Bound 4 Glory Racing

Copa de Mexico - Day 2

2010-03-11T06:29:00.000-08:00

More of the same... very shifty winds. The first start was a general recall, the second start was successful under the Z flag, but ten minutes after the start, the wind shifted 90 degrees and came in strong on the north side of the course, leaving the southern boats flopping in the swell. The race was abandonded and the course re-set to north/south. The racing photos are on another camera, so we will get those up tomorrow. Also,, we are going to try a video camera on the stern rail today, we'll see how that goes.

In the third start (first race of the day that counted), we started about 1/3 of the way down the line from the RC and tacked over to head to the beach after about a minute. Many of the boats around us went all the way to the layline, but we cut the corner a bit and rounded 14th. We managed to gain boats on each leg, but especially on the second weather leg when we stayed in clear air by sailing 20 lengths below the starboard layline and then tacking at the port layline and finding a hole at the weather mark to gain quite a bit on the boats behind us. Crossed the line in 8th, with our best finish of the regatta so far.

The RC moved the weather mark closer to the beach (further right) and started us again, under P flag (regular start) so we did our patented 'round the RC start and in fact did manage to get the pole position (right at the boat, with speed) and tacked as soon as we could clear the RC anchor chain, and once again headed to the beach. Everything was going about the same as the prior race until the finishing leg when the wind shut off again. We were probably in about 13 th or so at that time. We were too far off the beach to get the slight breeze that was coming from that direction and had to play the zephyrs to ghost in for a 23rd. Bummer...

The party last night was at the villa copa. After dinner each team was handed a large bag with cloth, poster board, glue, feathers, ballons, etc and given 30 minutes to "decorate" one of their crew for a dance contest. Fortunately we had Ginjer and her friend Jen who handled it with style, which was quite a bit more than I can say about the other team's men who were cross-dressed and/or minimally dressed...the photo tells all.

Thursday's forecast is more of the same, and possibily by Friday, we will have the more typical thermal breeze we are used to. Until then, it's anybody's guess as to the best strategy. A couple of things we do agree on is that we will 1) always head to the beach and 2) never tighten the rig down for stronger wind, and 3) never, ever, participate in a Mexican costume contest...

Copa de Mexico - Day 1

2010-03-10T05:36:00.000-08:00

The first day of racing promised to be different in many ways from the previous days. First and foremost, there was clear skies and the wind looked like it could blow by afternoon. It never did develop like in past regattas here however, only getting into the high teens by the end of the day.

Second, it was race time. Although cordial on the dock, the sailors were beginning to get serious about racing. We have befriended both the German and Italian teams, which are all great people. We don't speak either language, but they know enough English for us to at least share sailing stories with each other. We have been invited to travel to Italia and sail with the Italians at their yacht club on Lake Garda. Sounds like a good idea to me!

I lost a bet with Ginjer on the first start that it would be a general recall, but in fact it was a clean start for most boats, with a bit of sag in the middle. The line is long enough to accomodate all 50+ boats and so starting may not be as difficult in this regatta as in many big fleets. We had a good start with speed and were able to continue left as long as we wanted and rounded with the first group. We were able to hold our position and things were going as expected until the last 300 yards of the race when the wind completey shut off and then shortly thereafter filled in 150 degrees to the right. Many boats behind us put up their spinnakers to make it to the finish, however we were close enough that we were able to salvage a decent finish by reaching in with the genoa for a 17th.

After resetting the marks for the big right shift, the second race was set almost north/south starting near the condo and sailing toward Bucerias, tacking up the beach. After two general recalls (I should have waited to bet until the second race) the RC moved the pin end of the line up to spread out the fleet. In the third try, with no general but a 20% scoring penalty if boats are over early (Z flag) as were were accelerating for the line with 15 seconds to go, we were hit by a Mexican boat which was returning from being over early, but still pulled off a decent start that allowed us to go right toward the beach, which is what we wanted. We again rounded with the lead pack and were able to maintain position for the remainder of the five legs. On each run, the boat directly in front of us, one of which was the three-time current world champion from Brazil, tried to intimidate us by yelling to let them go down and not cover them, which of course is how the game is played. We crossed 13th. We finished the day in 12th of 53. That may change after protests and penalties are assessed.

