Doublehanded Social Distancing Distance Race

Last weekend I raced my 40-footer Soulmates doublehanded in 18-26 knots of wind in the first race of 2020 season on New York’s Long Island Sound. With all established races cancelled for several months, I worked with local sailors to create an informal racing series that greatly reduces the risk of catching the corona virus. These races are not run by any yacht club or sailing association. There is no entry fee, no committee boat, no trophies and no party. The idea is to have a chance to get out on the water and have some competitive fun in a virus-safe environment. Eight boats participated and 24 boats would have raced if the weather didn’t force us to sail on Mother’s Day, which was a day later than originally scheduled.

Doublehanded racing big boats is as safe as it gets in the time of the Covid crisis -- no one sits shoulder to shoulder and we wore masks most of the time. A pursuit format was used for two main reasons. First, there is less need for a committee boat since the order of finish is the results, and second, only one or two boats are on the starting line at the same time – which is helpful for shorthanded teams sailing boats not optimized for doublehanded racing.

This video filmed on SOULMATES captures some of the tension and thrills of this windy race that was a perfect leeward/windward with good shifts to play on both legs.

Even though we were 25 seconds late to our start and our one spinnaker jibe wasn’t stellar, we roared down the run for nearly 10 miles. We alternated between big grins and tense “oh no’s!” as the boat surged past 14 knots at one point. In the video you can see we sailed steadily above 10 knots.

The sail plan on SOULMATES is massive and we usually race with 10-11 crew to wind on and release the running backstays that hold the four-spreader rig up and to handle the 178 sq/m asymmetric spinnaker, which has a luff length of 70 feet. When it came time for our final jibe to the turning mark, we chose to douse the spinnaker first. We started our letterbox take-down 1.5 miles from the mark. With the chute down and stuffed below, we did a chicken jibe (270-degree tack) to give more time to get the running backstays set, then we raised the No. 4 jib to jib-reach to the turning mark. The maneuvers were slow, controlled and safe. Figuring how to sail safe was a must for everyone.

In the pursuit format, the slowest boat in the fleet starts first and all the other boats start later based on how much time they owed the slowest boat for the course. The last boat to start is the fastest. If all works as the PHRF committee planned, everyone should finish at the same time. In this race the rating committee earned their stripes. The finishes of the top four boats were extremely close. SOULMATES, the last boat to start finished first -- 20 seconds ahead the two boats that tied for second, the J/88 ONE TOO MANY and the New York 36 TURNING POINT. The Frers 33 SOUTHERN CROSS finished fourth, two minutes behind the tied boats.

In lieu of an entry fee, all sailors were encouraged to donate to the Larchmont/Mamaroneck Food Pantry. $1700 was donated, which made the weekend doubly rewarding.
Since everyone enjoyed the concept, we will race again on Saturdays until more organized racing starts up again.

Видео Doublehanded Social Distancing Distance Race канала UK Sailmakers