ChiefSailing

In preparation for this year’s Race to Mackinac, we’re migrating stories and pictures from and about the race over to Chief’s new Facebook page, “Chief Sailing.”  If you’re interested in continuing to follow Chief and her crew on their misadventures on the high seas (I mean Great Lakes), search for the page and “like” it.  This year, we’ll have on-the-race course updates, photos and video.  Following the race, we’ll continue to use Chief’s Facebook page as our primary communications method.  Thanks for following this blog.

In what seemed like a fitting start to the season, we were greeted by a rolling fog bank, almost 20 degree drop in temperature and 45 degree wind shift just after the finish of this week’s Beer Can Series Tune-up race.  We’re not complaining, though.  Sailing season is here.

With the forecasted 5-10 kts of breeze out of the SW and 70 degree temperatures, we went out on the race course with a full mainsail and #1 headsail only to find that, while the forecasted direction held, the wind speed was in the low 20 kts.  With our #3 headsail just back from the sailmaker and sitting in our car, we were grossly over-powered and quickly reefed the main and partially roller-furled the genoa.  Our sail shape was terrible but we managed to avoid wiping out alone or into other boats…always important.  Needless to say, it wasn’t our strongest race.  That being said, we did get a chance to blow off the cob webs and remind ourselves of where everything was located.  Further, we managed to get the chute up and down without incident in a pretty solid breeze.  All in all, a good outing despite poor finishing.

By the time we made it back to the dock, we were shivering in the middle of the fog bank I mentioned above so the crew of Paul, Ted, Sean, Adam, David and Mike retired down below to warm up and enjoy a scotch.  It was good to be back.

First official race of the season is Wednesday, May 29th!

It was a cold, breezy and lumpy delivery but Chief is safely moored in Monroe Harbor waiting for another great season. Many thanks to Sean for crewing. The Mac is only a couple of months away!

Henry and I took Chief down to her winter home at Skyway Yachtworks over the weekend…always bittersweet…bittersweet in that it’s great to be aboard and on the water but difficult to accept that we have six long months until she splashes again. 

It’s been an absolutely fantastic sailing season…probably one of the best I’ve had.  Thanks to all who participated in some way…large or small…in sailing and racing Chief this year.  We couldn’t have done it without you.

What a way to finish the season.  Sunny skies, temperatures in the 80s and a 10-15 kt breeze out of the south/southwest. 

Adam, Bill, Chris, Dave and Paul crewed.  We nailed yet another start and had a great upwind leg followed by a very close rounding (9″ from the mark by some estimates) and good close reaching leg.  Our chute was up within yards of the offset mark and we started picking up boats ahead of us until we ran into a J30 intent on taking any comers as far up as necessary to protect their position.  We tangled with them for a few minutes until we sailed low and out of their shadow while they messed with a J-105 (in our class) behind us.  After finally locating the mark in the dark, the take-down went reasonably well and we we sailed close-hauled to the finish.  

We ended up finishing first in our class and, much to our surprise, that put us in first for the season (by a single point).  While we earned our first place finish for the season largely on the basis of the fact that we raced more than some of the well-sailed boats in our class, we took heart in the fact that we are improving.

A round of Mamie Taylors back at the dock (courtesy of Adam, the CLO) followed by the post-race party at the Club.  Couldn’t have asked for a better night or a better finish to the Beer Can Racing season.

Thanks to all of the crew who helped make this one of the best sailing seasons of my life.  See you all next year!!!

Notwithstanding the ominous forecast yesterday (one forecast had a 100% chance of thunderstorms, potentially severe), we got out there for Beer Can racing last night.  What a mistake it would have been to call off racing on account of the forecast.  We had a beautiful night….again reminding me that sailing is such a cheap form of therapy. 

To top it all off, we were short-handed last night (Paul, Adam and me) but we nonetheless managed to win our class.

One more official race in the series to go.

….we might have finished in the money in this year’s Chicago to Mackinac Race.  Unfortunately, a series of gear failures conspired against us late Sunday night, leaving us wondering about what it might be like to be atop the podium at the finish party accepting our flag.  While this might sound like sour grapes, I can assure you that nobody on the crew Chief feels bad about their experience during this year’s Mac.  We kicked some ass for large portions of the race and sailed fast, and we had a totally excellent time doing it.  We’ll be back and some day in the not too distant future we will get to the podium.

