• Average temp 35˚, High of 40˚ ~1510
  • Unlimited (18+mi) visibility
  • Ebbing current
  • Full size Dyer sails Race 1 to Rowayton
  • 6 boats
    • Will Berry
    • Mike McLaughlin
    • Rory Cumming
    • Bill Klein
    • Chris Winalski
    • Steve Schwanhausser
    Race 1 starts from the race shack ~1100
    • Starboard tack .45nm to racing mark anchored off Bell Island's Noroton Pt.
    • Boats tack onto port tack .6nm westward, observing N2 Ballast Reef, to finish at N4 entrance buoy to Five Mile River ~1200. Approx. 1.1nm.
    • SW breeze, all boats close hauled to Bell Island race mark, where tidal current stands up a significant chop for the tight reach toward Ballast Reef and N4 finish buoy.
    • Ebb current sets two boats eastward toward the Sheffield Harbor outer channel. Both boats had difficulty completing tacks into standing waves that put them in irons. Second or third attempts to tack succeed.
    • Fleet was spread over a wide area with trailing boats bucking foul current and steep chop much longer than the lead boats, in air temps averaging 35˚.
    • All boats took significant water onboard, hiked in the gusts, bailed in the lulls.
      1. Will Beery
      2. Mike McLaughlin
      3. Rory Cumming
      4. Bill Klein
      5. Steve Schwanhausser
      6. Chris Winalski
    Informal race 1 A starts between channel buoys inside Five Mile River ~1215, .86nm north on Five Mile River to the finish at Schwanhausser's dock ~1300
    • Cookout Schwanhausser home
    • Bill Klein provided burgers and hotdogs
    • Storm sails used for return sail to Wilson Cove
    • Boats depart Schwanhausser's dock ~1430
    Informal race 2 A starts ~1435
    • .86nm beat in fickle SW breeze and flood current to N4 entrance buoy slows and disperses the fleet.
    • Rory capsizes, picked up by the Whaler, continues.
    • Lead boats wait while trailing boats catch up.
    • Sea Hunt mark boat loses Bill Klein's Dyer sail that had been rolled and placed onboard ~1515
    Race 2 starts ~1520
    1. Will Beery ~1600
    2. Steve Schwanhausser
    3. Rory Cumming
    4. Bill Klein
    5. Mike McLaughlin
    6. Chris Winalski
    • Boats stowed at South Dock 1615
    • Sunset 1630
    Ideas for next time:
    • Do it earlier in the fall season, warmer air and water temps, high tide, more daylight hours
    • More safety boats
    • When fleet disperses, trailing boats should be towed to close the area between racers and safety boats