After racing, we boarded a high speed power catamaran and were all ferried over to Los Caletas, near Yelapa, where we had dinner on the beach and then enjoyed "Rythms of the Night", a traditional Mexican dance and drum show.

Victory!

2010-03-07T17:20:00.000-08:00

Victory in the sense that we have spent a day and a half going through measurement and have finally passed! Boat, crew and sails have been weighed and measured to the point of exhaustion but have passed the test and and now we are ready to race.

The boat is in the water and we have sailed a couple of hours. No one fell overboard.

Opening party tonight at the Residence Marival Hotel and practice race tomorrow.

More tomorrow, hopefully with photos!

Pedro

2010 Copa de Mexico Regata, March 8-13

2010-02-16T15:09:00.000-08:00

Team Bound 4 Glory is looking forward to some warm weather sailboat racing in Banderas Bay, Nayarit, Mexico. We will be competing in the first bi-annual Mexican Cup, in the J24 class.

Crew for the regatta will be: Ginjer Yachechak, Mike Blair, Scott Galbraith, Vern Streeter and Pete Sauer.

We will be posting updates to this blog during the event. For more information, the regatta website is: http://www.j24mex.com/copamexico/

Results will be posted under our sail number: USA 3845. Our charter boat is: Jobbits

DAY 3 - MALLORY FINALS

2008-09-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

Hiking hard and going fast!

Race 7 Wind 10-12 Boat 5

We arived on the race course to a mill pond. After a long delay, 12 knots of wind came in from the direction of the Golden Gate and racing was on. We started about one third of the way down the line. We favored the right, but could see that the left was paying for the boats on that side. Rounded sixth - we were unable to pass going upwind or down, and finished pretty much where we started.

Race 8 Wind 12-15 Boat 11

Started one length from the pin. Held left for about half the leg, then worked up the middle. Leading most of the fleet, and rounded second. Sailed a bit hotter than we had been in prior races, and held on to second to the leeward mark. Rounded the south gate and went back up on the left side. Rounded the weather mark in second, but Toole got by us on the run so we took third.

Race 9 Wind 15-20 Boat 9

Started mid-line. Tacked over to port after about a minute, to go right. Stayed on port almost to the starboard layline. Tacked over and could see that we were ahead of almost everyone. It was close at the weather mark with Klienshrodt, but we played it conservatively and rounded just behind him in second. Klatt rounded right behind us. More wind on the south now, so we stayed south, trying to sail hotter and physically stay in front of the pack just behind us. We rounded the south gate, but Klatt went to the north gate. We tacked over to port and sailed to weather and behind Klatt, avoiding his bad air. Klatt tacked back to starboard about half way to the layline, letting us go. We continued on. He came back at us, so we tacked to converge and consolidate. When we met, we were on starboard and leebowed him, bouncing him back left. We went back right for a few minutes, and then we came back at Klatt and now Klienshrodt as well. We crossed them both by four or five lenghts, and then tacked about ten lengths to weather of them and covered them to the starboard layline and to the upwind finish. A bullet for us - finally! A great way to end the day.

DAY 2 - MALLORY FINALS

2008-09-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

Going to weather in boat 2 - flat is fast!

Race 4 Boat 3 Wind 10-12

Started at the pin to try to favor the south side of the course. Stayed on starboard and held out with Deke. Rounded third. Favored the left (north) going back down, lost a few and rounded the north gate mark fifth. Headed back up on the north side this time, it seemed the leaders had done better over there. No gain, no loss, rounded fifth and lost one going down to finish sixth.

Race 5 Boat 2 Wind 12-14

Started at the pin end again, and tacked about three lengths into the race (not generally a good idea but most of the boats above us were late starting) and took two sterns and crossed the rest - about four. Big split, with three of us on the north side, including the local Michael Whitfield, the rest way left. When we came back together, we were ahead of most of them. Rounded third, and headed down - still too low. Lost a few boats including letting Wilson in at the right gate at the last second to round fifth. Gained one back by going up on the right again (it worked so well last time) but lost two going down to finish 6th. We have determined, a bit too late, that we are simply not coming out of the weather mark hot enough, and then not moving aggressively enough to the favored inside position at the leeward mark.

