Quest for a Racer

In my search for a "new" sailboat suited for racing, I came up with a short list of requirements for this new boat:

1. One design in order to measure my skill as a sailor against a seasoned field of competitors
   

That's it! I said the list was short.

Sure, I wasn't looking to layout a wheelbarrow full of cash. Plus the boat had to be large enough to hold the entire family plus a few friends. And the kids would love to be able to sleep overnight on the lake. But these were secondary, nice to haves.

Another sailor in our MYC Open Fleet, Hashem, sails a sweet J/80, Gee Kay. These are awesome sport boats as witnessed firsthand racing in Wales. J/80s simply were out of my price range, though I certainly wouldn't mind owning one.

MYC and WYC share a J/22 fleet with reciprocity between their club races. This looked like a suitable option to consider. I've been sailing a few times on J/22 but knew very little about them.

A quick search on several used boats sites didn't look promising at finding a J/22 for any less than $10k, a little out of my range of what I wanted to spend. However, what I did find was quite a few reasonably priced J/24 boats.

It didn't take long to discover the incredible all-American story of Rod Johnstone and his dream of building a new boat in his Stonington garage. The other cool thing I discovered is that the first handful of J/24s came to Minnesota to race on Lake Minnetonka and thus Fleet 1 was born right in my own back yard! I had to try our a J/24 myself and see if this was indeed the next boat I wanted to trade-up.

After making a few inquiries in early October at WYC, I got in touch with Dave Bennett, the J/24 fleet captain, and he offered a spot on his boat, Hellfire. The race was part of the Commodore Cup, a longer run around Big Island.

We paced back and forth in Wayzata Bay putting in a few tacks and then hoisted the spinnaker to get everyone's position straightened out for the race. The wind was light in the bay and I was excited to be out on the water for one last time on a faster boat.

5, 4, ... 1, and the cannon shot fired to start the race for the S2 7.9 fleet! The J/24 fleet started three minutes later. On our first leg running down to Excelsior Bay. The breeze increased out of the bay and built the entire leg. When a gust blew in with a shift, Hellfire's beam reached off the water as we hiked hard to keep her flat. It was the same thrill I experienced hiking on the beam of Ego Tripp racing my first time in Wales! The wind died down as we squeezed behind Big Island on a reach into Lafayette Bay. As the sun heated up on the final run back to Wayzata Bay, the wind all but died. It was a memorable race.

I had told Dave that I was looking at buying a J/24 so he gave me the helm following the race and we sailed around Wayzata Bay so that I could get a feel. Sitting further back at the tiller, Hellfire seemed much larger due to the low, rounded, windowless cabin. Plus the rudder would mounted on the stern, unlike Take Five.

We headed back in to WYC and Dave steered Hellfire back into her slip. I surely must have had a big smile when I headed back home knowing this was my next type of boat!

Repairs to Take Five

After my first season of racing, it was time get Take Five out of the water and make some needed repairs. Liz was complaining about the wet smell of the boat and it was even starting to get to me.

After a good rain, I always found water around the head from the mast step as well as the port gunwale where it was probably leaking through the stanchions. The prior owner of Take Five did not adequately seal the through deck hardware. Plus it didn't help that she was left uncovered for a handful of seasons in Wisconsin. In an attempt to fix the problem, I didn't do Take Five any favors by using a construction grade silicone adhesive caulk.

The headliner inside surface of the deck had stinky gold 70s carpet. The only good thing was Coastal Recreation did not use foam-backed shag! After removing the trim, I made the cut along the outer edge of the deck from the inside. When I cut into the deck from the bottom inside of the cabin, there was a very wet, soggy layer of what looked like particle board! Further inspection of the side of the cabin revealed Coastal Recreation used plywood for the core. Particle board and plywood isn't the best choice for core materials but I suppose they worked for a cruising boat.

I've been a carpenter ever since I could hold a hammer and bang on my Dad's Chevy truck baby moon hub caps at one and half years old. Boat reconstruction was new to me, but how hard could it be?

After doing some research I decided to use marine grade Luan plywood to rebuild the deck core. Two thin layers of plywood were epoxied back onto the ceiling one layer at a time using West System materials. I ripped some pine boards lengthwise to create flexible supports for the plywood.

Spending all this time with Take Five gave me enough time to think about my first racing season. Take Five was great for cruising but lacked many of the adjustments needed to tweak your sails under all conditions. I started wondering what other sailboats were out there that I could buy for a similar amount of money. After all, I was going to spend all this time and money on Take Five, I might as well have something to show for it with a boat intended for racing.

So began the quest began for a "new"racer...

First Year Racing

I joined the Open Fleet at Minnetonka Yacht Club in 2007 following my experience racing overseas in Wales.

