Faithful friends of
Strategery,
What a tale I have for you today. It
offers suspense, intrigue, mishap, the saving of a life in peril and a lack of
closure that leaves a question mark hanging over it all…and it all happened
within 36 minutes and 45 seconds.
Imagine the unsure confluence of fog
and thunderstorm on the
This is why God invented GPS and 3G
wireless communications. Chris pulled up the local radar images on his new cell
phone which showed real time movement of the storm system to our North. Then we
fired up our Garmin GPS handheld and backup handheld to make sure we knew where
we were going if it got thick…and it did get thick.
The committee set a course that
would be a challenge for many boats. They put an inflatable mark 1.2 miles out
at a heading of 180 degrees (due South) from the starting line. Then to Gunboat
Shoals buoy and then back to the finish. Starboard roundings. A triangle course
that would be fantastic for the 105’s with their asymmetrical spinnakers (we
thought).
We set the mark in our GPS and got
set to start. We ran down the line on starboard, trying to close the door on
Uproar who was starting on Port tack at the pin end. We couldn’t make it there
in time, and Uproar took off like a jet, hitting the line at the gun at top
speed. They had a great start.
We tacked over on top of Veladare
(they had to duck us at the start), and went on the first upwind leg in Uproar’s
wind shadow on port. Marlen was beneath us and footing for speed. About halfway
up the beat, we tacked over onto starboard again to get into clear air. At this
point things started to take on the feel of an aerial dogfight. We couldn’t see
any other boats, as we disappeared into the fog. We had a rough idea where the
mark was due to the GPS, but weren’t certain. We sailed to the GPS based layline
and tacked over. Like a ghost, we saw the mast of Uproar in the distance on
starboard tack. They had made up even more ground on us and were well in the
lead. We weren’t going to make the mark, so we tacked again back onto Starboard
and sailed to the layline. Following Uproar was Marlen, and it looked like it
was going to be a close rounding for us all.
As we sailed on starboard, Chris and
I watched 2 other masts emerge from the fog beneath us like fighter planes from
a cloud…Ubuntu leading Jabberwocky, both on Port tack with no rights. As we
sailed closer to one another, neither one of us altered course. Chris started
with a murmer that got progressively louder as the boats closed with us:
“no…No….NO…..STARBOARD!!!!!” Ubuntu tacked over beneath us, and we went neck and
neck to the layline. We tacked onto Port with them, and were able to put them in
our wind shadow. Rounding the mark, we found ourselves in tight with Marlen and
Veladare, jockeying for position. Marlen did a great job keeping us in their
wake as we tried sailing high and low to gain some advantage on
them.
Here is where the story gets
interesting. Sailing blind though the fog on a close reach, the boats were
barreling along at this point. Coming up to the next mark (which we were
piloting to off the GPS) it was clear that Marlen was going to round first and
Veladare would be second (as they were inside both Marlen and us and had
rights). I tried to go below Veladare to establish overlap, but were just about
at the 2 boat circle and they were in control. I headed down and then came up
hard to keep from getting shut out at the mark, closely missing their stern. We
all trucked right around the mark at about 7 knots as the breeze had been
building to about 16knots according to instruments in the cockpit.
We were set up for a bear-away set
on Starboard, and were getting ready to do the downwind thing when Chris said,
“There’s a man in the water!” I looked where he was pointing and saw one of
Veladare’s crew had fallen off the boat. He was conscious, but not wearing a PFD
(lifejacket), and was only in a t-shirt in the freezing
I called for us to stop the hoist,
as we were about halfway up the mast at that point with the chute, and furling
the jib, we sailed over to the man in the water. Luffing the boat up alongside
him, Chris got out Lifesling around him, and we got him to the stern and up the
swim ladder (first time we’ve ever put it in the water). We made sure he was not
injured, Kim got him belowdecks and into a warm jacket. Meanwhile, Veladare had
continued their drift and went broadside into the navigational aid at gunboat
shoals, a barnacle encrusted metal marker that could really hurt a boat. They
were not near their man, who was lucky that Chris had seen him in the water when
he did.
Having saved him, we went about
getting back into the race.
We set the chute on starboard and did an outside jibe in the growing 16
knot breeze to head toward the finish line. We did the rescue pretty quickly
– Chris and I figure about 4 minutes total from stopping the hoist to getting
the hoist back on. In that time, Ubuntu caught up with and passed us (we
were about 10 or 15 boat lengths in front of them), as did Jabberwocky.
Jabberwocky seemed to be having trouble with their spinnaker sheet, and
while we closed the gap on them, they were able to get it under control
and finished just ahead of us.
Veladare finished behind us, and we
dropped their sodden and cold, but really happy and nice crewmate, Henry, aboard
their boat.
But the story doesn’t end
there.
In the sailing rules, there are 2
rules that apply to the situation we found ourselves in. Rule 1.1 (The very
first rule) and Rule 62.1 c. They are as follows:
1
SAFETY
1.1
Helping Those in Danger
A boat or competitor shall give
all possible help to any person or vessel
in danger.
62
REDRESS
62.1
A request for redress or a
protest committee’s decision to consider
redress shall be based on a
claim or possibility that a boat’s score in a
race or series has, through no
fault of her own, been made signi.cantly
worse
by
(a) an improper action or
omission of the race committee, protest
committee or organizing
authority;
(b) injury or physical damage
because of the action of a boat that
was breaking a rule of Part 2 or
of a vessel not racing
that
was
required to keep
clear;
(c) giving help (except to
herself or her crew) in compliance with
rule 1.1;
or
(d) a boat against which a
penalty has been imposed under rule 2 or
disciplinary action has been
taken under rule 69.1(b).
Basically, the rules say that you
have to help someone in danger, and if you do, you are entitled to an adjustment
of your finish.
Because of the finish that occurred,
Marlen taking first by 2 minutes and Ubuntu taking second, we believe we would
have finished either first or second for the race. Uproar, the leader at the
mark, finished third due to a broken spinnaker shackle. Marlen was no more than
2 lengths ahead at the rounding. Ubuntu was 10 or 15 lengths behind. We were mid
hoist when we altered course to rescue the sailor, which took us a minimum of 4
minutes to do, which would have put us in first or second place (depending on
the actual time needed for the rescue) based on actual elapsed time of the
finishes.
So we are seeking redress, which
won’t be resolved until next week. Ubuntu’s owner Peter Griffin has graciously
offered to support us in the hearing. Stay tuned for more next
week…
Regards,
Cliff