2003 Sandusky Islands Race (attempt) by Mike Fahle
Deb Schaefer asked me to write about the Sandusky Islands
Race from the KanZa perspective. KanZa is an F-28R owned by Lou Young. The
crew consists of Lou, his brother Doug Young, Steve Spitler, and me. Only three other
multihulls were racing. My understanding is that they were: an F-27 with just
one guy and his young daughter aboard, a Native Newick 38, whose report we have already
read (very interesting), and a familiar competitor, BattleCat, a Stiletto 30.
They let us start first at the pin end of the line in good breeze. We had just
sailed parallel to the starting line at slow speed for the final two minutes and
at 15 seconds to go we bore off to a beam reach and hit the line at the starting
gun at full speed. The leg was a beam reach to the true wind but at speed (over
20 mph) we were trimmed to a close reach. The farther into the lake we wen, the
bigger the waves got. We all moved out and back as far as possible to keep the
leeward hull bow from digging in when the puffs hit. I steered from about
halfway out, straddling the rear beam so that I had leverage against the main
hull to steer forcefully in any direction as needed due to the waves acting
randomly on the three hulls. This put me in direct line of the spray flying off
the main hull which quickly soaked me, even with top and bottom foul weather
gear on before starting. Only Doug was smart enough to start out with his dry suit on!
We passed the leading monohull 22 minutes into the race, almost doubling their speed since they started 20 minutes before us. The wind and seas continued to increase gradually and getting close in to the east shore, in the lee of Kelley's Island, which provided temporary relief in the form of flat water and reduced wind. The romp to Middle Island from Kelley's was spent discussing reefing the main since we would have only a minute or so of lee behind that small island. We later learned from BattleCat that they saw us reefing there and thought they would pass us and after rounding Middle regretted not reefing there also. We did not see the other two boats anymore and rounded into the beat to North Bass Island in big waves.
After sailing for several minutes on port tack we decided to tack to take us under the bass islands to get into smaller seas. As we sailed in toward the islands the seas did moderate even as the wind gradually increased. We thought that tacking would be through maybe 100 or more degrees because we were traveled down 3/4s of the way even with the reef. The jib has full length battens that allowed us to trim it slightly eased when needed to open the slot and minimize back winding the main. That also allowed me to feather when needed to reduce power but to fall off and get back up to full speed quickly when needed. So we ended up over standing the layline as we tacked through just 80 degrees, something we still do not understand! Then we learned we had to reach off even more to clear a reef at the northeast corner of North Bass. At least that allowed us to go from about eight mph to close to twenty again! This is when the waves quickly got bigger as we came away from the islands and Lou took a wind reading that showed the apparent breeze at about 35 mph about seven feet above the windward ama. Then the wind did suddenly got stronger and several times it felt like the jib alone would knock us over. The main traveler was already all the way out and Steve was playing the sheet. He would ease it when about a foot of dagger board would show as we flew the main hull going upwind.
We decided that was a good time to bring the jib down. Lou was still securing the jib on deck when the wind increased noticeably again and now the distinct, compact storm cell that we had been headed for had a partner to the left. That was when Steve noticed that the head of the main was pulling out of the mast track and it was starting to rip where the bolt rope is sewn onto the sail in a couple different places near the head. Doug said the GPS showed only a mile and a half to the next mark and thought about different ways to get us there. That was like getting to the weather mark in a round the buoys race and the rest would be all downwind from there, so it was tough to not go for it. We decided to reach off back into the lee of North Bass to consider our options. There was no sign of our competition at that point. The last time we saw BattleCat they had been headed toward PIB which seemed like a smart tactical decision! The guys took the mainsail down when it was decided that it would not hold up to the full wind and waves on the north side of North Bass and who knew how much more wind was under those storm cells?! So we headed downwind for the club under mast alone and soon hit double figures on the GPS. Once we got into the slot between North and Middle Bass and caught the waves that were around eight feet, our max speed under mast alone was 15.4! It was fun sticking the bow sprit into the middle of the wave in front of us and then catching it and the next couple as we accelerated down a big wave face and had enough speed to keep going. After clearing the next shoal east of Middle Bass and heading up about 50 degrees to head home, we could do only around five or six mph which seemed like barely moving, so the guys raised the jib and we immediately were back into the low twenties again!
