Round the County 2014

After taking most of the Fall off from racing, we rallied the crew for our first ever Northern Century.  It had been on the “to do” list for a while but we needed better crew and gear before attempting it.  2014 would be the year and, having done the Northern Century twice, we were excited to be back in “the hood”.

Jason and Shawn sailed the boat north the previous weekend riding 20-30 kt southerlies up the Sound and across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  We left the boat in Skyline Marina and then met the crew there on Friday afternoon.  The incessant flow of Pacific storms had eased and a beautiful weekend was forecast, but wind could prove to be elusive.  We shuttled MB out to The Hook on Shaw Island and the crew, which consisted of Jeff, Pete, Mike, Dan, Mitch, Jason and Shawn went over to the Orcas Island Yacht Club for dinner and the race briefing.  We awoke early Saturday morning and motored across the beautiful but calm waters of the San Juan Islands.  The wind gauge registered 2-3 kts at the start off of Obstruction Pass and the one hundred boats, which consisted of the best boat from the PNW (Wash and Canada) racing fleet, drifted aimlessly.  

The race committee delayed the start until a soft 3-5 kt breeze started to fill in from the south.  We were in the third start and by this time the ebbing current had started filling in, which was pushing across the line to the south / south west.  We positioned ourselves towards the pin end, and then the wind died.  As a result, we watched hopelessly as the 1-2 kt current swept us and four other boats past the start pin and down the course.  While the remainder of our fleet tacked down the course, we were forced to turn around and sail back up-current in an effort to get across the start line.  The wind was elusive to we had to wait five agonizing minutes until there was enough breeze to even fill our sails since we were now sailing downwind.  Slowly 3-5 kts filled in from the south so we set our spinnaker and sailed a tight reach to build boat speed.  We continued to tack away from the mark before slowly jibing around and reach back.  The wind was shifty and it wasn’t clear we had enough speed to get around the buoy a second time before the wind died again.  Eventually we made it around the mark, but at least 20 minutes had elapsed since our fleet had started.  As a result they were miles down the course. 

While it was extremely frustrating, all we could do was set our jib and press on.  Luckily MB is a fast boat upwind in light airs.  We were quickly up to speed doing 5-6 kts in 5-6 kts of wind.  We used the currents off of Blakely Is to gain ground and quickly started passing boats.  We made significant ground up until the SE corner of Lopez Island, where a wind hole around Davidson Rock formed.  We stayed outside, chasing the 2-3 kt breeze and found ourselves pushing out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca while most everyone else stayed inshore.  The breeze held steady at 3-5 kts and started shifting from the W to NW so we continued on our tack, which gave us the most direct speed towards that half way line and reporting station.  We crossed the half way mark five minutes behind Different Drummer and 12 minutes behind Kotuku, our regular competimates.  The wind would never fill in and by 3:40 in the afternoon, the sun was getting very low and we were three hours from our evening mooring on Johns Island.  Further, it was clear that our 3 kts of boat speed wasn’t going to get us across the finish before the 6pm cutoff so we pulled the plug and headed north under the iron jib.  We put on the reggae and started drinking rum as we motored through the remaining boats hoping to finish that day – most didn’t.  We had a great lasagna meal with wine with Jason’s family on Johns Is and retired for the night.

That night it rained heavily, with wind building from the S/SE.  Luckily the rain quit around 6 am so we left the beach at 7:30 for the start just a few miles away.  We had a great start with 12-15 kts from the S/SE and everyone flew off the line on a port reach with spinnakers flying.  We saw several gear failures and wipeouts, but MB was solid.  We held our own, passing a few boats by the time we rounded Turn Pt on Stuart Is.  We continued north and the wind came around from the west, and was forecast to continue building and pivoting to the NW.  We sailed north to Patos Is expecting the 20-30 kt ball buster to descend upon us at any time, but it didn’t.   

Our fleet rounded the mid-way mark off Patos Is in a tight bunch and we bore off towards the east side of Orcas Is.  The wind at this point was fairly light at 9-12 kts and we were sailing deeper lines, which is not MB’s strength, so we lost some ground.  As we rounded McConnell Island heading for the tip of Orcas on a starboard reach we could see the white caps forming to the north of us, indicating that the high pressure was coming, and with it the strong winds.  The wind quick ramped from 12 kts to 25 kts and we sailed a deeper line to avoid the wind hole behind the tip of Orcas.  Unfortunately traffic kept us high and we were forced to jibe out while everyone pressed on.  We jibed behind our fleet and then jibed again towards the finish.  At this point the wind was 20+kts gusting to 30 kts and reaching with our spinnaker was downright wild in these conditions.  We suffered through our first full crew knock down, which was caught on GoPro, and then dropped the spinnaker, since we needed the jib to work upwind to the finish.  At this point we were in a wild wind hole behind Mt Constitution.  The wind would vacillate from 10 kts from starboard, to 10 kts from port.  We literally sat and watched the wind direction gauge spin in circles on the top of our mast.  Everyone was struggling.  We switched from the #3 jib to the #1 since the force ranged between 5 – 20 kts.  We aggressively worked the little puffs towards the finish.

