The new and improved...’Round the Island Race has now been revamped and renamed:
“50/50 ‘Round the Island Race”
September 17 & 18 2016
Yes, this race was ready for a total ‘face lift’. Sailors got tired of racing 100 miles and straggling home at 2 am or later, often missing the finish party. So, to cater to popular demand we have made the following changes:
• Hobie 16’s, WETA’s and other modest speed multihulls will start at Sunrise off the Fort Walton Yacht Club’s gazebo.
• Corsairs and other larger Multihulls will start somewhat later.
• Faster Spinnaker Beach Cats will start progressively later yet.
• Saturday’s course goes from the FWYC out the Destin Pass into the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the Pensacola Pass.
• Fort Pickens, just inside the Pensacola Pass, will be the finish Saturday afternoon where all the boats should arrive somewhat together.
• Everyone will enjoy a Beach BBQ at Fort Pickens on Saturday.
• Anyone that chooses can tent camp at the Fort with showers at provided sites. Your dry clothes and other gear will be transported from the FWYC to Fort Pickens.
• For the more civilized, plenty of Motels and alternate night life is available at Pensacola Beach for Saturday night.
• Sunday morning starts the race back to Fort Walton along the scenic intercostal waterway.
• Again, progressive starting times will yield a tightly grouped fleet at the FWYC finish for awards where comradery will abound.
For your convenience the 50/50 is one week after the Juana’s Good Time Regatta. If you choose to do both events please feel free to leave your boats at the FWYC.
Soon you will be able to check FWYC.org to enter and get further information or contact Race Organizers Randy Smyth: SmythSails@gmail.com​ Cell 850 499 6490 and Linda Wright, Trisail@rocketmail.com

This sounds like a great time, I'm in! I know you've been working on the format for a while, so I'm assuming all the permissions for overnight parking and camping at the Fort are in hand? Would probably want to "prestage" a vehicle at the fort, then drive to accommodations. Otherwise call an Uber, who might not appreciate a couple of salty sailors and their gear.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Yes, we have an approved event permit from Fort Pickens, so camping is not a problem. I believe there is an entry fee for vehicles to get into the park, but it wouldn't be hard to arrange for additional support. More details to come, but I think this is going to be a blast!

I feel like there should be a zig zag marks along the intercoastal or something so I could at least turn my head a different direction during the day...

Would give you an opportunity to change trim a bit



Edited by tamumpower1 on Jun 08, 2016 - 06:42 PM.

Haha, after you sail that intercoastal, you will be wishing there are no zig zags

I'm in!

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Tyler holmes
Panama city, FL

Boat whore
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OK, we have at least 3 cats coming from Jacksonville at this point. Looks like a great time.

I will be there. Trying to get two more boats out of Niceville to participate. Good decision to split it in half.

My old stomping grounds, sounds like a blast!!!

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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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hobiewonkanobie

I will be there. Trying to get two more boats out of Niceville to participate. Good decision to split it in half.

Yea the camping is the best part for me. Just a pillow and mosquito net is all you need and you can use the main sail as a blanket and just sleep on the tramp. It's really not bad. Whoever gets by with the least camping gear wins the "most manly" trophy

It's the evening post race chat that's the most fun anyway. Now we get 2 in one race!

Revamped and renamed 50/50 ‘Round the Island Race. For your convenience the 50/50 is one week after the Juana’s Good Time Regatta. If you choose to do both events please feel free to leave your boats at the FWYC.

(((((((((((((((((Register at:)))))))))))))))
http://www.nextsailor.com/regatta/79

'Round the Island 50/50 NOR is here https://www.nextsailor.co…ocs/files/31/RTI_NOR.pdf

https://www.nextsailor.co…1/50-50_Race_Courses.pdf

6:55am warning signal? Hot dang I might just anchor the cat out on the water and sleep on the tramp at the start line. Just have my crew start the race and then wake me up at 9

patssun

Revamped and renamed 50/50 ‘Round the Island Race. For your convenience the 50/50 is one week after the Juana’s Good Time Regatta. If you choose to do both events please feel free to leave your boats at the FWYC.

(((((((((((((((((Register at:)))))))))))))))
http://www.nextsailor.com/regatta/79

The registration says 50 on the first page, but it says there is a $25 discount on the next page but then it doesn't apply. Not sure if it's not applying or it's listing a discount that it shouldn't be..

