Here are some highlights and insights:
AYC Cruising Championship
Monday, July 4th is the customary AYC Cruising Championship which seemed like a perfect opportunity to let COUP D'ETAT kick up her heels (and mine) for the first time in many years.... perhaps in 35 with a new suit of sails!
With our freshly-minted PHRF rating of 96 in hand (go figure, same as a J/105...), we looked forward to benchmarking her against experienced AYC boats and crews that race every Friday night. This would literally be our first sail with the boat.
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| Craig, yours truly and Alex (photo by Josephine) |
NOAA called for light winds (5-10 knts) from the south. This could prove problematic as we'd be racing against seven other boats in the non-spinnaker division, all with far less displacement and presumably superior in light air.
With Josephine, friends Alexander Dunn and Craig Hugelmeyer aboard, our first race revealed my rusty tactics and our collective ignorance of the boat. In 3-6 knot's and a comedy of errors, we came in 5th in the first race. But yet... there were glimmers of real optimism!
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| Finding her Groove |
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| Big Main |
The second race saw winds of 10-13 knots at the start - exactly the conditions for which new sail plan was designed. Tactics improved slightly and we nearly captured a bullet against a fleet sporting overlapping genoas and whisker poles. Our only headsail, a #3 92% was adroitly held out downwind by our 'human pole', Alex. Our close 2nd ultimately yielded a respectable 3rd for the series with our only disappointment being no third race! (1st, Swan 40, 2nd J/35, 4th J/40, 5th JM 40, 6th F&R 44).
10th Wedding Anniversary Cruise
After Josephine and were married in Holland on July 14, 2001, we boarded a plane for the States to spend a few weeks sailing our first boat together, our 'previously loved' Bristol 31.1 in Maine. This was a huge gesture from a new wife! So it only made sense that after spending 30 months subjecting her to the refit of the COUP, that we spend our 10th year
wedding anniversary at sea. The grandparents were recruited to stay with the kids and we took off from AYC to Block Island and points in between for a few days escape. We were blessed with 20-knots astern the entire length of LIS which gave us our first insight into just how fast and comfortable the Coup is on a power reach hitting 10 knots. After spending the night anchored at Duck Island Shoal in 35-knot gusts, we blasted into Great Salt Pond, BI under a pre-set reef with 21-knots true on the nose. On the way home, we learned how contentedly she sails herself to weather - no hand or auto pilot - for hours on end, while maintaining a consistent angle to winds that ranged from 7-15 knots true. Like an old trail horse, she pointed toward the USMMA and didn't flinch. Her barn-door rudder might not be responsive but it sure works well in a seaway.
AYC Overnight Race and Summer Cruise
The next opportunity to benchmark didn't occur until late August on the AYC Summer Cruise. A personal highlight of this Cruise is the feeder Overnight Distance Race (Shethar Trophy) which we won the last time we competed in our previous boat, KATHRYN. It isn't held every year and it's the only distance race sponsored by AYC. So it's a perpetual trophy worth chasing. Besides, it holds exactly three bottles of champagne which makes us welcome table-mates at the annual awards dinner!
Joining me was friend and partner Don Porter and special guest Dave Torma, her skipper during her USMMA days between 1976-1981. I really wanted to hear Dave's impressions of her performance compared to her original rig and sailplan. The NOR called for a 77-mile marathon to Stonington, CT but forecasted winds of 0-3 knots (!) induced the PRO to shorten the race to a 27-mile drifter east to Stratford Shoals with a 6-hour limit. Then at race time, Mother Nature served up the nastiest green skies, lightening, micro-bursts, hail and fear of Armageddon ever to approach Westchester from Manhattan since Bernie Madoff. This scared off several competitors particularly when, reminiscent of 'the cook' in Gordon Lightfoot's' The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald who muttered the famous last words, "...fella's it's been good to know yaaaa!" the PRO announced that anyone willing to race should just start and take their own time and...buena suerte! He was gone.
So, off we went!!
The storm produced severe squalls and extreme lightening on both sides of Long Island Sound but it never came directly over the water. It did however, push us down the Sound at an exhilarating pace! Our big main and small jib produced the best of both worlds - power and stability in wildly fluky winds as other boats lost control. Sure enough, after the storm passed, winds settled down to 1-3 knots. But the big main proved superb and got us across the line before the wind died altogether.
We won the race!
Dave was pleased with the performance.