Eventually we made it across the line to finish 10^th out of 20 in our fleet and 43^rd overall.  Our “epic fail” at the start on Saturday cost us at least 10 spots overall and several in our fleet, but that’s sailboat racing in the Pacific Northwest.  It was a great first outing.  The entire crew had a great time and we are already looking forward to doing it again next year. As a reward for their efforts, Shawn and Pete sailed MB back on Monday with clear blue skies riding under spinnaker with 15-25 kts from the north!

Mitch captured some amazing pictures from the weekend, which can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/48q76hhzp4cx3v0/AADsqqdqAAJXWiQZJ4qvTqmoa?dl=0 

 

Summer in the San Juans - Shaw Is and Northern Century

Monkeybones is now back in her slip at Elliott Bay following an eventful summer in the San Juans.  

SHAW ISLAND CLASSIC

She made her way north at the end of July to Friday Harbor via Port Townsend and arrived just in time for the annual Shaw Island Classic, which is a race around Shaw Island starting in Friday Harbor and going the direction of your choosing.  As is often the case in the San Juans, the winds were light for the start, which resulted in the 40 boat fleet drifting across the line with lots of soft collisions.  MB barely escaped hitting the committee boat after being pinned in by an old timer with a pipe and a salty disposition.  Once we found the knot or two of wind we were able to pick up speed and started working through the fleet.  Our crew consisted of Shawn, Elizabeth, Jeff and Jason, and we were joined by six kids.  

We worked the bays and reefs to stay out of the current and made our way up to Turn Island.  The two lead boats chose to anchor instead of plowing into the 4 kts of current from the incoming tide.  MB was in fourth immediately on the stern of an Etchell and, after pausing briefly to validate there was wind in the channel to fight the current, charged off.  Once around the island we wind increased to 8 kts and we set the spinnaker and screamed off away from the fleet.  We rounded the SE corner of Shaw and moved into the overall lead.  At this point we took a quick crew video to capture the moment…

We were slowly reeled in by the faster Hobie and rounded the NE corner of Shaw in second place.  As in previous races, the north side of Shaw gets really squirrely around the ferry docks and the shifting wind put us and our crew in a “spot of bother”.  We passed the half way mark in 4^th overall and fought through the shifting winds to round the NW corner in 3^rd place.  We were treated to a great show by the local orcas and set out south for Friday Harbor and the finish line.  We passed Interface to move into 2^nd overall, and then the wind died.  After 45 minutes of aimless drift a slight breeze formed and we worked our way up along San Juan Island to stay out of the current.  However, the currents were too strong and the winds too light to turn the corner and cover the last ¼ mile to the finish line, so we hung near the cliffs hoping for a change.  However, with no wind and swirling waters we were eventually sucked out into the flow and put on the conveyor belt going to wrong way.  We were sucked out and drifted for another 45 minutes and watched helplessly while several competitors moved up the inside of the island and took up positions in front of us.  We could see a southerly filling in and it took hold just in time to have us cross the line fourth overall at 5:53, seven minutes before the 6pm time limit.  We watched as Interface caught their wind and came up to cross the line 90 seconds before the cutoff.  With the PHRF adjustment they finished first in class, pushing us down to 2^nd.  Monkeybones finished sixth overall and was one of the very few to actually finish the race.  Everyone congratulated us on our young crew.

After the Shaw Island race MB sat on the buoy at Johns Island for two weeks with little to no wind.  However, we got some great shots of her!

NORTHERN CENTURY

Shawn returned in time for our second Northern Century, described by the website as:

The course starts in Fidalgo Bay and heads north to Point Roberts, then south any way you choose to Hein Bank, followed by a return to Anacortes with a finish off Washington Park (details at skippers meeting). The race starts on Friday, August 22, 2014. Double-handed entries start at 1930 (GPS Time) followed by  fully crewed entries at 1940 (GPS Time). It will likely take most competitors until Saturday night or  Sunday morning to finish. This can be a very challenging event that involves considerable navigational  skills, plus night sailing, strong currents, transit of vessel traffic lanes, and potentially strong winds  near Hein Bank. 

