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Review Copy

 

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Second Annual Good Old Boat Regatta

Sponsored by Good Old Boat Magazine
Hosted by Shearwater Sailing Club

October 6 & 13, 2001
Annapolis, MD

Race Results ›

2001 Good Old Boat Regatta Report

Double the races, double the fun
by Don Frye

Last year when Good Old Boat founders Karen Larson and Jerry Powlas agreed to sponsor the first Good Old Boat Regatta, in Annapolis, Md., they did so with a certain amount of trepidation. Although it was just a short, single-day race for "boats of some maturity," the magazine editors were more interested in concentrating on the maintenance, enjoyment, and cruising of old boats. This racing thing just might not jibe with the editorial mission.

But this year at an after-race party, Karen and Jerry were all smiles. And they were surrounded by many smiling cruisers who had just discovered that racing can be another fun activity with old boats, especially when conducted as a low-pressure, non-combat sport.

This year's event was expanded to two Saturdays of racing, each followed by a party and trophy presentation. The venue obviously clicked because the number of entries nearly doubled that of last year. This year the field included more cruising boats ranging in size from a Pearson Ariel 26 to a Tartan 41. In addition, three one-design classes turned out: Tritons, Cal 25s and Tartan 30s. Those who could not muster the three-boats-of-the-same-design minimum needed to field a one-design class were divided into fin-keel and full-keel handicapped classes. Also new: Miller Brewing Co. joined Good Old Boat magazine as event sponsors.

For the first race, October 6, the question Saturday morning was the weather and whether there would even be a race. With reports predicting 30 to 35-plus knots out of the northwest with stronger gusts, many entrants opted to stay at the dock. In fact, the organizers announced at the skippers' meeting the night before, "If you don't feel comfortable in heavy air, don't come out! Just come to the party afterwards and race next week."

On Saturday morning the Tritons, based at Whitehall Marina, discussed dropping their code "H" racing class flags as a signal to withdraw as a class before the start. And on the way out to the start when one boat tilted 10 degrees under bare stick, the skipper almost pulled the flag. Meanwhile, during the Shearwater Sailing Club race committee's rocky ride out to the 10:30 rendezvous, there was serious talk of cancellation.

But, once at the rendezvous point, the winds amazingly calmed to 10 knots or less, so the committee established a starting line, hung the Good Old Boat magazine and Miller banners and began tying course mark letterboards to the lifelines. Even with the more reasonable winds, they still posted a short course of less than six miles.

That turned out to be a wise decision because, just after the first class crossed the line, the winds began building again. And they continued to howl with increasing gusts as the fleets made their way to the windward mark. The approach was made more complicated by a foul current of more than a knot. As skipper of the third-place Triton, Luff Affair, I watched the two leaders in our class, Sea Deuce and Overdraft, apparently overstay the mark. Eyeballing the situation, I calculated that we could not only make the mark but take the lead at the same time, so we tacked. The plan was on track until the wind headed about four boatlengths from the mark. We fell off sharply, then came up quickly, hoping that our momentum would power us through. It almost worked, but the wind change and the foul current were too much. We tacked at the last minute, but our foredeck man still had to fend the mark off of the stern while we watched the lead boats storm by downwind, with the current. By the rules, we had to execute a 360-degree penalty turn which we did in less than 10 seconds. Having made many bone-headed decisions like this in the past, we are well practiced at penalty turns.

On the 2-plus mile downwind leg to a mark just below the century old Thomas Point Light, we rigged for spinnaker but then looked at the wind, shook our heads, and dropped the pole. As we crossed the Annapolis Yacht Club Fall Series course, we saw many of the J105s and larger PHRF boats running spinnakers. Temptation struck again but we let it go. We had third place locked up, and a chute in these winds could cost that and more.

Wisdom sometimes has a way of proving itself. As one of the other good old boats made its way up the windward leg, he said that he thought he heard a howitzer go off nearby. He looked over to see a big Annapolis Yacht Club PHRF boat flying shards of colored cloth from the halyard and spinnaker pole. Later, we also heard of collisions between out-of-control boats on the AYC course.

But all of the good old boat competitors finished without accident, incident, or broken parts, showing that maybe seamanship, good sense, and heavy seaworthy old boats can turn adverse conditions for some into an enjoyable adventure for others.

What a difference a week makes. Saturday, Oct. 13, brought sunshine, shorts, and T-shirt conditions. The weather was in the mid 70s with a steady 10- to 12-knot southwesterly. It was the kind of day you dream about during January snowstorms. And the Shearwater race committee set a longer course so everyone could enjoy the ideal conditions. This time, the course went directly to the mark below Thomas Point Light then over to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay and back to the original line.

For Luff Affair, this was the race of the season for us. After last week's boner, we were now tied with Sea Deuce for second place in the year-long Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association High Point Championship. At least, that was my calculation and, admittedly, I am no math whiz. But, our goal was to beat her that day. So on the starting line, we concentrated on maneuvering into a position where we would be upwind and ahead of her, going for the line at full speed when the starting gun went off.

