| 26.Jan.04 | Back home again after a long Saturday drive up to Miami followed by two slow legs through Atlanta to Providence where the temps were in single digits. I have to say that the weather in Key West was a little brisk at times, but nothing like last year. And the wind was near perfect. One race with partial hiking (first race Wednesday), but other than that it was full hiking with the best blasts coming on Friday. This was the sixth year for the 105s with all other Race Weeks having 8 races except for two years ago when we only got six. This year we had a full complement of nine and every single race started on time without delay. No general recalls and few races with boats over the line early. Last year we had 29 boats from 14 Fleets. This year it was 29 boats from 16 Fleets (counting Europe as a Fleet). We picked up Bermuda, San Diego, and Annapolis. We lost New England. Twenty three boats were returnees. Six were new. Going back to last weeks's handicapping, ZUNI BEAR won as the odds on favorite, but squandered her margin on the last day. Not satisfied by the closeness of a one point win last year, she shaved it down to a tiebreaker this year with four firsts to MASQUERADE's two. Boats mentioned by name earlier filled positions 1 through 8. The only boats in the top ten who were not mentioned as "top boats" were PUFFIN at 9 and MAX POWER at 10. The first "newbie" was MACK DADDY at 15. It's a tough group to crack! Here are the crew lists for the top five:ZUNI BEAR, San Diego, CA:The winners of the Fun Awards (click here for descriptions and standings. Five Aboard: Damian Emery, ECLIPSE, New Shoreham, NYWhat about the bragging rights of the sail makers? A few boats had mixed inventories, but the breakdown was based on mainsails: Ullman (12 boats): 1,3,4,6,10,11,13,17,19,23,24,27 (average 13.2)How does this differ from last year? Not a great deal. Ullman had five in the top ten compared to North's four and together they had the lion's share of the sails in the regatta. Here's what was printed in last year's wrapup: A few boats had mixed inventories, but the breakdown was as follows -- (m) indicates mixed inventory boats counted twice: Ullman (12 boats): 1,2,3,6,7,8,18,22,26,27,29(m) (average 12.4)I need to check further, but I think it was a good experience for most of the boats that came down. You couldn't ask for better sailing conditions. Despite the cold, we had good wind and good sailing. The formula of excluding most pros and most charterers seems to a formula most owners are now comfortable with. But I would be remiss if I were not to mention that we need to work on protecting our crews and our property as the number one priority. We had no major injuries, but we lost a mast with sails (not a racing incident), two poles, a backstay, and we holed a boat. When it comes to protecting our boats and making the boats insurable to all the members of the class, we need to place a much lower priority on the need to place well and the need to insist on our rights under the rules. We need to think more about avoiding contact! Otherwise we will spoil a good thing. That said, let us set our sights on 35 boats for next year. If you are thinking about it you cannot start your planning too early. Send e-mail to nelson@j105.org if you would like to go on next year's mailing list (about a dozen e-mails between July 2004 and January 2005). Cheers and fair sailing, Nelson |
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| 23.Jan.04 |
ZUNI BEAR held on for a very close regatta win over MASQUERADE, both with 28 points, but ZUNI won the tiebreak with more firsts. The two California boats match raced at the start using the centerline boat as a pick. MASQUERADE went out to the corner, which has paid all week and ZUNI played the shifts up the center of the course. At the end it was MASQUERADE with the win and ZUNI fell back to 7th for the day. WET LEOPARD had its best finish of the regatta with a second and FLAME finished strongly with a daily third. The final regatta standings were ZUNI BEAR, MASQUERADE, SAVASANA, KINCSEM, and ECLIPSE. I was playing "crew appreciation" and "J/105 appreciation" in Division 2 (PHRF 5) on J/109 RUSH. The wind clocked a little to the east a little stronger than yesterday. I heard talk of pre-race gusts in the mid-twenties, but on our circle the wind averaged in the upper teens from the NNE. Our skipper called for the small jib, so an early headsail change was made on the way out to the course. I got to hike like crazy (the crew appreciation part). I was aboard