Black Ledge Distance Race
August 19, 2006
Miami, Florida
By: John McKnight

We have been on a roll the last few months, having perfect race days. The Annual Black Ledge Race was no exception. We once again, had it all going our way. We had warm temperature in the high 80s. We had wind out of the southeast at 10 knots. The bay was bathtub water warm. The conditions were perfect for a beach cat race.

Nine boats showed up to contest the race. We had two Tornados, two Inter 20s, two Hobie 20s, two Hobie 16s, and a Nacra 5.0. The two Hobie 16s were sailed by all girl crews from the Miami Yacht Club Youth Sailing Program. Katlin Yasher and Sierra Manno sailed very well and won the High Portsmouth class. The other Hobie 16 was sailed by Lindsey Young and Dalia Sabbagh. They took second in the class. The Nacra 5.0 was sailed by newcomers, Yovon Sanchez with his father Pedro. Welcome Yovon and Pedro! Before the race, I asked Yovon what his sailing experience had been before he bought his boat a few weeks ago. He said, "I read a book." I like his spirit. I told him that is exactly how I got started sailing. I went to the library and checked out a book on how to sail, and then I went out and bought my first sailboat. Ron Roth has been good enough to give Yovon some lessons on the boat he sold him.

The Black Ledge Race is a large triangular course in Biscayne Bay. This was the 36th annual running of this classic race. The course is about 20 miles in length. The course starts at the Rickenbacker Beach and proceeds south to the marker know as Black Ledge. The marker has #2 on it. It is very difficult to locate the mark using shore reference, because it is in the middle of the bay, miles from the shore. It is best to use a GPS to locate this one. For years before the advent of GPS, we found it just fine. We did have to search harder. Now it is a breeze. I had my trusty crew, Oriol, push the "goto" button and then "Blackledge" waypoint on the GPS, and we were on our way. He gave me vectors right to the mark by reading off the bearing to the mark and our current track. It reminds me of flying. The high Portsmouth boats (Hobie 16 and Nacra 5.0) sailed an abbreviated course. They used Matheson Hammock north channel for their first turning point and then marker #21 for their second mark. The idea here was to have all the boats finish about the same time. Their course was about 12 miles in length.

The start was between two buoys just off the beach. I think Jared Sonnenklar and Jamie Livingston got the best start on their Inter 20. Jared is fresh off sailing the US Sailing Youth Multihull Championships. Jared and Jamie took an early lead in today's race. This first leg was a beat all the way. We were laying the mark from the get go. It was a single and occasionally double trapeze run down the bay. The water was remarkably flat for the wind we were enjoying. Several of the spinnaker boats tried flying the chutes and footing below the track and then heading up without the chutes. This just wasn't working on this point of sail. Most gave this up and simply sailed sloop style down the bay. That seemed to work best.

Steve Lohmayer and Jay Sonnenklar started coming on strong during the early going. They passed everyone and took the lead. They were first to round Black Ledge, and Oriol and I were second with Jared and Jamie hot on our heels. The Tornados and other Hobie 20 followed. The second mark was Marker #21 near Stiltsville. This leg was also a beat. No position changes occurred on this leg. It was a splendid leg on flat water with adequate breeze.

After rounding Marker #21, the race was now downwind. The spinnaker boats made up for lost time on the two previous beat legs. They were flying downwind. Jared and Jamie passed Oriol and I once again. We skirted the shallows off the west shore of Key Biscayne. We passed numerous anchored boats enjoying the sandbars in the bay. The winds increased and shifted, as they normally do, when we passed abeam Bear Cut. Steve Lohmayer and Jay Sonnenklar had done a horizon job on the rest of the fleet and they were first to finish, beating the second Inter 20 by 8 minutes. Oriol and I finished 12 minutes behind the leader, but they owed us a lot of time for the 2 hour plus race. As it turned out, after the calculator was put to the times, Oriol and I, on my Hobie 20, won first place in a virtual Portsmouth photo finish. We won by .11 of a point out of a total of 139.61 points. That would equate to a few boat lengths if it had been head to head racing. Steve and Jay were the close second on an Inter 20. Jared and Jamie took third on an Inter 20. Fourth place went to John Esquivel and Humberto Preves on John's Tornado. John has only had his Tornado for a short time, but he has been improving rapidly. He won the buoy races last month.

A good time was had by all. It was excellent to have the youth teams out participating on the Hobie 16s. Thanks to Jamie Livingston for helping the youth teams. Without his coaching and support, we wouldn't see this level of participation. Five of the 18 sailors in the race were in high school. I hope to see more youth participation in the future. Where are you other 16 and 18 sailors? The youth need some competition out there to help them improve.

Following is a list of the competitors.

CREW BOAT RATING
Katlin Yasher Hobie 16 76.1
Sierra Manno

Lindsey Young Hobie 16 76.1
Dalia Sabbagh

Yovon Sanchez Nacra 5.0 76.4
Pedro Sanchez

John McKnight Hobie 20 65.0
Oriol Cruzeta

Steve Lohmayer Inter 20 59.3
Jay Sonnenklar

Jared Sonnenklar Inter 20 59.3
Jamie Livingston

John Esquivel Tornado 59.0
Humberto Preves

Rafael Quesada Hobie 20 65.0
Oscar Garcia

Ivan Loya Tornado 59.0
Rafael