Chronicle #9 - US National Championships, Conclusion and Gratitude
Preparations for US Nationals
After making our way from JFK airport to New Jersey we retrieved the truck and boat from three month’s storage. We found the boat overgrown with weeds and as we were rigging the boat found that field mice had nested inside the forward cross bar that supports the mast and chewed through many of the control lines. This delayed our ability to get on the water to practice but the winds were light so we were not missing much. Due to the light winds we were only able to have one practice day on Saturday. On Sunday, Alida, Emily and Chris came to visit us from Manhattan and we had a wonderful dinner together.
US National Championships, Sept 17-24
Thirty boats entered this race with two from Vancouver, Canada and the rest from the US. The regatta was sailed on Sandy Hook Bay south of New York City. On Tuesday evening we all took a ferry trip up the Hudson River to the east side of Manhattan and returned to view the skyline. It was very dramatic because we happened to pass the United Nations building while President Obama was speaking there so there were many security boats in the river.
Race Day #1
For the first day of racing we were out on the race course at 11:00 and started on time in very light wind because the race committee was fearful of the wind dying further and not able to have any races for the day. They signaled for a race with three laps (which we thought was strange given that the wind was barely 5 kts). We had a good start and worked our way up the left side of the course and were amongst the top boats around the weather mark. The downwind leg was slow but we managed to stay with the leaders through the leeward gate. The wind continued to die and the three top boats got a significant lead on the rest of the fleet. We were in third place but with a good chance to move up. As we were approaching the windward mark we noticed that the R/C was preparing to shorten the course to do a finish there. As we got within a hundred meters of the mark the R/C raised the race cancelled flag since there was so little wind and most of the boats would have not been able to reach the finish line. We were disappointed to not be able to start the series with a third but felt it was the right decision. We experienced a very similar race at the Nordic Championships in Estonia where the R/C proceeded with the race and we were one of the many boats who received a “DNF” did-not-finish because we were only a few minutes beyond the time limit.
Race Day #2
This day started very similar to the first day. The R/C was anxious to get a race off before the wind died and started promptly at 11:00. They also signaled for a shorter race of only two laps. We had a good start with good boat speed going up the left side. We rounded the weather mark in second place. It was a tight race going down wind. Some boats behind us were doing very well. We were the first boat to gybe onto starboard tack. We managed to get into a light breeze while the rest of the boats were in a hole (little wind) and we rocketed ahead. It looked like we had moved into first place. We had to gybe one more time to get to the gate. We were confused because we could only see one gate mark and then noticed that the R/C had pulled one of the gates onto the R/C boat. As we went through the gate rounding the R/C boat to go upwind they blew the horn indicating that we had won the race. Then I also noticed the shorten race course flag was flying. The R/C cancelled further racing for the day because of the lack of wind.
Race Day #3
The R/C called for an earlier start at 10:00 since more wind was forecast and we were so behind on accomplishing the desired 12 races. They were able to knock off four races in about 5 – 8 kts of wind. Our boat speed was not faring as well and we were frequently on the wrong side of the course. We finished this day with finishes of 5-8-5-5 which put us into fourth place overall out of thirty competitors. Boats were very inconsistent in the difficult-to-call breeze with the exception of Robbie Daniel who had finishes of 4-3-1-1 though he was 13th in the first race yesterday. Robbie is a three-time F-18 National Champion and well known Olympic sailing coach who coached the German Tornado team to a bronze medal in the 2000 Sydney games.
Race Day #4
The wind was a little better than forecast and about the same as the third day. The first race started and we were in 7th place at the leeward gate. We took the right side up the course on the second leg which had been favored most of the races. The R/C signaled a change of course and moved the weather mark 15 degrees to the south and closer to the ferry terminal. As we went up wind we noticed the Robbie Daniel tacked in the lead to the weather mark but we thought he was short of the lay line. We went a little further along with four other boats. All of a sudden I noticed seagulls “standing” on the water so immediately tacked. The boat in front of us did the same. As we were going toward the mark on the layline I saw the boat in front of us come to an abrupt stop (seeming to run aground). I immediately called to Matt to lift daggerboards and reached to pull up our starboard board myself. But, we were too late. The boat hit an old submerged piling causing us to come to a hard stop. Matt went flying forward into the water and Steve crashed with his chin into the forward cross bar. Matt got back onto the boat but could not raise the port daggerboard. It was severely jammed down and we feared potential underwater hull damage. As I was recovering I noticed blood on my white rash guard shirt. We continued to race but this set us back to a 10th place finish. In total four boats hit these submerged pilings. We had three more races where we had finishes of 7-OCS-13. The OCS is when we were called over the starting line so disqualified.