AYC Summer Cruise
One of the best events at AYC is the Summer Cruise. This typically consists of seven days/night, 35 boats, 150 adults and kids, daily races and evening party venues. This year, the trip took us back to Narragansett Bay with its kick-off in Stonington, CT followed by Jamestown, RI, Fall River, MA, back to Jamestown (Dutch Harbor), Bristol and finishing in Newport. Josephine and the boys joined the boat in Jamestown after Don and Dave departed.
Plan is that each day we race to the next venue. However, with my three boys still acclimating to sea life, our racing consisted of trolling fishing lines in light air and the boys holding on for dear life in heavy air while Josephine and I buried the rail because we couldn't trim without amputating little, white-knuckled fingers! (Note to any/all Child Protection Agencies: if we had too, we certainly would have tossed the little darlings into the cabin if in actual danger!)
When we did race, it was evident that with only a #3, we can't sail downwind; we could tack to catch up though. We also learned that at 21+ knots TWS and without a reef, the COUP tracked perfectly straight! She was obviously overpowered with her rail submerged and excess rudder angle but she displayed no weather-helm or diva-like bad manners whatsoever. Heel stabilized quickly and remained consistent. This answered a big theoretical question about her stability with the taller rig and brought a huge smile to my face!
The Cruise ended prematurely mid-week when Hurricane Irene pooped on our party with a trajectory targeting Narragansett Bay and a projected landfall of Saturday. Ultimately, the storm tracked further west but we elected to hole up in Newport at Harbor Court. The COUP rode out the storm unscathed on a mooring next to Ida Lewis while we drove home west to pick up the pieces.
Stamford Yacht Club Vineyard Race
Nearly as soon as Don Porter and I delivered the COUP back to AYC from Newport after Irene, it was time to enter the Vineyard Race. Since we had no spinnaker, we chose the shorter, Sunflower Reef course (about 175 miles).
Josephine, Don, Don's wife Anne and friends Alexander 'the human pole' Dunn and Carina McCabe and I all looked forward to this one...Anne's first race.
As luck would have it, the first half of the race was all light air. The boat that ultimately won our division, a fully-crewed, featherweight, well-sailed Catalina 40, literally horizoned us down the CT coastline after the start. Miraculously, we took the Long Island side of the course and beat him by 10-minutes, 80 miles later to the Reef. I say 'miracle' because this was much more of a friendly cruise than a race for us. Our excitement was short-lived however as he soon passed and ultimately beat us by 30 minutes to the finish.
Again, there was great insight! Had we truly been racing and with a better light air headsail, I'm confident we would have done better than 2nd in Class/7th overall in Division. We'll do this race again next year.
Lessons Learned and Plans for 2012
Even though we didn't re-commission until late June, 2011, we learned a lot. Here are some insights and plans for 2012:
Re-commissioning will be first week of April!
10th Wedding Anniversary Cruise
After Josephine and were married in Holland on July 14, 2001, we boarded a plane for the States to spend a few weeks sailing our first boat together, our 'previously loved' Bristol 31.1 in Maine. This was a huge gesture from a new wife! So it only made sense that after spending 30 months subjecting her to the refit of the COUP, that we spend our 10th year
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| 10th Anniversary Sunset at Block Island |
AYC Overnight Race and Summer Cruise
The next opportunity to benchmark didn't occur until late August on the AYC Summer Cruise. A personal highlight of this Cruise is the feeder Overnight Distance Race (Shethar Trophy) which we won the last time we competed in our previous boat, KATHRYN. It isn't held every year and it's the only distance race sponsored by AYC. So it's a perpetual trophy worth chasing. Besides, it holds exactly three bottles of champagne which makes us welcome table-mates at the annual awards dinner!
Joining me was friend and partner Don Porter and special guest Dave Torma, her skipper during her USMMA days between 1976-1981. I really wanted to hear Dave's impressions of her performance compared to her original rig and sailplan. The NOR called for a 77-mile marathon to Stonington, CT but forecasted winds of 0-3 knots (!) induced the PRO to shorten the race to a 27-mile drifter east to Stratford Shoals with a 6-hour limit. Then at race time, Mother Nature served up the nastiest green skies, lightening, micro-bursts, hail and fear of Armageddon ever to approach Westchester from Manhattan since Bernie Madoff. This scared off several competitors particularly when, reminiscent of 'the cook' in Gordon Lightfoot's' The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald who muttered the famous last words, "...fella's it's been good to know yaaaa!" the PRO announced that anyone willing to race should just start and take their own time and...buena suerte! He was gone.
 |
| Don Porter and Dave Torma |
The storm produced severe squalls and extreme lightening on both sides of Long Island Sound but it never came directly over the water. It did however, push us down the Sound at an exhilarating pace! Our big main and small jib produced the best of both worlds - power and stability in wildly fluky winds as other boats lost control. Sure enough, after the storm passed, winds settled down to 1-3 knots. But the big main proved superb and got us across the line before the wind died altogether.
