Amet Island Race - August 8 2009

Bay Head race – the stuff of legend and lore.  If we are to believe the stories this race started and ended in Bay Head in Tatamagouche Bay , rounded Amet Island some 10 miles distant and finished back at Bay Head.  This sounds simple until the teller recounts that anything that floated and had a sail would enter this race – sailboards, dinghies and yes even keelboats and catamarans.  There seems to be no official record of this annual event from the 1980s but it was ripe for resurrection and has now become the Amet Island race organized by the Barrachois Harbour Yacht Club.

The current day version of the Amet Island race is one of the shortest and nicest races in the Northumberland Strait Yachting Association championship series.  With a minimum requirement of 20NM and some sailing in the Northumberland Strait this race just barely qualifies.  However it is a very pleasant race due to changing headings with its hourglass course and the relatively short five and a half hour race.

For 2009 the course was West to East (or clockwise) around Amet Island .  The course is always picked such that navigators can steer relatively straight courses North of Amet Island to ensure that all vessels can easily skirt the reefs and rocks North and North East of the Island .  From the BHYC start the official course was UD4(P), UE6(P), UE2(S) , UA2(S), UD3(P), UD4(S), finish.

Saturday dawned with dark heavy and very wet clouds that were clearing from the previous day and overnight Thunderstorms.  The forecast at 8:30 AM was for NW 30 knots diminishing to W 20 knots by noon and SW 15-20 by evening.  With the clearing weather and passing of the previous day’s storm all involved thought we would end up with a diminishing wind and even light winds at the finish.  Lori on midnight Magic asked about the 30 knot forecast prior to the race and was reassured that it was diminishing to 20 knots before the boats would enter the Strait – this was to be later proved incorrect.

Barrachois Harbour is protected from a West wind which caused a varied array of sail configurations at the start.  Fly By Wire opted for a reefed main and full 130% genoa, Gaila a full main and 150% genoa, Nut Case considered full main and 150% genoa but opted for the same configuration as Prospector and Midnight Magic – full main and #3 blade jib.  Wings and Baby Bird sailed with full main and roller furling 130% genoa.

Initially the water was flat and the wind was 15 – 20 knots on a beam reach.  The boats were all flying.  After UD4 the wind was forward of the beam but not a close reach yet.  With 20 knot winds and relatively flat water it was a great sail to Malagash point.  On the J27 Nut Case the crew was reveling in the speed and handling of the boat while trying to catch the C&C 99 Prospector.  The Redwing 30 Wings meanwhile had freshly topped fuel tanks for an upcoming cruise to the Magdalene islands and the excessive heel was venting gasoline fumes – not a comfortable feeling.  The trip to UE6 off Malagash point normally takes 75   minutes but on this day all boats rounded UE6 in 45 minutes or less – a very fast race.

UE6 was the last mark inside the Bay and required a 20 degree course change to windward as we entered the unprotected waters of the Northumberland Strait .  Now the race was to become interesting.

On Nut Case it was time to reef.  This was when it was discovered that the reefing lines were jammed as they were tangled with the outhaul.  The clew was lashed to the boom in a makeshift reef and the race continued – into waves increasing in size to as much as 8 feet and winds that were to become 25 knots gusting to 33.  The crew was soaked!

All of the boats were now feeling the seas and the building winds.  This was not the diminishing wind that was forecast and the 100 mile sweep of water had allowed the thunderstorms to build the seas to an uncomfortable level.  On the C&C 25 Midnight Magic the question of turning back was raised but the crew decided to continue on for another five minutes.  Five minutes later the decision was made, Midnight Magic withdrew from the race and sailed back to port.

The ODay 27 Baby Bird with skipper Joe and crew Bill hung in a bit longer than Midnight Magic.  However eventually the shorthanded crew decided the prudent action was to turn back for the protection of the Bay.  Aboard Wings the decision was made when the boom vang parted.  Bryan and crew decided that when things break it is time to turn back before a more serious problem occurs.  No need to jeapordize a two week cruise!

Nut Case was by now just over one mile from the windward mark UE2 in the full face of the Northumberland Strait on a windy day.  The crew was soaked but the boat was handling the seas – for now.  Prospector and Fly By Wire were 20 degrees low on the course.  It was later learned that the helmsman and navigator aboard Prospector had a communications breakdown that resulted in two unnecessary tacks to round UE2.  Fly By Wire watched both the J27 Nut Case and C&C 99 Prospector up ahead and decided to follow Prospector, also resulting in extra tacks into some very nasty seas.

At this point the crew on Nut Case decided that the waves and prospect of quartering seas while skirting reefs and rocks North of Amet Island were too much for a small boat and turned back for the protection of Amet Sound and Tatamagouche Bay .  By this point the masthead Windex had long since blown off as had Heather’s favourite hat!  On the way in with the stereo blasting Nut Case not only surfed down the waves but actually came up on a plane hitting a top speed of 15.0 knots over the water! 

Aboard the Mirage 27 Gaila there was only Larry and his son Bryan.  With the 150 genoa flying and only two crew there was no chance to effect a sail change.  Gaila turned back for Malagash – the last of five boats to abandon the race.

All of the above activity had taken place before the end of the third leg of the race.  There were still three more legs to go with the passage North of Amet Island and the upwind slog back to the finish line.  Aboard Prospector and the C&C 30 Fly By Wire there were still two tacks to make to round UE2.  The first tack on Prospector was hairy given the sea state and resulted in many of the crew going below decks for the next tack.  This was apparently a mistake which resulted in the entire crew feeling queasy with seasickness and three persons succumbing to the queasiness and one crew falling into and damaging an interior door.

On Fly by Wire there were also some moments.  During the tacks the winches were in the water and at one point the boom vang snapped!  Also gone to Davey Jones locker is the whisker pole.  Despite all this the crew had the time of their lives!  (crazy people)

The downwind leg North of Amet was fast on both remaining boats.  Andy on Prospector mentioned that he had never seen Amet fall astern so quickly as Prospector achieved speeds in excess of 11 knots.  Eventually Prospector and Fly by Wire rounded UA2 off Cape John and began the long upwind trip home in winds still in excess of 25 knots. 

The crew on Fly by Wire did not escape the drenching waves despite the higher freeboard of a C&C30.  Eventually they had had enough and raised the dodger.  The highlight of this trip was when one wave washed right over the dodger soaking Doug on the helm while Phil and Wade were sheltered under the dodger.

The remainder of the race was uneventful.  Race organizer Mike had the results already computed for five boats and was waiting only the times for the two remaining.  Prospector crossed the line two hours forty six minutes after starting – less than half the previous record time for this race!  Fly By Wire finished 20 minutes later and won on corrected time by six minutes.

Quotable quotes: 

“Waves the size of Buses” – Prospector

 “we encounted waves that seemed to inhale her” – Fly by Wire

All in all a very interesting day on the water.

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