We learned a lot from the 2013 event both in sail tactics as well as how to prepare.  In hindsight, we nailed the race, but failed epically in the preparation.  We arrived late (again) to Anacortes and had to rush to work race and boat logistics, as well as pick up food for 24+ hours of racing, and grab a dinner.  The first dinner option was closed so we dove into the local Mexican restaurant and had big burritos – which was mistake #1.  We wound up living through that ordeal all night long.  We eventually got on the water and the sails up.  We had a great start and all 20 boats in the fleet set off to the SE towards the tip of Guemes Is on a tight reach.  We debated if we could fly our spinnaker so proceeded under the #1, falling to the back of the pack.  We eventually decided to pull out the asymmetrical that had been stashed in the bow for a few years and launched it, only to discover that is was a small cruising asym which looked really funny up front.  The boats raced up around the point of Guemes on a light westerly, which died in the shadow of the island.  Being slightly behind we had the benefit of watching this all unfold and jibed back out to run further east and stay in the wind.  As a result we were able to sneak down and around the train wreck of drifting boats and set up nicely along Saddlebag island.  Wild Rumpus, a Santa Cruz 27, saw our move and broke from the pack to follow.  The woman only crew drew alongside in the fading wind and commented “we liked your move”.  They then proceeded to comment about how small our asymmetrical spinnaker was.  At that point we added it to the “must buy” list for 2015.  As was the case the previous year, the boats worked their way very slowly up the side of Guemes in the light and variable wind and dying light.  As night set in we steered MB to the east to avoid The Black Hole of 2013 – the outgoing current around the north tip of Guemes.  Our strategy was to stay east and work up the shore of Lumi Is to avoid the negative ebbing current.  This approach worked well and for a period we were leading the fleet, until the wind died again.  We watched in vain as Time Bandit (J/120) sailed up behind us and the rest of the fleet moved past farther to the west.  Sometime around 1am a good southerly filled in to 13 kts and everyone rocketed north.  From 2 to 6 am we sailed north under spinnaker and each managed about 1 hour of sleep.  With sunrise our enthusiasm brightened and we found ourselves in seventh place overall (out of 20 boats) and having put a good amount of separation on the broader fleet.  Race report below...

We rounded the Pt Roberts buoy at 7 am as the big ebb started and rode it south towards Stuart Island.  The wind around Pt Roberts was dying and it turned out that all of the boats behind us would get swallowed by the lack of wind and strong current - 12 hours later they were still in the same general vicinity.  Once heading south and into the wind, MB found her grove and was doing 6.5 kts through the water in 5 kts of wind.  We powered across the Strait of Georgia and rode the big ebb currents around the east end of Saturna Is.  By staying in the main flows we were able to make up ground towards the boats in front of us, which had rounded Pt Roberts miles ahead of us.  Unfortunately as we approached the Stuart Is lighthouse the winds faded for us and several other boats.  We could see wind much farther south, but we could not bridge the gap.  We drifted past Hijinks (J/30) into sixth overall, but then watched as Time Bandit, then Cinco de Mayo and finally White Cloud catch the southerly and disappear towards Hein Bank.  By being in the current we were able to slowly drift out and around Stuart Island between the hours of 10 am and noon, but the other boats had sailed over the horizon by then.  Finally around noon the first puffs of the southerly reached us, just as the ebb was changing into a flood.  We were able to use this wind to scoot over towards Sydney BC to stay out of the incoming (and negative) flood tide and worked up through the islands on the Canadian side.  By 3pm we were nowhere near Hein Bank and started doing the math as to when we would finish – if at all.  We had extended hall passes but also had obligations Sunday which required us to be both present and coherent.  We were on the Canadian side of Haro Strait making 6 kts over the bottom and could suddenly see White Cloud (Cookson 12M) and Cinco de Mayo (C&C115) struggling up the opposite shore in the stiff flood tide.  As we powered south we saw White Cloud pull the plug on the race and power towards Roche Harbor – suddenly we were in fifth place!  Our plan was to stay west out of the big currents as long as possible, which meant we sailed down towards Victoria.  Once we had the push we headed east and came racing up on Cinco de Mayo.  Due to the fact that we were further south we could sail a deeper line to Hein Bank and were able to power by them and rounded Hein Bank in 4^th place at 6:30 pm (see race report).

