October 31, 2011

    
     Every Halloween weekend, Provision Company in Southport, NC sponsors the annual Stede Bonnet Regatta, and there were 37 boats signed up this year, including Pieridae.  This past weekend makes the third time we have attempted the course, but the first time with her.  The crew included Don, Aaron, Elsa, Allison, Adam, Sue, Ed, Doug and me.  

     The race featured a pursuit start based on assigned PHRF ratings. The race committee assigned each boat a starting time before the conclusion of the Captains meeting.  The committee assigned a 120 rating to Pieridae, so they gave us a 13:28:00 start time.   After the meeting, we moved the boat to Southport Marina where we picked up two of our crew, Ed and Sue, and then we motored around the ICW waiting for our start time with other boats.

Adam's phone takes a great picture!

     The past 2 regattas offered blue skies and warmth, but no wind, so we chose to either start our motor or just forget the other marks, because it would've taken us all night to finish the race.  This weekend, however??  It started out foggy and cold, but perfect on the wind.  Nor'easters are not pleasant this early in the year, but before we started, the fog lifted and the sun warmed us up considerably.  It was still windy enough, and we were excited to have it because of the past.  So, we started!

Great pictures from our friends, Jeff and Tammy Karnes.  Thanks guys!

     We were all on our way, when the wind decided to kick itself up a notch.  You can see in the pictures that there weren't any white caps on the water, but before we made it to the first mark, the Deep Point Marina wind meter was reading 28-30 mph gusts.  We had decided before the race to keep the genoa on instead of changing to a jib, because they were forecasting 10-20 mph winds.  Perfect for a genoa as it is bigger than the jib, so in lower winds it would give us more power.  Not so perfect for gusts that high!  Doug handled her very nicely though as Don would adjust the main, and I would adjust the genoa to accommodate our ever-loving weather helms. 

   The course started at the yacht basin to R22 to R16 to G15 and back to the yacht basin.  We did the start and first two markers with no big mistakes (to us anyway), but we saw some potential problems when we reached G15.  There were three boats aground on the shoals already, and we all soon found out why.  The current was going out so strong and the wind was coming at such an angle that we and about 25 other boats couldn't make it around the mark.  At one point, the crew of one of the grounded boats were yelling that we were too close and would be stuck too.  The only thing that kept us from running aground as well?  I couldn't tell you...we by all rights should of been.  At any rate, we decided to forego the mark after 4 tiring attempts and sail back in for the free food.  However, we couldn't make any distance again with the wind and current, so we tacked back and forth in the same area for about 15 minutes and then decided to turn the motor on.  I felt so sorry for the crew on the rails.  They did a great job and were back and forth more times than I could count.  I can't imagine what their knees are looking like today!  So, we made back to Southport Marina and relaxed for a bit before heading over for some great food.

     I hate that I forgot my camera for the after-race party, because it is always fun.  So, we ate, played the ringer game at American Fish Co., watched the awards ceremony and came back to the boat.  Maybe next year, I will be the photographer from the dinghy and just follow them around taking pictures. LOL!