Starting the Tall Ships
After two days of starting teenagers in dinghies and very competitive I14 sailors at the RCYC open, a number of general recalls and use of the dreaded black-flag, starting 5 tall ships on Sunday evening was quite a change of pace!
The participants:
SS Sorlandet (Norway, 210' Full Rig, Steel, 499 GRT, 13304 sq ft of sail, 1927)
Pride of Baltimore II (USA, 157' Topsail Schooner, Wood, 97GRT, 9018 sqft, 1988)
Peacemaker (USA, 150' 3-masted Barquentine, Ipe (Ironwood), 297 GRT, 10000 sqft, 1989)
Privateer Lynx (USA, 122' Square Topsail Schooner, Wood, 94 GRT, 4699 sqft, 2001)
STV Unicorn (USA, 110' Topsail Schooner, built in Netherlands of steel from German U-boats, 74GRT, 9688 sqft, 1947. All female!)
A few key differences about tall ships and our wee fiberglass sloops. Tall ships:
1) don't go to windward
2) don't accelerate quickly
3) don't stop quickly
4) don't manoeuver, tack, gybe, or wear ship quickly (they refer to a change in sail as an evolution, which gives you an idea of how long it can take)
After discussions with the coordinator for the event, Erin Short of Tall Ships America, and with the skippers on Friday morning, it was determined that the start line should be 1nm in length, and be parallel to the wind. This allows them plenty of manoeuvering room, and allows them to reach across the line, giving them most flexibility in course changes to handle wind shifts or avoid collisions.
So, at 1815h on Sunday, Sarah Ashbridge left the dock and took up position at the edge of the shelf (tall ships do NOT like sailing close to beaches!). Jack Cameron pinged us, and headed off 1 mile downwind with the largest floating mark we could find. At Sailpast, we used the 8' tetrahedron so that cruisers can find it; at this race, we used it so that the race committee could see the pin end of the line!
A small squall went through just before 1900h, with gusts up to 30K, and then things settled back down to 8-10K. I don't think the tall ships noticed it.
Then things got exciting-ish. At 1920h the warning flag was raised and the first gun sounded. We radioed the fleet, because half of them weren't really in sight of the race committee, and we doubted they could hear our signal or see the two foot pennant from 4 miles away!
At 1930h, the start. NO over earlies. Indeed, the fleet's last recall was approximately 7 years ago. They play a very VERY conservative starting strategy. A 360 could take 30 minutes in light air!
The first boat crossed the line 10 minutes after the start signal; the other 4 crossed every 5-10 minutes, with the last one at 2010h. The ships were wished fair winds on their journey to Hamilton via Ajax and Grimsby ODAS buoys.
As is customary, the race committee celebrated the event with snacks and a toast (back at the dock!). Thanks to Dave Steenbergen, Molly Asseltine, Wendy Loat, Nick Bailey, Matt Millar, and Allisen Brennan for helping out with this event.