We launched the spinnaker (for like the 8^th time that race) and set out towards the finish off Washington Park with 10 kts pushing us along from the stern.  Last year this run took us three hours in similar conditions and we were excited about our prospects of finishing the race.  Unfortunately our excitement didn’t last long because the wind subsequently died down to 5 kts.  Further, the tide switched again and we were only doing 2 kts over the bottom with 13 miles to go to the finish.  Both Cinco de Mayo and us watched as Hijinks worked their way up behind us and rounded Hein Bank several miles back.  To make the situation more interesting, the Strait was pretty beat up from the afternoon winds and the boats and sails were flapping violently and very ineffective.  As the sun set for the second time we took stock of our situation.  At the current rate of progress we MIGHT cross the finish line sometime after midnight, and then we had 3 hours of motoring back to the Hook before getting to bed.  At that point we only had 1.5 hours of sleep in the last 36 hrs, and raced for 25 of those hours double handed.  From a race standpoint the other two boats: Cinco de Mayo and Hijinks; were both better downwind so we were looking at finishing between 4^th and 6^th place (unbeknownst to us at that point the trimaran had already pulled out so it was actually 3^rd to 5^th place).  Given that we had commitments and nothing more to prove, and we were damn tired, we opted to turn north and head towards Shaw.  As it was it took 3.5 more hours of motoring and we didn’t pull into the Hook until 11:45.  We slept soundly and woke knowing we made the right decision.  We checked the tracker to find that our other two competitors crossed the line just after 1 am, so that confirmed our decision!

SYC Vashon Island Race Video Now Online

Video is now online!!

 

STYC Race To The Straits Video and Press

We now have the video compiled for the STYC Race to the Straits epic 2014 event.  Unfortunately the GoPro filled up so we only have Day #1, but you get a feel for the conditions.  It was blowing between 25-30 kts at the end and that's pretty much how it stayed into Day #2.  Here's the recap via YouTube (in HD!!!)

 

Also, we made it into the J/Boats summary for the race:
 http://jboatnews.blogspot.com/2014/05/windy-race-to-straits-regatta.html

SYC Vashon Island

We came, we saw, we conquered...and then we had to quit (unfortunately!).  That pretty much summed up what was a beautiful Saturday in May.  Here's the details...

We had six crew aboard MB as we departed Elliott Bay Marina around 8am including Adam, Mark, Nick, Pete, Jason and Shawn.  We set the sails early and tacked around prior to the 9 am start in front of Shilshoal.  All the usual suspects were present and we looked forward to a long 16 mile beat to Point Robinson at the sound end of Vashon Is.  The winds were from the south at 10 kts for the start, and projected to diminish as the day progressed, ultimately forecast to die off at 2 pm and then potentially fill from the north at 4 pm.  There were two starts, with the faster boats on the long course departing around 9 am and the rest of us, which numbered well above 20 boats, departing five minutes thereafter.  Due to all the traffic we were a few seconds late to the line but were able to sneak past the committee boat, then tack off into a clear lane for a long ride south.  Monkeybones does well in light winds and we were near the front of our pack as we worked past West Point, then over to Bainbridge, up past Blakely Rock and around the south tip of Bainbridge.  We slowly gained on many boats in our Group 4, but couldn't separate until we passed Blake Island.  At that point the winds were starting to dissipate and we were able to dial MB in such that she was powering along at 1.0 to 1.5 kts above wind speed.  The effect was that we put the hammer down on the fleet and had massive separation.   Our main competition, which included Different Drummer, Crovo and Pegasus tacked back towards Vashon while we continued east towards Three Tree Point.  We got great lift behind the point and were able to round it with only two tacks and headed back towards Vashon and the windward mark at Pt Robinson.  We were on the east side in a solid 6 kts of wind while we could see it fading to the west, which caught out most of our competition.  We tacked a few times to stay in the pressure and rounded the mark in second place behind Flim Flam.  Amazingly we had also passed many of the fast boats that started five minutes ahead of us, including Bravo Zulu and Eye Candy.  We headed back home with the spinnaker on a tight reach, following the rumb line in the fading breeze.  Monkeybones does well upwind, but with her fractional rig, she struggles heading downwind, especially in light air.  We held even about a half mile behind Flim Flam, and watched as Pegasus, a half mile back, slowly reeled us in.  The rest of the fleet was at least a mile back as the three of us made our way past Three Tree Point.  Shortly thereafter the wind quit altogether, around 2:30 pm, right as predicted.  In the meandering breeze Pegasus was able to drift past us and we were both gaining on Flim Flam.  Unfortunately, several of the crew had evening commitments and were pushing the limits with wives and families just to be on the boat.  As the clock ticked past 3 pm towards 4 pm, and with 12 miles to go to the finish with the boat speed between 2 and 3 kts, it became apparent that we were going to have to pull out of the race and give up what was clearly a top three finish.  Around 4pm we dropped the spinnaker and fired up the iron jib and headed for Elliott Bay.  About a mile into our return journey ripples on the water marked the northerly creeping south, just as predicted.  We looked back to watch Flim Flam and Pegasus drop their spinnakers, raise their jibs and start working their way north.  Those two boats would finish around 7 pm.  The next fastest boat in our group finished 7 hours later - around 2pm in the morning.  We would have clearly had a top three finish, which would have qualified us for the Grand Prix and also have put us at no worse than 4th in the overall SYC Tri Island Series standings.  Truly disappointing, but we all know how we did, and we accomplished the prime objective, which was to have fun.