Motivationally speaking, I was excited to start my own crew on Take Five. I had two years of sailing under my belt. How hard can this be to race?

Practically speaking, I was tired of trailering my 26 foot sailboat and stepping the mast each time we wanted to go sailing. There was easily an extra 2 hours spent preparing the boat, stepping, and the unstepping the mast each time I went sailing.

Let me tell you that racing when you're a crewing is a whole lot easier than being the skipper! My first few races were overwhelming to say the least.

There were many lessons I learned in my first year of racing. Here's are few that stood out in my mind:

• Learn all of the RRS and study course strategy and tactics! You're always going to face new and unfamiliar situations in traffic.
  
• Even "slow" cruising boats that race with a handicap need to be kept in racing condition (smooth, faired bottom, good sails, etc.)
  
• Always face forward when driving a boat with a tiller (otherwise you'll zig instead of zag)
• Get on the course early
  

Racing?

2006 found me making frequent trips to Wales. After several weeks and Spring quickly passing me by with no time to spend on Take Five, I was getting the itch to go sailing. I stopped into Marine Scene, a local chandlery in Penarth, overlooking Cardiff Bay, and bought a few things. Inquiring about any locals going sailing during the upcoming weekend quickly found myself invited to crew aboard a J/109, Jackhammer, down at the Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, but this wasn't an invite for crewing on a boat going out for the weekend!

CBYC is situated in Cardiff Bay and well protected from the extreme tidal swings of the Bristol Channel by a three lock barrage. The Bristol Channel is second only to the Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy (Minas Basin) , but we're still talking up to 15 meter Spring tides! So where was this bloke with the J/109 that I was supposed to hook up with? Saying hello to each sailor as they passed down onto the water made me wonder who exactly I was going to sail with that day. Finally a salty looking man looked at me and said that I didn't want to sail on that J/109 and should come with him and crew on his boat! Not wanting to insult him and really not having confirmed my ride, I followed along. "Great," I said to myself. "What kind of bathtub was I going to be jumping into next?"

Walking up to the mystery boat, Tom Hazelwood introduced himself as he smiled at his classic dark blue Tripp 40, Ego Tripp. This was going to be a sail I wouldn't soon forget!

Soon, the rest of Tom's crew showed-up and Billy took the helm and steered us out to the barrage. Once we hit the channel and hoisted Ego Tripp's main and genoa, it was off the races! It was my first time experiencing the countdown sequence, 5 ... 4, 1 ... and the start of my first race! The wind was blowing 12-15 knots that day and the sail was perfect. The tide helped us move 13 knots upwind! This was racing and I was hooked! There had to be a way that I could get involved in racing back on little old Lake Minnetonka.

CBYC runs IRC, PY, and J/80 sportboat fleets. Through that summer and the one to follow, I made some wonderful friends that I shall never forget racing on the Bristol Channel. I became known as "the American" at CBYC. Thanks for the invite to your backyard barbie, Tom, and crewing for you on Ego Tripp! I'll bring the wine again any time. Thanks for schooling me on proper English, Steve Parker! Ta ra!






A reefed Jackhammer (J/109) running downwind in Force 5 wind just ahead of Red Sky (J/80) during the pre-start of a race in the Bristol Channel near Cardiff, Wales.


Later the breeze freshened to Force 6 in a long beat up the Channel...

Grinding on the winch on the low side of boat is no fun when going over those rollers coming down the channel. After coming up for air and to see the horizon, I tossed my cookies :-) You always seem to feel like a champ afterward so I took some photos.


Cheers mate!

Gitchigume

My wife, Liz, and I spent our 10th anniversary up at Bayfield, WI sailing around the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior. We agreed to spend half our time sailing and the other half exploring the sites of Bayfield and the surrounding area.

Knowing what Gitchigume can dish out without much notice, I did buy a VHF radio with DSC to interface with my GPS unit. We left, we did get a MMSI registration assigned before we left in case something happened.

I found us an awesome bed and breakfast that we stayed at in Bayfield just across from the grade school.

We arrived to find Bayfield in a flury of activity preparing for their annual Scarecrow Festival and Orchard Tours, a two week celebration at the end of September. It was fun to see the whole town get into this celebration and contest.

Liz was on the bow securing the headsail when we turned out of the harbor. Immediately we started pounding the 4 foot waves rolling down the North Channel.

Liz took the helm on the stretch heading south back to Bayfield through the West Channel, with Basswood Island to out port side. The breeze was perfect for reaching all the way back to Bayfield with our colorful genaker.










The city of Bayfield operates a public launch on the south side of town. The harbor area is well protected.

We shall return one day to cruise these waters again!