Elise's crew wasn't in the best of form. Nat was wearing a bike helmet to protect her orbital bones and moved ever so slowly and carefully around the boat. So much so that Nathan asked a few times whether Nat was all right. Nathan was jet-lagged and travel-tired having just come back from a business trip to Korea. - and we had a little too much sail area. Despite that, we both finished the race!
We gave Elise 4 opti floaters (just big air-filled buoys) and put two at the stern and two in the forepeak. The thought was that if anything were to happen, there would be trapped air that would keep the boat afloat. Maybe underwater, but afloat.
1st year, Nat was sick and Nathan did the race with Wetsu's owner; 2nd year, Nat was seasick on the boat and Elise turned around right before the island. 3rd year, we got stuck with most of the fleet at Point Bonita, in a washing machine, the flood and lack of wind didn't really let us out of the channel. So this is the first year we are actually completing the race - AND right after the lightship race which we did not complete because Nat decided to do something really stupid.
So regardless of the result, this was an achievement in itself - for Nat at least.
Unfortunately, the camera sufarced after we got back to the dock as there were a couple of photos along the way that would have been quite interesting on this blog.
The start of the race was interesting to say the least. It was flooding on the line, even though it was ebbing in the main channel - and it took us over half an hour to cross the line. It actually was a problem that touched everyone because all the starts before us ended up in the same situation. We would move forward, then get someone's bad wind and stop, then slide back pushed by the current.
A lot of 'fender benders' as leeward boats pushed the windward boats very close to shore, where they had no more place to go and because basically ALL the starters share the same line at the exact same time.
After the start, we headed to ward the channel into beneficial current. The other E27s did the same thing - except for El Raton which went way out to Richardson Bay to catch even more current (or wind?) - point was that even with the extra distance, El Raton passed us at the gate. Taz, Wetsu and Elise were battling at that point - and Verve and El Raton were leading the pack. Great White appeared in our group after a while.
It was a spinnaker start and a #1 weather, there was very little wind to being with. As soon as we went under the gate, the wind filled from the North and raised quickly. So we dropped our #1 before we got to the Potato Patch, as it was a lot easier to do so before Point Bonita. That was a good call as the wind keep picking up unt the time we rounded the island and never dropped. It was still probably gusting 25 when we got back to the Bay.
We didn't have our instruments on (missing a fuse holder) but we estimated gusts at 30 kts and 25 knots sustained. We had a #3 up and a reefed main. However, our #3 was too big a sail for the two of us on the boat and we should probably have carried a #4 to balance the sail areas better. Putting a 3rd reef would not have helped as it was the #3 that would force us up in gusts.
We saw another Express with two reefs, El Raton had flatteners on the main and a #4. Basically, people were definitely equipped for stronger breeze. Next time, we will probably carry a #4 just in case!
Heavy swell (probably 10 ft or so), some of the waves breaking - so things would be all over the place on the boat and it was hard to move around. Boat would sometimes just fall off the edge of a steep wave and bang back down on the water.
At some point our number #1 which was still on deck got out of its bungees and ended up dragged on the water. Nat went forward to remove the tack (intense exercise because the water was putting strained on the sail and it was hard to undo the clip shacker at the tack fitting). Twice during that time the boat lifted off from a wave and fell a few feet. Nat's body was literally airbone for a few seconds, before crashing back on deck as the boat was coming up on the next wave. It really did feel like a roller Coaster and Nat couldn't help shouting out a 'woo hoo!'. That was stupidly cool. Actually, even driving upwind, and having to beat through the waves, thus being quite slow compared to flat water, or even a little choppy upwind, was pretty awesome. Elise was very eager to move forward.
We swapped driving regularly as both the start in light air and heavy current and driving in waves and heavy breeze were heavy on mental concentration and we wanted to be very effective at driving. Also because Nat messed up Nathan's lightship...
Nat did also something stupid which is that she didn't put her jacket on early enough - so when she became rail meat and had to go forward to sort out the #1 and put the sail below, she got totally drenched by waves covering the entire deck. Usually breaking waves nearby. She went below to remove a dripping wet fleece and just put our heavy weather jacket on top of a wet thermal. This wasn't the warmest thing to do, and when she drove, she also sat in the cockpit to stay out of the wind upwind and to limit the risk of being thrown to the low side, given the craked bone that had to be protected. Given how much and how unpredictably the boat moved and was thrown around by the waves, it was actually hard to sit on the high side and be able to trim the main effectively. Elise's footholds are rather short. It did of course affected the balance of the boat and made the problem of too much sail area more acute. Note that it is Ok to sail with that much sail area, but we couldn't keep the sail full going upwind, or we would lose a lot of distance coming off the breeze, even on a beat - which forced a tack. So it really wasn't a competitive sail choice. With a full crew it would have been just fine, and there definitely wasn't any more wind out there than what we would get on a typical summer day by the bridge on the Bay - it was just too much for the weight of two people, with one being an elf.
