Several of you may know the mechanics of this race series, and some of you may wonder, so I write this to give both audiences a little taste of what it's all about. 

Sailing Area F was represented in 2007 by Team Solaris, captained by Bill Zartler.  Crew included (from back to front of the boat): Chris Lewis (tactician and trouble shooter), Josh Knapp & Brian Dobbs (jib/spinnaker trimmers), Gustavo Escobar (main trimmer), Katrina Miesch & Angie Zartler (halyards/middeck), our unbreakable midshipman Owen Brooks (mast & everywhere else) & Mike "Sponge" Byrne (foredeck).

In order to apply to participate in this event you must be a US Sailing member & ISAF classification #'s are required by all crew.   The boat skipper & crew submit a sailing resume of events over the two years previous to the year the championship race is held.  The captain plus a minimum four crew must have raced together in all five of the regattas reported in the sailing resume.  All nominated crew must have raced in at least one of the regattas reported in the sailing resume.  Resumes must be submitted before the end of August.  You are accepted or declined by September 1^st and then must register.  Boats are raced with nine crewmembers, one of whom is a Naval Academy Midshipman, plus an assigned safety officer.

The safety officer is a Naval Academy Sailing Squadron volunteer coach who is a regular participant in the Offshore sailing program.  Their role is to ensure the safety of the sailors, and the equipment.  They help you avoid collisions, avoid restricted areas, and complete daily check lists (engine and inventory) to report damage or loss of equipment.

The Naval midshipman is the best kept secret use of our tax dollars.  Just ask anyone that has participated in this race.  Steve Rhyne & Mike McGagh Teams represented us in the recent past.  Though I haven't verified it with them, I doubt they would disagree.  Personally, I wish midshipmen could multiply!  They have so many uses!

Boat rotation and a midshipman were assigned as a result of a lottery drawn in order of furthest distance traveled by a team.  We were early in the draw, hailing from Texas.  Team Zartler began racing on Dash, followed by Bold and finished up on Challenger.  (Chris Lewis was really worried we would end up on Frolic in particular.  He is fearful of some silly things, but we didn't have to worry, Angie drew us a good rotation and great midshipman.  According to Bill, she was wishing for a tall handsome young blonde, and she got her wish).  Sails were assigned to competitors and the fleet included these boats: 

NA9 INVINCIBLE

NA10 VALIANT

NA11 ALERT

NA13 RESOLUTE

NA14 FEARLESS

NA15 FROLIC

NA16 RESTLESS

NA17 DANDY

NA18 DASH - safety officer Dick Morin

NA19 BOLD - safety officer Mike Henderson

NA20 CHALLENGER - safety officer John Downes

NA12 DAUNTLESS - Breakdown/Spectator

NA6 SWIFT - Race Committee Boat

We had difficulty finding housing as a result of other regattas and a Naval Academy home football game.  We decided to make a commute from outside of town and get a crew house we could stay together in.  This meant two mini-vans to haul crew, and an economy car for Teresa & Isabella.  We didn't save money, but the inconvenience of the drive wasn't really a hardship. 

We made arrangements daily for sandwich wraps to be delivered to us at the Robert Crown Center.  This was a huge timesaver, and the convenience couldn't be beat.  We hauled our own water & gear bags to the boat daily.

Standing rules of the event included:

• we began and ended our days at the USNA Robert Crown Sailing Center
• all standing rigging was preset, no adjustments (exception - the backstay) 
• permission had to be granted to leave and return to the "Santee Basin"
• all competitors required to wear US Coast Guard PFD at all times on the water

All of the Navy 44's are equipped with these sails:

Remained on the boat

• MAIN (numbered)
• #3 JIB (no number)

Moved with us:

• #1 GENOA (ours was lettered F, Sailing Area F)
• 1 oz. SPINNAKER
• Back-up Spinnaker

We were able to bring some of our own winch handles, and tennis balls to duct tape around the cockpit deck cleats, extra tell tales, and duct tape.  We also proudly hoisted a very large Texas flag on the boat at the beginning of the day, and on the way back to the basin every evening (thanks to Angie!). 

Each Navy 44 team was provided a white & green Rolex flag along with a red, yellow and blue flag.  (Red/protest, yellow/penalty & the blue flag was to be flown to alert the race committee that you may require assistance, and to request redress as a result of a breakdown.  We never needed it, but it was a nice safety net to know was available.)

Friday the Notice of Race was amended to permit the distance race to be sailed on any day of the event.  In the briefing it was readily apparent that the race committee desired to run that race on Friday as a result of (the quite miserable rainy, cool and breezy) weather conditions.  As it turned out, that was the only race run that day.  The race committee had a selection of courses they could run 17 - 26 miles, and they opted for Course two, approximately 24 NM. 

Start

R "88" off Kent Island to starboard

G "1" off Curtis Point at the mouth of West River to port

R "86" northwest of Bloody Point to port

GR C "SR" southeast of Thomas Point Light to starboard

R "90" to port

R "2" east of Tolly Point to starboard

Finish (in the Severn River)

After a decent start and some questionable GPS readings of the top mark whereabouts, DASH rounded in the pack and hung around 5^th until the 12 mile beat home.  The racing was close and a wind bobble on one side of the course cost 3 places.

