Race to St Michaels a success

Saturday we had the Race to Se Michaels and we managed to get Second out of the 16 boats racing! Not bad, but there were still many anxious moments during the 20-mile race.

Our initial thought coming off the line was to cross the Bay to get into the current in the channel heading south. Seemed reasonable - current is going south and we want to go south, so get into the fast current. Is the past year's, we have alternately tried the old advice to "Go East Early" and to grab the Thomas Point jet. The jet moves so fast that it suck you in luring you to the relatively slow currents and eddies off the mouth of the West river. The current on the Eastern Shore can move fast down past Bloody Point, but the winds can get flakey.

So we headed East looking for deep water and strong currents. It seemed like most of the classes before us did that, so maybe wisdom was on our side. Unfortunately, John White decided to take the jet testing our resolve to find the current. White managed to split the fleet taking half the competitors with him making it very hard not to cover.

Fortunately, neither east nor west paid off. We crossed tacks again just before Bloody Point showing that we had only gained about 10 to 15 boat lengths - just about what we would expect. White kept up the pressure by driving shallow while we stayed out in the deep water. It seemed to be working for him, but it wasn't clear if wind or current was helping him. As we headed up Eastern Bay, the strong reaching wind definitely favored White as he passed us and lead the way into St Michaels.

We were able to add reasonable distance to the lead to the next boat allowing us to correct comfortably into 2nd. The great wind and favorable currents allowed all the fleets to finish very early and partake in the party at the Miles River Yacht Club. The Cal 25s and the Catalina 27s seemed to be having the most fun, but we did our best to hold on to our party credentials. Excellent time was had by all, but the delivery home Sunday morning was a bit harsh on some of the crew.