Any details on the ARC 22's at the Hog Breath 100?
Any details on the ARC 22's at the Hog Breath 100?
What happened?
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Matt Haberman
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Bob,
I have not heard from Bill yet, but based on the reports I heard it sounds like it was survival conditions to me. If the conditions were truly that rough I am sure that is why Eric decided to turn back. Why did Bill go with just the jib? I know he was on someone else’s boat and maybe that had something to do with it, but you will have to ask him for the details.
The 22 was optimized for winds in the 12-15MPH range and when it starts to push into the 20’s we will typically downgrade our sail area by first removing the jib and going as a uni-rig. We will still carry a spinnaker in case the wind dies off, but the reality is that when its blowing 25 knots it really isn’t fun anymore and I would rather be sitting on shore watching the carnage then being part of it.
I have not heard from Bill yet, but based on the reports I heard it sounds like it was survival conditions to me. If the conditions were truly that rough I am sure that is why Eric decided to turn back. Why did Bill go with just the jib? I know he was on someone else’s boat and maybe that had something to do with it, but you will have to ask him for the details.
The 22 was optimized for winds in the 12-15MPH range and when it starts to push into the 20’s we will typically downgrade our sail area by first removing the jib and going as a uni-rig. We will still carry a spinnaker in case the wind dies off, but the reality is that when its blowing 25 knots it really isn’t fun anymore and I would rather be sitting on shore watching the carnage then being part of it.
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Claas van der Linde
- Devloping
- Posts: 22
- Joined: November 24th, 2003, 1:04 pm
- Location: Switzerland
Hogsbreath 100
Here is some info on the two SC-22s at the Hogsbreath 100 from Key
Largo to Key West. Eric Roberts and Dave Weir sailed the Roberts' SC-
22, Bill Roberts and I on a borrowed SC-22 (which, in fact, was the
very first SC-22 that had ever been built).
For Bill and me the race quickly turned from a regatta in which the
SC-22s should have competed for line honors to something more like an
adventure. With our big rig and relatively light crew weight we were
pretty much overpowered from the start and definitely so after the
wind had piped up to gusting to a measured 26 to 31 knots in the
second half of the first day. Almost all of this was from behind,
spinnaker courses or broad reaches.
The first half of day 1 of this race is characterized by a winding
course through a series of narrow uncharted cuts through a several
sandbanks on the bay side of the Keys. We had done our homework in
terms of scouting them out in Dave Weir's motorboat on the weekend
prior to the race and had diligently recorded waypoints and
alternative routes in our GPS.
From the start Eric and Dave on their SC-22 led the fleet, while Bill
and I followed a bit more leisurely on our borrowed boat. We managed
to make it through all the sandbanks and by the last cut even passed
Eric and Dave who had flipped on the bank and were fighting with their
shroud extension.
Unfortunately for us, however, just when we were free of all
navigational obstacles, the wind really piped up with more promising
to come from a dark cloud bank in the north. We were on a broad reach
towards the Five Mile Bridge and the Ocean, when we did a spectacular
stuffing of the bows which we were certain would result in a
pitchpole. So we just hung on to the boat and were astounded to see
how she corkscrewed her way out of that position and continued on her
course.
It was clear, however, that we were way overpowered and with more wind
to come shouldn't be with that much sail out on the Ocean.
Reluctantly, we decided to play it safely and take down the main.
Which was easier said than done, because we knew that just trying to
round up would probably result in a pitchpole. And that is exactly
what happened.
But it was nice to see that the strong wind enabled us to right the
12ft wide boat just like any Hobie 14. It just popped back upright and
we did not even have to use the shroud extensions. We then took down
the mainsail and proceded under jib alone towards our destination.
Spinnaker was out of the question due to too much wind and lack of
mast support from the mainsail. So what had begun as a regatta that
day ended as a cruise. It did become interesting again, however, as on
the Ocean we discovered a capsized competitor drifting ahead of us.
Just too make sure all was okay with them I gybed and altered course a
bit to get closer to them. We then say something drifting right ahead
of us which initially looked like some palm frond in the water. After
a while it appeared to be waving a hand. And then we realized it was a
man drifting in the water! He had lost contact to his boat during a
pitchpole and been whistling his lungs out to make himself heard. Not
that we had heard anything of that against the wind. And a man in the
water is really small! We picked him up and returned him to his boat
which was eventually towed in by a fisherman. Thus ended day 1 for us.