We had tracking results every evening of the competition which was very cool to stand around and watch while visiting with our rivals over a friendly beer (Yuengling) or plastic cup of wine.  http://www.kattack.com/News/2007USOffshoreChampionship/tabid/173/Default.aspx

Friday night we had a nice dinner at The Boatyard at 4^th Street & Severn http://www.boatyardbarandgrill.com, followed by a crew pit-stop for more Yuengling at Davis's Pub, 400 Chester Ave.http://www.davispub.com/ .

Four races (#2 - 5) were run on Saturday.  The morning appeared initially to be "more of the same", soggy and glum.  As we got away from the Basin, the skies cleared hour by hour.  It became a beautiful day on the Chesapeake Bay.  We had a better sailing day on Saturday "but fer" the first and last race.  All races were windward/leeward and 4 legs.  The wind was west northwest up and down between 6 & 20 knots.  For Race 2, the first of Saturday, we didn't have a great start (with the rudder brake on!).  There were numerous shifts that we were out of phase with. 

Race 3 we dialed everything in, and climbed to 2^nd after protecting the right on packs of boats and calling a layline on the money; but we weren't able to catch the Tampa Bay team after they went right hard which paid off mightily. 

In race 4 Chris Lewis called the shifts flawlessly to take the much-desired bullet.  For race 5, the last race of the day, despite our belief that we started clean, we were called over-early with two others.  Recovering from starting a second time is never easy.  We did well to pick 4 boats back up.  That same race the outhaul broke on the San Diego boat.  They were able to withdraw from the race and get redress. 

No alcoholic beverages are allowed on any Naval Academy boat or anywhere on the Academy grounds except at sanctioned social events.  Many Key West Racers know Liquor Box:  Bill Buckles, Chuck Simon, & regular crew Christy Koeth, & Trey Sheehan from Ohio.  Fortunately for the competitors, Liquor Box got permission from the Regatta Committee to have their traditional blender party deemed a "sanctioned social event" and the favorite blender drinks flowed (for the first time ever I suspect) from the Robert Crown Sailing Center patio Saturday night. 

For those Texas friends of the famed Liquor Box, she was sold to someone in Canada and picked up the Tuesday following this event.  Trey plans to campaign a new Melges 32 this year in Key West.

We took our midshipmen out for a much-deserved dinner Saturday at Cantler's, 458 Forest Beach Rd. http://www.cantlers.com.  Excellent Maryland blue-crab-picking!  Sponge got creative with crab mallets, and Chris Lewis was compelled by a vision of the Aggie Bonfire to light the fire (a la cocktail sauce); we tipped the wait staff heavily to compensate for the Texas invasion.

Two races (# 6 - 7) were run on Sunday in crystal clear skies to complete a total of seven in the series.  The wind was out of the Northwest gusting to 30 when we left the basin.  The 1^st race on Sunday, race 6 had the race committee flying the K flag - NO SPINNAKERS. Every team used a #3 jib and most tucked in their first mainsail reef as well.  We rounded the weather mark first after a port approach and shook our reef out on the run.  We weren't able to hold onto the lead upwind, and San Diego had good speed, worked the left side and the shifts which paid off.

For the last race of the event, race 7, the velocity dropped to the high teens with gusts in the low 20s and the race committee dropped all sail restrictions.  The Tampa team mustered up some courage and changed to their genoa, which was a good move only for the first few minutes.  The rest of us stayed with our 3s.  The early morning breeze came back, and they remained overpowered.  The Navy crew got out in front but at the second weather mark, they misjudged the layline and strong ebb and hit the mark. The San Diego team took the lead while the Navy spun.  The Navy and Seattle recognized the stakes for second overall were on the line.  At the end, San Diego won the race securing the regatta while the Navy held off Seattle by half a length to tie on points but earn second on the tiebreaker.

These heavy boats rewarded active trimming and putting the bow down.  Due to the "big boats on a short course" syndrome, holding a lane and keeping starboard advantage was a huge deal.  We benefitted from some slick crew work and a few tough calls paying off. 

Sunday following the awards presentation and required souvenir shopping at the Naval Academy Visitors Center, we had dinner at Pusser's Landing at the Marriott, 80 Compromise St. http://www.annapolismarriott.com/dining/ .   We ate plenty and Sponge drank most of the menu.

We had numerous terrific meals, throughout Annapolis.  In fact, you can't have a bad meal in this city.  Between the meals and our shopping we definitely boosted the economy. 

We ran around APS http://www.apsltd.com & Fawcett's Boat Supply http://www.fawcettboat.com like junkies.  Sailing gear purchases included:  jackets, several pairs of boots (aka rubbers), dry socks, fuzzy (& long-ear bunny) hats, fleece, winch handles, tell tales etc.

I highly recommend participation in this event.  You will be tired from top to bottom, but you can't be disappointed.