A Weekend of Ocean Racing!

[sheclown]

North Florida CC Offshore Racing Series:

Saturday:  St. John's River Inlet to Fernandina

Sunday:  St. Mary's River Inlet to St. John's River Inlet

It is going to be a great time!

[billy]

Good wind, I hope.

[Overstreet]

.SATURDAY...WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING SOUTH 5 TO 10 KNOTS.
SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. ISOLATED SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...SOUTH WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS BECOMING NORTHWEST 5
TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INLAND WATERS MOSTLY SMOOTH.
ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
.SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT...VARIABLE WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2
FEET OR LESS. INLAND WATERS MOSTLY SMOOTH. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Jacksonville&state=FL&site=JAX&textField1=30.331&textField2=-81.656&e=1


Winds look interesting changing on Saturday west to south starting around 1pm and Sunday south to east around 11am.  Should be a good race.  If they start in the mornings you should have reaching weather. However the seas may be counter and a bit rolley. Good luck to you. Let's hope there isn't a null in the wind during the shift.

[Overstreet]

What time is start Saturday?

Is the start line off the sea bouy or the #2?

[sheclown]

What time is start Saturday?

Is the start line off the sea bouy or the #2?

Starts @ 9:30

A "line" from R-4 to G-3

[fieldafm]

Good luck!

I was down at the Poles early this morning enjoying our buddy Earl and his wonderful waves.  Wind was blowing offshore from the N/NE... a lot less choppy this morning than yesterday morning was.  You should have much calmer seas tomorrow from what I understand.

[acme54321]

Is this for boats with sails or motors?

[sheclown]

Sailboats---about 15 of them -- raced up to Fernandina on Saturday.  The weather was hot and the wind was light -- only about 5 knots, barely enough to push a boat through the water.  (I napped during the race).  But the water was beautiful and getting out there was a joy.

Sunday, start was delayed b/c a submarine was scheduled to depart out of the channel.  We were shoo'd out of the way by the coast guard (had to stay 1000 yards clear of the channel) and watched the parade.  

We motored south and began the race near the Nausau River.  The wind really kicked up (we read 24 knots) which was enough to get our attention.  And we all barreled down the coast toward Mayport.  It was a great ride.

Jacksonville is great place to sail.  For more info go here:

http://www.sailjax.com

[CS Foltz]

sheclown.....do you guys use the liquid soap trick on your hull? A really good wax job is about the same!

[strider]

We are a bit lazy and occasionally get a diver to clean the bottom.  I tried for this past week, but couldn't get it scheduled so we went with a dirty bottom.

Saturday's race was a test of patience.  The wind was 12 to 15 at the start and kept dropping as we worked our way to Fernandina.  We spent more time that we would like to at 1 to 2 knots of wind...not really enough to move the heavy boats like ours.  While at one time we had all of the other boats in our class but one behind us, the light wind is a great equalizer and several made it past us.  The wind doesn't just come back at once nor at the same place so where you are is often key.  Actually being further back on the course was a plus at the end of the race on Saturday.  Also, to give you an idea of the difference in the boats, the really fast boats finished just as the wind was dying and the rest of us took hours more to finish.  As it turned out, we were told we were third in our Cruising Class.  (there were three classes ...  the fast boats in Spinnaker (the big downwind sails you always see in the pics) the often fast Non-Spinnaker Class  (basically boats that are a bit more performance oriented but no spinnakers) and our class, the Cruising Class, the ones that have the microwaves on board.

Sunday, like Sheclown said, we had to delay for the submarine.  It was quite a event with several threatening looking coast guard ships in escort and guns on deck fully manned.  The delay was OK though as there really was no wind.  That is why we motored down to the buoy off of the Nassau River and started from there.  As we began maneuvering for the start, the wind built from 8 and 9 to over 20 very quickly.  We found ourselves dealing with a malfunctioning winch and other gear not cooperating and so things got a bit harry during the start.  We were overpowered (had too much sail up) for the over twenty knot (about 23 MPH) wind and with the malfunctioning gear, the four of us were all but overwhelmed.  We got things under control and back on track with shortened sail and settled into a nice cruise back to Jacksonville.  Except that we were not sure whether we started the race properly (we may have been over the line early) and we forgot to shut off the inboard diesel (which must be done four minutes before the start) until after the offical start time (we were a tad busy and with the wind howling, we couldn't hear the thing for a change!). That meant that even though we ended up doing reasonably well amongst our fleet of fellow cruisers, we had to disqualify ourselves at the end.  It was fun even so and even when you have issues like we did, you come away with a feeling of accomplishment.

Sheclown. I am sure, will put up another pic or two. Overall, a great way to spend a long weekend!

[sheclown]

Sunday--the ocean and the sailing--is a different experience...

[sheclown]

What Strider didn't say was that he couldn't hear the inboard over my screaming "Roll up the effin' jib you sonabitch!"

LOL.

[billy]

tell us something about the boats that were racing......

[sheclown]

Glad to...even have some pics. 

[fieldafm]

What Strider didn't say was that he couldn't hear the inboard over my screaming "Roll up the effin' jib you sonabitch!"

LOL.

LOL, nothing worse than putzing around on the ocean with no wind!  Tempers start to flare up after a few hours haha