Kids Aboard Boating, Fishing & Watersports Magazine
For Children & Families
Posted Monday, October 9, 2006
I knew the boat would be fast, but I didn't know exactly how fast.
After the Orange Bowl, Jeff Ecklund asked my dad and me if we wanted to crew on his new Melges 32 named STAR, at Key West Race Week. We jumped at the chance to sail on this new, sleek racing machine. Other guys sailing on the boat in addition to Jeff (helmsman), my dad (downwind trimmer), and me (floater) included; Harry Melges (main trimmer & tactician), Sam Rogers (upwind trimmer), Judd Hirschberg (pit boss), Rob Evans (calling the breeze), and Bill Wiggins (bowman).
My dad and I flew down on Friday, January 13th. First we flew to Charlotte, then to Ft Lauderdale, and finally to Key West aboard Jay Ecklund's private jet the Starlight Express. This would allow the STAR team 2 days to practice and get used to the boat as most of us had never sailed on it before. Since I didn't have any jobs to do on the boat while racing (other than being the floater and helping where needed), each morning I had to chamois the dew off the boat and get the water, power bars, and lunches from a nearby deli. Then we all went to breakfast on the Starlight, Jay Ecklund's 102 foot private yacht. On Saturday, the first practice day, it was blowing 20-30 mph from the WNW which made leaving the harbor extremely difficult. Since we didn't want to break anything or suffer any injuries before the event, we decided that we wouldn't practice that day. We spent the rest of the day chilling on the Starlight and checking out the whole harbor and regatta tent/headquarters scene. When Sunday rolled around, the breeze was down to 10-16 mph from the NNW, perfect for practice so out we went. I knew the boat would be fast, but I didn't know exactly how fast. The mast, at 52 feet high, is very tall for a 32 foot racing sailboat and has a lot of sail area including a masthead asymmetrical spinnaker and bowsprit. It has a narrow, sharp bow and a wide, flat transom that makes for easy planing downwind.
After making all the necessary preparations on the dock, we sailed out to the Division 2 racing area for about 5 hours of practice. We sailed long upwinds and downwinds against a few of the other Melges 32s, stressing crew work for tacks, jibes, sets, and takedowns. In that amount of breeze, all of the boats went upwind pretty much at the same speed, but we tried a few different things downwind. We tried going high for speed, deep for maximum distance to leeward, and even modes that were between these two. After the practice day, we felt pretty confident about our speed, but we also knew that team New Wave would be pretty tough.
On the first day of racing, we were greeted by a light northerly that took a while to finally fill in at 8-12 mph on the 8 boat, Melges 32 course. After being postponed on shore and then on the water, racing got underway at about 11am. The Melges 32s were the 4th start on the Division 2 course behind the Trans Pac 52s, IRC 1, and PHRF 2 starts. In the first race, our team got kind of lost between the shifts on the first beat and had a hard time finding them the rest of the race on our way to a 5th place finish. The second race of the day saw the breeze build to 10-15 mph and shift to the right a little. Even though the breeze went a little right, the left side was favored for much of the race. We had a good start and good speed off the line, eventually working left, tacking and crossing everyone to round the weather mark about four boat lengths ahead. We had a good run, gaining a couple lengths and then went left again upwind. New Wave was the only boat to go right and crossed us after getting a lucky right hand shift. We stayed 2nd for the rest of the race. After the first day, we were tied for 2nd with New Wave leading.
Tuesday, January 17th would be the roughest day of the event for the Melges 32s, with an easterly breeze at 18-27 mph coupled with a big rolling swell of 3-5 feet. Only 4 of the Melges 32s went out to race. The first race we had an average start, but about 1/3 of the way up on the first beat Rob Evans stumbled crossing the boat on a tack and cut his forehead open pretty bad. There was blood everywhere and Judd and my dad had to fix him up by taping a sponge over the gash on his head. After that, we rounded the top mark 3rd behind Grins with New Wave leading. Fortunately for us the downwinds were wet and wild and both Grins and New Wave spun out, allowing us to round the leeward mark a close 2nd to New Wave. Their lead stayed about the same upwind but we worked hard to catch them off the breeze, eventually beating them after they spun out for a second time about 100 yards from the finish. The next race we were going back and forth with New Wave with them gaining upwind and us gaining downwind. We rounded the last windward mark about 2 lengths behind and jibed as soon as we had the kite up. We tore out to the left side downwind and then jibed back on to starboard to go back at New Wave. However, the spinnaker got pulled around too close on the jibe and hooked on the top spreader or jib and shredded itself. We weren't able to get the other kite hooked up properly and ended up getting passed by the other 2 boats and finished 4th. After day 2, we were still second and ahead of third by one point. Robb required 8 stitches in his forehead to close the wound.
On day 3 with the wind over 30 mph, the Melges 32 fleet decided not to race because the class has a rule not to compete in sustained winds over 25 mph. A few of the team members from team STAR went out on the Starlight 44 foot tender to watch the Melges 24s racing on the Division 3 course. The Melges 24 race was reminiscent of a skiff race, with numerous boats spinning out and breaking stuff. Needless-to-say it was very exciting and entertaining!
On day 4, the breeze had dropped to 12-20 mph. In the first race, we had a decent start but still could not match New Wave upwind, despite closing their speed advantage by going to their jib lead and main traveler settings. It was at this time that I found out that they had a newer main, which was cut a little differently. That helped explain their upwind advantage. We were 2nd to them again. In the second race, we were right with them for most of the race. We rounded the last windward mark right on their transom. We had a better set and were able to dive down to leeward of them and hold them out to the right side downwind. We jibed a little bit past the lay line, but the breeze shifted 10 or so degrees left, forcing us to sail a hot angle back to the finish. New Wave went about 50 more yards before they jibed and also had trouble making the line. There was one puff that our team didn't quit react to in time and Jeff lost steerage on the rudder, causing the boat to spin out. New Wave also spun out and we were able to stay ahead of them. But the 3rd place boat passed both of us to take the gun. After day 4, we were a solid 2nd place behind New Wave.
The final day was about a carbon copy of the day 4 conditions. In the first race we rounded the top mark 2nd but had a better set than everyone else. We jibed and got away on the run to go through the leeward gates ahead. We covered well on the upwind to maintain our lead, and held it on the final downwind to take the bullet. Going into to the last race, the standings were pretty much set so we were guaranteed to finish 2nd overall. Off the line, we hit about 3 different bad sets of nasty waves, and had to tack away. We couldn't really recover and finished 4th, but still beat New Wave both races on the last day.
We ended up 2nd in the final standings which was pretty good, all things considered, and minus a few mistakes would have given New Wave a much better run for their money. It was a great experience for me and I enjoyed it a lot. I learned a great deal about crew work and the big boat, team style of sport boat sailing. It also opened my eyes as to what else is out there besides small boat dinghy racing.
I would like to thank Jeff Ecklund for giving my dad and me the opportunity to sail aboard team STAR. He was very gracious and generous to us and the crew, and it made for a high quality experience. I would also like to thank Jay Ecklund for letting us fly on his jet and bringing the Starlight to the event so we would have a place to hang out after racing and review our performance. Key West Race week is an awesome event! I would like to come back in the future and apply what I learned from this year.
