Off Soundings Fall Race Report
By Principal Race Officer – Greg Gilmartin
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. All the times counted. The 2018 season for the Off Soundings Club was another good year with the usual variety of breezes and tidal currents playing their games on the racers who participated.
They started in joy with a solid 12-15 knot Southwester taking them on a 19 mile jaunt to Block Island in Friday’s June 14th race. The Race Committee sent them Starboard around 1BI then South to the drop mark Y and then into the finish line. Spectre, Settler and the multihull Blue Moon made the dash in about 2 hours. Most of the fleet saw elapsed times in the 3 to 3 hour range and a few stragglers found 4 hours more to their liking.
Saturday, the worst of times. The fleet started in a solid Northerly with a clockwise course around the island in the hopes of taking advantage of an ebb current then switching to a flood by midday to bring the fleet up the west side. Sadly, it worked fine for about 90 minutes. Once around 1BI, the wind shut down and it became a drift festival. The current was mostly favorable, but the fleet drifted apart on the tide and did the best they could with patches of irregular zephyrs.
For the first time in recent memory, our signal boat Nor’easter dropped and raised anchor 3 times, moving from the start to the R2 normal finish. However, with our mark boats reporting the lack of wind on the east side, we moved to R4 at the Southwest Point in hopes of shortening the race. However, there was little hope the fleet would finish before the time limit and after much discussion, the decision was made to pull the plug. The only folks who complained were those who were drifting toward the shortened finish line. The RC perceived the closest to be about a mile away, while the back end of the fleet was closer to 6 miles away, drifting just south of Old Harbor. The worst of times.
A total of 113 boats entered, including 10 guest racers. The Fall Series delivered another best and worst weekend. The initial excitement leading up to the event was keeping a close eyeball on Hurricane Florence who threatened the Northeast. Fortunately for us, she stayed well south and we were able to sail two days in Gardiner’s Bay.
Friday saw 95 boats start off New London in a solid 10-12 knot Easterly on a reaching course around Valiant Rock to drop mark K near Orient Point, then a 4 mile beat back to 1GI followed by a long spinnaker run to the Finish. A 23 mile course covered in just about 3 hours. Spectre, Settler and Blue Moon were the top three fleet finishers on elapsed time, enjoying the best of times. As before, the bulk of the fleet were 30-45 minutes behind the leaders with the back end of the fleet closer to 5 hours or more for elapsed time. Three boats battled for the cook’s trophy with an elapsed time around 5 hours and 50 minutes. The Race Committee waited for all of them. The worst of times.
The Saturday dalliance around Gardiner’s Bay started with a 45 minute delay as the Easterly refused to fill in. We set a weather mark 2 miles out then back to X and then a hoped for windward leg to S and then to Finish, 11 miles planned. While the wind shift to the southeast did happen, the breeze never got over 7 and it was decided to shorten the event. The Nonsuch class was stopped at X and the rest of the fleet at S.
Again, Spectre was fastest with an Elapsed Time of 2 hours 24 minutes. Direwolf and Settler were 10 minutes behind. Bulk of fleet finished in about 3 hours with a handful of stragglers taking 4 hours.
A couple of rating hiccups were the only scoring issues that were quickly resolved, however, we did lose one trophy to a Greenport street fight. Ironically, it was awarded to the wrong boat! Ah, the worst of times!
The support the RC receives from our committee boats continues to be extraordinary. Henry Du Pont IV on Nor’easter remains a strong and enthusiastic member and fan of Off Soundings. Long time member, Norm Peck, let us play with Squire once again as our Mark boat, under the capable guidance of Bob Patton. Tom Weeks and Mark Young manned Pop Edgar as our Pin boat, continuing what is now a tradition with those two going back 8 years.
Special thanks to Pat Fritz, who is indispensable as our transportation captain who not only moves the RC on land, but delivers the crocks and speakers and cornhole games to the party.
Finally, a word about the RC crew. I have been fortunate to attract solid, US Sailing certified talent on the Race Committee. We now have two Regional Race Officers, 5 certified Club Race officers and the rest life long sailors or walk-ons who have been with me for 8 years.
As we have seen, you are only as good as your next race, but the experience on our crew is extensive. We have seen the best of times and we have seen the worst of times. And that should leave us in good stead for the next time.
Onward to 2019!
Submitted by Greg Gilmartin, RC Chairman, Off Sounding Club 10/27/18
