The high wind run down the Choptank
Sunset on Trippe Creek (off the Tred Avon)
Double rainbow over Trippe Creek
One of my favorite races of the year, is (was) the NASS Fall Race to Oxford. That race is co-sponsored by Navy Sailing and Tred Avon Yacht Club. It is normally a really fun race because its long enough to experience all kinds of conditions and draws a big crowd. Tred Avon YC offers free docking, highly regarded dinner and breakfast buffets, and great bands for the after race party. This year, the Tred Avon Yacht Club booked the club for a wedding on the day of the race, so the the clubhouse and docks were not available. I was extremely disappointed when it looked like there would be no Fall Race to Oxford.
But the good news is that Cambridge Yacht Club stepped up to the plate. So instead, at least this year, the race became was the "Navy Fall Race to Cambridge". I signed up as soon as I heard that the Notice of Race was posted. I raced in the CHESSS Short-handed Spinnaker Class. The concensus of loved ones and friends was that I should not do the race single-handed, so I ended up Shanghaiing a friend of mine from SailNet. .
He was a very a good sport as the conditions and my personality were not at their best.
It was an incredibly tough race that saw a wide range of conditions from relatively light winds, to a beat in 10-12 knots, to reaching and running in winds into the mid-20 knot range, gusting to around 30 knots and maybe occasionally over that. In the high winds, we saw boats wiping out all over the place. There were at least half a dozen spinnakers that blew up and more that got away flying wildly from the mast head. (If you look at picture of me steering, in the picture the boat behind us over my portside shoulder has the remains of their spinnaker flying from their masthead.)
Reported there were some crazy gear failures. I heard mention that one boat pulling jib track bolt(s) through the deck, and another pulled a traveler out of the deck.
We hit 14.2 knots through the water (on a knotmeter that was not calibrated), and 14.6 on a GPS that may have been off due to the rolling motion. The trip down the Choptank was a high speed broad reach to run. The waves were wild, breaking at times and not lined up as uniform wave trains, so steering was tricky. In the end, the only gear failure was a batten swivel shackle broke and another was twisted up like a pretzel.
After finishing, we beat our way back out the Choptank into the stiff breeze and waves and spent the night tucked into Trippe Creek which was a mill pond despite the crazy conditions out in the river. We were gifted with a double rainbow and a beautiful sunset.
Coming home, we started in winds that made a reef prudent, but the winds almost completely died away so we ended motoring most of the way home.
Needless to say, I slept well on Saturday and last night....