2007 Tradewinds Regatta

Joe and I on final approach to the windward mark.
Bret and James, just before they capsized and Bret put a human shaped hole in the mainsail.
Bret and James on Wednesday, our training day prior to the regatta.

The screaming reach in the first race.  Team Key Sailing about to capsize.

My two weeks in Tampa went well, Angela and I did lots of awesome sailing, we were joined by my friends Tyler and Morgan from Connecticut to do some intense training as they get ready for the Tybee 500.

While in Tampa Angela and I participated in a short 30 mile distance race which developed into a blind sail in the fog, weathering out a massive thunderstorm on an abandoned island, and then abandoning the race and sailing back to the beach.  Out of the original 13 boats Tyler and Morgan were the only die-hards to complete the course.  Ourselves and another Nacra 20 did come close as the island we weathered the storm on was the turning point of the course, we failed to circumnavigate it though as we sailed past it in the dense fog.

After two weeks at Angela's I was ready to go to Islamorada (one of the Florida keys) and sail in the Tradewinds Regatta.

Little did I know however, that all this time spent in Florida waiting for this regatta, and I would not even complete a single race.

My friend Joe from my college sailing team joined me for this regatta as Brendon could not make it.  

We spent Wednesday and  Friday training with my friends Bret and James from New Jersey.  We had some amazing conditions and beautiful weather!  Thursday we chose to take a day trip to Key West.  Joe and James had never been, while Bret and I have made it a tradition to go every year during this regatta.  We had an amazing night on Duval Street which ended a little later than planned followed by James driving us back to Islamorada.

Finally Saturday morning came, we got out on the water and did a few nice double trapeze upwind beats and spinnaker runs.  As it was blowing around 20mph and gusting to the high 20's.  We did everything we could do to de-power the boat but it just wasn't enough, at this point I informed Joe that we were going to have our hands full.

Now for race one:  We had a decent start and as we approached the first windward mark we witnessed our first capsize.  We blew by the overturned boat and assessed our mid-fleet situation.   This assessment didn't last long as we were hit by some strong gusts and were double trapezing on screaming reach hitting speeds into the mid to high 20's.  The scene in front of us can be seen in the picture above as Team Key Sailing flipped in front of us.  At this point 2 boats out of 14 were down.  At the jibe mark, right in front of us, Team Key Sailing 2 capsized as well.  Thankfully, we jibed successfully, I thought that if we made it to the leeward mark still upright we would be golden.  As we approached the layline for the leeward mark, we turned into the jibe when I saw a boat go over behind us, realizing there was likely a strong gust coming our way I tried to prepare but it was too late.  Over we went!  Another boat in front of us went over from the same gust.  By the first leeward mark 6 boats had been blown over.

We righted the boat, sailed back around the course only to flip in the same spot and in the same manner as the first time!  After righting the boat this time Joe and I were exhausted.  We decided to slowly sail up to the starting area and wait for the next race.  We were still ahead of some boats, but I was pretty confused as to who as we had spent so much time on the side.  I figured we would cut our losses and go all out in the next race.  A minute after making this decision, we were sailing upwind, both on the trampoline and pinching up into the wind to de-power when a wind gust blew us over again!  I managed to climb onto the top hull as it flipped, I sat on top of the hull, 9 feet up in the air, half trying to comprehend what had just happened and half contemplating how I was going to jump down without hitting the boat and at the same time not getting separated from the boat that was drifting/ sailing on its side way faster than I could have swam.  Before jumping down I looked for Joe.  He had been thrown about 30 feet away and was trying to swim back to the boat.  Seeing a Hobie 16 nearby I waved them down and pointed to Joe.  I told Joe to save his energy and grab  ride rather than trying to swim.  He was given a ride back to our boat where he informed me he was "legally blind" as he had broken his glasses.  We made decision then and there that after righting the boat we were going in 1, because we were exhausted, 2 because his glasses were broken, 3, because a batten in the mainsail was broken.  We righted the boat, but nothing was going right for us, so why would it be that easy?  The tiller bar was flipped over causing one of the rudders to be pointed straight, so no matter how hard I tried to point the boat into the wind, it was not happening.  Joe and I dragged from the back of the boat by the chicken lines, trying to head the boat up, for over 5 minutes, as the boat sailed off to God knows where.  Had the boat flipped again I am not sure we would have had the energy to right it again for a while.  We finally miraculously got back on the boat and had the most cautious sail in possible.

