By winning the Cows race!
With the water temperatures decreasing it is the time of year again where the boats are brought to shore to assess what damages the season was caused.
How to put a worthy end to a great season?
Valeur Jensen Stamford Denmark Race – 32 seconds!
Can there ever be a new unplugged?
Let’s face it – the unplugged is a bad ass boat. Great fun and like a stick shift in the US only commendable by a select few. The allure of the boat stems from constantly finding out what it can do (Speeeeeeeedddd!) and what it can’t (point). Every sailor that sailed it cherishes the almost instantaneous switch from – “wow this feels great” to “Oh Sh*t….”
The plight of having found the equivalent of a barn build NASCAR racer is the question of – what’s next?
There is a number of great boats out there that would immediately provoke a lot of comments about going soft.
So let’s collect ideas in the comments!
The last Friday night of the summer Series 24
The heavens smiled down at the mighty unplugged as a crew of 5 embarked on the last Friday night journey of the season. What started out with almost no breeze turned into a great sailing trip – though we were thankful that Race committee ended the race at the rounding mark (32A) as the unplugged had built up a solid lead by then.
When there is almost no wind the lightest boat in the fleet is often favored.
My personal highlight was taking the helm and realizing that driving is not as easy as our Captain makes it look. I did by best not to crash into a barge or a breakwall (all these obstacles appearing out of nowhere).
To end the season there was a BBQ worthy of winners on the dock.
August 13th, Breakwater Irregulars Tuesday Night
Sailing is awesome. Moving a high tech object at high speeds through a beautiful landscape only propelled by harnessing the wind. No noise. No stress. I love sailing and fell in love with it the first time I was on a sailboat (the unplugged).
But racing is not sailing. Racing is the coordinated effort by a team to win seconds in a wildly unpredictable environment. In most car racing series your course is rather clear – in yacht racing there is no clear path. And only when you see the score do you know whether your strategy was the right one.
Tonight we sailed a great race. Through pockets of no wind to the occasional dicey situation. A full hour of focus and constant improvement to lose by a mere 23 seconds. And even though all gears clicked, every maneuver was executed reasonably well – you still know: there were 23 seconds in there we could have saved. So you go back out there next week to have another try at sailing the perfect race.
Link to scores: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_detail.cfm?Race_Number=5&eID=16283
Racing thoroughbreds aren’t made for storms
Friday saw parts of the tropical storm Debby passing through southern Connecticut with huge waves and lots of rain. There is only a small wind angle in which strong winds are a thread for the boats in the marina. But this was the result of what happens when 2-3 ft waves hit a single foot of freeboard.
But as they say in all watersports: Submerging is temporary – sinking is permanent. And by this definition of the yachting thesaurus the unplugged did not sink! And would not have sunken as the airbags inside added sufficient buoyancy.
A 12v bilge pump capable of 1100 gallons per hour is smaller than a human fist and capable of restoring seaworthyness in a short time. We used this battery and this suprisingly cheap pump.
For more on Debby: https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/weather/article/ct-weather-friday-debby-remnants-rain-flooding-19630328.php
July 30th, Breakwater Irregulars, Tuesday Night
Spectacular racing on a Tuesday. 3-4ft waves, wind of up to 24knts propelled the boat to a verified 18knts across the sound for the last spinnaker leg. The boat performed excellently under tough conditions and took on a lot of water – but as the famous Wes Bemus once said: There is no better bilge pump than a man and a bucket fighting for his life.
It is quite rare to return with three salt water soaked sails but all in all the material held extremely well.
Thanks and praise to the race committee for their time, thair dedication and for setting this amazing course that allowed for the Spinnaker class to create some waves and moisten some underwear. Waterskiing begins at 16knts – we could have easily pulled a wakeboarder!
Link to Yachtscoring results:https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_detail.cfm?Race_Number=4&eID=16283
August 22nd, 2023 Breakwater Irregulars Tuesday Race #5
Racing is not just about the results but also about the memories you keep. A great group of friends focussed on optimising the sails every second of the race is gifted this beautiful sunset (and a can of fresh American Bud Light). 2nd in Class by under a minute. You cannot win every race – but you can remeber the beauty for the rest of your life.
Kudos to Ben for the amazing images.