SKOOKUM III
Skookum and the Pull Tab
The crew has been working hard on Skookum III getting ready for the America's Schooner Cup race, hosted by Silver Gate Yacht Club in San Diego. Paint, varnish, canvas, scrubbing and polishing. The binnacle sparkles. Practice, practice, practice.... Sail, sail, sail. Fisherman to golly wobbler and jib sail changes from the deck sweeper to the Yankee. Tacking, jibing... More, more... Faster, faster. The crew have been sailing together a long time; they are in tune with Skookum's mysteries and hidden pleasures and disappointments. The recut main sail's 30 bronze sail slides have been machined, filed, dremeled, and polished to a state where the sail drops into the lazy jacks of its own weight when the halyard is cast off. The longest new batten is 54 inches long, 2.5 inches wide and tapers from 1/8 to 1/4 inch at the leech.
The Skipper and Sail Master are at the skippers' meeting as the crew removes the covers, swabs the deck, and gets ready for sea. At the meeting it is confirmed that the course is familiar. Start at buoy 19 near the Shelter Island boat launching ramp, then seaward to buoy
4 and 3, then return with several intermediate marks that keep us to the west side of the channel and sometimes hard on the wind.
The after guard huddles for a discussion of the wind and wave predictions, the tides, the course and the sail inventory, then the crew hanks on our largest jib, a deck sweeper Genoa. Skookum's jib stay and fore stay are 5 feet apart. It can be a challenge to tack the 33 foot long sail thru this space consistently. Before each tack the crew must raise the fore stay sail so it can guide the deck sweeper into the slot. We have practiced this procedure. Five crew members are wearing red sail ties around their waists for use in sail handling such as tacking the deck sweeper and fish to golly changes. They are the "Red Belt Gang", our sailing quick reaction force.
Away from the dock, sails up, engine off - we have over an hour to sample the wind and test drive the starting line. The bay seems crowded with 13 schooners maneuvering among the Saturday noon traffic.
Our plan is a Vanderbilt start, then sailing conservatively. To win we must keep Skookum footing, boat speed up, heeling and weather helm (our constant companion) down.
The five minute warning sounds as the Class A schooners maneuver for advantage at the line. Curlew, Rose of Sharon, Martha, Skookum and Fame all head for the favored end of the line. Added together, their overall lengths total 318 feet, longer than the starting line. We are way early, so a quick tack and a jibe, then we run the line on starboard tack. The crew eases sails as we slow down.... No brakes here!
Will the start sound before we cross the end of the line??
BANG! We cut inside the end of the starting line and escape having to go around to make a new approach. We are on time, but with low boat speed and our competitors well to windward.
The Sail Master calls trim as we build speed and the helmsman steers to the windward mark. The schooners all look perfect with precisely trimmed sails powering to the mark. Martha is rumored to be the fastest schooner on the west coast, but carries a low rating that matches her reputation. Curlew and Rose of Sharon are always competitive. What a great day. Blue skies, brisk wind, and relatively little tidal current. There is palpable energy in the air as we contemplate tacking the deck sweeper and the fish to golly change.
The crew is tense but confident. We have work to do but this is what we have trained and practiced for. As we clear Point Loma, the waves build to 3-4 feet. Not a serious concern, but our deck sweeper is scooping up about 30 gallons of water with each passing wave. The strain on the sail is enormous. We expect it to explode with each wave.
What to do? All eyes are on the Skipper. Will we continue with the deck sweeper until the weight of the water destroys it? Change to a smaller jib? Either will cost us the race. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. A quick discussion, then an athletic crewman moves forward with the boat hook which he positions under the foot of the sail at its point nearest the water, then levers the pole, pulling the bottom of the sail above all but the largest of the waves. Skookum carries on another 150 yards, then tacks. Disaster adverted, we keep racing.
Tacking the deck sweeper is a challenge. Tom at Ullman Sails has sewn a pull tab on the sail about 2/3s of the way aft from the luff and about 4feet above the bottom of the sail. A 3/8 inch braided line leads from the tab forward to a small snatch block shackled to the jib stay about 18 inches above the tack of the sail. As we tack, the pull tab crewman hauls the line, pulling the sail forward and creating a belly to help the deck sweeper squeeze between the stays. The Red Belt Gang has already done their work - the fore stay sail is up. We will raise and lower the fore stay sail 8 times during the race.
We are flying a large sail plan for the conditions. At times the helmsman, having used up all of the available rudder travel, is calling out to the main sheet trimmer " you are steering the boat". We are sailing faster than we ever have! The gps flashes occasional double digit speeds as we race on.
Back behind Point Loma, the wind turns flukey. Skookum slows as we are headed or lifted while seeking marks near Point Loma. At buoy 15 we struggle to round the mark and it looks like we'll have to tack away and return, but we squeak by, propelled more by the inertia of our 66,000 lbs. hull than by the wind.
Skookum trades tacks several times with Curlew and Martha until Curlew pulls slowly ahead and Martha falls behind.
The finish seems anticlimactic. The Skipper is well pleased with the crew and the boat. We have sailed our best. We think we have done well, but no one is predicting a win. We sail for a time, seeming to collectively release the breath we have been holding and with it the tension of the race. Then sails down, covers on, back to the dock and on to Silver Gate Yacht Club for the results.
The crew is subdued, but satisfied. Hopeful but not smug. The other schooners have been expertly sailed in a great race. When the results are announced we have finished first in Class A, with Dirigo correcting out to win the Schooner Cup. Everyone cheers for Dirigo! She is a wonderful boat, beautifully sailed.
That fish to golly change? Never happened...... We had more than enough sail area without the golly wobbler.