We were quickly back to Kelley's island, this time on the west side and the wind died as we passed Kelley's. By the time we were to the south end the wind died and switched to the south, barely detectable! With the jib down again we motored the rest of the way back to the club. The wind built quickly into the lower twenties from the south – southeast when we were about halfway into Sandusky Bay – a crazy day for the wind! It would have made it hard to finish with the ripped mainsail even if we had tried to get around North Bass somehow.
At the club we heard people say that they saw 60 mph on their boat. This may be true but that was probably due in part to the mast head instruments swinging through big arcs in the big waves which would produce false high wind readings. Attached is a wind speed chart from the weather recording station on South Bass island verifying the forty mph wind speeds that we felt we encountered. Remember that the force of the wind quadruples when the wind speed doubles. So for example, when the wind speed increases from 14 mph to 28 mph, the force is four times stronger. And when it further increase from 28 mph to 42 mph, the force doubles again! Still, the wind was very puffy and there could have been isolated stronger winds at any particular spot on the course and it was wise for the boats to come in before someone got hurt, or worse. As I told the guys on KanZa, it would be embarrassing to flip the boat going to weather. Jim Fredericks and I almost pitch-poled an F-31 on a Port Huron - Mack race several years ago, so we know that it can happen easier than it seems like it should. It had been a long time since any of us had seen the wave tops being blown off in a spray across the water and to be in such big waves. So we did not finish but we were glad we had been in the race and had the experiences.
I have often said that my Newick Native, "Alacrity", needs a gale to make it
go, but we didn't bargain for what happened on the Sandusky Islands Race.
Let's start at the beginning.
After my first ever venture into sailboat racing at the tail end of the 2002
season, my appetite was wetted for more ego building and proof that I can
make the old wooden tub go fast. Regretfully I could not do the Mills
because our eldest daughter, Emily, had her High School Graduation that
weekend. Since I did the right thing for the family that weekend, it was
only right that they should all crew for me on the Sandusky Islands Race.
Little did they know what was in store for them.
In order to minimize the torture for Emily and our younger daughter, Alison,
they drove to Sandusky on Independence Day while Diana and I delivered
Alacrity to SSC. We set off from our home port at Lighthouse Harbor on
Otter Creek at a few minutes before 11 am. The forecast was for late
afternoon storms but we hoped to outrun them. With the wind out of the SW
at 10 to 15 we cruised steadily at 7 to 9 kts. As we passed West Sister
Island, NOAA radio was forecasting storms after 2 pm. The wind had dropped
and we were motor sailing. About an hour later the sky blackened and we
prepared to shorten sail. I was watching a monohull a couple of miles
behind us, as the water on the horizon turned to white spray. He did not
have all sails down when it hit him and he broached in his struggle to
regain control. We VERY quickly dropped all sail and the squall hit us
within a minute or two. The wind gusts were quite strong and lasted for
about 30 minutes. The calm after the storm meant that we motored all the
way to Sandusky. The total distance was 42 nautical miles and we arrived at
about 4:30 pm for an average speed of 7.5 kts. Marvin Lampi, who was
surprised to see us, guided us to the floating carpeted dock near the boat
ramp. Not red carpet but royal treatment nevertheless. Our girls arrived
at about 6 pm with additional jackets and rain gear. That evening, we
enjoyed the SSC hospitality with chicken dinner, Budweiser and the Cedar
Point fireworks. What could be nicer to prepare us for Saturday's race?
At breakfast, the weather channel was warning of severe thunderstorms,
seemingly from Kentucky to Wisconsin and due to hit us in the afternoon. No
problem, we would be home before they could catch us. So it was with
excitement that we set off for the start, knowing that we would have the
winds to make the old tub go. The long course started first with the two
PHRF classes at 9:00 and 9:10, then the four multihulls at 9:20. It was
blowing out of the west at 20 + and the first leg was north to Middle
Island. So full main and furling Genoa were called for if we were to have a
hope of staying with Battle Cat.
At the start, KanZa took the windward end and crossed several seconds before
Battle Cat, with Alacrity very close to leeward near the committee boat.
Eric Ravn (is that right?) on his newly acquired F27 brought up the rear.
KanZa led the pack and steadily pulled away. Alacrity shadowed Battle Cat
initially but very slowly lost ground. We were thundering along at a steady
14 to 16 knots with a huge strain on the jib sheet. Every time I heard the
jib sheet crack on the winch as it tightened during a gust, my first
reaction was that a wooden stringer had popped in the ama. Perhaps this is
what every wooden boat owner goes through and I am not sure I will ever be
able to fully relax in such conditions and not expect the boat to fall
apart.