I have a question, or two,

registration is $50 per boat, does that include the social event for a skipper and crew?

Also I know I won't be getting there to pretty late Friday evening. I know I will probably miss the skippers meeting. So I assume I can get the sailing instructions Saturday morning?

3. FEES
3.1 The Entry Fee $50.00 per boat, $75 per boat after September 1. Includes all Socials and one (1) T-Shirt for the skipper.
3.2 A Social Fee of $35.00 is required for each additional sailor and guest. This fee includes a Friday Welcome Social @ AJ’s on
Bayou, Saturday Coffee on FWYC Back Porch, Fort Pickens BBQ @ Battery Worth Pavilion, Sunday Coffee @ Battery Worth
Pavilion, Food and Refreshments @ FWYC Finish Line Gazebo and one (1) T-Shirt.
3.3 FREE camping for first 20 entries. FREE Gear transport to Fort Pickens Saturday and back to FWYC Sunday all entries.

This one is closing in on us fast. Looks to be a great time. Randy has some really great ideas cooking up for this race. Join us for a great weekend.

Cheers,

Has anyone heard how it all went or have any results from the race?

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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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martyr

Has anyone heard how it all went or have any results from the race?

So here's how my race went:

DAY 1- So I'm racing against 2 other H18's with identical spinnakers, one of which usually beats me so my goal before the race started was to at least always be on the same water as that boat to make sure nothing crazy happened. There were a few H16s and non spin 18s including my other boat with 2 friends sailing it.

So the race starts with the group of H18s setting off for the inlet. Almost immediately it's pouring rain and the telltails are stuck to the sail so the guessing game of sail trim began. There was some thunder and the winds were picking up, what a way to start. So we are all heading off on starboard tack when both the other boats tack back and I couldn't see why. They were in a massive header almost pointing back to the club and I just took lift after lift straight at the bridge. It became clear after 10 minutes that I had a substantial lead yet both of them still stayed on their tacks losing more ground to me by the minute. I assumed they had gotten scared off by the weather and were heading back to the club. I actually tried to reach them on the radio but no one replied.

So now we are almost to the inlet when we realize, crap we have to go through a different inlet with a bridge instead of the big inlet to the left that we were headed at. So no big deal, we hadn't lost ground yet so we fire off right to line up to tack under the bridge. At some point we realize we are supposed to round some buoys and begin looking for them but cant find them at all. Eventually we pass a boat and ask where they are only to find they are a mile back the direction we just came. So we essentially sailed an extra 2 miles.

By the time we went around the buoys the other 2 spin 18's were feet in front of me. I was frustrated blowing a huge lead at the start but the race was back on. After clearing the channel it was a downwind run down the coast so out the spinnakers came. Because of the wave action and low winds now that the storm had left us it was near impossible to heat the sail up enough to get past the waves that were rolling by us and slowing the boat, stalling the sail. So we were all staying pretty close together.

Then the wind picked up and I was the first to catch it. Heated up the spin and we were off surfing waves with 1 on the trapeze. The other boats got the wind a few minutes later but never seemed to heat the spin up enough to match the waves so after an hour they were almost out of sight. We were in a group with 2 boats, a blue and a yellow spin Nacra for a few hours jibing down the beach. Eventually they left me, being able to take a better angle to the beach while I had to go out to sea a bit to keep my spin working. After hours of hand holding the spin line my left arm cramped up and we had to start trading the sheet off. The Tension you have to keep in that kind of wind is pretty tight and the 1 ratchet block wasn't enough relief to survive for hours.

Out at sea there was a big storm cell that everyone was trying to get but it was miles out and we had good position next to the beach so we held position and caught a storm of our own. Wind shifted to a close reach and we dropped the spin and proceeded to blast straight down the beach in big waves pushing 20 knots easy. Traveler was past half way with 1 out on the trap. I didn't want to double up because the waves were crashing over the boat and it would have been easy to lose balance as my crew did and almost fly off the back of the boat. The cell moved with us and no one else caught it. A half mile back they all had to tack back out to sea as we took a direct route to the channel. Blasted through the inlet buoys and to the finish line with a 35min lead to the second boat and a 1:10 to the 3rd spin 18.

Awesome food followed and we went off to set up our tent and crash for the next day.