Here's a great shot of Monkeybones and crew showing our good (starboard) side...

Sloop Tavern Race To The Straits 2014

It was another wet and wild weekend on the waters of Puget Sound.  Two years ago Shawn and Jason navigated Monkeybones with no instruments up to Port Townsend and back as part of the 2012 Race To The Straits.  It was Jason's first race ever (how does this spinnaker thing work?) and the first with current crew and owners.  It was great to see how far we've come in two years as we set out with new instruments, rigging, team gear, and a little more experience.  It was good that we were much better prepared because the weather required it.  We saw winds that ranged from 9 to 32 kts and had every type of weather imaginable.  Mother Nature brought havoc to the fleet and we saw no less than six spinnakers shredded, with many boats limping into the Pt Townsend marina with remnants wrapped throughout the rigging.  On Sunday it was an ominous beat to weather in 15-25 kts into a full throttle ebb current, which made for a very long day.  Many boats decided to bow out and power under bare poles home.  One unlucky competitor dismasted approaching Bush Pt but luckily there were many boats there to help them.

Day #1 Summary:

For Monkeybones it all started well, crossing the line and heading north under spinnaker and the #3 jib.  We jibed out to the west into the current and maintained a wind angle to keep boat speed high in 12-13 kts of breeze.  We had eight boats in our start sequence and were keeping a keen eye on both Different Drummer and Kotuku.  While we sailed our wind angles, Different Drummer pointed dead downwind towards the mark and never waivered.  We zig zagged down the course and made good time on our fleet, with the exception of Uno, a small Sierra 26 that always disappears once they set their asym, and Different Drummer.  The skies were fairly clear and we only endured one small rain squall on the way to the midway mark at Double Bluff.  We jibed off Point No Point back to the east towards Useless Bay with the objective of jibing back to lay the mark.

About halfway there a front hit that jacked the wind from the mid-teens to the low twenties and then all hell broke loose.  Many of the under crewed boats were barely in control, or fully out of control.  This included the crazy Russians in their F27 trimaran who nearly cut us in two.  We were on starboard and they were coming at us on port at 15 kts and had too much weather helm to change their course.  They were panicking and, at that point, we did too.  At the last minute they released a headsail and skimmed past our stern with only a few feet to spare.  The wind continued to build and so did our boat speed and it was all we could do to jibe back with the two of us in heavy air.  Further, the front resulted in a 20+ degree wind shift and suddenly we were on a tight reach with a highly loaded rig and had no hope of laying the mark.  With some difficulty we dumped the spinnaker and raised the #3, which was luckily already on deck and fully rigged.  We were way out of position, but so was everyone else.  We looked around the fleet and saw spinnakers popping and others hopelessly twisted in people's rigs.  We pointed up to the mark in tight traffic and then bore off towards Port Townsend in a healthy 25kts from the S/SW.

Monkeybones at the mid-way mark (Thanks Jan!)
- click to enlarge -

It was a brisk run to Port Townsend in the heavy air and strong ebb current.  Each time the wind died to 20 kts we contemplated launching our asym, only to be buffeted by a 27-28 kt gust.  The best sight of the afternoon was Terramoto running up through the fleet under a #3 and their asym.  They were surfing along at 15+ kts.  I have a great video of them, and then shortly thereafter they wiped out.  We ran up to Marrowstone Pt and saw several boats get sucked into a huge backeddy.  We jibed away and ran parallel for a half mile before jibing back to the finish.  At this point the wind continued to build into the high 20's and MB was on a reach at full throttle under full main and #3 jib.  We saw 11.4 kts on the gauge and we had a huge and steady bow wave and rooster tail.  If the boat could have planed at that point it would have.  We edged around some of the traffic that was caught in the back eddy and headed for the line.  Shawn drove us towards the committee boat and we crossed a few seconds in front of a J/37 in our class and several hundred yards in front of Kotuku to take 3rd in our class for Day 1, finishing behind Uno and Different Drummer.

