Pensacola
Yacht Club is hosting and organizing the US Multihull Sailing Championship; the Alter Cup,
this week The regatta is being conducted in Pensacola Bay and the RC is composed of
members of Pensacola Yacht Club and Navy Yacht Club, Pensacola The Alter Cup invites 20
teams from across the US spectrum of various catamaran champions to compete for this
overall championship. This year the regatta is being conducted using the Inter 20
catamaran, which is a spinnaker-equipped water-based rocket ship. Performance Catamarans
provided ten boats for the 20 teams to race. Sixteen
races must be conducted during the first three days of racing from April 23 to 25. The top
ten teams move on to the final day of four races on April 26. It probably goes without
saying but this regatta is the first Nationals regatta of the year being conducted under
the current RRS. US SAILING, at the request of the RC, went into overtime and provided a
limited and rough, but complete and workable, first edition of the RRS for each competing
team and for the RC. On Monday, April 23, Vince Cooke, PRO for the regatta, ambitiously
scheduled 8 races and his RC successfully started and completed 7 of these without a
single protest as the RC got themselves ahead of the scheduled requirement of 16 for the
first three days.
The racing started
on schedule with the first warning signal at 1000. The breeze was from the SE at about 8
to 10. One boat was over early, was hailed, returned and cleared and went on to take a
second in the race. The RC accommodated a shifty breeze as all legs of the four-legged
windward leeward course were moved in response. The first three legs were set at 1.2 miles
and the last was moved in to 0.9 miles in order to keep the time of the race within the 45
minute limit imposed upon themselves by the RC. The breeze strength remained in the 8 to
10 knot area for the next three races and the breeze behaved a bit better, but with
oscillations of 10 to 15 degrees either side of the advertised course line. Throughout the
day, as it is intended throughout the regatta, a four-legged windward leeward course was
used, the legs of which varied from 0.9 to 1.1 miles. Races 2 through 4 were uneventful
with no boats OCS and no leg changes for varying breeze direction. These races were
completed in 32, 38 and 38 minutes respectively. In the best of all worlds, 45 minutes
might have been better, but in order to get ahead of the schedule, anticipating less
favorable weather conditions over the next two days, the RC wanted to put something in the
bank, schedule-wise. Plus, the turnaround between each race, as the boats went to the
beach and changed crews after each race, was costing the RC about 25 to 30 minutes from
the time of the first boat finish to the start of the next race.
For race 5, the
breeze began a definite march to the SSE and the RC responded moving three of the four
legs. But, once the move had been completed, the breeze settled in to a definite 165 for
the remainder of the day, still at 8 to 10 knots.
The OCS in the first
race was the only one of the day and there were no general recalls. The two postponements
were necessitated for race 7 only because one boat had to return to the beach after
leaving, in order to effect repairs to a spreader tip. Nevertheless, at 1800 the last boat
of the last race of the day crossed the finish line and the competitors were sent home
after the RC displayed AP over A for the remaining scheduled race of the day.
Seven races are
scheduled for Tuesday, but the PRO will be happy to get six, leaving just three for the
last day of the first round of competition.
Tuesday, April 25:
The second day of racing in the Alter Cup Regatta got started under a postpone pennant due
to a lack of sufficient breeze at 1000. The RC kept the boats on the beach until 1020 when
they were ordered off the beach in preparation for the start of race 8, which occurred at
1030. Thereafter, the breeze continued to build throughout the day and veer from the SE to
the SSW during the last race of the day, which was race 13. The predicted showers did not
materialize until just moments after the RC tied up in the evening at 1648. Once again all
races were conducted without protests and without a general recall. There was, however,
one boat OCS in race 12. One major breakdown occurred to one of the boats in race 11 when
one of the bulkheads in the port ama of a boat failed. The substitute boat was called into
action as a substitute and the team asked for redress from the jury. The Judges awarded
appropriate redress. The RC displayed the AP pennant one more time during the day when one
of the boats, which had turned over in race 12, discovered a problem with its trapeze. The
RC postponed race 13 while the crew made repairs underway.
Even more so than
the first day, the RC moved a number of legs in each of the first four races of the day,
mostly leeward legs, in order to respond to a shift in the breeze which began to develop
during the starting sequence. Rather than blow off the start, and chase the breeze, the RC
continued the starting sequence and then squared up the course on the first leeward leg,
giving the competitors a very square leeward leg to the gate. It was not until the last
two races when the RC, in responding to the change in breeze, began to work the top end
markset boat more than the bottom end. The breeze direction began to settle down quite a
bit toward the end of the day, as it seemed to have finished its march to the SSW.
Once again, windward
leeward courses were conducted with four legs each. Races 8 through 11 had one-mile legs
and races 12 and 13 had 1.25-mile legs. All races were completed with the first boat
finishing in 30 to 35 minutes after the start.
