The breeze was 5-10 knots out of the south and the start was mellow with no barging or yelling. We stalled up near the boat end to let a bigger boat roll under us, then put the bow down and got moving for the gun. Off the start we didn't have good point, but pulling on more backstay to tension the forestay helped a lot. Our tactics were to play the left side closer to the channel where there appeared to be more breeze and an ebbing tide. This started out as a good plan, until the boats on the right got a huge lift and increased pressure. From this point we tried to consolidate with the rest of the fleet and cut our losses. As the smallest and slowest boat in the Spinnaker B fleet, we watched as the other boats pulled away from us. At this point we settled in to our positions with Cody on the bow, Eric at the mast, Tweek doing pit and grinding, Sheehan trimming and calling tactics, and myself driving, and began working the boat for more speed and point. Due to the distance of the race we would be switching around a lot to keep everyone fresh.
As forecasted, the wind built and began clocking from south to north, effectively lifting us as we turned the corner out of the bay. On a close reach, the larger cruising boats began ripping up to us due to their longer waterlines. The wind continued to build and as we rounded the mark to head to Clearwater, it was apparent that we would be beating 40 miles upwind in 15-20 knots to the finish. This was definitely not the course for a small ULDB: beating, close reaching, then beating again.
We changed down to the 95% #3 jib, which involved its own challenges. The luff blew out of the headfoil during the hoist, but I had found a spectra loop from racing on a new SC37 that had the same problem, and clipped it around the headfoil to the head of the jib with the halyard shackle. This held and kept going, with the steep waves occasionally breaking over the foredeck. As the sun set, the reality that we would be finishing at about 2:00 a.m. with no wind for the delivery home set in, and we made the call to drop out of the race and head for Eckerd. I called the Race Committee to let them know we would be DNFing and we got ready for a fun spinnaker ride back to the main channel.
Unfortunately, while getting ready to set the spinnaker, Cody fell on the tiller trying to clear a wrap in the spinnaker sheet and it cracked. Afraid that it might completely break if overloaded with the kite up, we decided to play it safe and jib reach up the Egmont Key Channel, then motored up to Eckerd.
It was disappointing to be DNF in our first race, but the course the opposite of what a Santa Cruz 27 is designed for and it would be impossible to do well on corrected time. We decided to save the fun of beating up wind for deliveries in the future. On the upside, we learned a lot about sailing a Santa Cruz 27 upwind, as well as what else on the boat needs work or attention.
The wild parts were too wet for a camera, but here are a few photos (not all by me) from the beat out of Tampa Bay.
Watching the tell-tales. I couldn't find the tiller extension so steering was a PITA. I later found out that my couch had eaten it.
Not bad for free sails!
Sheehan and I
Waiting for the spinnaker set that never happened
Sheehan at the helm
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