Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/07/05

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Subject: [Leica] Woods Hole Race
From: r.s.taylor at comcast.net (Richard S. Taylor)
Date: Wed Jul 5 13:15:51 2006
References: <p06230902c0d1a2060c30@[131.142.12.152]> <48EA8B53-2394-40FF-AF16-D1BC2CA0DA97@pandora.be>

Philippe - These are Cape Cod Knockabouts, an eighteen-foot 
fiberglass centerboarder.  They carry a main, jib and spinnaker.  The 
sail rig has changed over the years but the hull has not.  The basic 
design dates from the 1930's and was originally built in wood, though 
only one wood one (from about 1950) survives in the fleet.

They have a well-earned reputation of being slow, wet, and 
uncomfortable but everyone loves them because they are 1) 
traditional, and 2) well suited to the area waters where a typical 
summer afternoon breeze is 20-25 knots and a 2- to 3-foot chop is 
common.

It's a trustworthy, predictable boat.  During one race I sailed one 
out of a narrow channel into a breaking sea, half swamped the boat 
from the breakers and simply sailed on out into the Bay with the boat 
three-quarters full of water.  We quickly bailed the boat out and 
were back into the race.

Dick


>Hi Dick,
>I truly enjoyed these. What kind of boat type is it? We don't have 
>these around here. Looks like an older/classical type with those 
>long jibs.
>Classical cut sails, too.
>Thanks for showing,
>Philippe
>
>
>
>Op 5-jul-06, om 19:56 heeft Richard S. Taylor het volgende geschreven:
>
>>Normally I'm on one of these boats but I had to sit this race out 
>>on the Race Committee boat yesterday.  The race was sailed in 
>>Vineyard Sound on the south side of Cape Cod with the start and 
>>finish in Woods Hole Harbor.  Wind was SW at 10-20 knots.
>>
>>About 15 seconds after the gun, the fleet sailed for the first mark:
>>
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/SAILING/L1020372_web
>>
>>The turnout for this race was low.  More typically, we would have 
>>12 - 14 boats on the starting line.
>>
>>The weather-most (right hand) boat in this shot is carrying a reef 
>>in its main, something we're allowing for the first time this year. 
>>The reef allows the boat to be sailed flatter in high winds which 
>>should theoretically be faster, but only repeated trials will show 
>>if that is true in this fleet over the long run.  In any case, the 
>>trial proved to be inconclusive because the skipper had to shake 
>>the reef out at the end of the first weather leg.  The wind had 
>>dropped significantly by the time they got to the weather mark.
>>
>>Passing the first mark the eventual winner had all ready pulled out 
>>a nice lead:
>>
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/SAILING/L1020374_web
>>
>>Woods Hole Passage is one of the busiest and most dangerous 
>>channels in New England.  Although it wasn't a factor in this race, 
>>it's not at all unusual for boats like this one on their way to or 
>>from the Passage to power through the racing fleet making life 
>>"interesting" for the racing skippers:
>>
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/SAILING/L1020378
>>
>>Although hitting a wave like this is "not fast," the gal sailing 
>>this boat, one of the best skippers in the fleet, finished a solid 
>>half-mile ahead of the second place boat by keeping her boat speed 
>>up on average and playing the currents perfectly.
>>
>>http://gallery.leica-users.org/SAILING/L1020392_web
>>
>>
>>Enjoy.
>>
>>Comments welcome as always.
>>
>>--
>>Regards,
>>
>>Dick
>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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Replies: Reply from philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent) ([Leica] Woods Hole Race)
In reply to: Message from r.s.taylor at comcast.net (Richard S. Taylor) ([Leica] Woods Hole Race)
Message from philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent) ([Leica] Woods Hole Race)