We arrived to the beach to find Bret had been thrown through his mainsail during a capsize and could not find a replacement.  Many other boats were on the beach for broken parts such as, ripped sails, broken booms, etc.  One boat even split it's bow open!  Others had felt the conditions were too much for them and returned to the beach.  Many people did not complete the first race.  9 of the Nacra 20's either didn't finish the first race or came in after they finished the first race.  Few boats remained racing in what many called "survival" conditions.

Sunday we woke up, saw the forecast was for winds 35+, looked outside, noticed the trees blowing in the wind were indicating this was true, and decided to have a nice long breakfast and then go de-rig the boat.  We arrived at the regatta site to find everyone else de-rigging, we had made the right call!  Races had been called off, so we de-rigged as sand blew around us, stinging as it hit our skin, it was that windy!  Awards were given, we said our good-byes, and finished derigging.

We got on the road to Fort Lauderdale to Brets grandparents where we would rest for a few hours before beginning our trek back to the frozen north.

Another great annual sailing trip to Florida over, I was excited to return home for the first time in a month!  Now as I write this I wish i was back in sunny Florida sailing again!  I guess I will have to wait until next year!  I can't wait!  Everyone should try to participate in these regattas sometime in their sailing careers.  

Next possible regatta on the schedule... Spring Fever Regatta in Hartwell, GA over Easter Weekend.  Then we will have a busy summer schedule with regattas throughout the northeast as well as the Nacra North American Championships in Michigan in late August.

Please stay tuned for updates!  I still plan to tell the story of our 3,000+ mile round trip drive from Rhode Island to Florida and back.

Vanguard 15 Midwinters

Lindsay and I about to round the windward mark.
 One of the starts.   Photos courtesy of Sarrahhh

I returned back to Florida on December 26th.  From Jamie's house I drove down to Miami and relaxed in Coconut Grove with some of my friends who were there for the Orange Bowl Regatta.  

On the 28th, my friend Lindsay and I drove up to Jensen Beach, FL for the 2007  Vanguard 15 Midwinters.  57 of the nation's top college sailors descended upon Jensen Beach to compete in this event.  Lindsay and myself competed in the fleet racing part of the regatta.  We finished in a disappointing 51st.  We raced the best we could but we could only muster a 29th as our best finish.  There were many other talented sailors who finished near us and we were mixing it up with the best sailors in the fleet in several races.  We just could not manage to stay in a good position.  This was likely due to my lack of experience in big fleets and that Lindsay and I had never sailed together before.

We had lots of fun and sailed the best we could.  That is all that matters! Right?

I chartered my boat out for the team racing section and hung out with a large contingent of my college  sailing team that came down for the event.

After the event I took off for Tampa to spend the next 2 weeks with my friend Angela until the Tradewinds Regatta.

Better late than never! 2007 Steeplechase: long distance catamaran regatta in the FL keys

Skipper, Todd Riccardi practicing the day before the Steeplechase
Crew:  Brendon Scanlon, practicing the day before the Steeplechase
Us sailing through Cardfish sound to Angelfish Creek which leads to the ocean.
Leading our new friends from North Carolina.
Awesome silhouette shot of us through our sail. Shots courtesy of Sailseries.com

Well, 4 months after the event... here are some pictures and the story from the Steeplechase which was held December 8th and 9th, 2007... a 110 mile distance race in 2 days on small 20 foot long "beachcats".  The course took us around several of the northern Keys including, Key Largo, Islamorada, and Mattecumbe.  For this race I teamed up with my friend Brendon on a Nacra 20.  Out of a field of 17 talented teams, ourselves and another boat were the only rookies to participate.  

I probably should tell you about our drive down in my friend Mike's 1996 Suburban with a Vanguard 15 on the roof and 2 Nacra 20's  on a trailer behind it, the 40-50 mph crosswinds, snow, and etc. we experienced as we drove through the night the first night from Rhode Island, but then what would I have to write about later.  Also soon to come, maybe in another 4 months, will be a posting about Vanguard 15 midwinters and the Tradewinds Regatta.

Okay back to the Steeplechase...

Day one: We had high hopes after being the 4th boat to the first significant waypoint on our GPS, the card sound bridge.  My hopes soon diminished when I had difficulty pointing as high as our competitors.  I want to blame it on our old and blown out jib but I shouldn't make excuses. 

