Fall Bay 2002 and 2003

 22nd Put-in-Bay Fall Regatta Recap:  The Last Hurrah!!!!

 Oct. 5th and 6th, 2002
 
 It has been exactly one year since the first start of the first race at 22nd Fall Bay Regatta.  And for the first time in a few years, we actually raced all three races!!!  The conditions were ideal for the final regatta of the racing season.....The Last Hurrah!!!!
 
Thursday, Boat Delivery to PIB and Jim's Totally Bogus Adventures at C Dock
 
This story was just too funny to leave out!  NOAA weather radio was predicting truly fowl weather for the Friday afternoon boat delivery, so Jim opted to single-hand Big Storm over to the Bay on Thursday afternoon after work.  This was made easier  because the boat was already  tied up on the wall at Port Clinton Yacht Club. When i shoved Big Storm off the wall at 5pm, it was blowing approximately 10 knots out of the east..no big deal.  
 
I watched with binoculars from the PCYC levy as Jim, who is not very adept at doing foredeck, struggle  putting up the sails with out Auto to help him.  Big Storm was not co-operating, she wanted to sail!!  Finally, after 20 minutes, Jim was off.  I could see that the white caps across the bay.  The breeze was building.  I could kick myself for not going with him.
 
According to Jim, the sail over to the Bay was fast (8-9 knots), but manageable....2 hours dock to dock. Jim took down his sails in the lee of Middle Bass Island.  The real adventure began at C Dock.
 
I called ahead to our buddy and Race Organizer over on the Bay, Johnny Borman, to enlist his assistance in tying up Big Storm at the dock.  John was making his usual rounds of the bars.  I left several messages on the phone.  I finally did get hold of John, but he's so hard of hearing, he couldn't understand a word I said.  So I called his neighbor, I called Scarpelli's.  I even called Tipper's, to no avail.  I made one last call to Borman and he could hear me this time. 
 
John arrived at the dock the same time Jim did, but after making his usual rounds  to Heinemann's Winery and Tony's, John could not catch any lines.  After several failed attempts to throw Johnny  a line, Jim sidled over to C Dock, and grabbed one of the posts, hanging on for dear life.  This slowed down Big Storm's forward progress sufficiently  to avoid boat damage, but the east wind caused her to drift away from the dock.  As the angle of separation increased, Jim 's choice was to fall in the water or jump for the wall.  Jim made a leap for the wall.  As the water levels in the fall are quite low, and the wall was at least chest high, Jim's attempt was less than satisfactory.  Jim banged himself badly on the steel and concrete and in all the excitement, neglected to bring any docklines with him.  Now Big Storm was adrift in the harbor with no one on board.
 
Big Storm, with her bowsprit poised menacingly like a weapon before her, was drifting towards a large and expensive looking powerboat on the intersecting wall. Jim was able to recapture her by galloping across the power boat and stepping onto the bowsprit,  By then, Jim had many helping hands to help tie Big Storm safely to the dock.
 
Afterwards, Johnny Borman took Jim home , fed him and plied him with 40 year old Scotch, and otherwise took care of him.  So I missed out on a great sail and a great party!
 
Friday Night Registration
 
We had 26 boats registered, and 4 multihulls, despite the horrendous delivery conditions on Friday afternoon.  The booze was flowing at the Boathouse. 
 
We were all sailing shorthanded.  We persuaded Bob Johnson, who crewed with us on the Trans-Erie, to put his packing aside for the weekend and join us on board our Stock F-28, Big Storm. He didn't need much convincing.  We thought Marvin Lampi and Jim Wells were real game birds, double-handing Marvin's Stock 28, Tri-mendous for the entire regatta.  In a total act of faith, Brian Thorpe single-handed his Native Newick 38, Alacrity all the way from Monroe, MI in horrendous weather just to race in the Fall Bay series. Fortunately, our Scoring Chairman, and Past Commodore of I-LYA, Dennis Mintus, was a seasoned sailor.  Dennis brought his lady Cindy along for the weekend.  We pressed them both into service. 
 