yesterday and today when the owner flew back to Annapolis for business. The boat was the best J/109 (of five) on these two days when the pro steered and with the other pro trimmed the sails (the J/105 appreciation part). The J/109s have not settled on their one-design rules with a split between the west-coast and the east-coast contingents. We've got a lot better deal for lots less money. Yesterday we lost a sprit on a leeward mark rounding and today we lost a sprit on a weather mark rounding BLUE MAX. We need to be more careful and allow greater margins for error (defensive driving), especially in heavy air. One nice thing that happened today was that KINCSEM allowed CHARSAR to use their sprit so they did not have to sit out. Both UNBRIDLED and RUM 'N JAVA stayed in the harbor due to the heavy weather.. I'll have a wrapup and my snapshots on the web early next week. But I heard a lot of satisfaction with the regatta from the top to the bottom of the standings. From what I can tell at this time, most of the boats will be back for another go at it next January. |
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| 22.Jan.04 | I have some very sad news to report today. After finishing one of their best races of the regatta, coming from well back to take first place in the second race, KINCSEM was on her way back to the Historic Seaport when she was struck by a rental powerboat in the area of the shrouds. The powerboat was being driven by a young woman who was not paying attention and was traveling at a speed of about 30 knots compared to KINCEM's 5 knots. The uppers parted and the mast came down. Nobody on KINCSEM was hurt, but the powerboat driver was injured. The KINCSEM crew hacksawed off the rest of the shrouds and the mast went to the bottom. Joerg Esdorn was disappointed, but remarkably unfazed by the incident -- "We just finished the best race of the Regatta when this happened." It left his fellow competitors shaking their heads in disbelief. I was on the J/105 RUSH today. The wind was 14-16 knots from the North in the first race and then it shifted left to NNW later on. On our circle we raced a six legger first and then a five legger finishing upwind. I got this ride because the owner had to go home for a business meeting, but I wasn't invited to drive and played a very perfunctory role. But it was good to be out on the water in a sailboat instead of a powerboat. The 109 is a little bigger and better equipped than a 105 (it has two jib halyards and two spin halyards with an inventory that includes three headsails) and have a crew of 9-10. One difference on this boat is that they do "outside jibes" instead of "inside jibes" in heavy air. Makes me wonder why no 105s do that, but one challenge is to keep the lazy spin sheet from falling off the sprit and under the boat. They use a little stick to keep it above the sprit, which works most of the time. After the racing we had our pizza party and fun awards. Unfortunately the attendance was kept down by the dismasting and a couple of protests (CHARSAR lost her sprit in one leeward mark rounding). Ed Gierhardt showed up to give a pitch for the 2004 Marion NAC and Robert Baker gave a pitch for the 2005 Toronto NAC. The fun awards were won by ECLIPSE (Five Aboard), MACK DADDY (Newbies), GIGI (Family), PLANET B (Greybeard), GHOST (Mixed Gender), and HOT WATER (Improvement). Unfortunately, yours truly forgot to award the last, a $100 US gift certificate to West Marine, won for the third year in a row by a Canadian boat (worth considerably more up north). Thank goodness we held the awards on Thursday so I can correct my error on Friday. So today ZUNI fell to mere mortal with finishes of 9-8, but still managed to reduce her regatta leading total to 21 with the throwout. MASQUERADE won the daily first with 1-4 with PUFFIN second with 4-2 and SAVASANA third with 3-3. MASQUERADE won the coveted Boat-Of-The-Day Award |
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| 21.Jan.04 | The forecast today was for N-NE winds at 10 kts with sun. This forecast was fairly accurate with temps in the 70s. For those in the north (temps in the 20s), consider putting Key West on your calendar for 2005. Each year it is the week of the Martin Luther King's Birthday holiday. Yes, it is expensive, but you should