This involved a carefully timed and executed dance which started five minutes before the start. We were in-step and on-time until 40 seconds before the gun when a boat from another class, mistakenly, approached the line on starboard, and we had to bear away. Once clear, we immediately took our final tack, only to see Sea Deuce upwind from us on starboard and approaching at full speed. When the gun went off , we were at least five boatlengths behind, and she was still leaving us as we struggled to get up to speed.

On the windward leg down the bay, the choice was to go close into the shallows near shore and out of the foul current or shoot the dice and go out to the center to capitalize on what appeared to be more wind. We shot the dice. For most of the way to the first mark, our gamble seemed to be working as Sea Deuce and the others who did the shallows route seemed to be giving ground to us. Finally, they had to come out to us to clear Thomas Point Light, and we crossed tacks. We had definitely come within striking distance. All the way down to the windward mark, we held our gain and reached for more. Finally Sea Deuce and Overdraft made their final tack for the mark. Remembering the previous week, we decided to follow in their track allowing plenty of room in the foul current.

But suddenly, it was deja vu all over again. As the leaders cleared the mark about six boatlengths away, the wind headed big time, and in a flash we went from clearing the mark with a healthy margin to going below it by an unhealthy one. Tack! We went several boatlengths above the mark, tacked back, and rigged the chute. Up it went, flawlessly, but the leaders had added at least a minute on us. And to put more pressure on, the fourth-place boat, Free Fall, had rounded perfectly and was closing on us fast. Time to calm down and concentrate. We eased the backstay and main outhaul a little more, flattened the spinnaker slightly, and adjusted our weight distribution.

Immediately, Free Fall's advance stopped. In fact, we begin gaining about a boatlength a minute on her and, most of all, we were clearly closing the gap on the leaders. This is what racing is all about: calmness, concentration, and small adjustments reaping big dividends. Over the next 3.5 miles, we continued to close distance until, at the leeward mark, we could almost read the names on the leaders' sterns. If only the leg were a mile longer!

The next leg was a 2-mile close reach, not much room for sail or wind tactics to pay off. Usually, on this point of sail, one-design races become a parade. But we stayed with it remembering a race many years ago, when a boat had built a sizable lead over the fleet. As he made his final tack for the finishline, the jib sheet shackle let loose and by the time he recovered, he had gone from first to fifth. We could only hope, but such wishful thinking was not in the cards this time. We neither gained or gave distance going across and even cheered Sea Deuce as she took the gun. They had done a great job.

But the fun was not over yet. The parties, held after each race at the Sailor's Wharf Bed and Breakfast on Mill Creek, were as much of a highlight as the races themselves. As Ron Davis, owner of the Full-Keel Handicapped Class winning Albin Vega, Waki, put it, "The parties were a pleasant surprise. The people were all low-key and had one thing in common: their enjoyment of old boats. And their conversation wasn't limited to just the race."

That was illustrated by the lone Pearson Ariel owner, Robin Mace, who joined the Triton crowd in a discussion of the similarities of the boats and common problems. Through the Triton owners, she learned of another Ariel owner in Whitehall Marina, where most of the Tritons are based.

When racing entered the discussion, it was in total fun. Darlene Forte of the Fin-Keel Handicapped Class second place Tartan 41, Something Special, found the crew of the first place Cal 2-30, Checkmate, by their red shirts. "I kept wishing this little boat would go away, but they passed us and took the gun. And we owed them time &emdash; lots of time!" she complained to their amusement.

Among the overall trophies awarded, Charlie Husar and his Cal 25, Chicken Little, received the best Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association Racing Boat Trophy; Gene Gottschalk and his Tartan 30, Miranda, took the Best Performance by a Cruising Boat Trophy and the Good Old Boat Perpetual Trophy; while Dan Lawrence picked up the Oldest Boat Entered Trophy for his 1960 Triton, Sandpiper.

In two weeks of racing, not one protest was filed, nor were there any reports of shouts or anger. This was truly a fun event.

In its second year, the Good Old Boat Regatta continues to be a work in progress. While there was great satisfaction in receiving thank you notes from several entrants and in seeing eight Tartan 30s enter after their exit from racing nearly 20 years ago, we are not about to sit back on our sterns. A greater effort will be made over the next year to contact more older boat fleets and cruising clubs to promote the event. Shearwater Sailing Club is discussing the possibility of enlisting its many experienced racers to volunteer on next year's cruising boats to offer pointers on trim and tactics. And for next year's post-race parties, the club will try to have two tenders to serve the many entrants and spectator boats which anchor off of the Sailor's Wharf dock. In short, we are planning to keep Karen and Jerry smiling next year. While we're at it, we're planning to put smiles on the faces of a growing number of cruisers-turned-new-racers in the Annapolis area.

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Race Results

Good Old Boat Regatta Overall Awards

• Best Performance, CBYRA Racer: Chicken Little, Cal 25, Charlie Husar
• Best Cruising Boat Trophy: Miranda, Tartan 30, Gene Gottschalk
• Good Old Boat Magazine Perpetual Trophy: Miranda, Tartan 30, Gene Gottschalk
• Oldest Boat Entered: Sandpiper, 1960 Triton, Dan Lawrence