We had just passed the 9:10 am starters when the jib sheet decided to let go
right at the bowline. The combination of strength reduction at the knot and
aging lines contributed to the failure. The windward sheet was quickly
brought over and we were back in business, but Battle Cat had pulled out a
significant lead by then. At 15 knots a boat covers 1/4 mile in a minute!
The wind continued to strengthen and we were becoming seriously overpowered
so we put a reef in the main. The 9:00 am starters were quickly overtaken
between Kelley's and Middle Island. In the process, we nearly ran down one of
the monohulls (whose name escaped me in the heat of the moment). Later in
the clubhouse some of the crew on the windward rail were pleased to have a
cooling spray as we went past.
As we continued past Middle Island it was clear that conditions were
worsening, particularly the sea state. We continued well past the island
before attempting to tack but we stopped dead in the water and had to jibe
around. The windward jib sheet stopper knot was ripped right through the
turning block and we had a mess on our hands. Winds had to have been in the
region of 35 kts and it was well past time to furl the Genoa. It was
impossible to furl by hand and, although it is a no-no, the winch had to be
used. I ran out of furling line with at least a third of the sail still
out. I went forward to set the staysail and try to hand wind in the
Genoa.
No chance, in fact I managed to mess up my finger in the attempt. So I
crawled back to the cockpit to get a long screwdriver with which to finish
the furling job. The main was dropped because we were now grossly (as
opposed to seriously) overpowered By the time this was all accomplished I
was very tired, but isn't it sweet when the genny stops flapping! We were
back under control with staysail only, our smallest option, and still doing
10 - 15 kts. By this time we decided we wanted to live another day and
called it quits, so we pointed south and took Middle Island on its west side
and Kelley's on the east. We encountered some of the highest gusts (which
someone later said were measured at 70 kts) during the run to Kelley with 8+
foot waves. The lee of Kelley's Island was crowded with various power boats
and a few sailboats. We continued on to Cedar Point, very comfortable with
our sail plan and Alacrity's handling. Our speed gradually dropped from 15+
to 7 ish as the wind died to 20 kts. What a pleasure. We were all soaked
to the skin, and in spite of the reasonable temperature, we were cold and
shivering. We had not brought our proper foul weather gear. It was so nice
to get back to the club for a hot shower. We thought we were the only ones
to quit, but gradually the fleet returned one by one, each with a tale to
tell. During all this my crew was remarkably calm with only the occasional
panic yell as we appeared to be out of control. Of course appearances can
be deceptive.
There were many lessons learned but the main one was, quit while you are
alive. As for the next race, anyone know of a willing crew?
Brian Thorpe
Race & Survival on the F-27 - Eric Ravn's Account
Deb, To say the least, it was a great experience. This was the 4th time my
daughter Tina (age 15) and I sailed the Annie Sue Potts. The WX channel
stated winds 10-15mph which I thought would be great for our first race. We
had no expectations on winning, but did expect to finish the race.
Our start was poor in relationship to the other multi-hulls, we still
haven't quite got a smooth tack down as of yet. We were flying our 155%
and were moving through the fleet of mono-hulls at a rapid rate. What a
thrill blowing past so many beautiful boats. After we passed the NE corner
of Kelley's Island, the starboard shroud turnbuckle unscrewed. We had left
the pins out because we loosened this turnbuckle to step the mast. Big
mistake!! I tried to reconnect it, but the water was getting ruff and I was
not having any luck. At that time, a wave came over the Amas and set off my
auto-inflate life jacket, that about chocked me to death. When we got
behind North Island I furled the headsail and tried to reef the main.
Unfortunately, the topping lift line had jammed in the roller furler swivel
for the main sheet. Our main, neither raised or lowered did nothing to
improve our situation. After we rounded North Island, we were hit by several
extremely large waves. One really scared the he-- out of both Tina and me.
I decided it was time to call it a day. Off to our right I saw Pelee
Island. We fell off and headed for sheltered water. We beached the boat and
made repairs. Luckily, nothing was broken, not even our spirit. Later we
headed back to the Sandusky Sailing Club, mostly under power because the
wind had totally died.
Once back at the dock, Tina ask me, "When's the next race". I have to tell
you, this kid piloted the boat most of the day, even when things were bad.
Hats off to my crew!!