indulge at least once in your life. You won't regret it. I was on the photo boat again today on the 105 circle, but JeffJ was taping the J/80s rather than the 105s so I wasn't too close to the action. The first race was the lightest air of the week, somewhat below the 10 knot forecast. About half a dozen boats were called over early and had to restart (all starts are under the "I flag" meaning you go around the ends to restart). BLUE MAX and REVELATION got good starts and BLUE made it around the weather mark in first place, followed closely by ZUNI, WET PAINT, and FLAME. By the third mark it was ZUNI, WET PAINT, and MASQUERADE, with BLUE MAX slipping to 7. On the last leg the wind shifted to the north and made the final run a one-jibe reach. The top three remained unchanged.. The second race saw a little more wind, with whitecaps just starting to appear at times. At the first mark it appeared to be WET LEOPARD first around, followed by RUM AT SIX, and ZUNI. After two full laps they moved the finishing direction from 340 degrees to 355 degrees. At the finish it was ZUNI for their second win of the day followed by RUM and KINCSEM. Daily silver was won by ZUNI with 1-1, RUM with 5-2 and MASQUERADE with 3-6. Now eliminated from the fun awards (having won daily silver) are MAX POWER, DOA, KINCSEM, ZUNI, SAVASANA, MASQUERADE, and RUM. We brought 32 large (7' x 7') J/105 battle flags down and have sold one to almost every boat. The fleet looks fantastic with all the flags flying around the harbor and out to the course. The yellow "brag flag" went out with ZUNI today (as the current leader of the regatta) and when they throw out their 19 tomorrow it looks like they will keep it for the entire regatta. I'll be sailing on a J/109 tomorrow, but will try to get some "skinny" on the racing from the crews tomorrow night at the party. |
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| 20.Jan.04 | Sorry, but no first hand accounts today. I was on Circle #2 with JeffJ taping the J/120s and J/109s (and watching the graceful maxis). The Reichel-Pugh 75 Titan 12 (pronounced Tee-Tahn) is a red machine to behold. It may not win on handicap, but it is certainly the fastest boat out there. For those who wonder what it is like to sail a 109 or 120, think about housing and feeding 9-10 instead of 5-6, sailing with colored sails heeled over with a big genoa, and worrying about the 3 seconds of handicap difference between the boats with a furler and the boats with full hoist headsails. The 105s have some distinct advantages. The morning forecast (from NWS) was for 10-15 knots in the morning from the N to NW with partial sun. Today they were closer than yesterday. On our circle they ran two races to due North and on the 105s circle they ran both to 005 degrees (one four legger and one five). The wind was stronger than yesterday, mostly in the 12-16 knot range with shifts of 15-25 degrees. Apparently, the boats going to the corners again did better than the boats going up the middle trying to play the shifts. In the first race, Don Priesly on WET PAINT port tacked the fleet and went on to a second place finish. ZUNI BEAR won the day with a comfortable 1-2. SAVASANA moved up with a 5-3 for a daily second and MASQUERADE had a 4-6 for daily third. KINCSEM continued their pattern of a double digit followed by a first. Remarkably the only three boats that were in single digits yesterday (MAX POWER, DOA, and RUM at SIX) all had In contrast to yesterday when there were no protests, there were many today. FLAME had a good 8-5 negated by a DSQ in race 1 and GHOST had both a 40% and a DSQ to contend with. HOT WATER had 12 points added to their 10th due to a 40% penalty. At the end of the day it was ZUNI BEAR coming to the top with 23 points closely followed by MASQUERADE with 24 and KINCSEM with 28. Some of these were not settled until well after 6 p.m. Not fun! Since three new boats won silver today, we have six boats out of the competition for the fun awards. They're dropping fast. Tomorrow I'll be back on the 105 circle. Stay tuned. |
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| 19.Jan.04 |
