2010 Race Commentary

Star Chaser finds the calm

0600 EDT Sunday. Well, what can we say? We’re drifting in 5 kts true wind. Good thing we’re in the right spot so that at least we’re drifting in the general direction of Bermuda. It wasn’t like this the whole night.  After some more very good food, we eased into the night with steadily building winds. So much so, that at 2300 we went for a headsail change: No. 2 down and No. 3 up. Doing high 9s with the No. 3 was all was good! It wasn’t to last though. Just before the next watch change at 0400, the wind dropped, so we did the exercise in reverse, No. 3 down, No. 2 up. The team’s getting pretty good at it! Angles were not quite right, though, so we even tried the Asymmetrical quickly, but it was no good. The team’s getting pretty good at packing the spinnie as well!  We’re now back to full main and No. 2, with a lot of “flap-flap” going on as the seas have become a bit more agitated.


Star Chaser, (right) as seen at the start of the 2010 Newport Bermuda Race

The ambiance on board remains great. All last night’s wet stuff is drying in the sun under a blue, blue sky. How bad can it be? 

1640 EDT Sunday.  Aloooha! We’ve been dead on course for Bermuda all day, unfortunately following in Rán’s wake but we’re hopeful that we’re saving time on the boats to weather – Rambler, Il Mostro, and the like. This has been such a precision Gulf Stream tactical race with all sorts of questions, like “Should we crack off a little and go fast to make the best use of the current? Or do we keep holding high now and reach off later?” 

We’re pushing very hard. And pushing hardest is Jim Allsopp, one of the older gentlemen in the crew and also brother-in-law of his shipmate Mike Toppa. Even more fun for Jim, his two sons are in the race. One son is aboard the Naval Academy’s Invictus, in Class 8 in the St. David’s Lighthouse Division. 

To make this even more of a Father’s Day story, the skipper of Invictus, USNA Second Classman Peter Gibbons-Neff Jr., is also the son of another Bermuda racer. Peter Gibbons-Neff Sr. is skipper of Upgrade in Class 6 in the St. David’s Light Division.

I have a hard time believing Jim’s sons are pushing harder than their dad. I was keenly aware of this on the first afternoon when I was trimming the main and he said, “Chris! Pay attention. You haven’t looked at the main in 10 minutes.” I felt like a school kid who’s scolded for passing a note in class. But he was right. Jim’s an exemplar of what’s needed to succeed in offshore sailing. Every minute he was asking a question, or adjusting the traveler, or querying the navigator – all this with a wry smile.

Jim isn’t all business.  He announced with a big grin as his whitening red  hair flicked out from under his cap and the turquoise water flew by to leeward, “On a boat like this, in weather like this, this is my last Bermuda Race. My rule is, Always leave the party when you’re having a good time.”