Sunday 09/09/12
Crew: Seth & RW
Course: s/f-Y-SE-V-SE-s/f; Distance: Distance – 13.# nm
Start/Finish: just south of Vixen
Start time: 1120; Finish: 1505; ET: 255 minutes
Current: flood – 1247 North Hill
Weather: morning overcast, 1300 sunny, Temp 67 to 75, Baro 29.85 to 29.79
Winds: N at 6 kts, peak 11, lulls 2; Wind varied N ccw to SW and back
Shrouds: Base - +1, +3, +2
64th Commodore's Trophy Race - 09/11/2011
Current: ebb – 1036 North Hill
Crew: Brian, Seth & RW
Winds: ESE, avg 10 kts, gusts 18, lulls 4
Weather: sunny, occasional clouds
Start/Finish: just south of Vixen
Start time: 1115; Finish: 1426; ET: 191 minutes
Course: s/f-IR-SE-CR-V-IR-s/f; Distance: Distance – 14.4 nm
Shrouds: Base - +4, +7, +3.5; dropped to +3, +6, +3 on last windward leg
Again as in years past, our class start followed the Ensigns by five minutes. Following a clean start (in the upper third of line) at the gun, we continued on starboard towards the shore. Short of Bluff Point, a tack to port took us across Gnat’s stern. We then continued offshore anticipating a more favorable current in the deeper water; and mistakenly overstood just a bit for our starboard into Intrepid, requiring us to bear off slightly. Closing on Intrepid, I noticed Arabesque, Ursa Minor, Plain Vanilla & Gnat had pulled farther ahead than I had anticipated, causing me to think there may have been more wind nearer their shore route.
Sunday, 09/12/10
Crew: Brian, Seth, Bob & RW
Winds: ENE to E, avg 14 kts, gusts low 20’s, 24 max, lulls 8
Weather: overcast; Temp 53 F, Baro 30.11 to 30.07
Current: flooding, ebb - North Hill 1407
Start/Finish: offshore of Vixen
Start time: 1120; Finish: 1428
Elapsed Time: 187 minutes
Course: s/f-IR-SE-SL-IR-s/f; Distance: 14.25 nm
Shrouds: +5,+7,+4
The RC setup a half-mile south of Vixen where the flood was quite strong, yet positioned for a well for an upwind to Intrepid Rock, 2.2 nm east. We were in Class II, starting fifth at 1120. Fortunately the cooler wind, 12 kts feeling more like 14, was with the tide.
Electing to start near the RC as possible, we were on the line at the gun with Rusty Nail & Plain Vanilla to our starboard, Wunder Dog, Salud and the rest of the class down the line towards the pin. We took a short tack of Rusty Nail & Plain Vanilla’s sterns for a clear lane, to position for the longest tack possible to the beach. As a result, we appeared to be lifted somewhat compared to the boats ahead of us. Four tacks along the shore, including a starboard north of Horseshoe (which helped immensely) and another ducking into the beach at Groton Long Beach took us to Intrepid (specifically avoiding a starboard offshore near IR against the current).
Sunday 09/06/09
Crew: Seth, Bob, & RW
Wind: NE, E 10-18, lulls-8, gusts-22, avg-12
Current: ebb North Hill 1210
Start time: 1025
Start: south of Vixen; Course: s/f-W-Intrepid-Silver Eel-Vixen-Intrepid-s/f; starboard-roundings
Shrouds: +4, +7, +3
We were down one crew today as Brian and “Empty Pockets” were on a cruise to Shelter Island and beyond. A pretty boisterous day for single-handing I say.
Expecting winds into the mid to high teens I cinched the rig down on the motor out to Vixen. The RC set drop-mark ‘W’ north of Vixen in towards the airport to give us bit of a windward start. Though, shortly after the start the wind clocked to the East. We had a decent start right on the pin and witnessed Kahoutec (IOD) harden-up and take Jennie head to wind. Jennie, then in an unintentional auto-tack forced Salud into an emergency duck of their stern. Good thing we were slightly trailing at the start and able to stay well clear. As it was the last hour of the flood, we tacked along the shore, though the wind was shifty both in direction and velocity (8 to 12).
Our first attempt to lay Intrepid fell short. And while on the starboard extension I looked up to see Matador (J80) begin to bear off in a duck of our stern, then stop and head right for us mid-ship, a t-bone. We were yelling starboard, and helpless, when at the last second they cleared. Had they hit us…. We then laid the mark and with a good set in 12 to 14 kts of wind, Matador clear ahead.
Passing North Hill, the Ensign ‘Triton’ overtook us to windward. Bob luffed the spinnaker a bit to slow us down so we could harden-up cross above their stern to windward pass and pull away. We had a timely douse and close jibe about Silver Eel. Then a very quick genoa reach to Vixen led to the outside track car forward & Bob trimming like a spinnaker. Likewise a tight fast rounding of Vixen and beat with multiple tacks to Intrepid.
This time we rounded Intrepid with winds of 16 to 18, and good set. After five-minutes we took a jibe shoreward for current relief. A few minutes later the jibe back to port did not go so well. Seth could not get the pole back on the mast. Somehow the pole got eased to the headstay and we ended up with an hourglass, Seth could not shake out. So we ended up lowering the chute and re-hoisting making for an exhilarating ride and a handful of long planes to the finish.
And speed record data point of 9.74 knts, far exceeding previous data.
After crossing the line, dousing the spinnaker and slowly working our way homeward, we heard the withdrawal of Hammer over the radio. Jeff Lamothe broke his arm holding on to the mainsheet as it swung across in a jibe.
2nd place
Link to Results
Three minute avg at finish
TWS: 17.8 kts, BSpd 6.8 kts
Peak last three minutes
TWS: 22.5 kts at 13:52:52
BSpd 9.74 kts at 13:54:39
Link to chart
Link to slide-show, (right-click, for next page option, 9-slides)
courtesy of David S. Costanzo
Crew – Brian, Bob, Seth & RW
Winds: W-SW 6 to 17 kts, 12.2 kt avg.
Current: flood – North Hill 1049
Weather – clear & sunny, beautiful day
Start time 1315 our class
Start/Finish: offshore of Vixen
Course: s/f-Thames River entrance R”2”- Silver Eel – Intrepid – s/f
Distance 8.7 nm
Shrouds: +3, +5, +2
The folks at Thames YC decided on Saturday to postpone the start two hours in the wake of Tropical Storm Hannah, a wise decision. The outcome was an outstanding day of sailing. Our class was fourth to start following two non-spinnakers and the Ensigns. We had a great midline-start at speed in 10 to 12 knots, though within a minute the tiller-extension came off, creating some excitement for a moment or two. A number of boats to starboard of us peeled off on port for clear air while we continued offshore for current; then tacked short of the port layline for the river.