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This year's race event budget was somewhere
around $250,000.00; that's a lot of cash, folks, and the event
showed it. There are cash prizes for the winners, events galore all week
long, and fun
for all, including all the local kids. There are three classes, A, B, and
C, with the A class being the largest, the fastest, and the most difficult
to control. Those boats are 28 feet long and carry a huge amount of sail
for their size. The booms are up to 30 feet long, and the masts are
limited to 60 feet, they say. That makes for an almost 900 sq. ft.
mainsail. It appeared that the boats would carry a main appropriate for
the predicted wind strength, and if they misjudged, the crew really had
their hands full. Several boats sunk over the course of the week and had
to be re-floated. That process was interesting to watch. After all the
preparations, the races were ready to run. The race starts were unusual to
me in
that all boats anchor behind the start line with their anchor lines
leading well out to windward of the line. Here you see them off to the
right ready for the start gun.
The gun Sounds and up go the sails
Round the Mark Now!
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When the start gun sounds, the crews
simultaneously haul up the anchor and raise the sails, fast, fast. faster. As with any
sailboat racing, getting off to a good start is crucial to these round the
buoys races, and the crew members who performed these two tasks were
typically big burly guys. Those who got off flawlessly and on a favored
tack often went on to win the race. In the photo below you can easily see
which really had it together for this start. Once the sails are up, the
boats accelerate rapidly, and as the race heats up, there's lots of
shouting and pointing at each other. Mark roundings were a crowded
affair because all the boats are very similar in speed potential. Those
boats that were well handled were always together at the turns vying for
position.
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