Mug Race

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Bruiser
Professional
Posts: 55
Joined: July 1st, 2013, 6:37 pm
Boat Make/Model: RC 27

Mug Race

Post by Bruiser »

May 7th is this years race. They are planning to have one start. All boats are then corrected on Portsmouth. We will have the RC 30 and RC27 racing in this event. This is a Super Cat and ARC racers dream. A nice long drag race. I am hoping anyone who has a Super Cat or ARC can join us for a fun weekend. If you need help with logistics, just let us know as we can help you out.

Hope you can join us.

Cheers
havliii
Professional
Posts: 272
Joined: March 27th, 2011, 8:12 pm
Boat Make/Model: SuperCat 19, Modded SC20
Location: Fredericksburg Virginia

Re: Mug Race

Post by havliii »

Bruiser wrote:May 7th is this years race. They are planning to have one start. All boats are then corrected on Portsmouth. We will have the RC 30 and RC27 racing in this event.
Looking at the some of the finish times I'm guessing light air? Nearly 50% of the field timed out or withdrew. (whatever they call it) Line honors for Eric and the RC30.
Bruiser
Professional
Posts: 55
Joined: July 1st, 2013, 6:37 pm
Boat Make/Model: RC 27

Re: Mug Race

Post by Bruiser »

We had a good wind year. Most of the boats could have finished if they wanted. It got slow at the end of the day and many just opted to go to dinner.

We had a fantastic tacking duel between the RC30 and the RC27. At the start the RC30 and 27 both got off the line together on port tack. The RC30 with Bill And Eric were to weather of us (the 27). It was a beat for almost the entire race. After the start we were not pointing as high as the 30 and got headed into shore and had to tack. This allowed the 30 to get away from us. The hit the first turn and were able to set their reacher and were around the next bend by the time we got to the corner. As we turned the second bend we had put a good bit of distance on the other cats in the race, most annoying was an F18 and a G cat 6.0. As we looked north we could barely make out Bill and Eric on the 30. So they had a very big lead.

Now many folks in this position would have said oh well there goes the race. However I having sailed this race many time just said to my crew, "now we have them where we want them" :-) Historically, the wind gets light around the half way point passing under a bridge. Sure enough, we start to see the 30 getting bigger. The wind was going light ahead and we were catching up. About 2 miles from the bridge we had caught up to the 30 and the race started again. We started trying to gain on them by trying to hold to the left of the river while they would sail longer tacks into the middle. We were fighting current so we want to stay out of it and get in more wind pressure which at the time was very light.

As it would turn out the 30 beat us to the bridge and had us on corrected time by about 12 seconds. This equated to about 3 minutes ahead of us. As we came out from the bridge they where ahead by about 1/4 mile. The wind was better on the north side of the bridge and we were now doing much better speed. We followed the 30 to the right side of the rive. They tacked to port and head back to the left. We tacked and followed, as we got to the middle of the river the 30 went back to the right side of the course and we continued across the river to the left side. We had hoped for more pressure on the left and some luck. Well we got both. After a several tacks of us on the left side the them on the right side it became clear that the wind was backing to the left. This put us about a 1/4 mile ahead of the 30. Now we just had to cover.

One thing we got hammered into our heads after this race was that these boats are so fast, that any lead you have is not enough. If the wind does not stay very constant, than the boat that gets a little more wind, will cover a 1/4 mile gap in a matter of a few minutes. And so after several covering tacks wind got a little light up front and Eric and Bill were 2 boat lengths behind us. As fate would have it we got a got that hit us right in the face. It was a strong blast that hit us straight on putting us into irons and stopping us in our tracks. The 30 saw what happened and responded and got there bow out on us and all I could do was cry.

We tried to fight them off towards the finish but they were able to get to the left side ahead of us, which had a little more pressure and work away from us. They hit the finish line first to take line honors and the Mug Race title. We finished right behind and corrected over them by 15 seconds. So we won our class, but from our stand point we lost the Mug and bragging rights. That said it was a great 3 and 1/2 hour battle of the 2 big cats. It was great fun and it left me wanting to do it more. So congratulations to Bill and Eric with the RC30, when the pressure was on they responded and won another great race.

Cheers,
havliii
Professional
Posts: 272
Joined: March 27th, 2011, 8:12 pm
Boat Make/Model: SuperCat 19, Modded SC20
Location: Fredericksburg Virginia

Re: Mug Race

Post by havliii »

Nice write-up Bruiser! Line honors (more often than not) goes to the guy that brings the fastest boat unless he screws up somewhere along the way. Corrected times may be a hollow victory but you can make the argument that they tell the "real" story. Stand tall, you won the class! If you're only satisfied with first across the line, bring more waterline, more SA, less weight, finer entry, etc etc.

I don't understand the times that are recorded on the final tally. If you started on time at 0830 (as stated in the race instructions) and finished at (approx) 1430 how is that 3.5 hours?
Bruiser
Professional
Posts: 55
Joined: July 1st, 2013, 6:37 pm
Boat Make/Model: RC 27

Re: Mug Race

Post by Bruiser »

The last column was the half way "finish line". They use that time in the event wind dies. Bill and Eric had us beat on corrected time at that point. Since we completed the race it is just interesting info.

It was a fun day.
J Drew
Professional
Posts: 104
Joined: September 9th, 2013, 12:39 am
Boat Make/Model: SC 20
Location: n. florida

Re: Mug Race

Post by J Drew »

It was a challenging day of trying to pinch to gain distance or falling off to gain boat speed.
Having learned from the best about relative wind, I opted to fall off to gain boat speed. I sailed about half again as far as most of my competition, but it paid off.
when the boat picked up speed, bye bye see you at the rudder club.
It was a great day, another step in my progression. Now if I can just get a little more practice time this year :?
SC15Av8or
Professional
Posts: 255
Joined: December 24th, 2010, 10:00 am
Boat Make/Model: SC15 / SC19
Location: Richmond, Virginia

Re: Mug Race

Post by SC15Av8or »

Are there any pictures and or video on youtube of this ??
Lifes 2 short for cheap GROG
SuperCat 15/19Av8or
J Drew
Professional
Posts: 104
Joined: September 9th, 2013, 12:39 am
Boat Make/Model: SC 20
Location: n. florida

Re: Mug Race

Post by J Drew »

No, I'm camera shy.
It would be my luck that I would put that fancy camera on my boat and splash it.
Bruiser
Professional
Posts: 55
Joined: July 1st, 2013, 6:37 pm
Boat Make/Model: RC 27

Re: Mug Race

Post by Bruiser »

Here is the site hosting the Mug Race pictures

https://picasaweb.google.com/RudderClub ... 2645583362
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