Peeking out the port on the wet ride to the start
The anchor rode made a wake in the flood tide
Another no-air day on the Chesapeake. The Chesapeake Shorthanded Sailing Society (CHESSS) had 13 boats registered for its first race of the season but the forecast was dismal … and accurate. It rained steadily on the ride to the starting area and died out as the day went on.
Before the start the wind was SE at five knots, which would have been very raceable, but it dropped to 0 – 2 knots right before the first start. All of the boats struggled to get to the line and most were late.
About an hour later the wind died entirely with occasional one knot whiffs. Boats lost steerage way with some pointing back to Annapolis at times. I had to roll in my jib and scull the rudder to aim my bow away from “Cheshire Cat” a light Stiletto that managed to roll past me to leeward. The tidal current began to flood about then and I found that I was mostly going sideways. The crab pot markers were beating me to windward so I eventually put out the anchor to hold my ground.
A few boats, like the Stiletto and a J/100 managed to advance with each tiny whiff of air and made it about two thirds of the way to the first mark. At 1330 the race committee called by VHF and concluded it was necessary to abandon the race.
The wind never really came back that day. Now that I see my GPS track it is clear that the RC did me a favor. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for better wind next year.
I did get a nice evening on the boat anchored in Rhode River after the race. It rained steadily and peacefully all night but cleared out by morning for a pleasant motor trip home.