The end: Not with a bang, but with a wimper

Sunday night heavy rains, cold air, and strong winds moved into the Deep Creek Lake area.  Our club hosted the traditional "Commodores' Reception" in honor or the Commodores of both the Deerhaven and Turkeyneck clubs.  In a non-traditional fashion, the theme was Caribbean.  It was a great party with wonderful food (and rum), but ended early as nasty weather came through.

 The club house, decorated for the party.

 

A crane visits our dock during the festivities.

   Labor Day came with cool temperatures, light rains, and little wind.  Race Committee, up against a 1pm deadline for starting a race, canceled due to light and unpredictable wind.  Several boats, mostly from Turkyneck, had already come out, so they held an unofficial race, with Joanie Palmer offering instruction to some of the less experienced sailors.
   
     Steph and I took one last sail.  Connor came along, and took some instruction in sail trim, spinnaker work, and docking.

     Now the Flying Scot, the Laser, the kid's Opti, and two kayaks have been put away for the winter.  The kids fall sports are the order of the day.  I am less sailor an more soccer coach.  The weekend's rain caused an explosion of growth in my lawn, and mowing has taken on some urgency.

   Just wait 'til next year.

Labor Day Weekend, Commodore's cup pt 2.

            Noon on Sunday came with very light south winds.  Race Committee wisely decided to delay in the hope of better wind later in the afternoon.  By 1:30 an five knot east wind had come up, RC signaled for a race, and we set off in our boats.  RC set a Windward-leeward twice around course.

            With wind from the east, the entire race would be in the slot.  We sailed in the race area to develop a feel for the shifts and changes we would experience while racing.  The five minute starting sequence commenced, and we sailed around the starting area, developing our starting plan.  At two and a half minutes before that start I was in the middle of the starting line, contemplating whether I should make a final approach from above the line, or in the more traditional manner, from starboard and behind the committee boat.  The wind died.  I looked over my shoulder and saw that the sailors near the race committee boat were stuck.  The light breeze was diverted by the committee boat, and the sails of other racing boats.  I abandon plans to circle around again.  We let our sails loose, and sat on the line for the remaining two-plus minutes until the starting gun.   With about ten seconds left to the start, we trimmed our sails and began to accelerate.  At the gun we were moving well, and started cleanly.  Several boats were still trapped below the committee boat, and took nearly a minute to cross the starting line. I made several poor tactical choices, and we quickly move to the back of the pack, while Ben Corson and Joanie Palmer broke away early.  We rounded the windward mark near the back of the fleet, hoisted our Spinnaker, and headed downwind.   Most of the fleet move to the right side of the course.  I moved left and quickly gained ground.  We appeared to have an excellent chance of catching both David Mahan (Stephanies father) and David Meehan (Stephanie’s cousin.)  Lee Coraor, however attempted to sail to windward of me.  That would blanket my air, slow me down, and hurt my chances of passing boats.  I turned upwind to hold Coraor off, and he turned back down wind.  A minute later, he tried again, and again I held him off.  Lee persisted, until we had sailed so far off course that our chance of catching anyone had gone.  Rather than lose the rest of the fleet, I turned downwind let Lee go.  As we approached the mark Lee established an inside overlap, and was able to pass me at the rounding.   In the front of the pack, Palmer, Corson and Bruce Spinnenwebber battle for the lead.  On the second downwind leg, Spinnenwebber took the lead, and held it.  Spinnenweber finished first, with Corson second, and Palmer third. 

            We finished last, or nearly so. 

            Storms came on the east wind, and prior the the Challenger Fleet finish, lighting strikes were detected in the area.  The Challenger race was abandon, and no further racing was held.

Labor Day Weekend, Commodore's cup pt 1.

            Labor Day weekend is the final weekend of racing on Deep Creek Lake.  By tradition, the Commodores of the Yacht Clubs at Deerhaven and Turkeyneck server as race Commander.  This year Deerhaven Commodore Spencer Deakin and Turkeyneck Commodore took those roles as usual.

            In the morning winds were light, and from the south.  As noon approached, winds increased a bit, and shifted to the Northwest.  We looked to have a good, moderate to light wind race ahead. 