Now that the RC is
ahead of the schedule and built a pad for itself, the RC's plan for tomorrow’s three
remaining races in the elimination round is to conduct all races with a target of one hour
each. Again however, windward leeward courses will be set with four legs each.
As a final comment,
for those of you who have never experienced the opportunity to view these high performance
catamarans, don't miss the chance should it ever come your way. Watching a 20 foot cat
flying a hull, way overpowered under an asymmetrical spinnaker, with the skipper and crew
on trapezes, driving into one of the gate marks, and snuffing its chute at the last
possible moment as it rounds the mark, still on one hull as it rockets up the course, is
something that monohull sailors need to see to appreciate. The next time these boats race
will be during the Worrell 1000 in a couple of weeks.
Wednesday, April 26:
Today, for the last three races of the 16 race elimination round, the breeze was honking
from the north, as predicted. The RC set up across the bay on the eastern side in the
vicinity of Old Navy Cove and started on time with the first warning signal at 1000. With
just three races left, the RC planned on extending the weather legs of the four legged WL
courses to 1.5 miles, at least. For races 15 and 16, as the breeze increased with gusts to
18 knots, the legs were moved out to 1.7 miles.
In race 14 one boat
retired due to a jib halyard breaking and filed for redress, which the jury granted.
Another boat went over on its side. This became endemic as the day wore on with 3 boats
over in race 15 and one boat over twice in race 16. But, not bad considering the
unpredictable variation in the strength and direction of the breeze.
For the first race
the breeze varied around 020 in a very neat sine curve over time. Alas, such was not the
case later in the day when the breeze began jumping around with no real pattern from 355
to 035, still convincing the RC that the best course was around 020. It was not until the
third race when the breeze, expected to go right all day, made a pronounced and continuing
march to the left. The RC adjusted both of the leeward legs, i.e., legs 2 and 4 as the
breeze went from 030 at the start to 005 at the finish.
Today, just as the
previous two days, with square and long lines the fleet was well behaved. No boat was OCS
and there were no general recalls. The only postponement was due to a last minute request
to accommodate a breakdown in equipment, which the RC granted just seconds before the
start of race 15.
Though some may feel
that sailing is not a spectator sport, they would be hard pressed to convince the
authorities on the Pensacola to Gulf Breeze bridge. As the boats approached the weather
mark, laid just south of the bridge, traffic stopped as the boats approached the mark,
rounded the offset mark and set their chutes in 14 to 16 knot breezes.
Ten teams went home
after today's racing, and ten go on to the final round, which will be sailed tomorrow,
Thursday. This final round consists of four races. The RC, in response to the competitors,
has announced that each race will be about one hour long and consist of six windward
leeward legs.
Thursday, April
27:It was impossible to catch the breeze today. The RC started out expecting a NE breeze
but found themselves in a NNE breeze instead. Not bad, except that it would not settle
down. Though the legs were set at just one mile, a huge variation persisted throughout the
first three races between the top of the course and the bottom. With the wind honking at
up to 20 knots, the RC was not about to blow it off to await some kind of synchronization
between the top and bottom.
The first race was
started on time and with two OCS. These were the only two of the day and accounted for two
of the grand total of four OCS for the entire regatta. Randy Smyth, the leader after 16
races, was one of those caught over early and it was all downhill for Randy thereafter,
showing that even a great and acclaimed catamaran sailor like Randy can have bad days too,
thus leaving some hope for the mere mortals amongst the rest of the fleet.
The RC took
advantage of all the room available in Pensacola Bay looking for more consistency in the
breeze but to no avail. When the breeze was blowing big time, it was varying between 000
and 060 and later in the day when it eased it was still showing a huge oscillation. It was
so bad that at one time in race 18 (second race of the day) the breeze went so far left
that those who took a flyer to the right coming down and expected to be clobbered found
themselves in a favorable position with those on the other side of the course as all ten
boats met at the leeward gate together. Throughout every effort of the RC to square up the
course throughout the day, the wind movement played havoc with their efforts. Only in the
last race did the RC finally achieve some kind of stability as the breeze held reasonably
stable for five of the six legs. Again, however, as the race was concluding it became
apparent that the One who rules the wind was going to present one more challenge to the
RC. Though the breeze was moving at the bottom end, at the top, it was indicating
stability. Nevertheless, the RC took the risk and changed the course to accommodate the
perceived shift at the bottom end for the finish and came out golden with a square run to
the finish line of the last race of the regatta.
Thus it was that the
Alter Cup concluded with just one protest, two requests for redress for damaged boats,
four boats OCS and an unaccountable number of leg changes throughout the 20 races.
To those of you in
monohulls who have not tried catamaran racing, like myself, give it a shot. If you want to
experience what in Disneyland used to be called an E Ticket ride,
this is the way to go. Note
that the difference after 20 races between first and fifth place was just 3 points. |