By contrast, Put-in-Bay resident and Past STL 27 National Champion,  Mark Scarpelli had a full compliment of crew on board his 35 foot Rudy Choy Cat, the Dream...but not all of his crew were sailors.
 
The schedule called for two races back to back on Saturday and one on Sunday. The RC set triangle courses, approximately 7-10nm long using the natural landmarks as marks of the course, and setting a tetrahedron as a windward mark when needed. 
 
Saturday, Race One
 
What a difference a day makes!  It was a beautiful fall day at Put-in-Bay.  The sun was out.  It was only blowing about 10 -15 knots, but the seas were still pretty lumpy when we arrived at the starting area which was located at the center of the triangle formed by three islands:  Rattlesnake to the northwest, Middle Bass to the east and South Bass to the south.  The northwest wind was gusting straight off Buoy RN"2", located just west of North Bass Island.  So it was no surprise when the RC put up the Course 2 flag, marks to starboard.  RN"2" was a natural choice for the weather mark. Our course was a large triangle with RN"2" in the NW corner, Middle Bass East Light G"1" at the eastmost corner, with the start-finish line at the south most corner, and Middle Bass and Sugar Island in the middle.  The Distance was 10.3 nm.  The JAM and MORC fleet would be sailing a smaller triangle.
 
Unlike every other regatta on the Great Lakes, at Fall Bay, the multihulls had the first start at 10:40am.  On board the Big Storm, we had the best start, albeit, 15 seconds late.  Mark Scarpelli on his 35 foot Rudy Choy Cat, the Dream, was 5 seconds behind us.  Then it was Marvin Lampi and Jim on Tri-mendous and Brian Thorpe's Alacrity.  
 
We were catching a header on starboard tack and opted to tack onto another header.  Just west of Sugar Island, the header turned into a nice lift on port tack.  When that tack went bad, we tacked back onto starboard, catching a nice lift as we approached North Bass Island. 
 
Meanwhile, Mark Scarpelli, was working hard to keep up on the older designed cat.  Brian Thorpe's sailed his big trimaran, Alacrity right first, towards Middle Bass Island, gaining considerable ground and crossing the Dream ahead.
 
Big Storm was the first boat around R"2".   We set our chute on the port side and jibed for the slot between N. Bass and Sugar/Middle Bass Islands. Tri-mendous was next around.  Marvin and Jim opted not to use their chute at this regatta, they rolled out their screecher.  They jibed too.  We would have to give them some time.  Alacrity was next around.  They sailed right down the middle, wing on wing.   And then it was the Dream and the rest of the fleet.  
 
On board Big Storm, we were being lifted away from the mark on port tack, forcing us to jibe for the mark. Once around G"1", we had a close reach thru the cut between Middle Bass and Ballast Island..caught a gust and we were doing 11 knots.  The close reach turned into close hauled.  Looking back, the other F-28, Tri-mendous had to tack to make the cut. Ahead, it was a short beat to the finish.  Big Storm finished behind a JAM boat at 12:30:50, 1:44:39 Corrected.  Tri-mendous crossed the finish line at 12:49:31, 2:01:48 CORR, with Alacrity not too far behind at 12:51:56, 2:03:11 CORR.  Dream brought up the rear at 1:18:32, 2:18:27 CORR. 
 
Saturday, Race Two
 
We had time between races to knock back some sandwiches and drinks, and enjoy the sunshine.  The RC posted a Course 1 flag, marks to port. That would take us northwest around Rattlesnake Is., south to Green Is. and back to the finish line. The distance was 7 nautical miles. 
 
On board Big Storm we had the most miserable start.  We were headed for the favored pin end, and tacked for a port start, but an unexpected header foiled our plans.  We were late for the start.  Meanwhile, Brian Thorpe set up for a starboard start at  the RC end, and Alacrity won the start handily.  Tri-mendous started next.  The Dream Boat was late to the line and started behind us.  They were the first boat to go right.
 
We tacked to starboard to cover Alacrity, but she's sailing higher and we're getting sucked in behind her in a header.  (I hate that when it happens!) We tacked right again, and the Dream goes left.  Meanwhile, the other F-28, Tri-mendous is sailing below us and about 5 boatlengths back.  Alacrity has also tacked right, but appear to be falling in behind us, for the moment anyways, in the oscillating breeze. Then they would get lifted up inside of us, again. 
 
