The Commodore Macdonough Race

[Noah]

I really only wanted to do the one race on my Swede this year, and it was the Commodore Macdonough Race run on Lake Champlain. It's a 73.6 nm course running both North and South on Lake Champlain. The start is at 10am on Saturday, and you never know how long it takes...

We did it on my Swede 55 with 6 guys - the 4 regulars that I usually race with on the Melges and 2 other friends without much racing experience.

The start was downwind, and we screwed it up - the last boat over the line and probably a minute late. We had only set my 165sm (1700 square ft) Asymmetrical Spinnaker twice before this set, and we ended up getting the halyard caught around a spreader so we had to drop it and reset.

For the next 20 miles we played catch up with the other boats in the fleet - J120, J109, Beneteau first 42.7, and a J-105. The winds were 8-10 knots and we were sailing at 6-7. We were 3 miles from the top mark in second place having over taken every boat but the J-120 but gaining when the wind shifted from the South. We were on the Vermont shore and the Beneteau was on the NY shore. The J boats were right in the middle, and they made it through only sitting for a minute or two. We sat for a good 15 -20 before the wind hit from the north and we finally got the boat going again. Of course it was a Chinese fire drill on board during this time - Drop the kite, haul up the 135%, put up the kite, drop the genoa, put the genoa back up...

We rounded the top mark in 4th behind the Beneteau and the wind started to build. With-in a few minutes we were doing a good 10-12 knots down-wind with 15-20 knot winds. We were by far the fastest boat down wind, and we spent the next 40 miles trying to get back the time we spent in the hole. We got close to the 109 by the end of the run and take down. At this point it was gusting to 25 in a very narrow area and our take down wasn't the prettiest but it worked. At one point we had 3 guys all being lifted off the deck by the kite...

We got the jib up and started the beat back to Shelburne. The boat was totally over powered (we were washing the windows and going sideways) so we put in a reef and got back up to speed. Our upwind speed was pretty poor, and just couldn't get into the groove. More rig tuning is needed! Occasionally the boat would feel right and we could get going 7-7.5 knots, but most of the time we were down at 5-6 which sucked. Once it got dark we traded tacks up-wind with the Beneteau that had caught back up and made the last Spin set in the dark on the way back to the finish.

We were done by 10:40pm not a bad race and averaged 6 knots for the length of the course - our average speed was probably 7.5 - 8 knots taking into account the extra distance we sailed - pretty good for a 30 year old classic!

We ended up getting 3rd place 20 minutes behind the J-120 and only 6 behind the J-109. If we hadn't gotten stuck in that hole we might have taken the whole thing! And better upwind speed would have helped!

We had a great time and I can't wait to do it next year.

[Figment]

I infer that your fleet hit the start with spinnakers flying. Cojones! We generally wait for the gun and then ONLY if we're sure some yahoo isn't going to get a hook under us and take us up. The joys of a mixed fleet!
I love the upside-down tactics of downwind starts. They really show who starts by habit and who actually has their head out of the boat.

I love those chinese firedrills too. Know your rigging or else! Without stuff like that these races can be a boring parade.

Aw man now I'm starting to salivate a bit. We have a middle-distance race coming up this weekend, and I'm hoping for some entertaining weather.

[Jason K]

Nice job, Noah! It sounds like a lot of fun - that boat must be a wild ride downwind.

I too am considering a "distance" race this weekend. It's a 43 mile single handed race. I took the boat out last Saturday in 15 knots to see if I could handle it alone. It's a lot of work.

[Case]

Hey - Which is easier to singlehand, Mojito or Rambunctious?

Looking at photos, the Triton is probably easier to singlehand in stock form but the J/30... if you move the winches aft closer to the traveler (closer to helm), it could end up being the easier one to singlehand, especially with self-tailing winches. But I haven't sailed on these sailboats so I'm curious what is your verdict.

Good luck for the race this weekend.

- Case

[Noah]

The Swede is pretty good downwind. Because you are running angles with the Asym you need to be ready to drive the boat in the gusts, but she was pretty stable at 12-13 knots. Almost no wake which is amazing. Knud Reimers knew exactly what he was doing when he designed the transom.

[Jason K]

Hey - Which is easier to singlehand, Mojito or Rambunctious?

I wrote a reply and, realizing it would be a total thread hijack, started a separate thread HERE.

[Duncan]

...At one point we had 3 guys all being lifted off the deck by the kite...

Great story!
There's a moonlight race every June that I've heard of, same course, more or less, but you leave at dusk.

If you need some rail meat next year, Montreal's not that far away...

[Noah]

Duncan, there are actually two moonlight races, one still to come. The first one is for 4 crew, and the second (sometime in Sept or Oct) is double handed. If I had a Spinnaker sock I think I would go for it!