Hunter 216
Captain: Ranger Paul
Crew: Stinkpot Mike
Crew: Spinner James

What a great day for sailing! We had a hole in the weather that included sunshine! Winds were kind of light but we could be out on the water. What was really fun was that there were quite a few boats out on the water including four (4) lead draggers and a Flying Dutchman. That is, boats more like my beloved Hunter rather than those pesky, uncomfortable little Thistles and Windmills!

The first leg was downwind. I total NAILED the start being the first across the line at full speed. Dave/Jody were right behind in Dave’s yellow Windmill. The only thing we could have done better is have the spinnaker deployed when we hit the line. I didn’t want to launch the spinnaker before we crossed the line because I wasn’t sure we could slow down or maneuver if we had to. Took a little fumbling to launch the spinnaker and Dave/Jody got a little ahead of us. But, once it was flying we dogged them the total way to the green bridge. We’d catch up, they’d pull a little away, we’d catch up, etc…but we were within 50’ or so the whole way.

Then we got to the turn at the green bridge. We had to douse the spinnaker as part of the next leg was a close reach so Spinner tried to get it down. Wouldn’t you know that the bow mooring line would get tangled up with the lazy sheet! Drat! Another lesson learned…stow the bow mooring line below decks after launch! Oh, well, that is what club races are all about. Spinner had to go out on the foredeck to free things up so I didn’t dare turn or anything else that would “unstable” the boat. Figured Spinner would prefer to stay aboard. Being out on the foredeck on the Hunter beast is something to avoid as there are no life lines and nothing to hang onto.

We finally got things back in order and made our turn. By this time the other boats were real little…about 2” tall far out ahead! We turned the corner to Foreman Island and re-launched the spinnaker. It felt really funny. The bow was down off the rhumb line and we were crabbing terribly. The wind was pretty light. Also, the main was being back winded by the spinnaker. I think we were really on a broad reach and should have trimmed the spinnaker a bunch more. We eased it until it luffed then trimmed it…but this didn’t seem to work. I think we were flying it too far out front causing the back winding and moving the center of effort too far forward.

I didn’t figure out what was probably going on till later so we put the spinnaker away and launched the jib. Boat felt a lot better and we made pretty good time around Foreman.

The final leg was upwind. We just couldn’t get it right. We tried to hug the East shore but it seem like headers were taking us away from it. We’d tack and get a good point of sail. Then we’d get a little header, then more, then more… At one time we were heading back to Foreman Island! I still don’t know what was going on. It appears as if the wind was swirling. With perseverance we finally crossed the finish line! I personally think we were dead last! Had to pee so we dropped the sails and motored back to the ramp. I had to walk in a crouch up the launch ramp to the potty but I made it…whew!

Overall we had a very good time, did well sometimes, learned things, and found out a bunch of things we still need to experiment with and learn. What more could one ask!

Paul Ritchie