We tacked to consolidate our lead and barely crossed Alacrity on starboard tack and sailed into Rattlesnake Island.  Alacrity continued out on port tack.  The next time we crossed, we were forced to duck. We continued right to the starboard layline and caught a big lift...now we were reaching into the rattles at Rattlesnake.  We prepare to put up the screacher, but the wind is honking on the other side and thwarts our attempts.  We can't carry the screacher after all and drop it back down to the deck.  Behind us, Team Alacrity rounded the Rattles ahead of Tri-mendous.   Both boats hung tough from the close reach from Rattlesnake to Green Island in a real horse race.  Marvin Lampi and Jim Wells caught the big tri on their little F-28 at Green, but Alacrity, with it's huge roller-furling genoa, passed them.  When Marvin and Jim got their screecher working, they regained their lead.
 
On board Big Storm, they carried the jib on the close reach down to Green, we set the chute on the other side and jibed for the finish line, keeping marks to port.  We all scrambled for the high side and flew into the finish line doing 15 knots plus.  Big Storm crossed the finish line at 2:46:18 (1:01:44 Corrected).  Tri-mendous finished at 2:53:26 (1:07:44).  Alacrity finished at 2:56:10 ( 1:09:42).  And the Dream Team finished at 3:12:38, correcting out at 1:17:49. 
 
Back at C Dock, it was Miller Time!  We were in the center of the monohull raft-up.  We languished the remainder of the afternoon, soaking up the sunshine on a beautiful fall afternoon and resting up for the après race partying at the Roundhouse. 
 
Sunday, Race Three
 
An earlier starting time required an early breakfast.  We decided to give Pasquallies a try.  They were short on help, as usual, but we still got out of there by 8am.  At 9:00am, the monohull raft had not broke up yet, so we extricated ourselves by backing out.  Now we had just 20 minutes to raise sails and get out to the starting area in time for the multihull start. Even with a 15 knot tail wind, we motor sailed to the starting are and just barely made it to the start line before the sequence began, without any warning, on time.  Fortunately, our ever vigilant crew, Bob Johnson, caught the time on his watch and Jim settled into race mode, running the line on starboard first, reaching past the RC  and coming back on port tack, reaching past the RC boat doing at least 12-15 knots, spray flying, which elicited howls of admiration from the race committee.  We almost ran up the sterns of Heidi Riddle's Tarten 10, Nuts.  Her crew at the stern of the boat had eyes as big as saucers.  They had no idea what to do. There was nothing they could do at that juncture.  We were the overtaking boat and we would have to stay clear.  With less than 30 seconds to go, we tacked at the pin end for a perfect start with boat speed.  Meanwhile, with 30 seconds to go, Brian Thorpe had drawn a bead on the pin end of the line and Alacrity was racing in at full speed, when another Tarten 10, Pearl, obstructed their approach.  This set them back at least 1 1/2 minutes as they had to spin around to avoid a collision. The other F-28, Tri-mendous started about 10 boat lengths back of us. 
 
Flags on the RC boat called for a Course 1, with a weather mark located approximately 1 mile to the south in the lee of South Bass Island, Green Island as the second mark to the west and Rattlesnake Island to the north,  all marks to be taken to starboard. The distance was 7 nautical miles. 
 
On board Big Storm, we carried out on starboard to the port layline and tacked. We passed the windward mark just 8 minutes after the start and set up for a close reach  for the south-most point of Green Island.  Tri-mendous tacked 15 boat lengths back, but closed the gap by 5 boat lengths when we sailed through the lee of S. Bass Island. The Native Newick was 5 minutes behind.
 
I guess i should have set the chute while we were still sailing flat on the water, because once we were clear of S. Bass, we were sailing on our ear in the gusts, requiring high side weight.  That required me to hook up the head, the tack, and the clew one at a time, in between the gusts.
 
