April 2000 News
|
California Zephyr
wins the Davenport Division of the Ano Nuevo Race for the second year
in a row! The race started at 11:10 in a light SSE breeze. We tacked onto port to cross the line, and within 10 minutes we rolled over our competitors to take the lead. We kept port tack up into the onset of the NW breeze line, and tacked at the kelp bed at Its Beach. On the way away from the beach, we brought up the #3, rigged it and at the first opportunity we tack-changed. It was a flawless maneuver that we used to significant advantage. We looked back to see our nearest competitor over 400 yards behind us, and this just 2 miles into the race! We noticed other boats performing bald-headed changes, which just stretched our lead. We short-tacked up the beach to stay in the flatter water. At Needle Rock the breeze had built into the low 20s, so we threw a reef into the mainsail. By this time we were working ourselves into the tail end of the B-fleet Ano Nuevo boats, which are bigger, faster, and started five minutes ahead of us! Our upwind performance was just great, with superb mainsail and headsail trim. Our boatspeed was over 6kts the whole time, and the boat was sailing relatively flat, helping our pointing ability. A few tacks later the breeze was solidly 25 and our angle of heel was hurting our pointing ability, so we decided to change down headsails again. We brought up the #4, and again tack-changed perfectly. We watched the SC33 Flying Squirrel go without a jib for about 15 minutes as we sailed right by her. For the next hour or so we continued our strategy of short-tacking up the beach, taking the occasional greenie over the deck. The wind had built into the upper 20s, gusting in the low 30 range. By this time, Ankle Biter, the other SC27, and Mountain Mist, a San Juan 24, had packed it in. We were racing the Cal 27 Jamanamja or whatever. It was difficult to determine if we were making any ground or if we were getting blown sideways, but the trees trick showed that we were doing pretty well indeed. We found the Davenport mark and made our turn for Monterey at 2:36:18. We took a few minutes to get our fingers & feet working, then set the pole up and prepared to launch the chicken chute. Our foredeck man did nearly everything right here, except he opened the lid on the spinnaker bag. This could have spelled disaster if the chute had blown out before we were ready, but quick action in the pit resolved that--we SET! That's where the fun began. With the kite full and drawing, the boat planed immediately into the 14kt range, holding that for minutes at a time, hopping over this wave and into the next one, occasionally hitting 15s. Our strings person saw a 16.2 kts at one point . I was having a ball driving down the 8-10 foot wave faces, pulling bottom turns and lip carves, hooting and hollering and getting drenched. We half-broached once, but our crew all worked together to blow the vang, release the spin sheet, then grind it back in, all within 20 seconds, and the boat never really crashed. We recovered and were surfing really fast for the next two hours, eating Oreos and having a blast. By the time we looked up, our pit guy was commenting that the point we were sailing toward was not Cypress, but Lovers! We were way the hell outside and nearly south of Monterey. We fired up the GPS, hit the GOTO button, selected MPYC, and read 105 bearing, 4.7 miles. Time to gybe! We took down the chicken chute, gybed the pole, and set the 1.5 ounce spinnaker, which is much larger but just as strong. The breeze had dropped below 20, but the waves were just as large. We carried this up until the transition zone hit and we sailed directly into a southerly breeze, pasting the spinnaker all over the rig and making us sail backward. Ultimately, we set the #1, drifted into the southerly breeze, then rigged the pole up on starboard and set the .75 ounce full-sized chute. This we carried right over Cypress Point, along the Monterey shoreline, and around the jetty to the finish line. We crossed the finish line under a spectacular full-moonrise at 6:38:22, first to finish, first in class, first corrected! That's RACING! The hot shower at the MPYC did wonders for everyone, and we celebrated with a very hot, delicious dinner at the pub. Great race. I think it's the most fun I've had on the boat since the last time I went 16.2 kts. We went fast, everything worked, nothing broke, and everyone had fun. Great race. I think the Davenport Division of the Ano Nuevo race is the premier ocean racing event on the Monterey Bay. Heavy-air boathandling, upwind sail changes, reefing, navigation, communications and overall strategy are all parts of racing that almost never come into play in a buoy race. As you know, the SC27 is an ocean racing design, purpose-built to go fast in big waves and lots of breeze. On the downwind leg, we hit speeds buoy racers can only read about, and held them steady all afternoon, in complete control, eating Oreos and cheering every wave. It was a lot of fun. I hope to see you there next year. Peter Dalton |