73rd Annual Ram Island YC Invitational Regatta
Winds: Average SW 7 kts, 4 to 12, peak gust 15
Current: ebb - 11124 North Hill, 1149 Race Point
Start time: 1050
Start/Finish: Groton Long Point / Ram Island
Course: counter-clockwise Fishers Island; did not include Stonington Gong
Distance: approximately 14.5 nm
Crew: Adam, Brian, & RW
Link to chart-1
Link to chart-2
Link to results
72th Annual Island Race - Ram Island Yacht Club
Crew: Brian, Josh & RW
Winds: NW, W, SW, NW 9 kts, 4 to 14, peak gust 16
Current: ebb - 1012 North Hill, 1037 Race Point, 1022 Napatree
Start time: 1020
Start/Finish: Groton Long Point / Ram Island
Course: counter-clockwise Fishers Island; did not include Stonington Gong
Distance: approximately 14.5 nm
With the opportunity for numerous wind checks prior to the start, we rigged for setting the reacher on starboard jibe sometime following the start. With only three boats in our class we had plenty of room on the start line.
Trailing Checkered Demon & Jolly Mon across the line, we worked up windward of Jolly Mon’s starboard stern to a point we felt conditions warranted hoisting the reacher, allowing us to maintain our interval, till they set theirs about a third of the way to race point. We may have gone offshore farther than any time in the past
We did our normal routine up Lords Pass, ducking well in between buoys hanging tight on C7 up to C9 before crossing. Once north of Latimers we should have favored the left side of course rather than be concerned about current avoidance, instead tacked back to starboard (in spite of the current) on the port headers for greater pressure on the left side of the course to the finish. As the closer to the Connecticut we got the flukier the wind.
Link to chart
Link to results
Wind: SE & "variable" at 0 to 8, average 3.5 kts
Temp: 80 F, Baro: 30.28 to 30.22”
Current: ebb North Hill 08:00, RP 08:25; Flood Napatree 14:20
Course #2, CCW; Race Length: 10 nm
Shortened at Lords
Crew: Brian, Adam, Seth, & RW
Link to chart
Link to chart of the west shore of Fishers Island
Link to the day's sail
Wind: Average 2.6 kts, peak 9 kts; Wind Direction Variable; Temp: 78 F, Baro: 29.97
Current: Flood North Hill 12:21
Course: GLP-Silver Eel to Vixen, Race Length: 3.7 nm;
Shortened from Inside Course #3 (of approximately 11 nm)
Start: 1020; Finish: 1344
Crew: Brian, Josh, George Wilson & RW
For days the wind forecast had been un-promising and followed suit Sunday morning. The Race Committee wisely chose not to go around Fishers in such light airs. We were “Echo” Class, 5th in sequence and had a good start leading the pack on starboard jibe down the line towards the committee boat, to pop the chute short of the gun.
We initially went farther west than the rest of our class, yet some boats of subsequent classes went even farther. Abeam the Dumplings/North Hill park-up we had better wind than those east of us, and for a while had cards on Checkered Demon, Jolly Mon & Mentor to our port. With Checkered Demon initiating, we all jibed one after the other. Had we had jibed five-minutes earlier at the first noticeable wind & movement along Fishers’ western shore, we may have avoided the protracted spell (1110-1120) of no wind where we tried the genoa, even hoisted the old drifter & drug out the whisker-pole in efforts to get the boat moving.
Prior to our arrival to Silver Eel, many boats rounded to sail north along the shore. Yet that breeze opportunity evaporated, so we aborted a shoreline attempt and escaped just in time to work northwest offshore towards Vixen. It was one of those pot-luck days where often times boats around us were pointing towards all points of the compass.
Finally short of 1300, we began to benefit from a meager southwest zephyr which built to a max of 4 knots then tapered off; yet enough remained to carry us to the finish. Considering the extremely light airs we were very fortunate that the typical weekend power boat chop was absent and onlyhad to cope with a handful of rolling wakes of passing power boats.