At this point it was mayhem everywhere: there were boats all over the course and stacking up behind the finish line.  The wind was at gale strength and over the radio we heard multiple boats calling out in distress that they had lost power due to lines in the prop, and they were drifting in the high wind towards the beach.  Once over the line we jibed downwind, a dangerous feat in the heavy air and really bad on the rigging, and then rounded up to wrestle with the sails.  It was extremely difficult to get the jib down in the heaving seas and heavy air and, after securing it, motored upwind to find a place to take down the main.  Unfortunately the wind continued to build and we were forced to wrestle it down as the wind gauge crept past 30 kts.

As if all that wasn't exciting enough, the most eventful part of the day came when we entered the marina.  There were 135 registered boats for the RTTS and the Pt Townsend marina is pretty small to begin with.  Boats had been circling the entrance and were being called in one by one due to the high winds and tight spacing.  We were one of the last twenty or so boats to enter and came in to find extreme mayhem.  The boats were piling up in rafts tied to the docks, but the high winds ripping through the marina were straining lines and causing the race organizers fits.  As we rounded the corner we were stern into the wind, which meant we were gaining speed fast with 20-30 kts on the tail.  What we found were extremely tight lanes to maneuver and these were chocked full of boats circling to find a place to tie up.  We threw the boat into full reverse, unsure if we had enough power even to stop and hold ourselves in the wind, let alone reverse direction.  A full train wreck seemed eminent.  Further, this was going to take place in front of 200 onlookers who were now tied up and gawking at the commotion.  What happened next is still a blur but it went something like this:  full reverse, spin, full forward, spin, bounce off one boat, full reverse, briefly rafted up but told to cast off before something broke, full back, spin, full forward, spin, bounce off another boat, full forward... and somewhere in there all untied boats were told to leave the marina.  Except we didn't obey and remained until we were the only boat left and given a slip.  Then we had a drink....

Day 2

The forecast for Day 2 was more ominous than Day 1 with forecasted winds of between 10 and 30 kts depending on which website you read.  Further, we would be sailing all day into a heavy ebb tide.  The morning light revealed that the forecasters where correct and we left the harbor with 20 kts from the south.  We debated whether to reef and decided that we were in it to race and would be more competitive if we didn't.  We used our new rigging to flatten the main as much as possible and hoisted the #3 jib.  We set up well and were first across the line among the seven boats in our grouping, followed closely by Different Drummer and Kotuku.  The three of us would duke it out for the next eight hours with each boat taking a turn at the lead, sometimes switching every five minutes or so.  Both DD and Kotuku are 40 ft in length and have an overall speed advantage over MB.  However, MB seemed to do well in the really heavy air (20+ kts), but would give it back when the wind dropped to 15 kts or below.  As a result we had to use tactics to gain an advantage.

Early on we used the currents around Marrowstone Pt.  We were trailing the other two by a few boat lengths and waited until they were past the current line and out into the sweeping ebb before throwing in a quick tack while still in the back eddy and running up into really shallow water, then tacking back on top of them with a 100 yard advantage.  We held this lead up along Marrowstone Is, at which point DD tacked off across the channel towards Whidbey Is.  We stayed on top of Kotuku for a while and then decided to head over on top of DD, and held our position all the way to Bush Pt.  However, Kotuku continued to hug Marrowstone and was two hundred yards ahead by the time we all reconnected at Bush Pt.

There was heavy traffic at Bush Pt and we got pinned against the shore and lost ground to everyone.  Now trailing, we used similar current tacking tactics to gain ground back around the Double Bluff buoy.  We followed the fleet East across Useless Bay in 15 kts and a driving rainstorm.  The larger boats slowly pulled away and there was nothing we could do.  They all tacked over to Point No Point and we were separated from the fleet due to commercial traffic, which turned out well.  A heavy squall line gave us a good lift and we were able to reconnect with our competition as we worked up the west side of the straight.  DD gained and overtook Kotuku and we were making good progress as well.  However, the wind was fading to 10 kts and it wasn't clear that we would be able to hold onto them. As a result, Jason proposed to take a flyer and tack off across to the east side in the hopes of breaking away and finding better wind and current relief.  We struck out while DD was on the opposite tack heading in to shore.  Kotuku briefly followed and then tacked back in.  DD made the shore, tacked back out and was now about a half a mile to our west.  We watched as they came out and, instead of going back in to cover Kotuku, decided to continue out across the channel to cover us.  As we crossed the channel the wind built from 10 to 15 and then 18 kts due to a passing rain storm.  DD got into the middle of the channel and briefly tacked back towards Kotuku, then changed their mind and followed us across.  We made the far side and tacked up along the shore.  DD crossed 200 hards in front of us and we both tacked home.  Unfortunately we were never able to catch them and crossed the line three minutes behind.  Kotuku continued to hug the western shore and crossed much later.  Due to the fading ebb they gained significant ground on both of us and crossed the line six minutes ahead of MB.  All in all it was a great, albeit very long, day of heavy air, driving rain, and endless tacking.  MB crossed at approximately 5:25, which meant it was eight hours after crossing the start line, and we were all thoroughly spent.