We later learned that Eric and Dave on their SC-22 had also righted
their boat and had even sailed past us after our pitchpole to check on
us. A series of minor damages, however, a broken jib haliard, a broken
spinnaker halyard, and a lost shroud pin, all combined to prompt them
to abandon the race and tack back upwind to the starting point in wind
conditions which apparently were quite "exciting".
Day 2 saw more of the same but at lesser and safer windspeeds.
Nonetheless, we were constantly on the verge of being overpowered and
also managed to pitchpole under spinnaker one more time. The whole day
was basically an exercise in pitchpole avoidance and not much racing.
I was impressed, though, how much firehose-like water Bill was able to
withstand sitting long times to leeward to handle the spinnaker sheet.
:-) The day could have been different with less wind, but it was not
to be this year. Nonetheless, it was great sailing and I really
enjoyed the spectacular scenery.
Cheers, Claas
P.S. More information and some pretty spectacular photos can be found at
http://www.catsailor.com/Steeplechase/H ... Story.html
Largo to Key West. Eric Roberts and Dave Weir sailed the Roberts' SC-
22, Bill Roberts and I on a borrowed SC-22 (which, in fact, was the
very first SC-22 that had ever been built).
For Bill and me the race quickly turned from a regatta in which the
SC-22s should have competed for line honors to something more like an
adventure. With our big rig and relatively light crew weight we were
pretty much overpowered from the start and definitely so after the
wind had piped up to gusting to a measured 26 to 31 knots in the
second half of the first day. Almost all of this was from behind,
spinnaker courses or broad reaches.
The first half of day 1 of this race is characterized by a winding
course through a series of narrow uncharted cuts through a several
sandbanks on the bay side of the Keys. We had done our homework in
terms of scouting them out in Dave Weir's motorboat on the weekend
prior to the race and had diligently recorded waypoints and
alternative routes in our GPS.
From the start Eric and Dave on their SC-22 led the fleet, while Bill
and I followed a bit more leisurely on our borrowed boat. We managed
to make it through all the sandbanks and by the last cut even passed
Eric and Dave who had flipped on the bank and were fighting with their
shroud extension.
Unfortunately for us, however, just when we were free of all
navigational obstacles, the wind really piped up with more promising
to come from a dark cloud bank in the north. We were on a broad reach
towards the Five Mile Bridge and the Ocean, when we did a spectacular
stuffing of the bows which we were certain would result in a
pitchpole. So we just hung on to the boat and were astounded to see
how she corkscrewed her way out of that position and continued on her
course.
It was clear, however, that we were way overpowered and with more wind
to come shouldn't be with that much sail out on the Ocean.
Reluctantly, we decided to play it safely and take down the main.
Which was easier said than done, because we knew that just trying to
round up would probably result in a pitchpole. And that is exactly
what happened.
But it was nice to see that the strong wind enabled us to right the
12ft wide boat just like any Hobie 14. It just popped back upright and
we did not even have to use the shroud extensions. We then took down
the mainsail and proceded under jib alone towards our destination.
Spinnaker was out of the question due to too much wind and lack of
mast support from the mainsail. So what had begun as a regatta that
day ended as a cruise. It did become interesting again, however, as on
the Ocean we discovered a capsized competitor drifting ahead of us.
Just too make sure all was okay with them I gybed and altered course a
bit to get closer to them. We then say something drifting right ahead
of us which initially looked like some palm frond in the water. After
a while it appeared to be waving a hand. And then we realized it was a
man drifting in the water! He had lost contact to his boat during a
pitchpole and been whistling his lungs out to make himself heard. Not
that we had heard anything of that against the wind. And a man in the
water is really small! We picked him up and returned him to his boat
which was eventually towed in by a fisherman. Thus ended day 1 for us.
We later learned that Eric and Dave on their SC-22 had also righted
their boat and had even sailed past us after our pitchpole to check on
us. A series of minor damages, however, a broken jib haliard, a broken
spinnaker halyard, and a lost shroud pin, all combined to prompt them
to abandon the race and tack back upwind to the starting point in wind
conditions which apparently were quite "exciting".
Day 2 saw more of the same but at lesser and safer windspeeds.
Nonetheless, we were constantly on the verge of being overpowered and
also managed to pitchpole under spinnaker one more time. The whole day
was basically an exercise in pitchpole avoidance and not much racing.
I was impressed, though, how much firehose-like water Bill was able to
withstand sitting long times to leeward to handle the spinnaker sheet.
:-) The day could have been different with less wind, but it was not
to be this year. Nonetheless, it was great sailing and I really
enjoyed the spectacular scenery.
Cheers, Claas
P.S. More information and some pretty spectacular photos can be found at
http://www.catsailor.com/Steeplechase/H ... Story.html