Frostbite #2: It Started Ugly and Improved All Day

Story by Mark Barr

The second race of the Frostbite series started out with weather even worse than that experienced on New Year's Day. I woke up to the sound of steady rain on my rooftop. The weather forecasts the night before had all indicated a chance of light rain in the morning, changing to partly cloudy by afternoon. I was determined not to miss this one.

I sent out a morning e-mail to the BSC faithful (everybody on my list) trying to drum up support for the day's event. I got responses from 3 folks who were coming and two who had conflicts preventing their attendance. Kelly and I picked up our crew for the day, Richard Silver, on the way out of town. The pavement was still wet on the drive to the Forebay, but the sky was already starting to clear.

When we arrived, Paul Ritchie and his crew James Bennett were already rigging Paul's Hunter 216. Dave had pulled into the parking lot just ahead of us with his crew Jody Christopherson. We readied our boats and launched with only the slightest southerly breeze stirring. It was a light air sail, bordering on calm for about an hour.

There was little or no wind when we first launched. We ghosted around for almost an hour before the wind filled in enough to start race #1. The scenery was spectacular, with rain clouds blowing off towards the east. By the end of the first race, a steady 10 - 12 mph northerly arrived.

 

When the three boats present were all launched and a very light breeze filled in from the southwest, we started our first race. It was a S-B-Z-A-F course with a one minute countdown. We all hit the line together and the long slow drag race to B mark was on. Kelly, Richard and I managed to get a 60 second lead over Dave and Jody in Dave's Windmill, only to see our lead evaporate by Z mark. Meanwhile, Paul and James in Paul's Hunter were a few minutes back trying hard to keep their boat moving in the very light conditions. In the end, my Thistle was first to finish by 3 minutes, but Dave's Windmill easily took first place on handicap, winning by about 6 minutes. The Hunter handicapped back about 20 minutes, due to it's challenging .85 portsmouth handicap number. A brisk 10 - 12 mph breeze filled in towards the end of race one. I could hardly wait for race #2.

On the left, Dave Neisen and Jody Christopherson relaxed and enjoyed the day, despite the early light wind. On Right, Paul Ritchie and James Bennett were looking good.

 

Everyone on my Thistle needed a lunch and bathroom break, so we docked and watched Paul finishing. Unfortunately, Paul had some trouble docking in the gusty winds that had materialized. He came to a perfect stop a few feet from the lee side of the dock and lost steerage, resulting in a slow sideways slide and grounding on the shoreline next to the boat ramp. Dave and I had already launched again, so we felt helpless. Fortunately, Ben and Leanne Sevdy were spectating and were able to catch a bow line and pull the Hunter free from the end of the dock. Luckily, there was no serious damage to the boat.

After that adventure, Paul and James decided to sit out the last race of the day. Consequently, race two was a match race between Dave and I. We decided to race the same course as the one in race one. The start was another drag race, with my boat eking out a slight 30 yard lead by the first mark. At the Z mark rounding, we had about a hundred yard lead, with barely planing conditions in the broad reach to A mark. In the end, our Thistle finished 2'16" ahead and we won on handicap by less than a second. That's the thing about portsmouth racing; you never know for sure about the results until the math is done.

Key - ( ) = finish time .......Bold = Wind corrected handicap time......DNS = Did not start

With only two races completed and just 3 boats racing so far, the Frostbite series is by no means over. Check your calendar today. Maybe you can still make it to the final race in the series on Saturday, February 5th at the Thermalito Afterbay. This is low key racing. There is no yelling allowed. Come out and give it a try. With Portsmouth handicap racing, every boat has a chance of winning.