We won the race!
Dave was pleased with the performance.
AYC Summer Cruise
One of the best events at AYC is the Summer Cruise. This typically consists of seven days/night, 35 boats, 150 adults and kids, daily races and evening party venues. This year, the trip took us back to Narragansett Bay with its kick-off in Stonington, CT followed by Jamestown, RI, Fall River, MA, back to Jamestown (Dutch Harbor), Bristol and finishing in Newport. Josephine and the boys joined the boat in Jamestown after Don and Dave departed.
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| AYC Summer Cruise in Narraganset Bay |
Plan is that each day we race to the next venue. However, with my three boys still acclimating to sea life, our racing consisted of trolling fishing lines in light air and the boys holding on for dear life in heavy air while Josephine and I buried the rail because we couldn't trim without amputating little, white-knuckled fingers! (Note to any/all Child Protection Agencies: if we had too, we certainly would have tossed the little darlings into the cabin if in actual danger!)
When we did race, it was evident that with only a #3, we can't sail downwind; we could tack to catch up though. We also learned that at 21+ knots TWS and without a reef, the COUP tracked perfectly straight! She was obviously overpowered with her rail submerged and excess rudder angle but she displayed no weather-helm or diva-like bad manners whatsoever. Heel stabilized quickly and remained consistent. This answered a big theoretical question about her stability with the taller rig and brought a huge smile to my face!
 |
| Hurrican Irene at Ida Lewis |
Stamford Yacht Club Vineyard Race
Nearly as soon as Don Porter and I delivered the COUP back to AYC from Newport after Irene, it was time to enter the Vineyard Race. Since we had no spinnaker, we chose the shorter, Sunflower Reef course (about 175 miles).
Josephine, Don, Don's wife Anne and friends Alexander 'the human pole' Dunn and Carina McCabe and I all looked forward to this one...Anne's first race.
 |
| Don and Anne Porter in Race Form |
As luck would have it, the first half of the race was all light air. The boat that ultimately won our division, a fully-crewed, featherweight, well-sailed Catalina 40, literally horizoned us down the CT coastline after the start. Miraculously, we took the Long Island side of the course and beat him by 10-minutes, 80 miles later to the Reef. I say 'miracle' because this was much more of a friendly cruise than a race for us. Our excitement was short-lived however as he soon passed and ultimately beat us by 30 minutes to the finish.
Again, there was great insight! Had we truly been racing and with a better light air headsail, I'm confident we would have done better than 2nd in Class/7th overall in Division. We'll do this race again next year.
Lessons Learned and Plans for 2012
Even though we didn't re-commission until late June, 2011, we learned a lot. Here are some insights and plans for 2012:
- A good friend and partner absolutely makes for a more enjoyable boating experience. Few people actually use their boat 100% of the time and to have someone like Don to share delivery's, racing, storm prep. TLC and camaraderie is simply more fun than doing it alone.
- Having two wives that are warming to the boat and our dreams makes it special
- Having new friends that sailed her previously and can help with ideas is invaluable
- The new, taller CF rig is a huge improvement over the original tree trunk
- She sails like a dream and tracks like she's on rails
- A #1 135%, tacked to the furler with a full foot roach purely for racing will help
- The #3 will be replaced under warranty without a foam luff or reefing capability but keep the UV cover in case we're lazy
- Instead of the AP #3, a AP #2 125% for cruising is better on the furler
- We'll make more use of the staysail for heavy air cruising and racing with the genoa
- A carbon whisker pole should replace the 'human pole'
- A (second) B&G Zeus MFD chartplotter at the nav station to relieve the helmsman from strategy decisions
- An asymmetrical will allow us to participate in longer races!
- Provisioning her sail inventory from scratch to race to Bermuda is a big undertaking better spread out over two winters and racing seasons
Re-commissioning will be first week of April!