After the results were tallied MB finished in third place each day, and took third place in our class behind Different Drummer (1st) and Kotuku (2nd).  Further, we finished 26th overall.

SYC Smith Is - Now on Video

And for those that didn't get to experience it live, and even for those that did, here's the video recap of some memorable moments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-qt8syyuQ&feature=youtu.be

Enjoy!

SYC Smith Island

Back to racing!  MB was signed up for the SYC Smith Is Short Course, a 35 mile run up to Whidbey Island and back.  The forecast was for 10 kts and building to 20 kts in the afternoon from the S / SW.  Six of us arrived early at MB to ferry her over to Shilshoal for the start.  In addition to Shawn, Jason, Jeff and Pete we were joined by Mike and Mark.  We had a downwind start under mostly clear skies and the fleet set off rather briskly as the wind quickly built to 15 kts and then 20 kts.  We jibed among the other boats in our fleet, first hugging the western shore and then angling out into the middle of the channel where the opposing current was stronger, but so was the following wind.  MB was holding her own but a quarter to half mile back from the lead boats in our group, which included Corvo and Different Drummer.  To make up time we set the number three jib inside our spinnaker and flew for a time with two head sails.  We believe this gave us a half kt of additional speed, and briefly saw 10 kts.  But more importantly, it looked good...

As everyone approached the mark off of Double Bluff, a weird thing happened: the wind shut off.  For whatever reason, possibly due to the Puget Sound convergence zone, a northerly was coming down along the channel and the lead boats suddenly found themselves dousing their spinnakers, setting their jibs, and drifting in a few knots of gyrating wind.  At this point, because we were behind these boats and still in a solid 15-20 kts of wind from the south, we jibed to run parallel to the wind wall and up into Useless Bay, getting as close to the mark as possible before dealing with the mayhem.  It was a very strange situation where we were running at 9 kts of boat speed and very full sails a mere 100 to 200 yards from boats with jibs (no spinnakers) drifting aimlessly in the current.  We tucked up as close to Double Bluff as possible with the foredeck full of sails: the doused #3, a #1 ready for light air, and the spinnaker.  Eventually we doused the chute and raised the #1.  We were able to sneak through several boats as the wind alternated from 10 kts from the S/SE and 3 kts from the N/NW.  As it turned out, we were leading the fleet followed by a group of a dozen boats which were all converging on the rounding mark in light / variable air.  To make things more interesting, there was a strong current line sweeping out of Mutiny Bay; which meant that everyone had to transition from the back eddy, which we were all in, and cross 30 yards of 3-4 kt current sweeping past the buoy in a very negative fashion.  We were two boat lengths from the buoy and still in the lead when Shawn made the right decision to bail out of the train wreck of boats that was coming.  Within a few seconds six boats were banging into each other and hanging inches from a giant green USCG channel marker with no where to go and lots of current doing bad things.  The wind filled at the perfect time and we were able to swing around the mark / mayhem and charge back south towards the finish off Shilshoal.  

No sooner had we tacked than we were back in the teeth of the 15-20 kts of wind we rode north.  Further, the now in-rushing tide was at full flood against this wind causing the waves to pile into short and steep white-capped rollers.  With our #1 up we were way overpowered and the boat was hard to handle.  As things settled we found ourselves in second place right behind Different Drummer, but the fleet was compressed and now it was a long tacking duel to decide the winner.  We made our way across to Point No Point and tacked over so that we could get the #3 up and then peel the #1.  It's never fun or easy to accomplish this on a wet canted bow with 18 kts of wind while plowing into three to four foot seas.  Once we had the #3 up the boat performed much better and we alternated between losing and gaining ground on the lead boats: Different Drummer, Corvo and Life is Good.  About half way back to Seattle the wind started to dissipate, reaching as low at 8 kts.  We did another headsail change, putting the #1 back up.  Due to fatigue, not enough weight on the rail, and lack of overall experience (we don't get out as much as the rest of the fleet), we slowly gave up time and let several other boats gain time on us.  In the end we crossed the line fifth overall immediately behind Delirium (J/105) and in front of Bergen Viking (J/35).  Based on corrected time we finished sixth out of nine boats in our class.  It was a beautiful day and excellent sailing conditions.  We did much better than the previous year and are making progress with tactics, trim and crew.  For this trip we had the GoPro mounted and will add some interesting videos in the near future.

