2014 BYC North Channel Race – A crew member’s perspective

November 4, 2014 in DRYA Regatta Updates 1

Tracy: I’m am going to get you after this race. John: Uh… I can’t hear you. Speak louder in my good ear.

Tracy: “I am really going to get you after this race.”
John: “Uh… I can’t hear you, speak louder in my good ear.”

October 4, 2014 started off with dark, cold and ominous skies. We left CSYC in the rain and a few of us loyal Patriot crew wondered if we really wanted to do this race. It got much worse because before the start, we lost the main halyard and our crazy Captain had to get hoisted up the mast to retrieve it. As he was reaching for the halyard, it kept rising and falling into the base of the mast. He was yelling for us to get him up quicker, and the crew became exhausted before this long race even started. The Captain reached for the halyard just before it disappeared. Suddenly, Patriot heeled over hard as the Captain was dangling up top the mast. The crew overcompensated with everyone going over to the other side almost catapulting Captain John. Needless to say, it wasn’t one of Patriot’s finest starts.

The race was on with a long spinnaker leg leading up to the channel. The rain subsided, but the sky still looked threatening. At the first channel marker, things got kind of hairy as the boats narrowed in proximity. Black Dog spun up in shallow water and everyone feared the worst – the boat ran aground. We all found out after the race that the tiller broke but Black Dog never ran aground. All the boats appeared on the verge of rounding up and a couple did without collisions. Unfortunately, three boats ended up with damaged spinnakers. Patriot’s spinnaker was turned into tathers after being destroyed – looked like party favors going off.

Once in the Channel and land locked, Patriot was in a match race with Whitefang. Both boats led and got past the other a couple of times while hugging the shoreline minimizing the strong current. We ran into a lot of traffic at the Algonac bouy as several boats rounded at the same time. Our Captain made the call to go with the larger headsail thinking the wind wouldn’t pick up too much while still in the channel. He was wrong – we had to make a sail change from the heavy No. 1 to a No. 3 sail and consequently lost a lot of ground.

A view of the flats leading to the lake from the South Channel looked like it was going to be a very rough ride back to BYC. At this point, racing around the southern end of Harsen’s Island, we were by ourselves watching the boats in front of us fighting it out and the boats behind us doing the same. Our Captain played chicken with a freighter but he eventually tacked away with one crew member wide-eyed – he is a work buddy that has never raced before and only seen freighter from a distance, not a couple boat lengths away.

Once in the lake, the wind continued to pick up with puffs 30+. The waves were six footers and close enough that it was hard not to pound into them constantly. The crew was tired, cold and hungry. We managed to catch up to Whitefang and at one point, Whitefang became airborne. Wish I had a camera as it would have been quite a picture. Whitefang reported a couple days after the race that he had to make tabbing repairs.

It was a grueling and pounding ride through the entire lake. Some of us were wishing the Captain would just turn into CSYC, but we kept going. Unable to catch any boats at that point, all we wanted was this race to be over!!! It was heaven when Bayview came into sight. I think the smartest ones out there that day were the ones taking the pictures on shore!!!