Month: June 2010

MORE 1974 AMERICA’S CUP

The Bermuda Race is now history, prizes awarded, boats already on their way back. In 1970 when we won on “Carina” we arrived at Montauk the morning of the 4th of July, to the sight of a whale sounding. That night we were entertained by the fireworks at every club and town on each shore all the way to our destination, Greenwich, Ct.
“Courageous” was launched in May. History would show just how good she was. Still today a benchmark boat. The Australians arrived in Newport with “Southern Cross” a Bob Miller aka Ben Lexan design, full of progressive ideas. Her fatal flaw was probably too much wetted surface. She had long overhangs, the theory being that when heeled, waterline length increased. All the foreign boats suffered from inferior sails. It is one area where the United States excelled.
One of the stories that merits mention is the one of the helmsman of “Courageous”. Bob Bavier the skipper of name, had replaced Eric Ridder as helmsman in 1964 and was credited with the remarkable turnaround in the success of “Constellation”.  By 1974 he was no longer up to the task, “Courageous” the clearly faster boat was struggling to beat “Intrepid” a better sailed boat. Bob Bavier was replaced by Ted Hood and Dennis Connor came aboard from “Mariner” to start the boat.
Bob McCollough, close friend of Bob Bavier was the one who had to speak to his friend. This remained a bitter moment for Bob Bavier the rest of his life.

BERMUDA

Our destination, Bermuda, a beautiful Island with a long history. Since my first Bermuda race (1966) life here has changed. There are homeless, unemployment, tragedy strikes even in paradise. Still, as visitors, we are inclined to see only the beautiful.
  Despite our trouble in the race, the torn mainsail, we finish in 78 hours, the fastest in four races, only the big boats are in and no one finishes the next morning as we go to breakfast.  The quick passage lays to rest any concerns I had about making my flight. Leaving is always ambiguous, but my wife is at home.
    The airport is one of my favorites, I like the idea of no jetway, but rather walking out on the tarmac to the plane. Somehow in my mind it qualifies as an inspection of the plane.

BILL SHAY’S ASHES ARE COMMITTED TO THE SEA

Shortly after the Gulf Stream during the Bermuda Race, Bill Schneider committed Bill Shay’s ashes to the sea, while Larry Huntington read John Masefield’s “Sea Fever”. Bill was a long time friend and shipmate to many of us. Larry first met Bill at the finish of the 1957 Transatlantic race to Spain. A sober moment in the counterpoint of sun and sea.

Bermuda Race 2010

The story of the torn mainsail will remain the focal point of the 2010 Bermuda Race for our crew, however the race had many other stories. We never had more than 30 knots of wind, about what the rest of the fleet experienced. We were all stacked to windward when off watch, just like everyone else as well.

   We had visits from marine life, the highlight was a large turtle. At first we thought his head was caught in a tire, then his head popped up behind the tire. He was pushing this tire along with his head, by bumping into it. Perhaps his contribution to clean oceans.


SEVEN MINUTES

I am back home this evening from Bermuda. I sailed the Bermuda Race aboard Larry Huntington’s “Snow Lion”. The boat was well prepared, we had a new North 3Di mainsail. We had sailed together in the Block Island race and the NYYC Spring Regatta.
   Seven minutes into the race the clew of the new mainsail failed. There was a collective groan, we all knew what this represented for Larry. My first thought was: “I know Larry will not withdraw”, followed by: “I might not make my flight home..”We watched our class sail away from us, while we accessed the problem and developed a solution. We reefed and started stitching. Once we felt the clew was stabilized enough we unreefed and continued to stitch. About a total of forty hours of sewing.

 We could not sail at 100%. We nursed this sail right to the finish. We managed a second in class and 14th overall, but in my mind the race will always be remembered by the crew for something else. Everyone contributed to the solution, everyone picked up where the last person left off. We behaved as a team with a single purpose. The result was a sense of satisfaction that cannot be measured by results. No one ever quit, they just kept trying harder.

The last supper

Ok, it’s race day, game on. If we have prepared well, we are ready. The gulf stream and weather are going to make this race more challenging than I remember in the past. There are so many “If” moments. If we can get to this point before the wind sifts, If we can stay in favorable current.

We hosted a crew dinner last night. This is a group with whom I have sailed with starting in 1969. Jack Cummiskey and I have sailed 3 transatlantics together, 5 Bermuda races, 2 Fastnets. Jack’s only problem is that he is way to smart. Great shipmate and friend.
  Click here to see a video of what others think of the race, courtesy of scuttlebutt.

See you in a few days.

Expedition Seminar

Last evening, I along with approximately 30 other fellow sailors listened to Peter Isler speak about the routing program Expedition. Developed by Nick White from New Zealand; it is a very powerful easy to use program.
   This event was held at IYRS (International Yacht Restoration School) and organized by Custom Offshore  Jonathan and Jeffrey Udell.
  I found it outstanding as Peter explained how he customized the program for his logic, his use.(Peter will be navigating “Ttian” in the Bermuda Race. Looking at his projections, he expects to be at the north wall of the Gulf Stream just as the wind dies (about 18 hours into the race)
  Given that this year there is a meander that flows along the rhumb line straight to Bermuda; we will all be trying to enter this at about the same place. It could get crowded.
 see you on the starting line tomorrow.

Am I Ready?

The start is in the vicinity of Castle Hill Light. I have been puzzled that the starting line is in the channel. We are not alone in this body of water. What are ships to do? The location makes it very easy for people to watch from shore.
                                                                                        
These are photos from the 1970 start. A navy destroyer was the committee boat and Brenton Reef Tower was the pin. If you were not aboard the Navy ship or had your own boat you would not see the start.
One would think I am leaving for more than four days the way I am fussing about here. Making sure everything is in order.
I am going to listen to Peter Isler speak about using Expedition, the navigation program, this evening.