Race Day

Part II
by: Ralph E. Ahseln  10/2007

The clouds were dragging their feet across the foothills. A typical Pacific Northwest Fall day, a drizzling rain. It was like a fog on the water. Visibility was less than a quarter of a mile. There was, however, a fresh breeze coming in from the Southwest. That usually meant a good sailing wind. Not like the prevailing Northwesterly that blew strong for an hour or two, then clocked around as much as 45 degrees before dying. Today was going to be a Sailor’s day.

I’d gotten to Hidden Cove Marina’s "F" row a few minutes before I was supposed to. Since it was "spitting" rain I decided to slip on my foulies. Keeping dry and warm before a race is always a good idea.

So here I was standing "Yellow" at the end of the slip. A new boat to play on and new acquaintances to explore.

This was going to be fun.

Suddenly, I felt cold. What had been a warm Southerly breeze, called the "Pineapple Express", had turned to chill. And even though I was covered in Gortex and wool, I felt it go right through me. You know that kind of body cooling you feel when you first step into a walk-in Freezer. I shuddered and pulled the jacket collar up a bit tighter. But it didn’t seem to help much.

I glanced at my watch…. It was exactly 1700.

First I heard that laugh. Then a mix of voices all trying to talk at once. As I looked out towards the entrance to the marina, there was a bow poking through the hazy drizzle. Then, like parting a curtain, the full boat popped out. Even from this distance I could see the gold letters "Yesterdays" in cursive print along the hull.

They were here, and right on time.

Standing at the stern rail was the owner Mason "Mase" Todd. At the wheel was a woman (Even covered by a foul weather coat and hat, I could tell). Standing in the forward part of the cockpit I could see two guys and up front, by the mast was another gal. No guess here. She had long red hair tied back with the biggest and the most outrageous pink ribbon I’ve ever seen.

They all started jumping up and down and waving at me. Then, on cue, they all started singing. It was one of the Bawdiest songs I’d ever heard. I can’t repeat all the lyrics, here, but it went sort of like…....

"Oh what’ll we do with this brand new crew? We’ll strip him naked and paint him Blue... and Then we’ll find some ugly shrew, who’ll give him ………"

…Well, You get the idea.

It looked like it was going to be an interesting few hours.

I THINK it was going to be fun.

The "Yesterdays" was under mainsail and sliding slowly into the marina. Turning around she came to the end of the slip. The singing stopped and without a word, everyone moved to their positions. The woman at the wheel was sharp. As they luffed up, she eased the helm over and came Starboard side along the length of the slip. The boat slowed down to a creep and within an inch or two of the dock, it slid along, never touching. I just stood there in place until the lifeline gate came by. Then with no effort, I stepped on board. The boat never stopped and never touched the dock. This was one hell of a sharp crew! I was going to have my head on straight and my skills at peak to keep up with them.

Moving away from the dock, the main was trimmed and the boat began to pick up speed. I looked up at the sail and saw something I’d never seen before. It was some kind of high tech material, Gin clear, see through, with a kind of a Spider Web stitching. The Cut was also something I’d never seen. An odd checker board Star Cut.

But with the "points" of the star going INWARD to the center of the sail.

A quiet command from the owner, Mase, and one of the guys in the cockpit started raising the Genny. It was of the same material as the main and cut in a similar fashion.

I told myself to find out what the heck the material was and what the cut was all about..

But, I’d do that later. Now was the time to introduce myself and to get to know the rest of the crew….

And, to discover just what kind of a boat this was.

As we pulled out of the marina and headed to where the committee boat would be, everything got a little quiet.

There was some idle chatter and the occasional big laugh from the owner, Mason.

But since there was a kind of "settling down", I thought it must be a signal for me to start my introduction.

I began with thanking them for letting me join the crew and then I listed the experiences I’d had. From Dinghies to the 200 footer I once crewed on.

I told them that I was really looking forward to helping them get a few Firsts.

They all laughed and the foredeck gal even whistled at that line.

I finished up saying that I hoped that I could "fill the shoes" of their former Trimmer.

There was an immediate change in everyone. They all went silent and hung their heads.

I stammered and ask them to forgive me "If I had offended anyone"… They said nothing.

Mase spoke up.. "It’s OK, We just miss him. He was our friend and we miss him".

It was like a window had opened up. Everyone began to chatter and laugh again. The foredeck kid gave me a big hug and said, "Don’t worry, you’re one of US now"..

She started;

"I’m Beth, I foredeck and I’m damned good.. I’m good at Foredecking too! "

The laughter erupted.

Beth was a tall, thin, redhead (with a huge Pink bow) and athletic. I came to find she was exceptional on the foredeck

Next was a bull of a man. 6 foot something and all brawn.

"Hi, I’m Chuck, I guess you could say I do all the heavy work around here. Mostly I handle the winches"

A loud feminine voice from the foredeck called out "And all the WENCHES too!"