Race 6 Boat 4 Wind 15-20

Started near the RC. Wanted the boat, but it was pretty congested in there, so started a couple lenghts to leeward and the tacked and took two sterns and headed out to the north. Tacked two thirds of the way up and came in to the weather mark on port at the mark. Wilson protested us because he said he had to alter course, however, we all agreed that he did not go above close-hauled. He was overstood and was actually reaching in, which is why we decided to tack in there, rather than take his stern. However, knowing that he is an attorney, I figured I would never win that argument, so we took a 720 just after rounding the offset. We got the kite up right away and caught right back up to where we were, in about fourth, and set up to round the left (south) gate. However, Beckwith luffed three boats, and us, to keep us all from passing him. In reality it did little to help his cause, except to give the leaders in front of him some extra distance. In the end, we passed the boats that were below us during the luff, Delaney and Whitfield, and finished seventh, glad that this race was finally over! Another long day of sailing. Quick to get some sleep and do it all again tomorrow.

DAY 1 - MALLORY FINALS

2008-09-17T20:16:00.004-07:00

Race 1 Boat 8 Wind 10-12

Started at the pin and held out the furthest left. Tacked over and lifted off most of the boats below us. Two boats ahead and to leeward, Young and Kleinschrodt. Tacked on the starboard layline at about ten lengths from the mark. Rounded third, but there was a lot of current, and we hit the mark trying to get around it. We were not the only ones to do so. Klatt's crew had to go in the water to get the line off of their rudder! We lost two boats when we took our 360, one of which was Bock. On the run, we held out to the south , and rounded fifth, directly behind Bock. We went south again immediately and passed Bock and Wilson going back up. Held third to the downwind finish.

Race 2 Boat 7 (TMC) Wind 10-12

TMC is a fast boat. Started middle left on the line. Trotter held us down when he was slow to respond to our luff to head up at the gun. We had to press down and foot for a few minutes to get ahead of him. We headed south (left) again and rounded in the top few boats. We passed Wilson on the run and rounded the leeward first. We split to the south for about a minute and when we came back the wind had gone right a bit and also built a bit over on that side. It was a good thing we didn't keep going further left! We lost lost two boats and rounded the weather mark in third. We held low, trying in vain to cover both sides and ended up losing another boat on the run to finish fourth.

Race 3 Boat 6 (an OCSC boat) Wind 18-20

This boat is slow, the mast has not been modified, no keel job, etc, etc..

Wind had filled on the north side during the last race. We knew everyone would want the boat (and they did) so we decided to start a bit down the line. Ended up way down the line. Three boats were OCS including Bock and Klatt who tried to port tack the fleet. We held out on starboard with Kleinschrodt above us and unable to cross him. We finally brushed him off with a couple of good luffs, and then tacked over right away. We went north, but not far enough and not soon enough. We rounded about seventh. One boat broke their boom during this first weather leg. We gained a few, lost a few, and ended up seventh. We should have favored the north (right) more, later in the day. Dinner at the club was Mexican buffet, all you could eat, and we ate a lot! Three races, and an hour out and an hour back makes for a long day! We ended the first day of racing with a 3,4,7 in fourth overall. We'll see what tomorrow brings

2008 MALLORY FINALS SAN FRANCISCO - OCSC

2008-09-17T20:16:00.001-07:00

Up early to pick up John Weil at the airport. We headed over to OCSC in Berkeley to charter a J24 for a few hours. Anthony Sanderg met us immediately when we pulled in. Captain Bruce Powell of OCSC met us at the designated boat at noon and we sailed out into the bay in about 25 knots. The wind continued to build in the afternoon as we discussed the expected racing area and usual wind patterns and current. It was great to get a feel for what we would be sailing in and some tips from the pros. Back at the dock, Bruce very kind in offering us a few of his private stash of beers - thanks Bruce! We also took a minute to discuss sailing schools with Rich Jepsen of OCSC.

2008 MALLORY FINALS SAN FRANCISCO - Big Boat Series

2008-09-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

Road trip - 1100 miles in 18 hours. We arrived in San Francisco to stay with Scott's aunt and uncle, Laurie and Krist Jake. What a beautiful home in a beautiful area of the city. The Jakes hosted us at their home for three nights - and some wonderful meals. Saturday we were Krist's guests at the Dolphin Club where Krist and Joe went for a swim in the ocean. Krist outlasted Joe by quite a while in the 60 degree water.

