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Bump's World - February 2016
February 5, 2016
First I want to thank Gary Weisburg for inviting me and really taking care of the whole crew. Gary put a huge amount of effort making sure thinks were done right. He provided lodging, food, a well prepared boat, a great crew, and constant entertainment.
We raced Gary’s J 111 "Heat Wave” in a one design class of 9 other J 111s. Of course we were told J 111 class rules are strictly adhered to. These rules are an effort to make the racing as fair as possible.
One of the many rules is a weight limit that is a little over 1400 lbs. Gary asked for all our weights and emailed us back saying we each had to drop 3 pounds to make the weigh in limit.
I thought, OK I can do that. No beer for 2 days, which is a huge sacrifice for me, but I’ll a team player. I actually dropped 5 pounds. I couldn’t wait to stand on the scale.
So I show up at the airport in Key West and the guys come pick me up in the suburban. They hand me a beer before I even get in the car. I appreciate this however we have weigh in the morning. The guys says no no don’t worry the owners decided to go on the honor system and no weigh in. So they did not wave the weight limit just the weigh in. So we all pounded the beers and nachos.
All week it was windy. Usually we were sailing in the 18 to 20 range, some times more. The seas were choppy and the last day big, short, and steep. Luckily the water temp was 78. We sailed with 7 guys and I was the lightest. We were the only boat with 7, every other boat had 8. There is no doubt that once the weight in was waved, all the boats picked up another crew. The racing was close and I could see the other crews very well. I do believe this had an effect on the boats performance.
Every boat in our class was well sailed and well prepared. One boat the lifelines were angled out board and when we asked the owner about it he said the boat came that way. Oh well so much for one design.
One of the one design rules is, each boat can only have one category 3 sailor on board. This is a registered professional with US Sailing. We had a sail maker who of course is a Cat 3, but they let me in because I’m over 65. I got the old age allowance. Cat 3 is another strange thing because I know world class sailors who are not Cat 3. So much for fairness.
I have to admit that after each day of sailing I felt a little beaten up. I was hoping the wind would calm down a little. There was a lot of beer at night and advil spread around our crew in the morning. Almost all the other boats did have younger guys on their crews and it showed. Every day we put on our gear and gave our best effort. 3 races a day, up wind/downwind. Custom 72s flying by us at 22 knots of boat speed. Wow.
I love Key West and Gary did a great job putting his program together. I will return.
Bump's World - February 2016
February 5, 2016
KEY WEST 2016 - OLD GUYS GO SAILING
Key West continues to be the premier sailing event in the United States. For years Premier Racing ran this regatta and in many ways it changed, for the better, the way the way regattas are run all across the country. Like many boating related activities, running regattas these days is very difficult. Sponsors are hard to get and participation is down. Luckily the Storm Trysail Club stepped up to bat and keeps this regatta going.First I want to thank Gary Weisburg for inviting me and really taking care of the whole crew. Gary put a huge amount of effort making sure thinks were done right. He provided lodging, food, a well prepared boat, a great crew, and constant entertainment.
We raced Gary’s J 111 "Heat Wave” in a one design class of 9 other J 111s. Of course we were told J 111 class rules are strictly adhered to. These rules are an effort to make the racing as fair as possible.
One of the many rules is a weight limit that is a little over 1400 lbs. Gary asked for all our weights and emailed us back saying we each had to drop 3 pounds to make the weigh in limit.
I thought, OK I can do that. No beer for 2 days, which is a huge sacrifice for me, but I’ll a team player. I actually dropped 5 pounds. I couldn’t wait to stand on the scale.
So I show up at the airport in Key West and the guys come pick me up in the suburban. They hand me a beer before I even get in the car. I appreciate this however we have weigh in the morning. The guys says no no don’t worry the owners decided to go on the honor system and no weigh in. So they did not wave the weight limit just the weigh in. So we all pounded the beers and nachos.
All week it was windy. Usually we were sailing in the 18 to 20 range, some times more. The seas were choppy and the last day big, short, and steep. Luckily the water temp was 78. We sailed with 7 guys and I was the lightest. We were the only boat with 7, every other boat had 8. There is no doubt that once the weight in was waved, all the boats picked up another crew. The racing was close and I could see the other crews very well. I do believe this had an effect on the boats performance.
Every boat in our class was well sailed and well prepared. One boat the lifelines were angled out board and when we asked the owner about it he said the boat came that way. Oh well so much for one design.
One of the one design rules is, each boat can only have one category 3 sailor on board. This is a registered professional with US Sailing. We had a sail maker who of course is a Cat 3, but they let me in because I’m over 65. I got the old age allowance. Cat 3 is another strange thing because I know world class sailors who are not Cat 3. So much for fairness.
I have to admit that after each day of sailing I felt a little beaten up. I was hoping the wind would calm down a little. There was a lot of beer at night and advil spread around our crew in the morning. Almost all the other boats did have younger guys on their crews and it showed. Every day we put on our gear and gave our best effort. 3 races a day, up wind/downwind. Custom 72s flying by us at 22 knots of boat speed. Wow.
I love Key West and Gary did a great job putting his program together. I will return.
Please mail comments to me at Bump@newwaveyachts.com
Bump Wilcox