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.