When I arrived at the dock in the morning the Dutch crew informed me that some of their safety equipment had disappeared from their boat (first aid kit, fire extinguishers, and fog horn). Could someone have stolen it? They were concerned that they did not have the gear on the boat after the inspection. A few minutes later they got a call from the race committee. It seems that they launched the whole package with their spinnaker hoist during practice the previous day and the race committee had retrieved it from the water. The morning forecast (from NOAA) was for 10-15 knots in the morning from the SW, and after the front coming through, 15-25 from the NW. It was not to be, and most boats left the dock with a little more tension on their rigs than they needed. Some left the dock with their backup jibs (new rule in effect for KWRW). In the first race the wind averaged about 10 knots just south of west. All boats had their crews hiking on the rail, but it was a good starter race. The fleet followed the Melges 24 fleet by 10 minutes with a centerline starting boat. All but two 105s started on the weather side of the centerline boat, with ZUNI BEAR the most leeward boat. ZUNI banged the left (despite the forecast) and MASQUERADE and PLANET B banged the right. Both corners proved good and the center not so good. At the first weather mark it was ZUNI, PLANET B, RUM AT SIX, and MASQUERADE. At the leeward mark it was the same leaders with MASQUERADE moving into third. At the second windward, MAX POWER moved into fourth and at the finish it was ECLIPSE in fourth with MAX POWER overlapped in fifth. There was plenty of lump and the leading boats were powered up with no backstay, traveller up, and sails twisted well off. At the end of the race the wind was shifting left and dying. Then the front went through (mostly of the clouds and showers were east of us) with a tiny bit of rain. After a wait of about 30 minutes the breeze came back, and stronger. The RC set a course of four legs to 235. In the Melges fleet about half the boats were called over early and perhaps warning the 105s that there would be no general recalls. We had our second clean start with most of the boats at the committee boat end due to a slight favor and the expectation of the wind going right (finally). This time RUM 'N JAVA was the leftmost boat and CHARSAR got a nice start in the middle. The shift hit during the first leg and the right paid big time. And it paid the most to KINCSEM. But as KINCSEM came reaching down to the mark, they discovered (belately) that the mark was not in place and that a committee boat stood in place of the mark that had been displaced by a Melges, so they had to tack back upwind to go where the mark used to be. Just as ZUNI had the first race, ECLIPSE went wire to wire and won the race. It seemed like all the following boats arrived at the weather mark together and at points were rounding five abreast. Following KINCSEM were NO FACE 2 FACE and MAX POWER. At the leeward, MAX POWER had passed NF2F. By the second downwind it was DEAD ON ARRIVAL in third. And at the finish FLAME had moved up to that position. The boats that finished 1-2 in race 1 finished 19 and 16 in race 2. After only two races there are only three boats having avoided double digits. As an aside, I was in prime position on the course with Jeff Johnstone who was taking video of the action. What was amusing was to hear Jeff instructing his driver (Peter) in sailing terms. "Flop over to starboard", "take that lane", "luff up", etc. Jeff got some amazing video which was enjoyed by much of the fleet after the seminar with Will Keyworth at 5 p.m. Will recruited Gerrit Schultze (MAX POWER), Damian Emery (ECLIPSE), and Robert Baker (PLANET B) to share their knowledge of tuning and trimming for speed. There were lots of questions and answers. I have lots of notes, but one tip that I resonated with was that you can be over-adjusting the backstay. Better to drive off a little for getting through the waves than to be constantly fiddling to power up the sails a little and losing concentration on steering. |
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| 18.Jan.04 | Today it started out blowing hard from the southwest. This afternoon it calmed down a bit, giving crews both heavy air and moderate practice conditions. The inspection crew got the final boats measured between noon and 2 p.m. We have worked hard to get all the boats on the same page with respect to floatline compliance, headstays, and lifelines. We seem to have achieved that and compliance is undoubtedly much higher than in Key Wests past. The boats are pretty much the same and the winner will be the crew that sails the best regatta. For my part, I got back to the B&B in time to see the Patriots dismiss the Colts in the AFC Championship game. Those from New England will be happy with the result and none too disappointed to be missing the snow in New England. Tomorrow the real action happens. The forecast is 18-20 knots from the WNW. This will be an early indication of who will be top of the heap by the end of the week. I'll post the standings for the fun races each evening after the awards in the tent. Stay tuned. If you have any questions, send them to nelson@j105.org. |
