From: johnmartin55@hotmail.com (John Martin)
To: Macdore@aol.com (Leo MacDonald)
This past July 19, 2001, an unprecedented event took place. The CDSOA (Cape Dory Sailboat Owners Association), Northeast Fleet sponsored the first ever, exclusive, Cape Dory Race. We believe no other event of this magnitude has ever happened before. The race was planned in conjunction with the other NE Fleet activities for the summer 2001. We rendezvoused at Watch Hill/Napatree and anchored/rafted-up on July 18th. The Skippers Meeting was that evening aboard PATAGON (Thank You, Peter for providing your fine vessel). At the Skippers Meeting we discussed the Sailing Instructions for the race. Basically the Sailing Instructions included; this is an informal race, there would be no protest hearings, we would use a pursuit start, the base time was established at 0945, and all watches should be synchronized by GPS.
The course staging area was "Middle Ground", near Watch Hill.
The starting mark was, RN"2", leave to port.
The next mark, GC"7", leave to starboard, (don't hit the rocks).
The turning mark, RW"L"Mo (A) WHIS, leave to port.
The finish mark at Block Island was, R"2"BELL, leave to starboard.
The total distance was 16.3 NM.
The next morning a 10 knot breeze got everyone to the staging area in fine fashion. We had planned for SW wind (normal for this area), however the wind came out of the NE, later to shift more to the East. So, instead of a spinnaker reach to Block Island, we were all hard-on-the-wind after the turning mark. With a pursuit start, the handicap is accessed at the starting line. The first boat to cross the finish line is 1st, the second boat to cross the finish line is 2nd, etc.
The starting times for this 16 NM race are as follows:
Boat PHRF Start Time
CD25 270 10:05:00
CD25D 252 10:09:48
CD27 228 10:16:12
CD30K 220 10:18:18
CD30C 207 10:21:48
CD30MkII 200 10:23:36
CD32C 190 10:26:18
CD33 186 10:27:24
The wind gradually built to about 25 knots by the end of the race. We aboard HEATHER ANN, lowered the mizzen sail, reefed the main sail, and we still had the rail in the water. We even broke the head-sail halyard, and had to do a halyard change during the race. We monitored VHF Channel 72 so boats could check-in at the finish mark. A special "Thank You" to Ned Kroeker & Pendergast aboard SEA QUEUE, a CD28 Power Boat who was the Race Committee at the finish line, and recorded the finish times. Also, THANK YOU to Cathy and Bruce aboard REALIZATION, Dave Stump on HANALEI, and Sam and Nancy York aboard CARINA, all provided input and assistance in laying out the course, and Bob Luby on GRENDEL for providing the awards at Block Island. And, Thanks to Leo MacDonald and Bill Slater who had patience with me as I wore 2 hats, both before and during the race.
We had 21 boats register to race, 13 actually raced, and 7 boats finished within 14 minutes of each other. (I would submit the above PHRF numbers to the official record, based on the finishing results). The results of the race are as follows:
Fin Time S/NS Boat Name
1433 N CD30C HANALEI - first overall, first in fleet (non-spinnaker)
1448 N CD27 CARINA
1452 S CD30K HEATHER ANN - first in fleet (spinnaker)
1453 N CD30C COMPINCHE
1456 N CD330 MOKITA
1457 S CD30MkII MACHTS NICHTS
1501 N CD30C RED WING
1502 S CD25 LOLITA
1517 S CD32C REALIZATION
1518 N CD25 NESHOMA (Sail #807)
1605 N CD30C FAYAWAY (Sail #282)
1700 N CD25D GRENDEL (Sail #96)
DNF N CD27 SECOND CHANCE (equip. failure)
DNS S CD25 SEA-LEE (missed starting mark)
Sailed along, but did not race were MILLER TIME and HAPPY DAYS.
Congratulations! to all of the skippers and crews who raced and sailed in this first ever event.
John Martin
CD Race Chair
CD28 "Intrepid"
Lake Lanier, GA
macdore@aol.com
Cape Dory Race - 19 July 2001
Moderator: Jim Walsh