Although not unheard of, it is unusual for us to travel to the coast two weekends in succession. Last weekend we were able to schedule a very enjoyable weekend with Jack and Vanessa, and this weekend was race weekend at the Whortonsville Yacht and Tractor Club, of which we are card-carrying members (so to speak). The race is an annual event held as close to the Summer Solstice as possible. Nick and Jeanette (our dock masters) always do a fantastic job of organizing both the race and entertaining nearly a hundred people at the picnic after the race.

Southern Star has a checkered history with this race. Since we bought the boat and moved it to Ensign Harbor in 2003, we have never actually started the Summer Solstice race. After checking old log entries, I found that in 2003, I sailed with Stefan on his Saber 30. Judy was not with me but she sent a covered dish to the picnic. I have never been quite forgiven for failing to return home with the serving spoon she sent. In 2004 my log does not mention the race, which probably means we were otherwise occupied. In 2005, we signed up for the race but our fuel pump failed the week before the race so we did not start. We did, however, sail with Chuck and Tish on their Island Packet 35. An injured back on our first trip to Little Washington qualified us for the dreaded DNS (Did Not Start) designation in the race results for 2006. Last year we simply did not enter the race for whatever reason. So based on historical fact, although we have raced Southern Star informally at the Octoberfest event, this was our very first running of the Great Whortonsville Race.

Sailboat racing is not a spectator sport. The major networks do not televise even the America's Cup races. Even to a sailor, watching a sailboat race would be like watching paint dry. You have to be there and have your hands on the tiller and sheets to appreciate the sport.

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Friday June 20, 2008
We left home at the usual time. I have been working from home now for over a year and that really makes things easier. We packed light for the trip, and Judy had everything ready to go as soon as I finished work at 4:30. We made really good time. The state of North Carolina has provided a bypass around Clayton, NC. Whether we actually take the bypass or not, we will save time because of decreased traffic on either route. We stopped for dinner and still made the trip in 5 hours. We were glad to see a good turnout of dock mates already there. The weather forecast was for winds south at 10 knots and a 50% chance of rain in the form of thunderstorms. When we arrived, the skies were clear and the temp was in the mid seventies. No need to deploy the air conditioner.

Saturday June 21, 2008
Bagels, cream cheese and coffee were served for breakfast. There are a dozen little chores that require attention to launch a boat like ours. From "buttoned up" at the dock to "ready to sail" takes at least an hour if you are in a hurry and two if you are not. The skippers' meeting was held at 9 am in Nick's back yard. The race would be a triangle course, which is typical. The course would be marked by a red floating, anchored ball about 3 feet in diameter, and the other two marks would be existing aids to navigation, or government marks. The trawler Intermission and a well-staffed crew would serve as the committee boat, and the start finish line would be an imaginary line between her and another floating ball colored white. All marks would be taken to port, but the order the marks would be taken and the location of the start/finish line would be announced after the committee boat was on the course and could determine actual wind speed and direction to provide one windward leg. This would be a gentlemen's race (my term) so protests were discouraged. Participants are expected to obey the rules of the road, use common sense and avoid bickering about the finer points of the rulebook.

The race was to start at high noon, and it would take at least an hour to get there from our dock. Most boats left between 10 and 10:45 am. We left at 10:30. The thing I like about racing is that you can learn more about handling your boat in an afternoon of racing than in a summer of sailing by yourself. The reason is simple. You can compare your performance to that of the boat in front and, if you're doing it right, behind you. The thing I don't like is that it can become a contact sport if captains and crews don't pay attention to their position relative to other boats. This is especially true before the start of the race. Imagine 36 very large machines milling about on the water in close proximity. Each boat is going in a different direction, just killing time before the start. These machines are designed to go as fast as possible and there are no brakes. Care must be taken to avoid collisions.

We arrived on the course in plenty of time. About 30 minutes before the start, we were visited by a nasty little squall. One boat reported actual wind speeds of 25 knots. There was a moderate rain so we broke out the foul weather gear. We do not usually sail in these conditions but since we weren't starting for a while, we decided to leave the sails down and the diesel running and just wait to see what the weather would do. We knew that warm weather squalls are not pleasant but neither are they long lived. At the height of the storm several boats resigned from the race. Smart skippers know when to pack it in. There were some problems with communication. The race committee had chosen VHF channel 72 for announcements and instructions. A couple of boats close by chose our start time to discuss the pros and cons of sailing the Pamlico Sound. Somehow it took a long time for them to get the message that we were using the channel. They finally moved their discussion to another of the many available VHF channels.