This year’s crew was rock solid with Geoff, Chris (aka “Carlos”), Adam and Sean returning from the 2011 Mac.  We added brothers Bill and Steve, each of whom made huge contributions.  The surprise, though, was that our last crew member, Henry, was diagnosed with strep just days before the race and didn’t sail with us (thankfully so as he was in the emergency room Saturday night during the race with a dehydration and mono diagnosis).  We sure missed him, though.

Message to Henry from the Crew

Can I just say that our starts on long-distance races rock.  After a great start in the Queen’s Cup and last year’s Mac, we won our start again this year.  With light air, we crossed the line at the gun (there was some debate about whether we were over the line at the start but no recall from the race committee settled the debate) and quickly put up our spinnaker.  Within 5 minutes, we were sailing through the class starting before us (which had to be dismaying for them).  After settling in on a starboard gybe, we woofed down our lunch of turkey, brie and fig spread on french bread, and rotated crew positions around the boat.  The wind and our  boat speed increased throughout the afternoon as we kept an eye on our competition above and behind us.

Chief Heads Out to the Start

Geoff Trimming the Spinnaker

Carlos, Adam and Bill

Sean and Steve

Mike and Geoff

At dusk on Saturday, we were still moving nicely, picking off boats in slower classes.  However, a hard-working crew needs to be fed well and, after our awesome lunch, the pressure was on for dinner.  Sean answer the challenge with his homemade pozole, garnished with radishes and cilantro.  With bellies filled, we started our watch system (four crew on and three crew off) and were treated to a spectacular show of stars, both stationary and shooting.  With the city far behind us, millions upon millions of points of light emerged as the remaining sliver of the moon settled into the western horizon.

Sunset Saturday

As the sun rose Sunday, we were moving nicely with the 12:00 to 4:00 a.m. watch reporting great boat speed and a positive shift allowing us to sail both faster and closer to the rumb line (the shortest distance to your next mark).  We enjoyed baked breakfast sandwiches and freshly perked coffee as we discussed how we were faring relative to our competitors.  Our closest competitors in the class were nowhere to be found and the boats we did find were boats that were rated much faster than us, which was encouraging.

As the day progressed, the wind died and the heat and flies increased.  By mid-afternoon, we were making 3-4 knots of boat speed (compared with 6 and 7 knots most of the day prior) and we were all trying to stay in the shade while simultaneously kill the flies attempting to feast on our blood.  Not even Steve’s hour of power on Sirius/XM Patriot Radio could cheer the crew up (not enough red meat for the conservatives, too much red meat for the liberals). This was clearly our collective low-point.  Things were so bad that the steak, carmelized onion and horseradish sauce on french bread sandwiches we had for lunch managed to cheer the crew up only momentarily.

Steve…Multitasking

Bill Keeping an Eye on the Competition Astern

The wind came back late in the day as the Manitous came into view.  While the 8 and 9 knot boat speeds clearly lifted spirits on the boat, the fact that the wind chased off all of the flies was the driving force behind a growing sense of optimism.  We were leaving boats behind again and the sailing was a kick.

Some Great Video from Sunday Evening

Carlos and Bill

Bill

As the sunset Sunday evening, we were treated to another spectacular one.  While the sun set into the lake, we dined on homemade Carolina pulled pork sandwiches topped with homemade slaw with a side of baked beans (all courtesy of Christine!), followed by a post-dinner cigar (for those that partake).

