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OT: Screwpile Invitational Race

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5909 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/12/2012 : 04:53:29

This Friday evening I'll be crewing on a Beneteau First series 40.7 in the over-night Solomons Invitational Race, also known as the Race to the Screwpile. The boat is designed by Farr, and has a Chesapeake Bay PHRF rating of 48. It's the same design as the Farr 40, but, instead of being stripped out inside for racing, it is finished inside for racing or cruising. It is, by far, the fastest, nimblest, sweetest sailing boat I have crewed on yet. It's a big fractional rig boat, and is powered primarily by an enormous mainsail that literally burned the leather off the palm of my glove the first time I gybed it. I'm trimming the mainsail, and, unlike the mainsheet control most of us are accustomed to, the mainsheet is controlled by two Lewmar 44 2 speed, self-tailing winches on either cockpit coaming. Now that I have learned how to use it, the mainsheet and traveler enable tacking and gybing and applying the brakes and accelerating the boat with a minimum of hard grinding, so that even an old guy can do it. Last night we practiced all those starting maneuvers, as well as hoisting, gybing and dousing the chute. The skipper is one of the most congenial and skilled racers I have met yet. IMO, he knows his boat, and, from what I have seen, is more skilled at working every position on the boat than every crew member. Except for me, the crew are all young (early to mid-thirties), and all males except for one young woman. I never thought I'd ever have a chance to sail a boat like this, and can hardly wait for the start.

For my part, fine trimming of the mainsail is done by playing the traveler. There's a sweet spot, where the boat gains about 1/2 to 3/4 of a knot, but, for a guy who is still getting acquainted with the boat, it is a little difficult to find, and when you find it, it fades away with the first little puff or lull, and you have to begin searching for it again. I expect to be searching relentlessly for that sweet spot from about 6:00 pm. Friday until about 2:00 am Saturday, give or take an hour, depending on the winds.

Steve Milby J/24 "Captiva Wind"
previously C&C 35, Cal 25, C25 TR/FK, C22
Past Commodore

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cshaw
Captain

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USA
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Response Posted - 07/12/2012 : 05:50:52

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Steve Milby
 This Friday evening I'll be crewing on a Beneteau First series 40.7 in the over-night Solomons Invitational Race, also known as the Race to the Screwpile.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Steve,

Sounds like you are going to be in for some FUN!! I was a watch captain on a Farr One Ton many years ago out in Ventura California. We raced up and down the coast and down to Mexico (LaPaz and Manzillo in prep for the Transpac. I got transferred to Houston before the boat was sailed in the Transpac, but the skipper ended up having to sell the boat and also did not sail to Hawaii on it. Fun times!!

Good luck in the race!!

Chuck

Edited by - on

Ape-X
Admiral

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USA
662 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2012 : 06:44:44

sounds like a good time. Our Vice President crews on the 40.7 out of Wisconsin. There is a racing fleet there. Queens cup a couple of weeks ago, and the Chi-Mac in a couple of weeks. I was hoping to crew in the Huron-Mac this w/e but need more experience before jumping onto a friends J-35 in a big race.

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Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3323 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2012 : 09:03:24

Good luck Steve! We will expect a full post-race report.

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5909 Posts

Response Posted - 07/15/2012 : 15:49:55

So, the race began Friday evening at about 6:45, and, as I recall, we crossed the finish line about 12 hours later. The race is 54 N.M. from the Naval Academy at Annapolis to the Patuxent River Basin at Solomons Island, along with a rounding of Hooper's Light, south of the Patuxent, just to keep us all awake another couple of hours.

125 boats were racing in 13 classes. Many eyes were on Jim Muldoon’s new Donnybrook, a high-tech Andrews 80 racing machine with canting keel and the seemingly unbelievable PHRF handicap rating of minus 180 making her Chesapeake Bay debut, to see if – and by how much – the hot thoroughbred would break Muldoon’s own standing record of 5 hours, 17 minutes, 23 seconds for 55 N.M., set in the 2001 race with an older Donnybrook. She didn't set a new record this year, but maybe Muldoon is still getting acquainted with her.