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| 17.Jan.04 | It was warm and sunny and the wind blew for the practice sessions today. We started measuring boats at one every 15 minutes starting at noon. We had two finger piers at the Conch Republic dock and tied each boat between the ends to the piers so that we could inspect the float lines. We were pushing it to get the boats in and out in 15 minutes and inspecting float certificates, float line positions, lifeline taughtness, sail tags, and headstays. But with the able assistance of Bob Smith, Steve Tedeschi, and Jeff Johnstone we managed to inspect over 20 boats before 6 p.m. With the help of the salesmanship of Bob, we managed to sell J/105 battle flags to all but one of the boats being inspected. (Contrary to rumor, we did not require a battle flag purchase before we cleared a boat for racing. We observed that the fleet paid careful attention to the inspection procedures, showed up on time, were cooperative with the inspectors. There were quite a few lifelines that needed to be tightened and headstays shortened, which owners did without grumbling, knowing that everyone was being treated the same. We have a handful more boats to do tomorrow and then everyone can go out and practice in the afternoon. The weather is looking promising for the week and the crews are anxious to get on with the racing. The inspection crew were exhaused by six and Nelson promised to allow more time or have more inspectors for next year. |
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| 16.Jan.04 | I've arrived. Left Providence with temps near zero. Arrived Key West with temps in the seventies. Met up with President Bob Smith and measured Rum 'n Java, a charter that came down on the feeder race from Ft. Lauderdale. We also picked up the battle flags at the UPS station. Tomorrow we start measuring in earnest. Later.
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| 09.Jan.04 | I can get myself into a bundle of trouble by handicapping the event, but if I start with the assumption that I'm not too good at it (possibly missing some of the dark horses and overrating some of the favorites). I hope not to offend anyone. So here goes. ZUNI BEAR -- Finished first last year and won Boat of the Week. Finished second in 2002. Finished second in the 2003 NAC in San Fran. No way I can leave them off the list of favorites. They will be well-prepared and ready to rock and roll. Last year they partied early in the week and had to claw their way back into contention. Richard Bergmann and Shawn Bennett will take the yellow flag out on the first day and nobody will be surprised if they take it home with them at the end of the week. WET LEOPARD -- Finished second last year, missing the win by a single point. They had a second at SORC and a third at Block Island. Jim Sorensen is salivating for a big win at a big regatta. Will it be here, or at Block, or in Marion? This could be the year of the Leopard. FLAME -- Jim Doane has KWRW finishes of 5, 3, 2, 3 to his credit in the last four years. He's one of two Florida boats and is tough in his home waters. Tim Hotchkiss, one of the top tacticians, has been a regular aboard FLAME for years. ECLIPSE -- Damian Emery has won the Fleet 6 Season Championship ever since he started racing a 105 (about six times). At Key West he has participated three times and has come in fourth all three times. He has one of the best bowmen in the business in Kevin Kelly (if you need tips, find Kevin). If it is a light air regatta, ECLIPSE will be hard to eclipse. MASQUERADE -- If the wind blows, nobody is better than the Tom Coates contingent. They will undoubtedly remember the last three races of last year when MASQUERADE finished 1-2-2 (to ZUNIs 4-1-1) on Thursday and Friday. It was howling (and freezing) in the last race. NO FACE TO FACE -- This Netherlands crew took themselves out early last year due to a collision, but showed great speed with a 2-5 on day 1. Walter Guerts will have the boys ready for action and will sail more defensively this year. KINCSEM -- Last year Joerg Esdorn got his feet wet with a chartered boat. This year he brings his own boat down with his regular crew. He's tough in Long Island Sound and will be tough in Key West. Other top boats include GIGI, RUM AT SIX, SAVASANA, WET PAINT, and the Toronto contingent. You could say it's anybody's regatta, but you have to say that the competition this year is unbelievably strong. Good luck everybody. |
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