# 445 SOUTHERN BAY RACING NEWS YOU CAN USE
on Tuesday May 26, 2009 09:21AM
This is MEMORIAL DAY, the day set aside to remember and thank
those members of our Armed Forces who have laid down their lives for us and our
freedoms.
60th DOWN THE BAY RACE FOR THE VIRGINIA CRUISING
CUP - great racing, great turnout, great fun! The actual racing
began in Annapolis on Friday when co-organizing authority Storm Trysail
Club, Chesapeake Station, got the boats started and co-organizing
authority Hampton Yacht Club, began the vigil for their arrival.
Capturing line honors, Jim Muldoon's
Donnybrook crossed the finish line off Hampton / Fort
Monroe at 04:23:56 on Saturday morning. The beautiful Santa
Cruz 72 was the only racer to finish during the dark hours; dawn beat everyone
else to Hampton. Registration for the event far exceeded organizers'
expectations, given the 2009 event was preceded by a 10 year
hiatus. Forty-one (41) boats actually entered 2009 DTB, with 38 making it
to the starting line and 36 crossing the finish line. The last boat to
finish crossed the line in Hampton at 17:24:27 on Saturday, giving the
finishing boat team more than half an hour to spiffy up and get to the awards
presentation soiree set for 1800 at HYC - and they made it with time to
spare! A lovely sea breeze kicked in late to give an assist to the last
half of the fleet. One skipper declared as he crossed the finish line, "On
the nose all the way except for the last 9 miles when we flew the 'chute!"
He and the crew finished smiling! RESULTS: PHRF A (18 Boats):
1.Donnybrook, Jim Muldoon; 2.Kahuna,
Sandford Richardson; 3.Meridian 2, Sledd
Shelhorse; 4.Wairere, Pete Hunter.
PHRF B (10 boats): 1.Family Tradition, Tripp
Behm; 2.Callinectes, Ben Cuker; 3.Age of
Reason, Stovy Brown. PHRF C(3 boats):
1.Bowmovement, Martin Casey; 2.Schiehallion,
Brad Miller. PHRC Non-Spin (7 boats): 1.Black
Widow, Leo Wardrup; 2.Coyote, Griner
& Coffey; 3.Prevail, Mark Shaw.
Annapolis Race Officer: Dick Neville, STC; Hampton Race Officer:
John McCarthy.
SOUTHERN BAY RACE WEEK - counting down to opening
night, this Thursday. Racing begins Friday and goes through
Sunday. Preliminary Scratch Sheet is
posted at the website now. As of today there are a total of 76
boats entered. Note that PHRF A Fleet as well as PHRF B Fleet each will be
split to improve the quality of racing. Watch for a special
SBRW edition of SBRNYCU for details on splits as well as event
updates. For info and entry forms: Lin McCarthy at (757)
850-4225, or email at mcbear@earthlink.net or
check out the event website at www.blacksealcup.com
or www.hamptonyc.com
(click on SBRW website).
And we think catching a crabpot is a
pain! The following is reprinted from
Scuttlebutt issue 2846 dated May 18 and tells about
the re-start of the Volvo Boston to Galway leg on May 16: FOG,
COLD, AND LOBSTERS POTS (May 17, 2009, Day 2) For the Volvo Ocean Race
fleet beginning their next 2,550 mile leg from Boston to Galway on Saturday, May
16th, the start included a windward-leeward lap of Boston's inner harbor, with
fog soon shielding the turning mark at the eastern end of the start course. The
sudden appearance of a massive oil tanker also hampered the progress of the
fleet, with Delta Lloyd getting the worst of it. Said Green
Dragon skipper Ian Walker (GBR), "It was quite bizarre losing sight of
everything as visibility dropped to less than 100 metres. I suspect this will be
a recurring theme of the next week as moist air from the South cools over the
very cold water we will be sailing through and forms dense fog. It will mean 24
hour radar watch, (though) radar doesn't help much with lobster
pots. "After zig zagging our way through
we eventually hooked one on our leeward daggerboard. Five minutes later we had
three of them entangling us. After backing down and clearing two of them we
realized one line had sawn its way through the leading edge of the port
daggerboard. We managed to raise the board and cut it free but we are left with
a 250 cut in the laminate of our daggerboard. We cannot leave the board in this
state or the laminate will peel away and the board will start to disintegrate.
Right now the watch system is on hold and we have four teams of people working
onboard."
Portsmouth Boat Club
held their annual Merrimac Memorial Regatta on Saturday. The five
class winners are Moths - Mark Saunders; Sunfish - John
Meyer, Sr; Cat Class - Jim Basnight;
Open 1 - Steve Pratt; Open 2 - Mason
Leon. For details please check out the PBC website at www.portsmouthboatclub.org.
MURPHY'S LAW: Yrs
Truly, the Racing Beagle, has spent the holiday
weekend tank testing one of those new floating
hot tubs - it's called a Tug Tub@. They come in a two or four person model
and include a pump and a propane fired heater. The idea is to float
it off the swim step or dock. I'm seeing it as a perfect recovery vehicle
after a day of racing at Southern Bay Race Week. Of course, I
intend to share with a close friend. Cheers! /S/
Murphy the Racing Beagle, the sailing spirit in us all.
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SOUTHERN
BAY RACING NEWS YOU CAN USE, Lin McCarthy,
Editor