After the Dolphin Club, we found a table at Bubba Gumps which was the closest we could find to the action of the Big Boat Series. We spent the afternoon eating sea food and watching the boats tack right below our table as they sailed up the waterfront, trying to get out of the 4-6 knot current coming in under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sunday we took in more racing, from the St Francis YC and surveyed the fleet as they finished a great regatta.

Labor Day Regatta

2008-09-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

B4G used the Labor Day Regatta, sponsored by South Flathead Sailing Association, and held in Dayton Bay, as practice for the Mallory and finished with a 1,1,2 to win the day. Crew for the day was Scott Galbraith on the bow, Jeff Lanners, in the middle, Joe Blair on sheets and Pete Sauer on the helm.

B4G is on the trailer awaiting Districts the first weekend of October.

B4G Racing Team Qualifies for US Sailing Mallory Finals

2008-08-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

Team B4G will be competing in US Sailing's Men's National Championships (Mallory Cup) to be held in San Francisco on the Berkeley Olympic Circle the week of September 16-20. We plan to attend the St. Francis Yacht Club's Big Boat Series the weekend prior and then get down to some serious competition.

The regatta will be a round-robin format, with 11 teams sailing each boat once. We are representing the Pacifc Northwest area of US Sailing (Area L). Boats, sails, lodging and meals are all provided by US Sailing and the San Francisco Yacht Club.

Crew for the week will be Scott Galbraith on the bow, John Weil (former owner of Jungle Love) in the middle, Joe Blair on the sheets, and Pete Sauer at the helm.

We'll do our best to post updates here as the week progresses.

The Mallory Cup website is here: http://www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/usmsc/index.asp

B4G Wins Fleet 25 Championships

2008-08-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

Fleet 25 Championships were held for the first time in as long as I can remember over the weekend of August 2-3, as part of the Montana Sailing Championships (Montana Cup).

We started the regatta off with some tough numbers, a third in the first race as the result of a second row start, and an even worse DNS in the second race. The second race was interesting in that about half of the fleet (including us) was OCS, but the RC called us all back individually. As we headed back to restart near the pin end, there was very little room to port, so I decided to round the pin for some unknown reason and head back to weather on the wrong side of the line, of course meaning that we never really did restart that race. The RC pointed it out to us at the end of the day and, of course, they were correct, we did not cross the line correctly, so we began the day with 13 points in two races.

After that, we finally found the gas pedal, and started more conservatively with speed to take four bullets in a row, also allowing us to discard the DNS. Thanks to the B4G Racing Team of Jeff Lanners on the bow, Sandee Sauer in the pit, and Bill Corwin who stepped up to trim after Mike Blair blew out his bicep tendon a few days prior.

Thanks also to the out of town boats who made the trip to race with Fleet 25. 2008 marks 30 years of J24 sailing on Flathead Lake, as well as around the world!

POETS Series Begins at NFYC

2008-06-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th - now I know why our luck ran out on the race course last night. The first night of the POETS series (Piss On Everything, Tomorrow is Saturday) was held on a short, SW/NE course, with the wind in the single digits, but puffs coming from the SW as high as 20 knots.

Maniac won the start, and we started to leeward and behind, not exactly a position of strength. Maniac covered us to the weather mark as we fought to get out of the cover, tacking toward each new puff. We rounded directly on their stern. They cut it a bit short and hit the mark, which was the break we needed. We were finally free and ran down, trying to connect the puffs together. There was a bit of excitement when Brian and Terri on their new to them, yet unchristened J24, got into a death roll and went down to leeward in one of the big puffs. They had a good recovery, but only after Brian took one on the head for the team. We had a good douse and headed back to weather, putting a loose cover on Blew by U and Maniac.

Back at the weather mark, we got away with a few lengths to spare and headed back to leeward. We moved left to catch a puff, and be inside at the mark. Oops! We forgot that the start pin was the new short leeward and had to douse and sail back up to it, giving Maniac the opportunity to slip in there before us! Dang!

We were now in the same position relative to them as we were at at the start. Not exactly a position of strength! We started a bit of a tacking duel. It's always easier to attack than defend, and we made gains on each move. According to the RC, Scott, we finished 2 inches behind them - DANG!

Keys to success last night were: rig tune - set up for the lulls, we were at 24,21, boat handling, driving in puffy conditions - keeping the boat as flat as possible and easing sheets in the puffs to let the boat squirt forward as opposed to lay over on its side and go sideways, connecting the puffs as much as possible to stay in the bigger breeze and covering as much as practicle when ahead because you never really knew where the next puff was going to come from. Good job Maniac on all the above. I hope there are no more Friday the 13th's this season!