Skookum and the Pull Tab
The crew has been working hard on Skookum III getting ready for the America's Schooner Cup race, hosted by Silver Gate Yacht Club in San Diego. Paint, varnish, canvas, scrubbing and polishing. The binnacle sparkles. Practice, practice, practice.... Sail, sail, sail. Fisherman to golly wobbler and jib sail changes from the deck sweeper to the Yankee. Tacking, jibing... More, more... Faster, faster. The crew have been sailing together a long time; they are in tune with Skookum's mysteries and hidden pleasures and disappointments. The recut main sail's 30 bronze sail slides have been machined, filed, dremeled, and polished to a state where the sail drops into the lazy jacks of its own weight when the halyard is cast off. The longest new batten is 54 inches long, 2.5 inches wide and tapers from 1/8 to 1/4 inch at the leech.
The Skipper and Sail Master are at the skippers' meeting as the crew removes the covers, swabs the deck, and gets ready for sea. At the meeting it is confirmed that the course is familiar. Start at buoy 19 near the Shelter Island boat launching ramp, then seaward to buoy
4 and 3, then return with several intermediate marks that keep us to the west side of the channel and sometimes hard on the wind.
The after guard huddles for a discussion of the wind and wave predictions, the tides, the course and the sail inventory, then the crew hanks on our largest jib, a deck sweeper Genoa. Skookum's jib stay and fore stay are 5 feet apart. It can be a challenge to tack the 33 foot long sail thru this space consistently. Before each tack the crew must raise the fore stay sail so it can guide the deck sweeper into the slot. We have practiced this procedure. Five crew members are wearing red sail ties around their waists for use in sail handling such as tacking the deck sweeper and fish to golly changes. They are the "Red Belt Gang", our sailing quick reaction force.
Away from the dock, sails up, engine off - we have over an hour to sample the wind and test drive the starting line. The bay seems crowded with 13 schooners maneuvering among the Saturday noon traffic.
Our plan is a Vanderbilt start, then sailing conservatively. To win we must keep Skookum footing, boat speed up, heeling and weather helm (our constant companion) down.
The five minute warning sounds as the Class A schooners maneuver for advantage at the line. Curlew, Rose of Sharon, Martha, Skookum and Fame all head for the favored end of the line. Added together, their overall lengths total 318 feet, longer than the starting line. We are way early, so a quick tack and a jibe, then we run the line on starboard tack. The crew eases sails as we slow down.... No brakes here!
Will the start sound before we cross the end of the line??
BANG! We cut inside the end of the starting line and escape having to go around to make a new approach. We are on time, but with low boat speed and our competitors well to windward.
The Sail Master calls trim as we build speed and the helmsman steers to the windward mark. The schooners all look perfect with precisely trimmed sails powering to the mark. Martha is rumored to be the fastest schooner on the west coast, but carries a low rating that matches her reputation. Curlew and Rose of Sharon are always competitive. What a great day. Blue skies, brisk wind, and relatively little tidal current. There is palpable energy in the air as we contemplate tacking the deck sweeper and the fish to golly change.
The crew is tense but confident. We have work to do but this is what we have trained and practiced for. As we clear Point Loma, the waves build to 3-4 feet. Not a serious concern, but our deck sweeper is scooping up about 30 gallons of water with each passing wave. The strain on the sail is enormous. We expect it to explode with each wave.
What to do? All eyes are on the Skipper. Will we continue with the deck sweeper until the weight of the water destroys it? Change to a smaller jib? Either will cost us the race. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. A quick discussion, then an athletic crewman moves forward with the boat hook which he positions under the foot of the sail at its point nearest the water, then levers the pole, pulling the bottom of the sail above all but the largest of the waves. Skookum carries on another 150 yards, then tacks. Disaster adverted, we keep racing.
Tacking the deck sweeper is a challenge. Tom at Ullman Sails has sewn a pull tab on the sail about 2/3s of the way aft from the luff and about 4feet above the bottom of the sail. A 3/8 inch braided line leads from the tab forward to a small snatch block shackled to the jib stay about 18 inches above the tack of the sail. As we tack, the pull tab crewman hauls the line, pulling the sail forward and creating a belly to help the deck sweeper squeeze between the stays. The Red Belt Gang has already done their work - the fore stay sail is up. We will raise and lower the fore stay sail 8 times during the race.
We are flying a large sail plan for the conditions. At times the helmsman, having used up all of the available rudder travel, is calling out to the main sheet trimmer " you are steering the boat". We are sailing faster than we ever have! The gps flashes occasional double digit speeds as we race on.
Back behind Point Loma, the wind turns flukey. Skookum slows as we are headed or lifted while seeking marks near Point Loma. At buoy 15 we struggle to round the mark and it looks like we'll have to tack away and return, but we squeak by, propelled more by the inertia of our 66,000 lbs. hull than by the wind.
Skookum trades tacks several times with Curlew and Martha until Curlew pulls slowly ahead and Martha falls behind.
The finish seems anticlimactic. The Skipper is well pleased with the crew and the boat. We have sailed our best. We think we have done well, but no one is predicting a win. We sail for a time, seeming to collectively release the breath we have been holding and with it the tension of the race. Then sails down, covers on, back to the dock and on to Silver Gate Yacht Club for the results.
The crew is subdued, but satisfied. Hopeful but not smug. The other schooners have been expertly sailed in a great race. When the results are announced we have finished first in Class A, with Dirigo correcting out to win the Schooner Cup. Everyone cheers for Dirigo! She is a wonderful boat, beautifully sailed.
That fish to golly change? Never happened...... We had more than enough sail area without the golly wobbler.
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