DAY 2

It looks like it's going to be an upwind day so we set off. It's a close reach to the first bridge and I throw the spin up, loosen the halyard and take it, almost collapsing, upwind as far as I can. The winds start building and we are double trapped flying a hull and almost going over. We are building a lead compared to the other 18s that are trying to hug the coast and catch some breeze without the spin up. Our sail is starting to become a problem we should have taken it down sooner as we just had to keep bearing off to get it to stay up. Then a gust hits us and as I stand off the side to double trap I find out that I wasn't hooked in and just fall in the water. I managed to trap the rear lacing on the boat and hang on, but my life vest gets hooked on the lip of the boat and it takes me at least a minute to get back on the boat.

So that was it, lead gone and we went under the bridge right behind the target 18 I'm trying to beat. It's now a close winded shot down the channel to the next bridge and you had to make the choice to take the shortest route or tack over to the shore and see if there was any breeze. The 18 ahead was clearly determined to try and hold the lead ahead of me but I was creeping up on them using some weight distribution tricks and constant main sheet trimming to good advantage. As I footed off to gain some air they bore down cover. That's when I had some fun. I know the skipper of the other boat usually prefers the shore line and this was the opposite side of the channel they wanted to be on. So I figured I'd bear off as far as I could and see if they were willing to follow. Sure enough they bore off with me slowly but I was already dead even with them. Now the chess match began.

It was still early in the day and watching the shore boats I didn't feel like I was losing much to stay deeper in the channel. We were pretty much the only 2 boats not hugging the shore, but I had my competition in the same air and away from any other boats that might get in the way and screw me up if I had to tack. Me and the other 18 just maintained position for an hour straight until we started reaching some docks we were barely going to clear. That's when the other 18 bore down, trying to use the 50-75 yard windward gap to see if they could get ahead enough to pinch me out of the point it seemed. Well they didn't have enough ground and in the process I scooped up a little extra power and got just enough ahead that I had the lead.

Stuck behind me now they footed off behind me to tack to the opposite shore. That's exactly what I hoped would happen as when we are close together everyone just matches each others angle to the wind and we are all identical. The thing was, whether the other boat knew, we had actually been pinching a good amount the whole time, but if I bore off to a faster VMG they would just match me because we were so close and were just trying to hold position. So faster or not they would stay right with me. So I didn't want to tack right with them and have them matching me so I waited about a minute or two and then tacked, taking a powerful angle across to the opposite shore where they had already tacked back up the channel. It worked how I hoped and me being able to use the extra speed independently had gained me a 100 yard lead.

Now I'm dead in front of them and we are beginning to get some puffs moving in, some headers some lifts. So now I started trying some tricks to see if the other boat would respond. Each one of us wanted to try and gain some windward position on the other since we clearly would need to be farther to the right for the next bridge miles up the channel and it was slightly closer to the shore. Any time you saw the other boat get a header or lift you of course try and make sure you gain or lose similar ground, so that gave me an idea. When I would sail into a header I would wait until the boat behind also got it and then pinch up almost to a luff. I was far enough ahead that I figured they couldn't tell I had slowed way down. I was hoping they would also try and pinch in an attempt to match my angle and not lose more ground in the header than me.

The second I saw them slow I would bear off to a proper VMG angle while they were pinched and slowed. While it looked like I just got a wind shift, I was still in the same shift as them but cruising away at a proper angle while they waited for the shift that I was accelerating on which of course would never happen. It was just a matter of trying to get them to slow down and then be accelerating before they could adjust back. I have no idea if they actually were paying attention to me at all and responding, but it was fun and kept the mood high on the boat and more importantly the lead kept growing through all the shifts so I kept doing it. I lost a slight amount of ground to the other boats near us but I was only focused on the gap to my class.

Through Navarre bridge we now had about a 15min lead. Speeds were faster and we had 1 on the trap. Off to our right was a bit of a cove that curved back into our path and probably better wind but it was a lot of extra distance to take and wasn't worth it since the bridge pass was off to the left. The other 2 18's thought differently and tacked in the dead wind after the bridge to try the shore. As they puttered over to the shore we caught a puff and were gone. I never saw them again.

