Steeplechase Results

What were the conditions?
Conditions on my jobsite were cold, windy and regretful.

It snowed all day in Toledo, covering a frozen Maumee Bay, so it had to be better than that! The bay is wrecked for iceboating... ;-(

So we need to live vicariously through the detailed race reports!

Read via a Facebook post that they were sailing at a tough angle in 15-20 (too tight for a spin I think) 64 miles in 3hr50min.
Sounds like a tough day #1.

Day 1, was work but manageable, had a great time. Day 2.was a rare south breeze leaving the fleet thinking an inside route across a half mile of flats was a good idea and if Steve Lohmeyer is leading the way how could it be wrong? Eric Roberts was having none of that and crushed the fleet. The rest if us fought it out the remainder of the day. Conditions again were beautiful. As expected Eric finished first making up their deficit from day 1 to win the event. Karl Langfeld and Jeff Dusek sailed a solid day 2 capturing the F18 trophy for the second year in a row.

Gilbert's was great and treated us well .

when you say

outside

route, are you talking the one where you end up going through that west cut to blackwater?

I'd always wonder under what conditions that pays. I suspected a west breeze, but maybe south works too?

I figured Saturday would be work for you guys. It was a little much for me singlehanding with main/jib only. Actually, docking was the only real challenge.

Sunday looked ideal for me, but I could imagine it was a bit more challenging for you guys actually racing to get somewhere...

Docks: Entertainment for people who have spent the day going too slowly...

Mike

The inside route I'm referring to is the route between Lower Matecumbe Key and Mangrove. It isn't a half mile it's only about two tenths of a mile it felt much longer. To add insult to injury we found out later Steve had never gone that way either. Just goes to show that you need to make your own plan and stick to it.

The Boggies (the cut from the west to black water sound) is a gamble. Ricks story said this is where Eric made his big gains. Eric made his money in the first hour of the day when he split from the fleet. Steve went through the Boggies too and it looked like a break even to me. We paddled very little through the creeks this year.

U.m.m.m.m.m.m ... You do mean:

I

paddled very little through the creeks this year.

You were the crew-B%$#tch, right? Geez, you ALPHA types never change!!

Very true Mr. Back I was very much the crew-b!tch but I only paddled a short while. I paddled for about thirty seconds and was promptly releived, I guess she got tired of the whining. Sometimes the grandpa card comes in handy.

Race recap from the F18 fleet at the Key Largo Steeplechase:
http://usf18.com/29th-annual-key-largo-steeplechase/

Very nice write up Jeff. Thanks.

It's easy to write about such a fun race! So glad I was able to be a part of it!

Whining or Wheezing?

(keep lobbing 'em up, buddy! I'll keep swinging)

teaching kids to dock the boat = practice with epoxy repairs.

In a great innovation and something we saw on the gorgeous Groupama C boat, the weather board is lifted not by a block and tackle, but by the weight of the crew as he or she wires up on the new tack.

sounds like a cool trick for straight board boats downind, too?

I'm shocked no one called me out on this sooner...

Yes, I'm extremely jealous that you guys get to sail all year.

No, I cannot dock a boat to save my life. I'm up to about a 60% success rate with a RIB, won't attempt it with a hard-sided boat. I usually just get it close and pull in with the dock lines...

Mike

Mike, all you need is a factor of laziness for motivation. I sail my J22 into it's slip now to save the effort of excavating the 2hp outboard from the cabin to slip it onto the stern mount. The thought of sailing it into that narrow little spot surrounded by boats terrified me a year ago.

Too funny. I'm always on a borrowed boat (RC duties), so I'm way extra careful. If I had my own powerboat (or any boat with an engine), I'd have licked it by now. I don't like the idea of practicing with someone else's boat (although they probably wouldn't mind at Sail Newport).

Mike

OK, now that I can identify with. When I'm driving club boats, I'm Warner Bro's Cecil Turtle when it comes to putting those things into their slips. It's really not for care of the boat...just that I don't want to have to live something down. 😉

Sail it like you rented it...

I have learned (through two gelcoat touch-ups) that you need to leave the centerboard down when docking and/or low speed maneuvers (like getting on the trailer).

Otherwise it's like trying to steer those saucer/dish thingies Clark Griswald had in

Christmas Vacation

Docking made simple:

1. Come in to the dock on a beam reach with enough distance between you and the dock to head up and

run out

.
2. Come up pretty hard and make sure your sails tack over (allows you sail out away if you do not have enough momentum to reach the dock).
3. The distance traveled after coming up is dictated by how hard you come up and moving crew weigh forward and aft (too many times I've seen people rush forward to tie off to the dock and it kills their momentum - this may not be as big a factor on your trimaran, but is a big deal on lightweight cats).

Obviously, it gets harder the windier it is and the more crowded it is.

As is flying the saying goes,

If you can walk away from it, it was a good landing!

interesting thoughts Tom. might have to try that once I upgrade my fenders <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />

does it work for non-displacement craft that seem to slow down quite rapidly once the wind is off the sails?

It does Jay, you just have to know how far from the dock to be (depends on wind strength and the ability of the boat to carry momentum) before you start heading up (btw, don't trim the sails to close hauled as you head up, just leave them where they are and uncleat the sails once they go slack). You can practice this on any crab pot buoy in open water to get a feel for it. Many sailing schools teach this method. I've done it on beach cats, Lasers, Flying Scots, Thistles and J22s. Remember to tack the sails, that is your exit strategy.

I've never sailed a trimaran, will it turn quick enough and provide some run out before losing momentum? I figured if a beach cat could, then the tri could.

And yes, you want as much board down as you can get in low speed maneuvers.

You know it is legal to carry a paddle, right?

And the second part of that saying is;

If you can use the airplane again, it was a GREAT landing!

You should see the looks on people's faces when I tell them I can't dock well, and they insist it's a piece of cake and to

just go for it;

then I crash into the dock and/or the next boat...

The docks at Sail Newport are quite tight and very often crowded. Not to mention, surrounded by great big rocks.

I've learned not to be talked into this (as often) anymore.

Mike