2008 Seattle NOOD Regatta

2008-05-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

The B4G Racing Team waits for hardware at Seattle YC

B4G wins the weather end

The Bound 4 Glory racing team sailed the National Offshore One Design (NOOD) regatta held in Seattle May 16-18, starting the racing season off with a 2nd place in J24 Class.

Crew for the regatta were Mike Blair on the sheets, Brian Brown in the middle and Scott Galbraith on the pointy end. I took in the action from the driver's seat.

Friday's four races were in 14-16 knots, where we could have used a some more beef on the rail. I was a tad rusty on the tactics, causing us to have to spin a few circles before the cob webs of winter cleared out. We made up for it somewhat with a few of the best starts we have ever had (so far).

Saturday was more of the same, with a little less wind. What a great day for a sailboat race! Come to think of it, every day is a great day for a sailboat race! With above average temperatures and wind in the ten knot range, it made for a perfect day of racing. Not to mention some great food and rum in the tent in the evening.

Sunday offered more of a challenge, with maybe 5 -6 knots of breeze, and a fair bit of current. Coming into the day's racing, we were tied for second with Eric and his team on Suspence. We decided to sail our own races, and to not mess with them. In the first race of the day, I was having my doubts as to the wisdom of that decision, when they finished a couple boats in front of us. In the final race we split at the first weather mark and by the time we came together at the leeward, it was all over but the crying. We had them by enough boats to break the tie in our favor. From that point on, we put a loose cover on them and made sure they couldn't get by.

Thanks to our shore crew, Maureen and Troy, who once again hosted us at their beautiful home.

B4G 2008 Racing Schedule

2008-05-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

Gentlemen, start your engines! Another season of racing is right around the corner. Bound 4 Glory is scheduled to compete in the following 2008 events:

National Offshore One Design Regatta - Seattle 5/16-18

Dels/Poets - North Flathead YC, 6/3-8/29

Montana Sailing Championships - North Flathead YC 8/1-3

Labor Day Regatta - Dayton Yacht Harbor 8/30-9/1

US Sailing Mallory Finals, San Francisco 9/16-20

J24 District 19 Championships - Seattle, WA 10/3-5

Puget Sound OD Fleet Championships

2007-10-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

Team B4G travelled to Seattle for the Puget Sound One Design Fleet Championships held over the weekend of October 13-14. Racing was off of Shilshole, in moderate to high breeze, offering challenging sailing for the fleet of 17 J24's. We sailed a very consistent regatta, with the exception of the first race during which were fouled, and then subsequently had contact with the committee boat (I touched it with my hand to keep the boats from hitting). The incident occurred just before we finished, and caused us to have to sail back onto the course side, do a 720 and then finish again.

Bound 4 Glory's 2007 Season

2007-09-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

B4G Hanging in Mike's shop.

This is the second time we have owned this boat. We first bought USA 3845 in the summer of 1998, and named her Jungle Love, after the song by the Steve Miller Band. We gave her a new mast, a new keel and campaigned the heck out of her for six seasons, including regattas in San Francisco, Vancouver, BC, three or four trips per year to Seattle, both venues in Idaho and of course our home waters of Flathead Lake, Montana.

In 2004, we sold JL to John Weil of Portland, who took her to a number of great events, including a couple of National and North American Championship regattas in Vancouver, BC, Seattle, WA and even as far away as Noroton, CT for the '04 World Championships. We were fortunate that John invited us along to sail with him at those great events.

Fast forward to 2007, and I have a conversation with John that he is putting JL up for sale. I bought her back on the spot. Throughout the winter and spring, Mike Blair and I gave her a complete refit, including toe rails, all deck hardware and rigging. The only parts now left of the original boat are the hull and deck, which have weathered 24 years surprisingly well.

At the first launching of the year, we rechristened her Bound 4 Glory or B4G after our friends Tom and Richelle's surfboard business in Mexico.

B4G had a great season, with wins in both Flathead Lake Series, the Montana Sailing Championships, and the J24 District 19 Championships (The first non-Seattle boat to do so in the history of District 19). We capped the season off last fall with a third at the Puget Sound One Design Fleet Championships in Seattle.