Lightning Atlantic Coast Championship 2009
After my experience of doing video at St. Pete in 2008, I was very excited when Paul told me we could borrow the Bailey's 18 foot whaler for the Atlantic Coast Championship at the Toms River Yacht Club - it's just amazing being able to watch 50 or more sailboats in a regatta. And Toms River is just a quick trip down the Garden State Parkway from home.
We were going to tow Paul and crew AJ Bailey and fellow sailing teammate Rachael from MU out to the course and just minutes after we got there, it was time to go. With AJ at the helm, we headed down Toms River toward Barnegat Bay along with other power boats who towing the other lightnings out to the course. I thought they would be racing in an area called Wannamaker (not sure of the spelling) which is on the bay near the river but we made a right turn and continued south on the bay for quite some distance - probably the same course that will be used for the 2010 North Americans. No wonder everyone's being towed. I have no idea of how far we went but we stayed fairly close to the mainland, passed a tiki bar and finally stopped at a large permanent green channel marker. Island Beach State Park was directly to the east. The bay is pretty much at its widest here, creating some chop and waves with the wind blowing a steady 8 to 10 out of the south/southeast. It was only 10:15, so we had about 45 minutes to kill. Gary took the opportunity to get use to the whaler while Brooke tried to even out her sailing tan (you know - those really weird life jacket, sailing boots and board shorts tan lines). It was a typical midsummer day at the shore - hazy, soon to be hot and a little humid.
Right on time the almost sixty racers began their sequence ‘dance’ as we tried to find an out of the way position. We headed upwind on the left side of the course and, it never fails to happen, there was one boat who decided to bang the side. Heck, we thought we were going to Island Beach State Park for a while but they finally tacked back over and we were able to get back close to the windward mark as the first boats were rounding. The chop was building as more power boats were out and I couldn’t zoom in as much as I would like but you’ll certainly get the feel of the intensity of it all in the video.
The first leg was fairly short and at the downwind gate, the race committee was signaling for a course change. We decided to head up before the pack as we asked each other, “Do you see it?” One more downwind and then an upwind finish. I got some okay video but as you will see by looking at the race committee boat at the finish, we were bouncing around quite a bit. I also hadn’t realized that my camcorder was starting to succumb to the beating I’ve given it over the past three plus years.
It was about 12:15 by the time most of the racers were over the finish line and a perfect time for everyone to have lunch as we made our way back to the starting line. Paul and crew stopped by the whaler to inform us (and to blow off a little steam) that he got t-boned during the race. Ugh – later Ted Duffy and Dan Vought told me they saw exactly what happened and said that the other boat was totally at fault. Stuff happens – but it’s not fun when it does, especially when your boat gets damaged. BTW, Ted had to repair his only spinnaker Saturday night and then after racing on Sunday, his mast broke at the deck when they were taking it down in the parking lot. Consolation maybe – he finished 17th in the regatta and placed first in the MBC fleet.
As we were waiting for the start of the second race, the wind started picking up and the life jacket flag was up. Another good start and as we headed up to the windward mark, we were really getting bounced around as water started splashing over the front of the whaler. By the time we got up there, Brooke and I were pretty soaked and a tad chilly. Winds were predicted to be about 8 to 10 and we never thought to bring foul weather gear. My light Gill windbreaker was just clammy at best. Photos and video were pretty much impossible. As the boats rounded, the downwind run was the start of the rock and roll phase. By this time, there were white caps and it felt like it was blowing around 20 (I’m no expert so don’t quote me). We were doing a lot of ‘Whoa’ as we watched lightnings tip way over to one side and then back to the other. I think Jon Schwartz (who is no novice to lightning sailing by any means) was the first to go over. You can see on the photo pages what happened to his spinnaker. And then another was over. All credit to the chase boats that were always right there to help anyone if they wanted. It was all pretty intense racing. By the time we went down and back up the course again, video was next to impossible in an 18 foot whaler. We decided to skip the last upwind and anchored instead.
We made a group decision to stay put for the start of the third race since we could get some video and photos from where we were anchored. This was when my beloved Panasonic GS400 fried and died. It had taken enough salt water spray, pounding and just generalized abuse from Rhode Island to St. Petersburg. Okay – we’ll just hang out here. By the end of the day, we saw a couple more flipped boats, one spinnaker wrapped around a bow (always ugly) and one snapped mast (a few feet from the top) from our anchored position.
Paul and crew tied up to the whaler and decided to stay on the lightning for the tow in. It’s pretty bizarre to look back and only see the bottom of a lightning sticking up in the air. It was a lot warmer when we got back to the mouth of the river (soggy jackets off) and we zig zagged through most of the fleet.
After we docked, it was definitely time for a change of clothes and a ‘refreshing beverage’ from the bar at the club – yes, they do have Mt. Gay. Overall, the racers were pretty tired, wet and had a lot to talk about back: the wind, who flipped, the chop, getting wet - wasn’t it great. I was happy to sit in my comfortable air conditioned car and head home. No return trip down on Sunday – instead, it was spent researching new camcorders. Two River Sailing is going high def, probably pro and definitely investing in a cover. Gary’s dodger for the Beneteau will have to wait another year….again.
And again, many thanks to the Bailey family for letting us use their boat.
Doreen
