Tulip Regatta 2018
Day 1 – Lots of wind, actually too much wind for us in the Catalina 27. We got onto the course and put up the main sail with 2 reefs in and were pretty much over powered before deploying the #3 headsail so we retired from the race without starting and went into Guemes channel where the wind was much more manageable. It was fun just to watch the other boats race down the channel to the R4 navigation buoy and head back down the channel. This was all well and good except we had to get back to Cap Sante Marina which proved difficult. By then the winds were in the high 30 – 40 knot range with higher gusts. The little Catalina was barely able to make any headway even with the motor running at full throttle. The waves were so large and sharp that the propeller would come completely out of the water and the wind direction was out of the south such that if you tried to go any direction other than dead into the wind you would lose control and the boat would turn itself down wind. After struggling for some time trying to make headway to the south and getting battered the motor jumped off the transom and into the water! When I looked back to see what happened the motor was still running just totally under water. I made my way to the stern ASAP and lifted the motor cowling as far out of the water as I could and tied it to a cleat. The only reason that the motor did not sink was that the lifting tether was attached as was the electrical cord and gas line. The only reason the boat did not hit the rocks and sink was due to the quick work by Chris White and Mark Maulden aboard Chris’s power boat. About the time I got the motor somewhat secured and ran back to the bow Mark heaved me a line which I was able to get one loop around a bow cleat. There was no way to actually tie it off so I stayed on the bow and held on until we got into the marina. I am eternally grateful to those guys for their diligence and effort!! Of all the sailing stories I have after all these years this is the goofiest! How many people have had their outboards try to jump overboard!? Once tied up at the dock we managed to get the motor onto the dock and into a dock cart. We took it home to my shop and cleared the water from the crankcase and cylinders, changed the oil twice, disassembled and cleaned out the carburetor and this morning it started and ran! It looked like the boats that actually did race had fun. I heard that “Vitesse” broke their backstay but it was repaired and they were out again on Sunday. Steve Hayes prepared delicious barbequed-poached salmon with salads and baked potatoes and Callie Weber prepared lots of wonderful barbequed oysters. Everyone ate well and very many expressed their enjoyment of the food!! The main attraction was honoring Mac Madenwald as this was his 40th anniversary of his purchase of the amazing Baltic 38 “Pangea”. There was a slide show with photos of Mac and friends over the past 40 years. I have only been at AYC a little over 20 or so years so it was pretty cool to see what they looked like 40 years ago!! Many people spoke about their experiences and history on Pangea and there were stories about Hawaii races and too many other fun anecdotes to list here. Suffice it to say that it was an honor and a privilege to be able to help honor a great man and sailor and his boat. All in all a great time was had by all!!
Day 2 - Plenty of wind but nothing like Saturday! Funny how 15-20 knots feels like light air after a day of 30’s to 40’s! No one in the smaller, less capable boats flew their spinnakers all day Sunday. We had in 2 reefs and used only the old #3 all day and did well enough to win! In all fairness if Kevin Swackhammer in his Santana 20 “Hitched” had not retired the best we were likely to get was 2nd. I don’t remember exactly how many races we got off probably 6 or 7. There were plenty enough to make up for not getting any on Saturday. Back at the club Jeri Gunn had prepared the traditional free chili dogs with salads and other delicious items. The results were presented by Steph and John made sure that all volunteers were acknowledged. I wish I could do the same here but this is already too long! The regatta results are posted on the AYC web site.