Could Be worse, Joe:
10 or 12 years ago I was in a 100 Statute Mile overnight race called the Albemarle 100. It was about 2 AM, I was steering and 1 crew on deck trimming the spin while we went downwind on a very broad reach with the ½ oz. spin up in 5 or 6 knots apparent. Every once in a while there would be a puff and the apparent would come forward and get to 8-9 knots or so. Boat would start to round up and I’d push the wheel down to keep the boat on track through the puff. It happened several times. It was quite satisfying – even exhilarating. Then came a bigger puff. The apparent got to 12 or 13 and the boat was rounding up hard. I pushed the wheel down as normal, but the boat kept rounding and the boat started to broach. Apparent kept climbing towards 15-16, and I pushed harder. Then I felt the flow detach from the rudder and it swung to the stop. I had about enough time to think “OH, F**----“ as the boat went to about 45 degrees of heel (I swear it felt like more!), the spin exploded, and the boat snapped back to having the mast vertical (there’s a big ass righting moment on a 38-2, especially after I added the keel bulb) on a course almost 90 degrees to starboard of our original one. My SO at the time (I hate to call her the Admiral) came blasting up the companionway screaming like a banshee. Seems she’d been in the head… the extreme heel had caused the bolts on the toilet seat to snap so she fell back against the side of the compartment… then when the boat snapped upright she got sling-shoted right through the door on the head. Man, was she pi**ed! But, at least, she didn’t give a rats patoot about the almost new racing spinnaker I’d just destroyed. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: "Della Barba, Joe" <joe.della.ba...@ssa.gov <mailto:joe.della.ba...@ssa.gov> > To: "cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> " <cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Sent: 12/19/2019 11:23 AM Subject: Re: Stus-List JAM vs Spinnaker Racing During an informal race up the Chester with a C&C 40 it was just my wife on board with me managing the chute. We had to harden up to a beam reach for a section of the S-turning river right when a big gust hit and launched red-white-and-blue nylon confetti all over the river :( I had the unenviable task of informing my wife those bits of nylon were going to cost more than what her car was worth to replace. On the plus side all the luff tapes held, we had an empty triangle still flying! Joe Della Barba Coquina
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