January, Our Lucky Month

Heading out for the January Race. All was peaceful. We tested the main and the spinnaker. Everything was working well. We are ready!



Luke and Jan Sand aboard Wind Dancer




Bob and Gail Bert. Bob is our spinnaker man and tactician.




Rick as captain...before the race, wearing his first set of clothes.


For the second time in three years, we won the January Key West Wreckers Race for our class. Or, as Rick puts it, we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. This was one of those moments when the scales could tip either way. For a while, it looked as if the bad luck would tip the scales solidly to the negative side, costing us the price of a new spinnaker and who knows what else. Multiple conditions arose to ruin the day.
1) The race was started one minute early, leaving us several hundred yards in back of the starting line and rushing, which made us careless.

2) The clew was stuffed inside the spinnaker sock, and rose with it up the mast as the sail itself began filling.

3)When the captain realized the problem, but couldn't make himself heard, he left for the foredeck, himself.

4) The spinnaker sock was lowered to retrieve the clew. It caught on a stay.

5) The wind gusted suddenly to 26 knots, from a staedy16-18.

6) Not one of the 8 sailors aboard realized that the mainsail needed to be let out on the current course.

7) The boat broached, out of control, leaving Rick who was kneeling on the foredeck up to his waist in water, and hanging on, WITHOUT his life jacket.

8) Returning to the cockpit to release the mainsail, Rick accidentally released the spinnaker halyard, dropping it another 6 feet and further toward the water.

At this point we are moving along smartly, albeit sideways, when the sailing gods decided to tilt the scales in the other direction.  We recovered nicely and during the next 35 minutes crept slowly forward to pass every boat in our class and cross the finish line 2 minutes ahead of our nearest competitor. We finished the course screaming along at 8-9 knots.

Our luck held was we lowered the spinnaker and stowed it away, one minute before the winds blasted up to the mid-20s, and stayed that way the rest of the afternoon.

Cookie and Karen Schroeder, after the race.

Other boats weren't so lucky. Airwaves were suddenly filled with emergency calls from the competitors, an under 25 footer with a 10 horse-power engine needed a tow in, our dock sister, Volare, who came in second, lost its engine, but the worst was the schooner Hindu, which was dismasted, injuring two crew members...and lucky at that as the huge wooden mast snapped in two places. We caught a picture of her earlier in the race.

Nice trophies this year, and of course, the hat presented only to the winning captains of each class. There were 10 in our over 40 foot group. A nice flask of Pussars rum, a gift certificate and a pennent completed the awards. What a great time!

Key West Race Week 2013

Watching the races during Key West, our first sailing venture for the new year. We went out with Luke and Jan. Seems as if the number of boats is still shrinking, although there were well over 125 boats entered.  The mini-maxis, which were the big draw in years past managed only two entries. Swan 54 and 45s racing with them still made for exciting pictures.

But the new big class is the J-70s, with 48 entries, including boats from Russia, Japan, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland. These boats were fast, exciting, and trailer able. They provided lots of great moments from our seat on the sidelines.

Part of the reason for the sail was to check on our mainsail, which had given us a few problems the last time or two out. So, we tried raising the mainsail. Dang! Big problems! After 45 agonizing minutes, using lots of muscle, sail out, sail in, sail up, sail down, we finally properly raised the mainsail and refurled it in readiness for Sunday's Wreckers Race!