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June race story #51088
06/14/05 06:59 PM
06/14/05 06:59 PM
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 121
Miami, FL
John McKnight Offline OP
member
John McKnight  Offline OP
member

Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 121
Miami, FL
“Rain, rain, go away, come again another day.” “Rain drops keep falling on my head.” “Into each life a little rain must fall.” Okay, okay, we had some rain for our June race. Is rain bad or good for a race day? Let’s take a look.

The rain-is-bad premise.

1. You get wet. But, you only get wet if you are not dressed for the rain. A wet suit kept me dry. (Is that an oxymoron?)

2. Maybe fewer boats show up for the race. Why, see #1 above, I guess.

The rain-is-good premise.

1. It is cooler when it rains in Miami in steamy June.

2. There are no crowds of music blaring beach goers when it rains. They left or stayed home. We had the beach to ourselves.

3. It makes you a better sailor when it rains. How is that, you say? When your sails get wet, the telltales get plastered to the sail and they are worthless for steering the boat or trimming the sails. So you are forced to sail more by feel. You become more in tune with your boat. You have to feel the power.

4. Your sails get a fresh water wash job. I know my sails were overdue for a wash.

5. There were very few motor boats out chopping up the bay.

So, it seem to me that rain is not all that bad for a race day.

When I arrived at the beach it wasn’t raining. I started to assemble my boat and then it started to rain. I climbed in my van and planned to sit it out. But no, I saw the Sonnenklars, Terry Greene, and Para Hernandez out in the rain setting up their boats. Then Oriol showed up and started working on our boat in the rain. I was pressured into getting out in the rain and going to work on the boat. I threw on some foul weather gear and had at it. It stopped raining shortly. We finished up the boats and held the crew meeting.

We were concerned about the possibility of a thunderstorm with the accompanying lightening. Because of that concern, we elected not to sail the planned race around the keys. We could see storms on the ocean side of Key Biscayne. We worked up an alternate course for the day. The objective was to keep the course close to the beach so that we could find safe harbor if a storm threatened. The course was a large triangle defined by the start line, marker G-1 of the Dinner Key channel, and the “Danger Shoal” marker at West Point. We sailed twice around this course to give us a long enough race. It worked out perfectly.

Seven teams showed up to race. They would not be disappointed. It turned out we had just a little bit of rain during the race itself. We did a timed start between two buoys just off the beach. The first leg of the triangular course was a downwind run. The spinnaker boats popped their chutes and scooted down the bay. Leandro Spina and Jamie Livingston caught an early puff and were doing the “wild thing” from the trapeze. It looked spectacular. The Sonnenklars were hot on their heels. Wilder Robles came flying by me on his new F-16 Blade with the chute flying. They were whooping and hollering as they zipped by us. Unfortunately their trampoline lacing started to come undone later in the race and they had to retire after the first circuit to fix their tramp. Kenny Pierce was sailing with Leo Del Moral on Kenny’s Stiletto 23. They had the chute up and were making their boat sing.

The first turning mark was very easy to locate. It is at the entrance to Dinner Key Channel. It is a large mark with four posts holding up a platform with a green light on it. After this mark, we had a beat going up to the shoal marker at West Point. The third leg back to the start buoy was also a beat. The boats had separated considerably on the first three legs. But, the wind died near the beach and the boats bunched up to within shouting distance as we rounded the orange ball. By this time, Team Sonnenklar had taken the lead and they never relinquished it again.



The second trip around the course featured another spinnaker run to G-1 and two double trapeze legs back to the finish. Terry and Para were tenacious on their Hobie 21. They were always right there in the mix. Team Sonnenklar took line honors and first place on corrected time. Oriol and I took second place corrected. Terry and Para took third place corrected. It was a virtual Portsmouth photo finish between the Hobie 20 and the Hobie 21 for second and third. Wilder Robles took first place in the under 20 foot class.

Larry Cooper was out with his new, late model, G-Cat 6.1. He purchased the boat from the designer and builder, Hans Geisler, a couple of weeks ago. The boat is in excellent condition. It was used in one Worrell 1000 in the late 90’s and it has essentially been in storage since then. Larry was sailing with Brian Santarcangelo. Brian is an excellent, longtime catamaran sailor. I first met Brain in the early 80’s when we both sailed H-16s. Brian was very active with Hobie Fleet 36 back in the 70’s. I hope we see a lot more of Brian.

Despite a little rain, we all had a great sail. Everyone who came out said they enjoyed the day. Because we did not do the course around the keys, I did not award the perpetual trophy. The Around the Key/Lighthouse Distance Race will be rescheduled for July. If you would like a chance to see your name on the trophy, come out for the race in July. The date will be announced shortly.


CREWS--------------BOATS------------RATING-------E.T.---------Corrected


Jared Sonnenklar----Inter 20-------------59.3------------1:50:15-----111.55
Jay Sonnenklar

John McKnight------Hobie 20-----------65.0-------------2:02:46-----113.32
Oriol Cruzeta

Terry Greene---------Hobie 21-----------66.7 (MN)-----2:06:30-----113.79
Para Hernandez

Kenny Pierce---------Stiletto 23----------60.53(SP,L4)--1:58:05-----117.04
Leo Del Moral

Jamie Livingston-----Tornado------------59.0-------------1:55:41-----117.64
Leandro Spina

L. S. Cooper-----------G-Cat 6.1----------???---------------no time
Brain Santarcangelo

Wilder Robles---------F-16 Blade---------65.3------------DNF
Jorge Gali


2. CABB Shirts

We are planning on making CABB shirts for the members. We are still open for suggestions for the graphics for the shirts. You can send your suggestions to me or put them on the CABB forum on Catsailor.com if you wish. There is a link to the forum in my signature block below. I need your requested size for your shirt. Otherwise, I can just about guarantee you a XXXL shirt. Please email me your requested size as soon as possible. So far I have only heard from Terry Greene, Robert Onsgard and Tom Worthmann. If you want more than one shirt, let me know. The first shirt is covered by the association. Extra shirts will be extra. I don’t know the exact price yet.

John McKnight


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Re: June race story [Re: John McKnight] #51089
06/14/05 07:22 PM
06/14/05 07:22 PM
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,718
St Petersburg FL
Robi Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Robi  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,718
St Petersburg FL
WOOT! I got first place!! YEAH BABY! even with a DNF, whos your dadddy! OH wait! I was the only one with a boat under 20ft!~!

BLEH, I was happy for a second there.

Awesome post John, have fun in Australia man! Hope to see you soon.

July Race [Re: John McKnight] #51090
06/15/05 07:54 AM
06/15/05 07:54 AM
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,066
Wellington, FL-Singer Island, ...
cyberspeed Offline
old hand
cyberspeed  Offline
old hand

Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,066
Wellington, FL-Singer Island, ...
What is the date of the July Race?


craig van eaton
Supercat 20
TEAM CYBERSPEED
www.TeamCyberspeed.com
Endurance Series
www.SailSeries.com
Re: July Race [Re: cyberspeed] #51091
06/15/05 09:02 AM
06/15/05 09:02 AM
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 324
South Florida
SOMA Offline
enthusiast
SOMA  Offline
enthusiast

Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 324
South Florida
Hey, I was up in Michigan that weekend. Can I have the second place position for the under 20?


Fred F (ex Hobie 18)

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