Two Sundays ago I sailed my Tornado single-handed in Ventura Sailing Club's Wild Turkey Classic Plastic race. It was a pursuit event for the keelboats but multi's were raced on portsmouth. The race was to be held the day before but 35 kts gusts and violent seas lead to a one day postponement. Originally I had planned for my regular crew Colin D. to join me, but he came up bloodied and lame after a motorbike spill on the way to the marina. He'll have some scars but nothing more severe.

I was set to drive home when the local boatyard dog Mitch Y. came over and twisted my arm to get out and sail solo. It was a good decision...weather turned out to be nice & sunny, winds 6-12 kts, gentle seas. Course was 12 NM from Channel Island Harbor, up wind to Mandalay power plant marker, then broad reach to platform Gina with finish inside CI Harbor.

Three multi's took the start, a 14 ft Weta Trimaran (Bob S.), Reynolds 21 (Mitch Y.) and Tornado (me)...all sailing solo. Off the line it was the Weta & the R21 to windward while I took a leisurely approach to leeward (was not sure of the exact start timing and didn't want to be over early). All boats started on port with a heavily skewed line. I was trapezing right after the start and quickly passed my competition to leeward. I then set about passing a good number of keelboats prior to the first mark, some of them had started 40-70 minutes earlier. I was well ahead of the other multis at the mark...could barely see them. Rounding was a little crowded with several keelboats converging with me....had to give them a wide berth. Initially found I could make the next mark, platform Gina, fairly well on a beam reach with main & jib, still trapezing...but as wind headed I decided to pull out the spinny. Was doing great until wind headed some more, then it was difficu! lt to sail high enough to make the mark...went lower for awhile, then doused the chute and went back to main & jib directly at the mark. Another few miles passed and winds started to lift to the point where the spinny looked like a better option, so up she went again.
Here's a photo taken from a fellow VSC member on a keelboat as I went past:


Breeze came up a bit as I neared the rig, I saw 13-15's on the gps. While there were a few other keelboats nearby, I was not sure any ahead were actually in the race. No matter, I was first to the rig. Had to douse the spinny for the close reach back to the harbor finish. Again hitting mid-teens boat speed. Upon entering the protected harbor water I radioed the R/C to alert them to my finish...no response...another racer instructed me to take my own time if no one was on station...so I reported it over the radio...1 hour 17 min. Enough for fastest time around the course of all boats and for 1st place multi on corrected time (yes I took the penalty for solo sailing). The Weta & R21 had a very close race with at least a few lead changes depending on point of sail and wind speeds.

Only other multi in sight was a Dart 17 (Bob M.) which didn't make it out of the harbor in time to make the start, but looked like he was having some fun hanging around at the rig.

I set off home to Ventura, a 5 or 6 mile upwind. It was a wonderful day...had forgotten how much fun solo sailing and esp solo racing can be....good for the Soul!

Alas, this was not only the last race for me in '09, but also for me & my boat in SoCal. I will be moving out of the region in January to take a new position at my company's site in Vancouver.

Cheers All!