After the race I found out that they tried to fly their spin on a close reach through that area and ended up going over as they attempted a douse or something. Unable to get the boat back over many boats stopped to help. My buddy who weighs almost 300lbs alone said he stopped and offered to come over and get on the rope and right the boat but the skipper told him to leave them alone and sail on...Apparently sometimes pride surfaces in the form of sitting capsized for 30min instead of just accepting help to get the boat over and getting on with the race...Then still capsized they had not bunched the spinnaker up out of the water and a jet ski came by to help and sucked it into the engine. Ouch

In the meantime I was in pouring 0 visibility rain, double trapped in 30 knot gusts barely able to keep the boat down double trapped. We battled through it freezing from the rain and wind, passing 4-5 boats through the storm. We went over past 45 degrees a few times and I remember thinking that I bet one of the other boats goes over if they hit this stuff. Some boats beached it got so bad, but I was in a pack of big trimarans and saw the chance to gain some places so just sucked it up and tried to keep the boat down.

At some point we tried to save some ground and go through the shallows but one of our boards dug in and I actually had to get off the boat and dig it out from the mud before we could continue. Boards half up and we were good.

The finish was near and we had 2-3 boats right around us as we turned for the short downwind leg to the finish. Spinnaker out for the first time since the morning and we blasted by all the boats around us to finish. The other spin 18s were an 1:20min behind.

It was by far the greatest race I've done and the most challenging conditions to survive in on a small beach cat.



Edited by tamumpower1 on Sep 20, 2016 - 04:18 PM.

Awesome! thanks for sharing...

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'82 Nacra 5.8
Orlando, FL
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Sounds like a great race. I was beginning to think it had been postponed due to the weather, but sounds like an awesome time.

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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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Wow Matt, what an exciting and interesting account of the race from first-hand, first place perspective. Nicely done!

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Tom
NACRA 5.7 (1984 Sail 181)
Pennsylvania
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I really liked the new format. This distance in 2 days makes it a much more enjoyable experience. As it was, many sailors I spoke with, said wow that was a long way after just finishing on Saturday. It was good, as Saturday is the long day on the outside and the shorter ride back on Sunday on the inside had us finishing before 2pm.

Weather was a little dicey, however a little rain and some wind is always better than bright sunny days and no wind. Not to mention the heat that it generates.

There was a great turn out this year and I expect that to double for next year as word gets out. They had this with a reverse start to make scoring easy. It also was a bit of a safety thing with the faster boats sweeping the slower boats, in the event of issues.

A big thanks to Damon for bringing a trap harness from Key Sailing in Pensacola for me. Sorry that Kirk could not make the race this year on his Nacra 20C, he was down with the flew.

Randy was a great cheer leader for everybody and even made my daughter's weekend. She was sailing on her H18 and he told her she would see all kinds of wild life on this adventure. Sure enough, she has video of dolphins running next to them in packs in the Gulf.

Mike Kelly had his ARC22 running strong and looking good freshly painted. He took first overall with a 2nd on Saturday and then a 1st on Sunday. Mike has his boat back in action after three 3 years of drinking beer instead of sailing. It was really good to see he has not lost his racing form. Randy Smythe on his Sizzler "thing" was 2nd overall with 2 thirds. Man he is just creepy fast on that thing. Third over all was Mike Clark on a Nacra 6.0 no spinnaker, who scored a 2nd place on Sunday's race. Sunday was light air up wind. A one tack beat all the way.

For those a unfamiliar with rating systems. Spinnaker boats get a penalty added to their rating for what is assumed to be a course where you only go down wind 50% of the time. So if the race is all down wind (like Saturday) they have a rating advantage. And as expected the spinnaker boats scored great finishes on Saturday, relative to non-spinnaker boats, as it was all down wind in the Gulf. However on Sunday the spinnaker boats carry that penalty even when it is all up wind as on Sunday. So Mike Clark did very well with a stock boat and no spinnaker with a 3rd over all. Mike Kelly on the 22, said he almost didn't catch him on Sunday.

4th place overall was a big surprise to everyone else, however, they knew they were good. Ralph Cole and his son on a G Cat. They were sporting new Smythe sails and had that boat flying on Sunday. These 2 are definitely folks to watch out for in the future. Funny guys, who like to travel without their tiller. They said, they don't need one when they trim the boat just right.

Overall, it was a great weekend. Certainly a must do event for us for next year.

Cheers,



Edited by bruiser on Sep 20, 2016 - 02:52 PM.