Moments before start time, the committee boat announced that one of the participants had fouled the starting line (white ball) and the start would be delayed by 30 minutes. This was fortunate for us. Had the race started in the middle of a squall, we would have probably resigned. During the 30-minute delay, the weather improved dramatically. At the delayed start, we were seeing 10-knot winds from the south and very little chop.

When sailboats of different designs race each other, there must be a system in place to allow for the fact that some boats are simply faster than others. Each production sailboat has a handicap rating derived from its design characteristics and past racing performance of the design. In this race handicaps were applied using the staggered start method. The boats are started in groups with the slowest boats starting first. I prefer this method over using a time handicap at the finish, because there is less confusion at the starting line. We were in the third group on the slow end of the scale primarily because of our relatively short length at the waterline. We were the last boat in our group to actually cross the start line, but not by much. The start was good but not great. The first leg was a beam reach with the wind from our starboard side. This is a good point of sail for most boats and we did well on the first leg. The wind was steady at about 10 knots. By the time we rounded the first mark we were leading our group. The second leg was downwind with the wind coming from almost but not quite astern. We did not do as well on this leg. One of the boats in our group passed us about halfway to the second mark. The wind was too far to port for us to fill our large headsail so it really was not providing much power. We could have used a whisker pole to hold it in position, but since we didn't have one Judy steered a course directly for the next mark and we did the best we could. The third leg was the windward leg. Normally this would require everyone to tack several times to reach the third mark. The race committee had done a great job of setting up the course but they didn't have control of the wind and they could not change the course. The third leg required us to tack only twice. Southern Star loved this. She had enough wind to power her at near hull speed but not enough to overpower her. It was like riding a rocket ship. We rounded the next mark and headed for the finish line. I knew we were in a good position because we were close to the finish line and nobody else had crossed. I wasn't sure exactly where we finished but I knew we did well.

The wind had been decreasing for a while, and when the race was over it was pleasant but driving the boat very slowly. We cranked the diesel and headed for the barn. The picnic was to start in before long. There were two small racing boats that finished about the same time we did. Neither had engines and had been towed to the racecourse. We offered them a tow, and they immediately accepted the offer and threw us a line. We must have looked like a mother duck with babies swimming to the dock.

We intended to take lots of pictures during the race. We also intended to eat lunch but we had time for neither. We did take a few pictures but not many and we finally had a free hand after we crossed the finish line to grab a few small snack.

The picnic was great. Everyone brought a side dish and the barbeque had been cooking all day. When Nick announced the winners, I was surprised to find that we had finished seventh of about 26 boats that started the race. We were awarded a delicious batch of home baked "Rum Raisin Rolls". We also received many complements and congratulations on our relative success. The first place winner gets the Whortonsville Cup full of cookies. It must be returned before next year's race, full of cookies.

It had been a long and exciting day on the water. Our dock mates had begun to gather in the cockpit. We joined them for a very enjoyable visit. The day caught up with all of us at about the same time. We all returned to our boats at about 10:30. I hope everyone slept as well as we did.

Sunday June 22, 2008
The morning was beautiful. Judy brewed coffee and we ate our seventh place award for breakfast. The rolls were delicious. We soon started the process of getting the boat ready for our absence. We had packed light so the process went quickly. We left for home about 10:30 and stopped at the Rocking Comet Diner in Clayton for a vegetable plate.

This was a great weekend. The best part of our success in the race was that we felt good about our ability to handle the boat. Our seamanship will have a direct bearing on how safely we can operate the vessel. Racing is exciting but we will be glad to get back to just messing about in the boat. Maybe next trip we will bring the tri-radial spinnaker that came with the boat. It's a huge colorful balloon shaped sail that would take care of that slow, down wind leg of the race. We have never tried to use it but maybe now is the time. Hmmm, that's something to think about.

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