Muldoon's previous Donneybrook was destroyed when she hit a submerged rock near Norfolk at 12-14 kts. The chart indicated 18 feet of water, but the 12 foot deep keel proved the chart wrong, according to Muldoon. One of the crew reported that the 73 foot 30 ton racer stopped in an instant. She spun to the right and bounced along in a jarring series of lesser hits. (Forgive the digression, but I thought it was interesting.)

The wind was light at the start. We did some things astonishingly well, and some things not so well. Frankly, we got an awful start, and were surrounded by a sea of sails, all stealing our wind, but Lanikai's sails were initially trimmed nearly perfectly for light air, and it was stunning to see her dig herself out of that mess of boats and overtake and pass most of the 125 best racing sailors and fastest boats on the Bay, many of which started ahead of us, and only 2 or 3 boats entered the main body of the Bay before us. I was playing the traveler, and only had a couple hours before the race to learn how, and to get attuned to the boat, but when we started that race, the boat was telling me, through the pressures of the line in my fingertips, how to find the sweet spot with the traveler. I know that sounds fanciful to some, but most of you who steer with a tiller know how a boat can talk to you through the pressures of the tiller on your fingertips, and you'll understand when I say the same thing happens when you play a traveler on a big boat.

Our problems began when the wind increased after we entered the Bay. While our light air sail trim was spot on, I didn't agree with the skipper's sail trimming when the apparent wind began to increase, but of course those are thoughts that crew keep to themselves. What I saw repeatedly was the crew being directed to tension the halyards and sheets at times to the point where they could hardly turn the crank (and this is a boat that has big, powerful winches!). I believe excessive sheet and halyard tension was depowering our sails, and with maximum winds throughout the night of only about 13-14 kts apparent, there was no need to depower the sails. We did, however, change from the light air No. 1 genoa, which is designed for maximum winds of about 12 kts., to the heavy air No. 1, which can handle much stronger winds. During the night, as the wind abated, we changed back to the light air No. 1.

Nevertheless, we stayed ahead of our competition for quite awhile, but at one point, in the wee hours of the morning, we saw the nav. lights of a number of boats overtake and pass us, some of them at a considerable speed differential, and this was at a time when the tide had turned, and the current was now running against us, and I can only speculate that the other boats had found a shallower path against slower current. (I didn't participate in the planning of our course, and, at night, I couldn't tell whether we were in deep or shallower water.) Nevertheless, I suspect one factor that might have affected our finishing time, in addition to sail trim, was that we might not have dealt with the adverse current as well as others. On these long, all-night races, currents are a big factor.

We crossed the finish line, as I recall, shortly before 7:00 am, pulled into a slip at Solomons Island, ran for the nearest porta potty, and joined back at the boat for a 7 am Dark and Stormy toast! Some of the crew stayed at SI for the all-day party and the rest of the regatta. I left on the boat with the skipper and 2 of the crew, for the long trip motoring the boat back to Annapolis.

God knows, I love to win races, but I'll never forget the exhilaration of digging our way out of a very deep hole at the start and driving the boat to the front of the pack, against such auspicious competition. We finished 10th out of 14 boats in our class, and I can't say I'm entirely satisfied, but I'm surely happy!

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9089 Posts

Response Posted - 07/16/2012 : 11:15:58

Yup--knowledge of current patterns can really do it. I crewed with a friend on his Ensign in a match race against the yacht club "master", and we got a horizon job done on us because the other guy took the "long way" while we were headed at full ebb. I felt sort of the opposite of the exhilaration you felt, except for the standard frustration of keeping my opinions to myself. (I guess you have to wait to be invited along as Tactician--then maybe you can give advice.)

Thanks for the story--including the one about the 12' rock. If I had a 12' canting keel, I don't think I'd be sailing over anything charted at less than 25'! (But I won't have to worry about that...)

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5909 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2012 : 18:17:27

The photo below is of the boat (Lanikai) that I crewed on in the Solomons Race. As of last April, it's rating is the same as the rating for a J 130. Before then, Lanikai actually had to give the J 130's handicap time. I'm in the cockpit wearing a light blue shirt, tending a line before the start. My job was to play the mainsheet traveler for maximum speed.

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cshaw
Captain

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Response Posted - 07/19/2012 : 05:41:38

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Steve Milby
 The photo below is of the boat (Lanikai) that I crewed on in the Solomons Race.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Beautiful boat!! I love the seam patterns in the jib! Thats a LOT of sewing but makes for a nice stable sail shape with what I bet is pretty light weigh cloth!