The story from a Hobie 16 (one of three in the race)

The weather provided a broad spectrum of conditions from no wind to 30mph gusts. Saturday was mostly dry except for the first two hours with lightning and rains that kept the H16's in the bay until 10am. Once the Saturday morning storms wrapped up (or slowed down) the H16's headed out into the Gulf of Mexico. We enjoyed the downwind run to Pensacola. The weather was stable until late afternoon when the winds picked up between Navarre and Pensacola Beach. The strong and steady 20mph winds made for a fast but unstable ride to the Pensacola pass.

Saturday night was a great night in the tent with 3 inches of rain in one hour and a sloppy, cold, wet rest until daybreak. The Saturday night dinner was very good and much appreciated.

Sunday provided a challenge in the H16 with an upwind ride most of the day (but nothing a diet Mountain Dew and protein bar can't solve) We did break out the spinnaker for a little fun after we dropped into last place. There was a period of no wind when we hit Navarre so a stop at a friends house for a swim and drink made good use of dead time on the water. The finish could not have been better as we pulled into Choctawhatchee bay in last place at 4pm with 25mph winds on the edge of a storm. The main was completely depowered and the jib pulling us along for a wild ride. We managed to make it in without capsizing. Last place in the race but a first class finish!

We will be back next year. Thanks to all for making this happen.

My girlfriend and I had a great time sailing in the first event. We sailed down from Valparaiso, FL the day before Juana's some 26 plus miles and back to Fort Walton Yacht Club the Tuesday after Juana's.That day was all head winds... tacking all day long in a narrow channel and high winds. So we didn't trailer the Hobie 21SE at all.

Thanks to Joe, Rick and Dorothy for helping with the logistic of getting my SUV to both events which put us on the water as often as possible. They drove my SUV back and forth between events...and Joe loaded me his boat to enjoy

......sailing buddies are as good as gold.

I crewed in the 50/50 with my buddy Damon and really enjoy all the days threw at us...light wind, high wind...light rain and a downpour that sat on our heads for a couple of hours.... it was all really good! Thanks to everyone involved in putting these events together and all how sailed too!

I will press my 21 buddies to participate in 2017 events.

_________________

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Bill 404 21SE
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Sounds like a great time and I am putting this on the bucket list, even if I come in last, sounds like it would be fun. Now I've got a year of practice and re learning to do. Bill, I used to live in Val-p, Niceville, and even Destin back in the late 70's and 80's, used to sail Boggy Bayou and Choctawhattchee Bay all the time with my H14. That's where I learned to sail. Got my start with a little Sea Snark at Lincoln Park on Boggy Bayou in Valparaiso. Wow, great memories sailing the H14 out to White Point and back to the bayou. White Point is where the mid bay bridge is located on the north side of the bay. Good times!!!!

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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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martyr

Sounds like a great time and I am putting this on the bucket list, even if I come in last, sounds like it would be fun. Now I've got a year of practice and re learning to do. Bill, I used to live in Val-p, Niceville, and even Destin back in the late 70's and 80's, used to sail Boggy Bayou and Choctawhattchee Bay all the time with my H14. That's where I learned to sail. Got my start with a little Sea Snark at Lincoln Park on Boggy Bayou in Valparaiso. Wow, great memories sailing the H14 out to White Point and back to the bayou. White Point is where the mid bay bridge is located on the north side of the bay. Good times!!!!

Something to be doing when out on the water. Start learning how tight your main and jib are visually and by the tension in the line in different wind conditions without having to look at the tell tails. Both days for 2-3 hours all the tails were stuck to the sail and it was all a guessing game. I made up most of my places in the rain just by keeping the sheets slightly loose just to make sure I wasn't stalled. I'm going to be practicing in different conditions now so I can be dead on in the future. It really would make a huge difference when the sail gets wet.

Funny thing, when I sailed my H14, I never used tell tails, I don't think the sails even had them, I always sailed by three tightness of the sail as you said. Lol. My H16 has tells, but the 2 times I have sailed it, I didn't really pay much attention to them.

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Marty
1984 Hobie 16 Redline Yellow Nationals, "Yellow Fever"
Opelika, Al / Lake Martin
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Is registration open for the 2017 50/50 RTI event yet?

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Bill 404 21SE
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I was able to registered for the 2017 50/50 @ Fort Walton Beach through Nextsailor.

See you there.

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Bill 404 21SE
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