The first day day is approximately 65 miles.  Most of this leg was a screaming, double trapeze spinnaker reach.  Once our 2 easily accessible water bottles were empty I thought I would be fine until the finish.  This is when I learned one of the most important rules of distance racing, drinking tons of water!  BEFORE, during, and after sailing!  One bottle certainly is not enough, especially when racing with temperatures in the mid 80's and the subtropical sun beaming down on you.  So needless to say, I began to suffer signs of dehydration and sunstroke.  From his position on the trapeze, Brendon could not make out what I was attempting to say, but he presumed it was just because of all the splashing water and etc.  After some time he noticed me slouching a bit and came in off the trapeze to check on me.  At this point I was on the verge of passing out.  I was refusing to slow down as we had been on the heels of several veteran teams.

Realizing my situation Brendon scolded me, diminishing my self pride (which is exactly what I needed) and dove for the drybag containing the rest of our water.  I drank some but soon that was gone too and I was still suffering.  Boats began creeping up from behind and passing us. 

At last we spotted the candy cane building which was the landmark to tell us we were nearing the finish.  We took a few jibes inland to make sure we didn't overstand the finish.  These last few jibes were the most difficult boat maneuvering of my life!  We finally saw the finish and began screaming towards the beach full speed, spinnaker up, daggerboards most of the way down and etc.  It was then that I realized we were quickly approaching mudflats and there was NO alternative route to the finish line.  I managed to yell to Brendon to pull the boards up and drop the spinnaker.  Immediately after completing that both rudders kicked up.  I held on with every ounce of energy I had left (which wasn't much) as our boat and rudder skimmed through only a few inches of water.   We came to a halt 2 feet from the finish line, I immediately sprawled out on the trampoline to rest.  I was so excited to rest that I forgot that we had no finished!  Rick White and several other sailors were yelling at me with encouragement to drag the boat through the finish.  As soon as we did that I retreated to dry land to attempted to get rested and hydrated.  

Believe me, I learned a huge lesson!  This will not happen to me again!

Day two:

I woke up to being reminded that we only had to sail 45 miles today.  Great I thought, we did 65 in 4 hours the day before, the winds blowing around 20, should be a breeze.  When we got to the beach I realized the short sail to the channel 5 bridge would be the only downwind sailing we would do all day.  The rest of the day would include beating upwind, avoiding sandbars,and sailing through mangroves.  I suddenly realized it might not be as easy as I had thought back at the hotel.  The situation became dyer when I realized the waters we had packed in the car had disappeared!  The day before was echoing in my head... but we had came so far to not finish the race!  After rigging I sprinted around to several teams that had dropped out and scrounged up 4 water bottles.  While that was not as much as I would have liked, beggers can't be chosers.  I had the bottles in my hand and then hear the announcement that we only had a minute until the start!  I sprinted to the boat, threw the water in the trampoline pocket and we pushed off, literally as the starting gun blew.  Still winded from my sprint, I now had to fight the rudders as I could not lock them down for about half a mile because of shallow water.  Finally getting them locked down we got up to full speed, went under the bridge and began our upwind adventure through the Everglade National forest.

We started off with about 5 Nacra 20's behind us after going under the bridge.  Throughout the course of the day some of them slowly passed us, again due to us not being able to point as high as them.  We also lost some boats where their experience with the race navigation paid off.  We truly experienced what the Steeplechase is all about by skidding over sandbars at full speed, sailing through narrow cuts through mangroves, and etc.  Brendon and I took the experience from the day before and fed each other water bottles throughout the day.  We entered the last mangrove right on the heels of Mike and Frank, veteran distance racers with many Steeplechases between the 2 of them.  We thought we might be able to catch them, we paddled our hearts out through the mangroves but in dismay watched their sail above the top of the mangroves moving much faster than ours.  We exited the mangroves with them nearly out of sight.

We finished day 2 in 10th but combined with our time from day ones fiasco we dropped to 11th.  We were infact the last place boat to complete the race, 6 boats out of the original 17 dropped out.  I am confident we would have done better had we not had those issues.  However, it was our first Steeplechase and we know it was a feat just to finish it.  

Brendon and I left happy with how we did, drove up to Jamie Livingston's house who graciously let me keep the car and trailer there while I flew back to Rhode Island until I returned later in December.

*Please note I did not proofread this, it is past midnight and I have to wake up for a 7AM sailing team workout.  Hopefully i'll get to the proofread and editing later.  Hope you enjoyed!

**Note:  A few items were placed on my wish list after this regatta.  

#1:  Camelback!  Had I had one I never would have suffered from dehydration during this event.

#2: New jib sail!  Our pointing ability suffered from a blown out jib.  The draft has moved way back in the sail and no longer works effectively  for upwind pointing.

#3:  A new spinnaker!  We were fairly concerned our spinnaker was going to rip to shreds during this regatta, it's pretty stretched out and has many small tears, this is not fast.