According to Bill, "my faith in the boat went up significantly after the head banging we got in the heaviest weather race we had in the series- the Miami to Eleuthera Race. It was a tough race for everyone, and the fleet experienced upwards of 20-30 kts once onto the Bahamas Bank. The race was 90% upwind or fetching on starboard tack, then at top of Eleuthera Island, it became a long, brutal slog on port tack down the eastern side of island in huge, confused seas of 6 to 8-footers! The last fifteen miles were in flat water. Wow, what fun! With winds gusting to 25 kts, we flew the A2 asymmetric spinnaker, driving deep as possible and we maintained a steady 15-16 kts over the water!
When fetching, the windward water ballast tanks were full, and we were using a double-head rig- the #3 jib with the storm jib inside as a genoa staysail. Depending on the breeze, we'd adjust the main for power, putting in a single slab reef and taking it off when we could.
The first race of the series- the Nassau Race- was transformed into a big loop because of the Bahamas covid-19 restrictions. Basically, we were criss-crossing the Gulf Stream from Miami to the Bahamas Banks buoys and back. We saw everything in that race. I think we used all of our sails in winds from 0 to 20 kts, all in 24 hours!
The second race was fun and quick. The Palm Beach Race is simply a sprint and it took us just 12 hours to go from Miami north to Palm Beach, the Gulf Stream giving us a good kick north of several knots- quite the escalator that thing is!
We were excited about the classic Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race. But, our hopes diminished as we realized we might be swatting flies the whole way down. Here's how bad it was for the 165.0nm race; we started at 11:00am on Thursday and finished at the crack of dawn on Saturday around 6:30am...it was a super light race, and we must've gybed at least 50-times.
The fourth and final race was important because you had to count it, it was a no throw-out race. In the end, the series was an amazing experience, and we learned a lot about the boat."
When pressed about some of their more memorable experiences in the series, Bill mentioned that their highest speed in any of the races was in the Eleuthera Race, topping out at 16.5 kts in flat water doing dead downwind. But he mentioned that their fastest speed to date was on their delivery from Charleston down to Miami to start the SORC Islands in the Stream Series. Using their Dacron delivery main and Dacron #3 jib, they were flying downwind on a broad reach in the Gulf Stream in a big northeast breeze- gusting up to 35 kts. Top speed? 25.9 knots!
Bill spoke enthusiastically about his crew that included Greg Fisher (former College of Charleston Sailing Director) and Reed Baldridge.
Next up for the J/121 WINGS crew is the Annapolis- Newport Race, then Block Island Race Week, and the Storm Trysail Club's Stamford-Vineyard Race.Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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