It was another fun I-to-I for me, even though I
regressed from last year, when I sailed the distance but did not round the
marks. This time I was not able to
really sail the course. I sailed out just
prior to the start, came back in to rig down, got sidetracked helping a launch
casualty, then finally just sailed my slalom gear.
I was just physically unprepared for the race this year,
even though I promised after last year’s race that I would actually train. I had not sailed much in the last 6 months
and hadn’t even done my usual hand grip spring exerciser training to strengthen
my grip leading up to the race. So, I was
hoping only to complete the short course.
I would encourage anyone who is considering it but not sure, to come out
to the next I-to-I and give it a try.
There is still satisfaction in doing a short course, and no shame in
deciding not to start, or being unable to launch.
I brought my formula board, 2001 Starboard F155, along
with it’s mostly motley quiver of sails:
Windwing 6.7 race, Sailworks Retro 7.5, Nitro I 8.3, and NP 9.0 V8. I also threw my old 105 liter F2 Sunset
Slalom and a 5.8 wave sail on top of the car for kicks. I left my 10.2 Nitro I and 520 mast at
home.
I arrived at around 8:15 and didn’t see any other
sailors. Don Wagner arrived shortly
after that. It was a bit cold, probably
around 60 degrees. Ron recommends we
arrive before 8 to get good parking, but as usual he arrived closer to 9 than
8. Once we convened for a skippers
meeting it was clear we reached or surpassed last years turnout. There was most of the core group and several
new faces.
The wind was very light and offshore. The ocean was flat, except for widely spaced
1-2 foot curling/tubing waves that would be perfect for 1 foot tall miniature
surfers. Looking at the horizon,
though, you could see some major bumpiness.
The latest forecast, on someone’s iPhone, was predicting
something like 14-20 mph, so I decided to rig the 8.3. I would have rigged smaller, considering I
was out of shape, but thought I would need the size to get upwind effectively,
and the next size down wasn’t a race sail.
I rarely use the 8.3 and thought it was too flat once I got enough downhaul
to loosen the leach. I suspected the
mast was not stiff enough. Since there
was so much expertise walking around here, I asked several folks for an opinion
on how my sail was set up. This
includes some of the best sailors in the state, sailors who work in the
industry, and the US women’s 2008 Olympic representative.
Most thought the sail would be OK. I put on my largest fin, 65 cm, for upwind
ability.
It was great to see over a dozen people rigging.
The wind became more north and started picking up a
little bit around 11. A few white caps
could be seen. However, that died down
as a cloud line moved over us.
Within 20 minutes or so, the switch suddenly was flipped
on, and the wind picked up and was from the northeast.
I decided to be the first to go out after the wind
picked up and find out how the rig was working. If things were ok I might just stay out and avoid a landing and
another launch. Getting out actually
wasn’t too hard, because the wind had recently switched, but I knew it would be
getting progressively worse. There is a
sandbar about 70 feet offshore where the water depth gets to 2 feet or so.
I found I could plane and point close to perpendicular
with the shore going out and within about 20 degrees of parallel going
north. I also found out that it was too
much sail for me. I could controlled it
but after 15 minutes my hands/forearms were starting to fatigue and cramp. I waited around a while resting in the
water, then decided to come in and rig down when no one else was entering the
water.
On shore there was a skippers meeting to set the start
countdown for 20 minutes. Then we all
signed a form acknowledging the race was cancelled, for liability reasons.
I started to rig the 6.7 I used last year but saw
someone having trouble launching in the break 200 yards south of the start
line.
I went out into the water to back him up in case he lost
control of his rig or to help him if he wanted. It was Martin. His board
was getting knocked around pretty good but he was keeping the sail out of the
water.
He tried to launch a couple of more times, and then
lifted his foot out of the water to see blood dripping from his toe. I helped him carry his rig to the beach. His toe was covered in sand, and was
dripping blood, but not gushing.
We went to the lifeguard stand and the lifeguard tried
washing the sand off with a small bottle of sterile water to get a better
look. That couldn’t get much sand off,
so we went to the showers. That
revealed a slice a ¼ way from the inside edge of the left big toe and at least ½
inch deep in from the tip, top to bottom.
Not pretty. It looked like his
big toe had a big toe. I went back to
bring his rig back to his van so he could go to the hospital. The lifeguard was heading to the shower with
a roll of sterile gauze. I helped
Martin derig and he drove off with his toe wrapped. I found out later it took 10 stitches to sew it up.
I missed, doing or seeing, the start of the race.
My enthusiasm for taking my formula board and blade back
out to the break was diminished. The
break doesn’t look bad from the shore, but when you’re in there with big
equipment and the current and the sand bar it is a lot worse than it
looks.
I decided to rig my 5.8 and have the option to just sail
my slalom board for fun. Not that the I-to-I
race isn’t fun. So, technically I did
start the race, more than ½ hour late.
The 5.8 was powered up about right.
I never made it north of the start very far but had some nice wave rides
and did a couple of jibes around the start marker for good measure. I also got washed in the break once when I
missed a jibe, tumbled and separated from my rig. A 5.8 wave takes it better than a big race sail. No damage.
I went up to the race committee headquarters, a couple
of lawn chairs, to get the status on the racers who were actually running this
race. Pretty soon, one by one, we could
see the shiny triangles of the first three racers inching across the horizon
more than a mile offshore heading for the Port Everglades buoy. When each of the racers approached shore, a
team of rescuers would go into the surf and triumphantly lift the rig over the
break and walk it in. The sideshore
current, running south, was really intense by this time. There were big cheers for each
finisher.
The award ceremony was fun as always. Prizes are in a
pile, and contestants choose in the order of finish. I even got something, a
nice padded mast bag and a DVD. Thanks sponsors.
I had to miss the party this year. I went to see my daughter perform in an ITS
theatre competition.
All in all I wish I had trained, but I’m glad I went
anyway. The camaraderie is great. There are great sailors to watch and learn
from. Maybe next year everything will
come together for me to complete the race.
Thanks again to Ron, Susan, sponsors, and other sailors.
Michael
Vogt
Boca
Raton, FL