Chuck

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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5909 Posts

Response Posted - 07/19/2012 : 07:09:58

That is her light air genoa, good for wind speeds up to 12 kts, and she's a rocket ship in light air. Her boat speed frequently exceeded the apparent wind speed. I have heard of some fast boats that can do that, but this was the first time I have been on one and seen it. I don't know if it was for real, or a consequence of inaccurate instruments, but it was sustained for long enough periods that it convinced me. As I recall, when the photo was taken, we were in about 4-5 kt winds.

Edited by - Steve Milby on 07/19/2012 07:11:01

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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3444 Posts

Response Posted - 07/19/2012 : 13:05:37

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Steve Milby
 .... I have heard of some fast boats that can do that, but this was the first time I have been on one and seen it. I don't know if it was for real, or a consequence of inaccurate instruments, but it was sustained for long enough periods that it convinced me.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">You should just blame the guy on the mainsheet!

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Stinkpotter
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Djibouti
9089 Posts

Response Posted - 07/19/2012 : 20:02:28

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by cshaw
 ...I love the seam patterns in the jib! Thats a LOT of sewing...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Are all of those lines on the genoa sewn seams, or are they carbon or kevlar strands laminated into the sail?

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5909 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2012 : 04:58:12

The sails are all laminated. I always thought one of the characteristics of laminated sails is that they don't stretch, but they do - just not nearly as much as dacron. You don't notice it on a smaller sail, but on a bigger sail, with much higher loads, it can be noticeable.

I don't know how laminated sails are made, but I would guess that the reinforcing strands are laid out in the desired pattern on top of one layer, and that the other layer is placed on top, with a very strong adhesive holding everything together. Like dacron sails, multiple layers are laid at stress points. I haven't studied them closely, and don't know whether there is anyplace where they are stitched, but I doubt it. They appear to be glued together.

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Ape-X
Admiral

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Response Posted - 07/20/2012 : 07:56:31

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cshaw
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Response Posted - 07/22/2012 : 06:10:36

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Steve Milby
 The sails are all laminated. I always thought one of the characteristics of laminated sails is that they don't stretch, but they do - just not nearly as much as dacron.

I don't know how laminated sails are made, but I would guess that the reinforcing strands are laid out in the desired pattern on top of one layer, and that the other layer is placed on top, with a very strong adhesive holding everything together. Like dacron sails, multiple layers are laid at stress points. I haven't studied them closely, and don't know whether there is anyplace where they are stitched, but I doubt it. They appear to be glued together.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Technology moves fast with high tech sails.

I have built computer generated Mylar and Kevlar laminated sails, and the ones I built were all sewed together, using broad seaming and luff round to introduce the desired sail shape. The computer cuts the panels with those curves, and then draws a light line to guide you in seaming. Back then, seaming could be done with adhesives only for the really light weight sails, otherwise you used conventional seaming by sewing. The cloth I have used was made like Ape-X suggested, kinda like a laminating machine with the strong fibers in the middle of the laminated sandwich, with strong fibers running across the panel and even stronger fibers along the length of the panel. Lighter weight sails also depend on radial gores in the high streach. The idea is to have the strain lines in the sail lined up with the strong fibers in the sail as much as possible to minimize streach and also to minimize strain across the seams to further control streach.

I suspect the adhesives they use today could hold together pretty big sails and avoid almost all the sewing. The molded sails sound pretty interesting!

The downside is these high tech sails are not as durable as the conventional cloth with a softer hand. But thats the price you pay (literally) for speed! My 155 has started some major delaminating now and its to the point I can no longer repair it. So, on a retired guy's income I suspect I will have to replace it with a sail I will probably build made of conventional cloth so I get more years out of it.

I'll bet that WAS a hoot going that fast!!!! We sailed an Olsen 30 in the Santa Barbara to King Harbor race a long time ago and in the heavy airs for the race we rarely dropped below 10-12 knots carrying the chute, 150 and main, surfing down those big Pacific waves and swells! Gave you the same exillaration as a roller coaster ride!! So I bet on a bigger faster boat it was really fun!!!

Chuck

Chuck

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