 

CYC Three Tree Point

Boy its great to be on the water again!  After three months on the hard at CSR Monkeybones was back in action.  We had new decks (in places), new jib tracks, new jib winches, new running rigging, new deck paint, a new back stay and we added jack stays.  The rig was very stiff and tunable and we were excited about the possibilities for 2014. Shawn and Jason picked the boat up Friday afternoon and took it through the Ballard locks. The plan was to overnight at Shilshoal Marina and then race the CYC's Three Tree Point race the following day.  The trip through the locks was spent cleaning up and figuring the new gear out.  Unfortunately we discovered that our anemometer (wind gauge) no longer worked, which would make racing at a high level difficult.  We briefly put up the main to make sure we mounted it correctly and touched 7 kts in what we assumed was 12 kts of breeze.  The forecast was for the winds to die down leaving the potential for a drifter the following day.

We all rendezvoused at MB at 8:30 am and were pleasantly surprised to have some breeze. We set out with a crew of seven (pretty good for us!) comprised of Shawn, Jason, Jeff, Pete, Phil and two new members: Adam and Cade.  We got out in time to rig the boat and do some tacking before settling into the start sequence.  Despite the 6-8 kts of wind the race committee shortened the course, setting a leg to Duwamish Head and back. The CYC Center Sound series is well attended and the start box was thick with maneuvering boats. Phil and Shawn again had a great start, posting up on the committee boat and boxing out four other boats with our starboard tack and leeward position.  Once across the start line the fleet immediately split and we tacked over onto port with a group of boats heading for the stronger wind in the middle of the channel.  This proved to be the right move and about a half mile from the start we were leading our division.  Unfortunately this would be the high point of our day.  As we approached West Point we were in a maneuvering / tacking duel with three boats from our class: Absolutely, Bravo Zulu and Different Drummer.  As we rounded West Point the larger fleet split, some following the shoreline, while our group of boats - all from our class - continued out on port tack into the channel and the (apparently) stronger wind.  Unfortunately, at this point the wind started to fade and we struggled to get the boat dialed back in, giving up a hundred yards to our competition.  We recovered after many painful minutes and continued on.  At this point the group following the shore was several miles away and drifting, while our group was clearly in the wind.  Unfortunately, within the next 30 minutes the tables turned and our entire group of boats was drifting while the group along the shoreline caught a growing breeze.  Different Drummer, Bravo Zulu and Absolutely had shifted inside earlier and into a wind hole, while we continued on towards Bainbridge to chase the remaining wind along with the other big boats.  However, that now left us farther west....and then the wind died completely.  We spent the next two hours drifting aimlessly in the shipping channel while many boats around us retired.  The wind slowly filled in from the north, but the boats closer to Elliot Bay caught it first and were now sailing away.  By the time we had wind back in our sails we were a mile or so back from the others in our fleet and essentially out of competition.  As a result, we decided to round the Duwamish Head mark and, instead of sailing back to Shilshoal, sail directly to our home port of Elliot Bay.  In our two years of racing we had never abandoned a race, and it left a bad taste in our mouths.  However, it was the right thing to do: we had accomplished our goal of getting the boat out on the water and starting the process of dialing her in for the 2014 season.

Welcome to Monkeybones Racing 2014!

It's been a long off season but we've been using that time to upgrade Monkeybones in preparation for the 2014 racing season.  Monkeybones is a 1981 J/36 and has been raced hard over the years and its been showing.  As a result we decided to make an investment to improve both performance and safety.  MB is currently at CSR having undergone some pretty extensive refitting.  We overhauled the rig having replaced all of the mast fittings as well as running rigging.  This includes a new backstay arrangement including flicker as well as jack stays which should allow us to control the rig a lot more for the different wind conditions we will see in the PNW.  We also replaced the deck core under the jib sheet tracks and reinforced them so we can load em up more.  We have new life line stanchions as well.  Finally, for those in the pit, we replaced the primary jib winches with Harken self tailing models which should minimize the choreography during tacking drills.  I've included some pictures below showing the work.

MB in the yard at CSR

Finally, we are expanding our crew this year with the objective of not doing EVERY race short handed.  We would like to welcome our new crew members and look forward to seeing the fleet on the water!