We gave Green Island a wide berth, as we did not want to run aground on O'Connell's Shoal.  Nor did we want the dubious honor of having some rock or shoal named after us in the Sailing Instructions.  Once clear, we dove down between Green and an anchored fishing boat for the right hand turn towards Rattlesnake Island.  I ran to leeward and pulled the bag open.  When Bob hoisted the chute on the starboard side, the chute filled for a moment for what appeared to be a perfect launch.  Then the clew flew free from the sheet and the chute flew forward like a huge flag off the top of the mast and bowsprit...out of our reach, of course.
 
We had never dealt with this problem before.  Jim tried turning the boat up to weather and the clew flew back, but I could not hang onto it.  Jim tried again.  Bob was dragged across the boat when he tried.  Then we hit upon the idea of easing the tack...now that worked.  We hooked the sheet on, trimmed in and we were off again doing 14-15 knots, at least.   Cloaked by the island from the view of the RC boat, the committee members didn't see any of our shenanigans. They were impressed when they saw Big Storm flying along at Mach speed between Green and Rattlesnake Island. 
 
Meanwhile, Marvin and Jim, double-handing the F-28, Tri-mendous, rounded Green Island inside of us.  Sailing short-handed, they opted to fly their screecher and passed us to leeward, sailing very deep, but also very slow.  We carried out on port tack, jibing on the starboard layline for the Rattles just off Rattlesnake Island.  Marvin said he was sailing deeper than he really wanted to on port tack, but we were crossing him with rights.
 
The wind got shifty as we approached the rattles and we were prepared to jibe again, if needs be, but then the wind shifted forward we sailed hot into the mark and trimmed in for more speed on the leeside.  Marvin and Jim had closed the gap to within 10 boatlengths when they jibed  on the starboard layline, but without a chute, they could not keep up.
 
We doused the chute and trimmed in on starboard tack in the lee of Rattlesnake Island, finding flat water and much more breeze than we expected. We ducked a fishing boat then trimmed in for the finish line, but a header foiled our plans.  We carried out on starboard until we could lay the line on port.  We passed the RC boat close astern, flying an ama, hootin' and hollerin', crossing the finish line at 10:24:14.  The Race Committee was really impressed  with our 54 minute finish time..apparently we broke some kind of course record....the fastest monohull, Jump, took 59 minutes to get around the course.  Big Storm corrected out at 50.02 minutes. 
 
Tri-mendous came out of the leeside of Rattlesnake Island and furled his screacher and sailed bear-headed until they could get their jib up....simply not enough hands to do it all at the same time.  This cost them some time  and distance to weather.  They crossed the finish at 10:28:13, correcting out at 52:58 minutes.  Brian Thorpe opted to sail the downwind leg wing-on-wing, finishing at 10:32:58 and correcting out to 57:01 minutes.  The Dream Team spent their morning dreaming after a night of frivolity, so recorded a DNS.
 
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to the 2002 Fall Bay Regatta!   Gotto Go, Gotto Go, Gotto Go!!!
 
Fall Bay Recap 2003

 
Deb,
 
Here is my account of the Fall Bay race:
 
After the Snow Flurries Regatta I decided to leave "Alacrity" at the Port Clinton Yacht Club for the following week.  Jim and Deb kindly took me back to Monroe, MI to pick up my car and that saved me a wet ride home.
Thursday
Since Diana was busy on Friday night, she drove me back to PCYC on Thursday.  That gave me enough time to dry out the spinnaker from the previous weekend, have a couple of beers, and an enjoyable dinner with Deb and Jim and others. 
 
Friday
Jim and I agreed to sail to Put-in-Bay in convoy around lunch time on Friday, since the forecast was for strong winds (15 to 25) and rain later in the day.  With the wind out of the South, I was having a difficult time maneuvering away from the PCYC wall.  The inboard engine gives almost no steerage except for a little prop walk.  Jim tried to tow me away from the wall but that was not successful.  To make matters worse, I realized that when I dropped the daggerbord a foot or so to gain some bite once underway, that the depth was less than three feet.  I eventually had a lucky break with a lull in the wind and managed to power away while pushing on the wall.  This is not recommended without a crew but sometimes you have to take chances.  About 30 feet further on there was a loud crack as the rudder crash stick broke.  The rudder draws 3 1/2 feet!  I decided to motor out of the channel and then put in my last crash stick.  Next year I will make twice as many.
 
