A Monohull Sailor Goes Multi

For 2005 Trans Erie Race

by Larry Lang

It was Wednesday before the race about 10am when I received a call from an acquaintance of mine asking if I could crew on his Corsair 28-R Trimaran.  Now I usually plan such events months in advance so because of this short notice I had some doubts and concerns.  So I told Bill that I would have to check my schedule to see if I had any vacation time left. I had only sailed with Bill once before about a month earlier for a leisurely day sail out to the Detroit Light in 4-8 kts of wind.  The rest of the crew would consist of a good friend of his, Gary, whom he had been sailing with for a number of years which included a few Lake Huron Double handed challenge and a couple of Mackinaw's.  Now these races were all on his old boat, a Tartan 34 or on Gary's boat, a C&C 30 Mark 1.  Bill bought his Tri 2 years ago and has done 4 or 5around the buoy type races.  This would be the longest and first overnighter with this boat.  Now, I have sailed a couple of beach Cats for fun and I crewed on a Prindle 16 and a Tornado once each.  So, I had a little knowledge of multi's and their potential speed and stability concerns.  I took all this into account; the vacation was the least of my concerns.  But I must say that I was intrigued by the offer to do a distance race on one of these so-called "fast boats".  I call Bill back that evening and agreed to crew.  Now I had to scramble to get my gear together because I hadn't been racing in over two years.  Where were my gloves, foul weather gear, harness & tether?  What else would I need on a Tri, should I bring my wet suit?

We departed GIYC shortly after 1400 on Friday.  The wind was from the south-southwest at around 15kts.  We set the main and sailed out the start.  We were about 50 minutes early so we were able to discuss our race strategy and watch schedule.  Bill told me that he wanted me to take the 5-7 watch on the helm and we agreed to a 4 on 2 off schedule.   We also discussed our sail selection, the jib is about a 70%, and then we had the Screecher, now there is a term I hadn't heard before.  The screecher is similar to a drifter on a monohaul but it is used when the wind is too far forward for the spinnaker and it sets forward of the jib.  And, of course, there is the asymmetrical spinnaker, which sets at the end of the sprit.  We sailed back and forth along the start line until the 5-minute gun and then set the screecher.  Our speed went form 5-6kts to 7-9kts.  We had a good start, trimmed in a settled the boat down.  One by one the competition set their chutes so Bill gave me the helm so he and Gary could set the spinnaker.  As soon as the chute was set and trimmed the boat just took off like a rocket.  We went from 9 to 15kts in an instant, I just held on to the tiller not sure what to expect.  Were we supposed to be going this fast?  Would we put the bow or amahs into a wave?  I told Bill that now I know what it must feel like driving an Indy car, the adrenalin rush was something else.  I could not believe the speed, the boat was just skipping across the waves with an occasional wave hitting the supports for the amahs and spraying through the trampoline.  By the time the PHRF 'A' boats started at 1650, we were at Colchester! 

There was another Corsair 28 called "Big Storm" that Bill told me was our main competition.  They had pulled out ahead of us at the start.  Big storm is sailed by a crew with over 20 years experience on multis and they had placed in the 4 previous Trans Erie's. We had to give them about 10 sec. a mile so we needed to try to get ahead of them.  I concentrated on what they were doing and slowly we began to catch them.  I worked the boat to weather and was able to get past.  I guess I was beginning to get somewhat comfortable at sailing at 10-14 kts.  Bill took the helm at 1900 and I went below to try and rest.  When I came back on deck about an hour later I discovered that Big Strom was about a 1/8-mile ahead and pulling away.  Bill and Gary took their respective turns on the helm and I trimmed the chute.

About midnight, I took over on the helm.  Oh, did I mention the conditions after nightfall?  The wind shifted from the SW to NW and picked up to around 20.  The sky started to clear and we could see the glow on the horizon through the remaining clouds as the full moon was rising.  What a night, 20+kts out of the northwest, clear sky and a full moon like a giant spotlight in the sky.  Thankfully we were sailing east with a northwest wind or that moon would have almost been blinding!

When I took over on the helm, the competition was barely visible on the horizon.  After a few minutes getting re-acquainted with the helm of a multihull, I began to get into the "groove".  I would slowly bring the boat into the wind, accelerate, the wind would go forward and I would steer down and surf a wave.  At times it was as if you could go as fast as you wanted or had the guts to!  When Bill asked if I wanted to be relieved I said "hell no, I'm having too much fun!"  Then, before I knew it, we had overtaken Big Storm.  As the night progressed we just kept the boat sailing as fast as possible. The distance to go was decreasing rapidly.  60, 50, 40, at about 35 miles to the finish, I turned the helm back to Bill at around 0300. As the sky lightened, so did the wind.  We began to slow down to the 7-10 range but the seas where still running 3-5'.  As the sun began to rise, the wind continued to lighten and back a bit. It was becoming difficult to keep the boat moving at a decent pace due to the residual seas.  It seemed we were barely moving at 5-7 kts.  The rest of the race was a bit frustrating, we had come so far, so fast and now it seemed we just couldn't get there.  We finished the race crossing tacks with Big Storm and finishing about 15 min. behind.  Our total elapsed time to cover 140 NM was 17hr 50min!  All I could say was WOW What a Ride!

There are obviously a few differences on a Multi compared to a mono haul.  Here are a few of my observations. They accelerate fast and stop fast.  Tacking can be a challenge.  With a multi if you need to depower you have to drive down vs. going up.  That took a little getting use to, although you will pick it up quickly once that windward amahs begins rising out of the water.  Apparent wind and VMG are the other things that are difficult to judge.  When you accelerate from 9 to 17 kts the wind goes forward in a hurry and your spinnaker will collapse if you are not careful.  But the most notable difference is the stability in the conditions we experienced on Friday night.  With 20+knots of wind and 3-5' seas, you could put items on the counter and they didn't go flying off!  There was virtually no heel angle, maybe 2-3 deg at most.  No rolling or pounding.  I was able to make some sandwiches for the crew just before dark and the bread, meat and condiments just stayed in place on the counter!  This was definitely an experience I will remember for a long time.  And it has given me a new appreciation of the other side of sailing, going MULTI!

Larry Lang, with crew Gary Sparagowski and owner Bill Tilley on TROIKA