Stone Cup

Team Scorpio practiced for the Stone Cup on 5/10.  This was our first time on the boat since the 2007 Big Boat Series.  Our objectives were to checkout three new sails, introduce three new crewmembers to the program, and to figure out what needs to be changed on the boat.

Doug had the boat in pretty good shape.  The mast seemed about right, the instruments needed calibration, and no other major problems were encountered.  The cover on the starboard checkstay tail came loose and needed replacement, and a few other minor things were noted, but the boat seemed fine.

The new North 3DL main came with the tack offset out of position and we struggled to figure out why it looked wrong.  When we moved the tack offset aft, it seemed ok.  The new M3 looked ok as is although the top batten needed an end cap and the clew seemed to ride higher than its predecessor sail.  The new SCS .75 Airex spinnaker looked great.  The main went to North for repair of the offset and the M3 went to storage for use when the current one starts to break down.  Neither the M3 nor the main is expected to be used before BBS.

Matt Vecchione, having rejoined us after a year off, did well on the bow and the other crew work seemed ok, although we were short Doug Frolich who was working in Florida.  Bren trimmed main during the practice.

The three days preceding Stone Cup were very hot and windless.  We worried that we would not see Scorpio conditions.  However, on Saturday morning 5/17, we woke up to light fog which suggested we might see some wind.

Race 1 (Course G:  Start-1p-1o-3gate-1p-1o-Finish) 1135 Start

Race 1 was sailed in medium conditions with wind speeds ranging from 12-20 knots and shifty.  We sailed in late flood so we used the Alcatraz cone before heading to the City Front.  Our start was good, but we couldn’t match White Dove’s point and we followed them to the windward mark.  We finally passed them on the first run, but could not save our time on either them or Tupelo Honey who corrected on us by two seconds in the two-hour race.  The RP45, Criminal Mischief, who was well ahead of us, won the race by three minutes with White Dove second, Tupelo Honey third, and Scorpio fourth.  Double Trouble, Swiftsure, TNT, Encore, Phantom Mist, Bodacious, Hawkeye, 10R, and Aleta rounded out the 13-boat IRC division.

Race 2 (Course A:  Start-1p-1o-3gate-1p-1o-3gate-Finish) 1403 Start

Race two was sailed in windy conditions (18-30 knots) with reasonable ebb across the course.  It turned out to be a gear buster race, but it was certainly Scorpio conditions.  We spun out and laid the boat over on a gybe (first time in a couple of years) when we couldn’t get the boom over.  We lost our windex and shattered a bulkhead FFD, but that was the extent of our damage.  Others weren’t so fortunate as only seven of the 13 IRC boats finished.  We thought we’d probably won the race, but Criminal Mischief actually corrected on us by over four minutes.  However, they fouled Swiftsure, took a scoring penalty, and ended up tied for third.  We were second followed by Swiftsure, Criminal Mischief, TNT, Tupelo Honey, Encore, and Phantom Mist.  White Dove retired after starting their engine after a broach new the seawall.

So after Saturday’s racing we were in second, one point behind Criminal Mischief, two ahead of Tupelo Honey, three ahead of Swiftsure and five ahead of TNT.  It’s clear that we would have difficulty catching Criminal Mischief and their professionally sailed boat, with Gavin Brady, Jeff Thorpe, Norm Davant, Robin Jeffers, Will Paxton, Craig Healy, Ian Klitza, etc. aboard.  It won’t be a disgrace to lose to that group.  Kim Desenberg did an admirable job filling in for Bren Meyer on Saturday, and David Aquino was an able fill-in as our fireman.  We looked forward to Sunday’s racing.

Sunday, we arrived at the boat at 0930, to find Matt up the mast replacing the masthead windex.  Doug was replacing the shattered FFD.  Everyone seemed in good spirits after Saturday’s racing.  We briefed Bren on Saturday’s activities as he had taken Saturday off.

The Signal boat set up between Alcatraz and Aquatic Park which provided for significantly shorter courses that those of Saturday. 

Race 3 (Course J:  Start-1s-1o-3gate-1s-1-o-3gate-1s-1o-Finish) Start 1105

This meant more roundings.  It was a typical SF Spring morning:  cold and foggy.  We started race 3 in a 3.6 flood, so everyone started and headed for the beach where they short-tacked up the breakwater before heading to the windward mark.  Scorpio had a good front-row start, sailed well, but struggled to pass and gain position on our nemesis, White Dove.  We rounded well behind the three faster boats:  Criminal Mischief, Swiftsure, and TNT.  We sailed the first race in 11-22 knots of very shifty breeze with the M3 and .6 spinnaker.  We stretched on White Dove each leg, but couldn’t gain enough to correct on them.  We finished ahead by 3:18, but owed them more, and corrected second by 43 seconds.  For the moderate conditions, we sailed about as well as we could; they simply sailed better.

Race 4 (Course D:  Start-1s-1o-3gate-1s-1o-3gate-1s-1o-3gate-Finish) Start 1305

The RC posted course D for race 4.  By the 1305 start, the wind had built to a fairly consistent 18-25, so we sailed the entire race with the 3+ and the poly kite downwind, again in shifty conditions.  We sailed another very good race and this time corrected on White Dove by 49 seconds.  However, we corrected behind Criminal Mischief by 1:57.

Summary

Overall, I’m very satisfied with our performance in the Stone Cup.  We ended up tied for first against a modern boat loaded with professional talent.  We lost the regatta on a tiebreaker, without winning one race.  Our crew work, boat handling, and driving improved each race and the boat held together very well.

I’m especially pleased with our crew situation.  George Wheeler and Steve McCarthy are able replacements for John Buchanan and Larry Peterson, and Matt Vecchione improves each race on the bow, replacing Malcolm Brown.  David Aquino did a fine job filling in as fireman.  We are fortunate to have this same crew committed for the Santa Cruz Big Boat Regatta at the end of the month.

But, the fact is, had White Dove not withdrawn from race 2 (they started their motor after broaching near a seawall), they probably would have won the regatta.  We need to generally get better to beat Mike Garl’s team of talented sailors.

Next stop – Friday for the Spinnaker Cup.

Race Results