After finishing the final race we had to capsize the boat to free the stuck daggerboard. It took us about 10 minutes to work it free and then right the boat to head to the beach. Luckily there was no damage to the board or hull causing a leak.
After the boat was put away Matt took the initiative to look up medical facilities for me. I just wanted to put a bandaid over my gash for the next day. After visiting the local emergency room and receiving 8 stiches in my chin we were set to race for the final day.
Meanwhile the other three boats were requesting redress from the R/C for the submerged piling collisions claiming the R/C should not have aligned the course to include unmarked underwater hazards. At the hearing the next day they included us since I had been injured. After a contentious hearing they did decide to award three of the four boats redress by giving them their position at the previous leeward gate (which was 7th) for us. At the end of this day we were in 7th place overall.
Race Day #5
The final day of racing was also very light wind. The wind was so light that the R/C did a shore side postponement so that all the boats remained on the beach. There was a time limit that no race could start after 2:00 pm to allow boats to pack up. Around noon many boats that were not doing well in the regatta started to pack up. Around 1:00 the R/C signaled for all boats to get on the water to prepare for a race start. A race was started around 1:45 in light winds around 5 kts. We had a poor start but our boat speed was good. We were working our way through the fleet and finished in 7th place. We then went ashore to start packing our boat for the homeward trip. Later in the day we found out that other competitors had protested the R/C for incorrect starting and boat over signals. Since the R/C agreed that they had made mistakes on the start the race results were disallowed. Therefore, the results from Thursday stood with us in 7th place. Robbie won the regatta convincingly with a 10 point lead over the second place team who were locals from New Jersey. In third place was Luke Ramsey from Vancouver, freshly returned from the Rio Olympics where he was the Canadian representative in the Nacra 17 catamarans. San Diegan Bryan Paine placed 4th crewing for Todd Ricardi. MBYC member Jeff Newsome placed 18th.
Conclusion and Gratitude
The very light wind Nationals was an anti-climatic conclusion to our incredible summer of F-18 racing. Matt and I will have many wonderful memories of this adventure for the rest of our lives and have enjoyed sharing the experiences through these Chronicles.
There are so many people who have been very supportive of our effort that we need to thank:
Alida – my wonderful wife who held down the fort in San Diego
Matt and Kim Morris (Matt’s Parents) – who strongly supported Matt in this endeavor and Matt’s father for helping to drive the boat cross-country
Stephanie Smith – Matt’s girlfriend who put up with Matt being gone for 3+ months and developed a complete library of all pictures from the trip
Frank Reidlehuber – Steve’s cousin, our host in Zweibrucken, Germany and keeper of our car over the winter
Finn and Britta Kuesler – our gracious host in Sonderborg, Denmark and keeper of our boat over the winter in a barn on their beautiful farm
Doug Hart – who will help drive the boats back to San Diego with Steve
Victor Simon – Commodore of the Sandy Hook Catamaran Club who made the arrangements for the storage of my truck and boat for the summer
Post Regatta Activities
On Saturday Matt flew immediately back to San Diego so he would be ready to resume his studies at UCSD on Monday. He missed the first two days of classes due to the Nationals.
Steve and Alida embarked on a five day “second honeymoon” trip to Niagara Falls, Canada. Along the way we visited Watkins Glen New York State Park and Letchworth State Park the “Grand Canyon of the East”. We had beautiful Indian Summer weather except for the day at Niagara Falls but then it did not matter because most of the activities there involved getting wet from the falls! On the return trip back to New Jersey we visited Fort Erie (the bloodiest battlefield in Canadian history), Fort Stanwick and three different portions of the Erie Canal. Alida flew home from Newark Airport on Thursday.
Alida and Steve behind Niagra Falls, Canada
(Steve still has the need to get wet even though the F18 racing is done)
Steve is spending the weekend in Manhattan visiting Emily and Chris. On Tuesday Steve will rendezvous with Doug Hart to start the trip cross country towing two F-18’s. Though there was only one boat on the trailer for the trip out, a member of MBYC (Jeff Newsome) purchased a F-18 on the East Coast, sailed the Nationals and has arranged for us to transport his new boat back for him.
Next Summer?
The F-18 World Championships next year are in Copenhagen, Denmark in early July. Both Matt and I need to decompress after this long trip and Matt is focusing on his 4th year at UCSD studying Engineering Physics.
Stay tuned to see what gets planned for next summer.
Steve and Matt