At some point Nat was lying on her stomach pushing the genoa through the companionway hatch (trying to keep it close to reduce the amount of water the boat would take on when she got completely submerged by water. The lifejacket thought that it was time to save Nat's life and decided to inflate. Fortunately, we always carry a spare harness and one of the Bay (not self-inflatable) lifejacket. That was just as well, because Nathan's also decided to inflate, less than an hour later. too much wave action and moisture probably. At least, both our jackets would still retain air and could inflate fast and effectively.
We could have reached the islands without tacking after our one tack after the Golden Gate Bridge - however, we fell off too early, and as the wind picked up and we had too much sail area, we had a lot of leeway which pushed us against the island. We rounded the island with two other Express 27s, but had to watch them surf by as we had to throw in that extra tack.
Going around the island was reachy and our sail area was much better there. We couldn't set the spinnaker because going back to the gate was a reach all the way. We were doing some 11 knots over ground on a regular basis, and pushing it with gusts. We picked up a few waves to surf still which was fun. We thought that the wind would clock aft (as forecast) and that we would put the spinnaker on. We could have put back the #1 to reach with, and wished we had out blast reacher with us! We would have been a lot faster.
Nat didn't get seasick, however remembering an early DHF, and given that she hadn't exercised for two weeks as per doctor's orders and given the fact that it usually takes one ocean race for her body to acclimate again to the tough ocean conditions, she took precaution. After doing some fiddly job, she's sit on the rain and look at the horizon for a few minuets. After going below (nothing happened actually below, to her surprise) she also took a few minutes to look at the horizon. Turns out everything was fine the whole way. Maybe because the boat just kept going and would cut through the waves or dance on top of them, as opposed to just being thrown around with no wind to power through them.
In any case, the weather was fantastic: sun, wind and waves and we both fell so lucky to be out there playing. In general, on Express 27s, the more uncomfortable and wet the upwind, the more enjoyable the downwind, particularly in heavy swell (we surf!) - so we usually never mind taking a hard beat on our way to the islands as we keep salivating at the idea of the return trip.
And despite too much sail area, Elise handled the waves extremely well (but that we knew) - really nice little light boat. And frankly, given both our ambitions to cross the Atlantic some day, to sail in Asian and get some Southern Ocean experience once in our lifetime as well as to do more of single-handed sailing, this type of event is a great one to practice on. Not only do you realize how taxing it is on your body physically but you learn how the boat reacts, and make mental notes about the most effective sail combination for these conditions. And it is much better to go out and train in heavier breeze and waves on such a perfect sunny and warm day, than it is in a bad storm with zero visibility!
Results (and I am pleased to report that ALL the E27s finished - in the other fleets, a lot of boats turned around early - and there was no way Nat was going to turn Elise around this time, unless there was some blood splashing out of a deep open wound somewhere...)
| Sail # | Skipper | Boat Name | Rating | Finish Time | Elpased Time | Corrected Time | Place | Club | Make | |||||||||||
| 28050 | Ray Lotto | El Raton | 129 | 16:50:47 | 08:10:47 | 07:49:49 | 1 | St Francis | Express 27 | |||||||||||
| 0 | Steve Katzman | Dianne | 129 | 17:03:19 | 08:23:19 | 08:01:49 | 2 | LTWYC | Expess 27 | |||||||||||
| 48 | Rachel Fogel | Great White | 129 | 17:05:33 | 08:25:33 | 08:03:57 | 3 | BYC | Express 27 | |||||||||||
| 70 | Phil Krasner | Wetsu | 129 | 17:13:12 | 08:33:12 | 08:11:17 | 4 | Richmond | Express 27 | |||||||||||
| 8100 | George Lythcott | Taz!! | 129 | 17:13:29 | 08:33:29 | 08:11:33 | 5 | Island YC | Express-27 | |||||||||||
| 18283 | Ron Snetsinger | Verve | 129 | 17:18:05 | 08:38:05 | 08:15:57 | 6 | SSS | Express 27 | |||||||||||
| 101 | Nathalie Criou | Elise | 129 | 17:34:03 | 08:54:03 | 08:31:14 | 7 | StFYC | Express 27 |
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