Father Goose Race 2011

Categories Racing Log

I crewed on Providence II today in the Windjammers’ second annual Father Goose Race in light air. It was the first race of the season for the boat and we performed well.

Legend has it that in the summer of 2009, a couple Windjammers observed Ron and Kathy sailing in the creek on Stormy Petrel with their kids following closely behind in their boats Stormy and Layla and remarked “There goes Father Goose.” Whether or not this is true (or has any parallel in the animal kingdom) is unclear, but Ron’s contributions to the club over the years is not. The race was established in his honor last year.

Stormy Petrel and Stormy were both in this year’s race, as were Sunset (singlehanded), Yacht C, and the dueling Ensigns Retro and Chianti. Tom of Cedar Creek Sailing Center used his new powerboat as the committee boat and did a great job, moving to each marker to officiate the roundings.

We nailed the start, and didn’t relinquish the lead for the entire race. Chianti, with our racing chair at the helm, stayed right on our heels. Sunset wasn’t too far behind either, which was especially interesting because Dale was singlehanding. On the downwind runs, we set a whisker pole, which I’d only seen done once and had never participated in setting. We had some good instruction before the race started and were able to get it set up pretty quickly, although I imagine it would have been a lot more difficult to maneuver in 25kts and real waves. We didn’t have use of the centerboard, which would have allowed us to point much higher, but we still finished first over the line. Chianti, who did an excellent job all day in the light air, finished first on corrected time. We came in second after the handicapping.

The rain held off until the evening, which was good for sailing, but meant that our annual Chicken and Ribs dinner had to be held indoors to a packed house—probably more Windjammers than I’ve ever seen in one place. Jen came in for the dinner and we had a nice evening talking shop with the sailing set.

"Prepare to fend off the bridge abutment."