Number of Boats Registered: 17
Jacksonville was the second leg of the four part regatta Snowbird Series. This was my first real test of trying Tampa as my storage hub for the winter racing series in Florida. I would have to fly into Tampa, drive to Jacksonville, and then get back to Tampa and then catch my direct flight on Allegiant to Bloomington, IL. If you missed my last post, here’s how the Snowbird Series breaks down:
One reason I was looking forward to Jacksonville because not only were Ryan Malmgren and Stacey Rieu coming to race in their new boat, they were also dropping off my new Mad Sails main and jib. This was their maiden voyage of the FS#6177 Scotty McFly and I was super excited for them. I would be racing with Trent Johnson and Heather Johnson also was making the trip as they planned to make a vacation out of it. Scotty McFly is a play on the movie Back to the Future. They didn’t quite hit 88mph, but the boat was fast and they had a solid regatta finishing 5th and missing second by just two points. Congrats Ryan and Stacey on a solid Top 5!
There was no racing on Saturday due to no wind. It was rainy and it would have been very wet sailing conditions, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Our hosts provided a keg, had a full service bar and there were plenty of fun people around. Nobody was complaining! Making an appearance were Tom and Debbie Yeagle from CLSA who moved to Jacksonville in early 2018. Tom and Debbie were very active in the Flying Scot fleet at Clinton Lake before making the move south. It was great catching up and updating them on all the the CLSA gossip. Heather surprised Debbie and Tom with a signed gift from many club members. After wiping away some happy tears, everyone was composed enough to capture the memory.
On the race course, school was in session and I was the student. Jacksonville has a major current because it is located on the St. John's river, which is greatly impacted by the tides. The race started at 9:55am on Sunday with wind direction of 180. High tide was +/- 7am and low tide was at 1:47pm.
During the racing we had our own private air show as four F-15s flew passes over our racing area for almost an hour. It was worth the price of admission!
During the first race and I wasn't sure I had the correct read on the current, so we planned to keep a close eye on the Florida hot shots just in case. The current should have been going out and I anticipated we'd be fighting the current upwind. I went right after starting near the boat and found myself next to Charlie and noticed Mark Taylor was also going right up the first leg. This was a confidence builder. In theory, being closer to the shallow shore would help us and hurt those closer to strong current in the center of the river. Turns out the left paid nicely on the first leg as the wind shift and pressure must have trumped the effect of the current, so that didn't go so well. I played the left on the second leg and the right seemed to pay. I noticed my boat felt funny and would later learn that Lynn and Bill Bruss had the exact same conversation on their boat. Was it the current making my boat feel weird? The wind gradually died after the first leg and we were worried they would not race any more. That race sucked, but Trent and I seemed to be sailing well and the boat seemed fast when we were near other boats.
During the first race and I wasn't sure I had the correct read on the current, so we planned to keep a close eye on the Florida hot shots just in case. The current should have been going out and I anticipated we'd be fighting the current upwind. I went right after starting near the boat and found myself next to Charlie and noticed Mark Taylor was also going right up the first leg. This was a confidence builder. In theory, being closer to the shallow shore would help us and hurt those closer to strong current in the center of the river. Turns out the left paid nicely on the first leg as the wind shift and pressure must have trumped the effect of the current, so that didn't go so well. I played the left on the second leg and the right seemed to pay. I noticed my boat felt funny and would later learn that Lynn and Bill Bruss had the exact same conversation on their boat. Was it the current making my boat feel weird? The wind gradually died after the first leg and we were worried they would not race any more. That race sucked, but Trent and I seemed to be sailing well and the boat seemed fast when we were near other boats.
Had a good start in the second race towards right-middle of the line and we quickly tacked over to the right in clean air. Linton, Malmgren and Taylor all started at the boat and went right immediately and were further below me. I figured I'd be a solid top 4-5 if I followed. Then I saw this huge puff coming down the right center about half way up the course. I tacked into it for about a minute and then tacked back over thinking I'd come out ahead. Nope. I was confused because it was a glorious puff that I had all to myself. Turns out I lost several boats and lost a lot of ground to the leaders. I know you are not supposed to break from the lead pack, but I wanted to be the leader of that pack coming around the windward mark. I would later learn that others noticed the current was speeding up with lighter air, so I should have stuck to my game plan from the first race and went right and avoid the current. I confirmed on Google the current does speed up as you get closer to low tide. Duly noted! We held our own and passed a couple of good boats to finish a decent 8th.
At the start of the third race, I was very confused. I was going for a boat start and everyone was positioned 3-5 boat lengths above the boat and it looked to be a big fight to win the boat. I figured I'd move down a little bit and avoid that fight and get a good start on the right center of the line in clean air, go right, and finish strong. I thought was going to make the line in plenty of time but was struggling to get to the line and it felt like a big lefty. Turns out the current was cranking at this point and everyone was positioning for a sling shot start so they could ride the current down and around the boat. I never knew that was thing until I witnessed it with my own eyes. I was pushed half way down the line because the current and actually started a boat length short of it. It's very frustrating when you think are doing the smart the thing by avoiding all the drama at the boat and then get penalized for it! I would later learn that everyone was monitoring the variable current strength by watching the ripples at the buoys. When I tacked over after the start, I was looking at a wall of boats in front of me. I either had to suck it up or tack left and fight the current. At least we had a decent second race.
Thankfully, spirits were positive on the boat in spite of our position in the standings. Usually when I do bad in a race I know why. It's frustrating when you suck and you are not sure what exactly went wrong. Boat speed felt fine. Trent was doing great. Our starts were pretty good except for that last one - even then I thought I was playing smart and conservative. I thought was making good moves based on what I knew and saw on the water but clearly I wasn't. Afterwards, Mark and Michelle Taylor graciously offered to let me crash at their place in Tampa with Bill and Lynn Bruss. I was finally able to piece everything together after talking to other racers and getting their perspective on things. I went to a coffee shop the next morning and spent about an hour studying and updating my notebook while the races were fresh in my head.
Even though things didn't go our way, I like how the current adds whole new and fun dynamic to sailboat racing. I race in regattas to get better and to gain experience and this was certainly a productive trip. I would highly recommend a visit to the Rudderclub of Jacksonville. Donna Mohr, Jon and their team run a great regatta and they are amazing hosts. Camping is permitted. Showers on site. And the full service bar is very nice when the weather doesn't cooperate.
Looking forward to Tampa in January!
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