More laughter from the rest of them. Chuck just shrugged his shoulders.

"I’m Kevin; I’ll work the Main, Most of the time, well, that is, if Chuck gets out of the way"

Giggles and a Nose Snort from Mason.

Kevin is a medium build kid in his 20s, and Quick!

Every move he made was quicker than anyone I’ve ever seen. I’d get to see him move to a problem and fix it, before we could finish thinking about it.

And he was always correct solving the problem. He was thoughtful, courteous and always willing to help but never getting in the way.

Then Mason spoke up. "I guess you could call me the crewman least likely to be missed if I should fall overboard"

Gales of laughter…..

"I’m just the owner and designer of the boat. And when the Helmslady allows me, I make tactical suggestions"

Groans and Giggles from the crew.

"And because none of these characters will spend a buck, I also buy the beer and snacks after the race"

Hoots and whistles…..

There were a few seconds of noise and then a pause in the laughter. All waited for the last one to speak. They had a kind of a reverence for the lady on the wheel.

She, mid 40s I’d guess, elegantly handsome. You don’t call a lady "handsome" unless she is special. She was special.

She had polish and grace. A kind of a person that you could accept any command from..... and know it’s right.

"Welcome to the crew, I’m Janell. If you have any questions about how the ship runs, please ask. We want you to feel at home as soon as possible. We DO plan on winning a few FIRSTS as you suggested. Your help is welcomed."

I did feel welcome; this was a crew that made you feel like you’d been with them for a very long time.

I felt like I’d come home to my family.

We were making our way to the committee boat to see what the course would be for today’s race.

So things had slowed down a bit. Everyone was relaxed and hanging around.

I knew what my job would be but I wanted to check out the boat.

Even from the cockpit I could see there was a LOT different with this boat.

I asked Mason if he could take me on a tour before we had to get down to serious racing.

He smiled and waved me over to where he sat.

"I wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before. To hell with PHRF. I just wanted a boat that would go fast. Be the first to cross the line. Be first, be fast. So there’s a lot here that ain’t exactly marine architecture.

As example this boat is built like an egg shell. Thin hulled and curved like and egg. The underbody is grooved. To allow the water to "channel" and act as tiny jet engines. In effect making a nearly perfect Laminar Flow of water. The keel isn’t really a keel like you’re familiar with. It’s a Stainless steel 6 inch solid rod with a reverse torpedo shaped ballast Bulb. The working keel is actually a vertical, moveable foil that I can raise or lower on the rod, depending on the point of sail. I can drop it down to 5 feet or raise to just a few inches below the hull. It also has trim tabs used to help change the Center of Effort at will. The rigging is pretty standard stuff but each shroud has a quick adjust turnbuckle. We can make adjustments on the fly. Everything else is normal. I didn’t want to have to train a crew to do things they weren’t used to. Experience is valuable too. I just wanted to make a boat that had some new ideas but could be still run by humans.."

Then he leaned back and did one of his "patented" belly laughs.

We had about 2 miles to go to get to the Committee boat and the start line. Moving well under a broad reach, the wind had gone light.

Things were kind of mellow. It was pretty quiet out there in the misty drizzle. I could hear dogs barking on the shore and an occasional car horn.

In the distance I could hear a low rumble. Like a jet plane starting to take off. But it was mostly quiet.

We could just begin to see the committee boat through the mist. Beth was hanging out on the bow pulpit straining to see if she could make out the Menu Board used to mark the course. The broad reach was a comfortable way to travel in this wind. We were probably making about 3 knots. I could hear crew’s voices and engines of the other boats all heading to the same spot.

As we got closer, I began to hear that sound again. A kind of "Rumble". Deep and far away.

I looked over at Chuck. He wasn’t laughing anymore.

Beth had stopped leaning over the rail and was turning around and around … Looking for something.

Mase and Janell had stopped talking.

"What IS... that sound? " I asked.

Janell said, "I don’t know. We’ve heard it before but we don’t know where it comes from"

As suddenly as it started, the sound stopped. Everyone relaxed.

We were now close by the Committee and Beth read out the course number. It was going to be a dull, Beat, Reach, Run, and Close haul finish kind of race. With the winds out of the Southwest, at least it should be consistent.

I could see Janell standing at the wheel with her eyes closed and deep in thought.

Then she said something that made us all stop what we were doing and listen.

Slowly she spoke. "The wind will change direction before we get to the weather mark. I think we should plan to set the spinnaker as we approach that mark. We should be able to get at least 4 to 5 boat lengths on the rest of the fleet before they can react"...

If she was right, we were going to slam the rest of the fleet.

This WAS going to be fun.

Fun? Yes! But, I couldn’t help wondering just what the hell THAT rumbling sound was….

Because....IT… had begun again!

(Continuing)

r.ahseln

October 2007

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four