            Race committee set a Windward-Leeward-twice around course.  The start and finish was between Turkeyneck point, and Holycross point, with the windward mark in the slot, and the leeward mark near the Turkeyneck Yacht Club. 

            The geometry of the course set the pin (or port side) of the starting line nearer the windward mark.  The line was port-tack favored, so that sailing away from the line on port tack would put a boat on a course closer to the windward mark than the a boat sailing away from the line on starboard tack.

            There are five races in the Commodores’ Cup, and rules state that the same person must drive the boat in all five races.  It was my turn to drive, so I would be skipper for the whole regatta, and Steph would be my crew. 

            Given the light air, and angle of the line, I chose to approach the starting line from the race course side, allowing me to sail at a faster, more downwind angle.  As always, the risk in this approach is that boats on the correct side of the line will be able to box me out, and leave me on the course side of the line at the start.  I am then judged “Over Early” (or OCS, On Course Side,) and have to sail cross the line completely before I am officially racing. 

            In the light air, I overestimated my potential speed.  I expected to cross the line near the pin end, but instead approached the line on the less-favored boat end.  Sally Erricon was able to block my out, and the gun sounded before I had crossed to the correct side of the line.   I expected to hear our number, 4468, called by race committee, indicating that we were over early. Instead, RC announced a General Recall, meaning the entire start is thrown out, and repeated.  I looked to my left, and saw a cloud of sails that had been fighting for space at the favored pin-end.  Many were over the starting line.  Race Committee could not tell which boats were over because my sail blocked their view. 

            Race Committee took a few minutes to lengthen the start line, and change the position of the windward mark.  In those few minutes the wind fell off, and RC changed the course from two laps to one. 

            We started again.  Now my timing was better. I found a hole in the middle of the line, and applied boat speed to pass Lee Coraor, and sail into it.  I still carried my speed as the gun sounded, and sailed quickly off the line as we turned up wind. 

            Dick Gregory was called over early, but no general recall sounded.  The race was on.  On the pin  end Wolf and Corson broke away early. On the boat end, Joanie Palmer broke away, and tacked quickly to port. 

            The entire fleet shifted quickly to port, and the race became a tense contest, all about speed, and there was no advantage to be gained by changing tacks.  Crews sat stock still in whatever place best balanced the boat, while drivers intently watch the jib, and adjusted the tiller and mainsail to capitalize on each tiny wind shift.  As the right side of the fleet, lead by Palmer, reached the North shore of the lake, tacking became a necessity.  Those boat had right of way, so as the fleet approached the windward mark, the tactical game was on. 

            Palmer, Corson, Spinnenweber, and John Meredith, ace sailors all, rounded the windward mark in the lead.  We turned downwind, and flew our spinnakers.  

            A hot, still day on a holiday weekend brings plenty of powerboat traffic to Deep Creek.  Large waves dominated the downwind leg.  It’s no small task keeping a spinnaker full, but in a bouncing boat in light air its downright difficult and frustrating.  We stayed right, keeping the straightest line to the leeward mark.  Several boat broke left hoping to find clear air, but were left behind.  We made up ground on several boats, and shifted the middle of the course as we approached the mark. 

            Spinnenwebber rounded first, with Corson and Palmer in pursuit. 

The wind shifted west, and in the shadow of Holycross point, dropped to nearly nothing.  Several boats, including Dave Meehan and Ryan Schubert moved left, heading on a less favored tack, but sailing towards a more open area of the lake.  We went right, gaining ground toward the finish more quickly. 

            We initially passed the boats on the left, but when they reached to open air, the accelerated, and turned to the finish ahead of us. 

            In the narrow arm of the lake, motorboat wakes became a major issue. In several cases we encountered wakes large enough to move us backwards.  When a sailboat shifts from moving very slowly backward to very slowly forward, its almost impossible to tell the difference.  One thing makes it obvious:  The tiller suddenly works backwards.  When you find the tiller working backwards, there is nothing to do but push it away (which would normally point you into the wind, but now moves you off the wind) and wait for the sails to fill.  When they fill, you will start to move forward, and then the turned tiller will bring back to the wind. 

             In the final drift the finish Corson pulled ahead to win, Meredith moved into second, and Palmer held on for third.

The second race of the day was cancelled due to light air, so we took the kids tubing instead.

Not enough wind to sail? We can still play.