated. After a brief but robust debate with Luciole, Rumblefish came about suddenly and re-rounded instead of wedging herself into the narrowing gap.
Now finally around Can 9, and leaving half-remembered rules for mark roundings behind, we began racing up towards Mink Point. Well, most of us did; Skimmer stayed low, looking for favorable southwest current. The rest of the fleet went across the Hole middling-to-high, enjoying lee bow at first, then taking it on the nose at the Gaslight. Rumblefish hoisted a red flag (can’t think why), then began passing boats regardless. Luciole, rusty and maybe still dragging some seaweed-beard despite a swimming-shave before the race, yielded position first to Ghost, then to Rumblefish, and watched the leaders gain…and gain…and gain.
Skimmer, having found the fair current, shot out in front, passing Ragwagon, who’d been leading since 9. Luna Nova, despite a slow start, found her speed on the upwind, and started working to weather, leaving Who’s There and Escargot behind. Ghost tacked in early, lost a few boatlengths, then tacked out again for the fair-er current.
The fleet tacked deep into the Sound (and might not have quite hit the lay-line), getting every inch of advantage from the favorable tide, before flopping over onto port for the mark. Far ahead, Luna Nova, Rumblefish, Ragwagon, and Skimmer jostled for first/second/third on the downwind, whilst the rest of the fleet began the parade back down to D. Most of the time, position changes on the downwind leg are rare, and tend to occur as the result of an identifiable, highly visible, and hugely embarrassing Mistake. Some past examples: finding a rock, dropping a sheet, a flying jibe.
Luciole’s Mistake was indulging in a classic sailor’s vice, known in admiralty law as “intemperance”. Dismayed by a dismal upwind leg, Luciole’s skipper sought solace in swilling several shandies, confident her lead over Seattle Gray would preserve her from a DFL. Intemperance’s result: a blown lead, and a great view of everyone else’s transoms. Inexact attention to the precise line to the Gaslight, failure to account for leeway from the strong ebb, and simply not noticing the dying breeze under the lee of the island conspired against Luciole’s sodden crew. Seattle Gray picked up the pace, then picked up a place by staying further out on the downwind. When she got to the downwind mark, instead of being pushed away, she was being swept towards it (as a chagrinned Luciole noticed).
Befuddled, Luciole jibed back and forth and back again, battled around the mark, and saw the fleet strung out ahead (exception: Ghost, seized by the current and unwinding an even-more-disastrous mark-rounding). Dusk and unfortunate distance now obscured the leaders from Luciole’s standpoint, so any further course-changes or position-switches can only be seen in the official results. Nevertheless, apparently everyone made it around the course eventually and swarmed the club porch. Protest? Well, in the event, there was no way to know. It certainly took the sting away that the protestee finished second-to-last and the protestor finished far better. Anyways; this club prefers conviviality over competitiveness, and I’d much rather watch the last of the sunset over the harbor than argue about the rules.
Results:
1. Luna Nova (Fran Elder) 0:00
2. Skimmer (Freddy Denton) 0:11
3. Rumblefish (Nick Lowell) 0:46
4. Jilt (Chuck Verbeck) 1:01
5. Who’s There (George Sykes) 1:05
6. Escargot (Brett Longworth) 1:22
7. Ragwagon (Peter Ochs) 1:54
8. Seattle Gray[1] 4:43
9. Luciole (Tomasz Dvorak) 6:26
10. Ghost[1] 10:24
[1] Who was skippering? Let me know for next race…