With the wind offshore, the waves did not have enough fetch to build up, so the water was relatively calm when we set off for Put-in-Bay.  It was dead downwind so I unfurled about half of the genoa on port tack and immediately powered up to 10 knots.  Jim opted for starboard tack and gradually we separated.  About halfway across, 3 or 4 miles, I passed "Jeb" coming the other way under power and bucking wildly into the now well developed 4 footers.  The wind had driven the water out and presumably there was not enough depth for him to get into C Dock.
 
Since I arrived at C dock first, I had to tie up without help.  At least the wind pushed me against the wall.
 
Saturday
Saturday's races were called off because of too much wind.  Noone really wanted another Sandusky Islands race with all the damage it caused.  So fate was on our side and there was more time for the pig roast and blender party.  Also my crew, John Hochradel and son-in-law Steve, could not get out of their Detroit Beach channel on Friday night in their catamaran, so I was expecting to have to find another crew.  Deb is very good at this and in no time I had replacements.  Then later in the day, John showed up and it was back to plan A.  My second set of volunteers found rides on other boats, with Monique from Cleveland hitching a ride on Big Storm.  That's good, I thought, the more weight on their boat the better!!
 
Sunday
On Sunday the wind was down to a pleasant 8 to 12 knots and we all set off for the start.  Only the course 1 race around Green and Rattlesnake Islands was held, and with the multihulls going first at 9:30, we had to rush to get out there.  With only Big Storm and Alacrity in the class, the focus on each other was clear.  The first problem was that the start sequence appeared to be about 2 minutes ahead of my trusty watch.  So the best we could do was chase Big Storm across the line about 15 or more seconds late on starboard tack with a direct heading close hauled for Green Island.  We closely tailed Big Storm and eventually managed to claw upwind and overtake using Alacrity's slightly better pointing ability.  Now we were well hyped and on a direct course for the Green Island mark.  Where were all the monohulls, I thought.  At about that time Big Storm tacked behind us, to get out of our dirty air, or so I thought.  This was accompanied by shouting from their trampoline which we thought was normal.  Also their tack seemed more like 180 degrees!.  By the time we had figured out that we were going the wrong way around the course we were 200 yards behind.  How could we have been so foolish as to ignore the red course flag.  At least I know that it means leave marks to port.  In the heat of the start moment, and our burning desire to beat Big Storm, we forgot to look.
Anyway, now Big Storm was in a commanding position and we were on a beam reach back to Rattlesnake Island.  That is usually a better point of sail for them in light air and so we appeared to be slowly losing ground.  Now I could see all the monohulls ahead of us.  As we rounded the eastern tip of Rattlesnake, we pointed high again and began to claw back.  The wind was somewhat shifty and we were now amongst the T10's.  Big Storm tacked well ahead of us but would not make the western edge of the island without a lucky windshift.  We continued on port and began to get a serious header.  The time was right and it looked like we could make the point, so we tacked.  Meanwhile, Big Storm suffered in the lee of the island and we crossed in front of them handily.  Rattlesnake to Green Island was just off the wind and we were making good time against the T10's and keeping Big Storm at bay.  Surely the run back to the finish would change that as their asymmetrical spinnaker usually beats us hands down.  However, the final leg was more of a beam reach and once again we maintained our lead with the help of our genoa and an aborted attempt by Big Storm to fly their spinnaker.
 
So it was the first time we have been first over the line and although the wind direction favored Alacrity this time, we also did not make any mistakes (except for the start!).  The prizegiving was rewarding with Alacrity's name on the John Borman Trophy and a flag to add to our small collection.  Check out the trophy at the Boathouse, it will be up on a shelf for all to see.  After the awards, I had a leisurely motor back to Otter Creek with plenty of sunshine and very little wind,  what a change from Saturday.  I hope that next year we can muster up a few more multihulls for the Fall Bay series because it is a very pleasant low key event.
 
Brian Thorpe
"Alacrity"