Another Beautiful Sunset

As the night wore on and we worked our way north of the Manitous, the wind began to increase and shift.  Our boat speed was great but the boat became more and more difficult to control with our all-purpose (big) spinnaker up and we made the decision to take it down and put up our chicken (small) spinnaker.  As we assembled on deck to make the sail change the shackle holding the spinnaker sheet broke loose, sending 1,000+ square feet of sail flying like a flag in front of the boat.  With considerable effort, the crew wrestled the sail back down in the pitch black of the night on the heaving deck of the boat.  We then launched our chicken chute only to find a short time later that a tear had developed in the clew of the sail.  The winds hadn’t decreased and the forecast suggested that the winds would hold through Monday.  We made the decision that we couldn’t afford to leave the chicken chute up without repairing it (and we couldn’t put up the all-purpose chute because we couldn’t control the boat with it up).  Down came the chicken chute for repair.  Once repaired, we set up to re-launch the chicken chute but, as we launched it, the shackle on the spinnaker halyard broke loose, sending the spinnaker halyard to the top of the mast and the chute to the deck.  The crew scrambled for the second spinnaker halyard and were able to launch the chicken chute (for a third time!).  Needless to say, we lost a ton of time to our competitors during our Sunday night fiasco.

Carlos’ Foredeck Trophy…The Spinnaker Sheet Shackles

By morning, we were at Gray’s Reef and the wind hadn’t let up.  In fact, it continued to increase, which made for some wild moments.  I should digress for a moment to mention that anyone who has sailed Chief in high winds knows that she is a bit of a temperamental lady.  Just when you thought you were enjoying her company with a nice conversation, she’ll turn on you and slap you accross your face.  Steve and Bill learned of her termperamental nature as we attempted a gybe at the entrance to the Gray’s Reef channel that ended in a fantastic wipe-out followed by two additional round-ups.  I believe Bill’s words were something to effect of “WTF was that?”  Given our very similar experience in last year’s Mac, the returning crew explained to Steve and Bill that this was our thing, our statement, our declaration that we have arrived at Gray’s Reef…we always wipe-out at Grays Reef.

The Parade of Boats Through the Channel at Gray’s Reef

Frustrated with out late night fiasco, we began to beat up on the rest of the fleet.  The trip down the straights was one for the memories.  Nobody managed to pass us and we managed to pass upwards of 10-15 boats, averaging 9 to 10 knots over extended stretches of water.  The building swells allowed us to begin surfing, sending the boat down the front of waves at speeds of 12 knots.

Some Great Video of Us Ripping it Up in the Straights of Mackinac

Most of us will never forget our Monday morning of the 2012 Mac.  It was some of the best sailing we had ever seen.  So much frick’n fun.

Mike On The Helm Monday Morning

Geoff Trimming the Spinnaker Monday Morning

We crossed the finish line around 2 1/2 hours after entering the Straights of Mackinac at around 11:45 a.m., some 6 hours earlier than last year.  While we knew we sailed well, we also knew that Sunday night cost us.  From our land-based family and friends, we learned that we floated between third and fifth place in our class until Sunday night and, at one point on Sunday, were placed eighth in the entire fleet.  Pretty spectacular.  We also learned that late Sunday night we plummeted to 19th place in our class as our competitors ran over the top of us while we sorted through our gear issues.  Frustrating, yes, but also encouraging.  We know we can be competitive.  We just need to keep working on the little things.

Chief Finishing the 2012 Mac Race

As we waited for our mooring assignment on Mackinac Island, we nosed into the dock to be greeted by friends and families who showed up in force on the Island to support us and receive a cooler of ice and beer to consume while we continued to wait for our mooring assignment in Mackinac harbor.  Forgive me if I forget to mention everyone who came up but here is a shout-out to Kate Kreis, Bob and Kate Cieslak, the Jolie Family, the Chappells, the Davis Family, the Froeter Family, the Kansas City Wolfs and last, but not least, the Evanston Wolfs (with a special shout-out to Henry who had to miss out on this year’s race).  Also, many thanks to the Alexanders for boat-sitting the night before the Mac, the Childers Family for returning Chief to Chicago and all the many people who came out to Navy Pier to send us off.  Thanks so much for supporting Chief!

The post-race party in the harbor was a riot.  Beautiful sunny day.  Boats rafted 5 and 6 deep with a party on every boat.  Water so clear that it looked like you were rafted up in swimming pool.  Those were some of the best tasting Mount Gay and tonics I’ve ever had. 

Post-Race Party in Mackinac Harbor…Hey You…No swimming in the Harbor!

The Race Takes a Lot Out of You…Carlos Takes a Siesta on the Porch of the Grand Hotel