BIG WIND = RECORD RACE TIME

AS RHUMB RUNNER WINS WAUKEGAN TO CHICAGO

DAS BOOT WINS CHICAGO TO WAUKEGAN

(Sunday, June 28, 2009)  Smashing the previous record time of 3 hrs. 43 min. 01 sec., set by Vayu in 2006, for the Waukegan to Chicago Race, Katie Goldman's Rhumb Runner set a new Beneteau 40.7 record today for this event of 2 hrs. 55 min. 2 sec. thanks to good seamanship and exceptional wind out of the west-northwest.  Katie later said, "It was exciting to see how well our young team works together under precarious and potentially dangerous situations."  This was the first race won by Rhumb Runner since she joined the fleet last year. 

The previous day, Saturday, Jay Muller's Das Boot won the Chicago to Waukegan Race.  This race was held in less than stellar wind, generally under 10 knots, yet Das Boot turned in the second best time ever for this event with an elapsed time of 4 hrs. 11 min. 49 sec. which was only 4 min. 43 sec. longer than Collaboration's 2004 record.  The finishing order on Saturday of the boats in the 40.7 section, and of the entire racing fleet in general, seemed to be in inverse proportion as to how far from shore they sailed.  The wind was initially northeast becoming southeast as spinnakers blossomed among the various types of boats participating.  Das Boot was the 40.7 sailing most offshore, and of course won.  The most inshore boat, Vayu, finished last among the six boats in the section. 

The races to and from Waukegan are respectively 26.2 and 26.1 nautical miles in length.  This is the eighth year in which the Beneteau 40.7 Fleet has had their own section in the event.  A history of the winning boats for each race and their elapsed times is shown below:

The wind on Sunday was generally west-northwest to northwest at around 20-25 knots with frequent gusts into the 30+ knot range.  Some boats reported readings of 40 knots. 

Ron Buzil, skipper of Vayu, reported that as they rounded Grosse Point off of Wilmette a series of wind blasts exceeding 30 knots hit the boat, causing violent shaking of the rig.  "There must have been a set of a dozen huge puffs as we passed about 1.5 miles offshore of B'hai Temple.  We set the jib and pulled in the spinnaker". 

The first boats (non-40.7 sections) approaching the finish line on Sunday came in so early due to the strong wind that the RC boat wasn't on station.  Early finishers were instructed to take their own finishing times. 

Both races this weekend count for the LMSRF Best Beneteau 40.7 on Lake Michigan series for 2009.  Current standings for all series are posted at 2009 Standings.

After the race on Sunday we were able to interview Katie Goldman who was the victorious skipper on Rhumb Runner.  Here is what Katie had to say:

"Rhumb Runner and her crew were very excited about the Waukegan race, the first port-to-port race of the 2009 season, mostly as a warm-up for the Mac.  On Saturday, our strategy was to get a good start and then stick to the rhumb line for as long as the wind would let us.  We stayed offshore and were happy that we had plenty of clear air to get us there.  Mark Norris, owner and skipper of Split Decision, was on-board to watch our team work together and provide coaching to Skipper Katie Goldman and the rest of the crew.  We were thrilled to have a fourth place finish.

"Sunday, especially, it was exciting to see how well our young team works together under precarious and potentially dangerous situations.  Again, our goals were fairly simple:  get a good, clean start and sail safely, clean and fast.  We knew early that we wanted to fly a spinnaker, but knew that it would be a lot of work and wanted to put it up at just the right moment: before the rest of the fleet, but not too early.   As practice for the Mac, we rotated teams of trimmers and grinders every half-hour to keep our crew fresh and alert and it paid off.  We had many sail changes and our spinnaker dousing was smoother than it has ever been.  Keeping our spin trimmed and flying consistently for that long, while watching other, far more experienced boats struggle with their chutes was incredible.  We even were wishing that we had a larger sail inventory so we could throw up a reacher, as some of the more seasoned boats in the fleet were able to. 

"We had great communication between Katie Goldman and Brian Goldman, alternatively at the helm and tactics, and the rest of the crew.  Doug Novack on main trim and Pam Lefebvre on jib trim provided the power to keep Rhumb Runner moving, while Catherine Duncan, Mary Duncan, Kristy Eriksen and Neal Creighton rotated on the spinnaker and Loren Kokenes rocked the foredeck with all of the sail changes.  We have a relatively young crew;  the average age is 28, so to be involved in the genesis of what could become a really competitive racing team is absolutely thrilling.

"Mostly, it was fun to be competitive with an incredible fleet, any of whom could win the race on any given day.  With Vayu, CanCan and Das Boot breathing down our neck all afternoon on Sunday, we were pushed beyond our comfort zone, into real competition and that is, perhaps, what made the victory so much sweeter. It's a great feeling crossing the finish line in first place for the first time and we are glad to be learning and working together as a team.

"Rhumb Runner is incredibly grateful for all of the encouragement from the 40.7 fleet.  We get so many "Atta-girl!"s and "Keep it up!"s in person at all of the regattas and by email from many of the skippers and crew, all of whom have been where we are.  We love the relationships we are building and will continue to build.  Our number one goal, first and foremost, in the Rhumb Runner program has always been this:  Have fun.  The 40.7 fleet has been helping us meet that goal.  We are looking forward to a fun and competitive season."

We next interviwed Cate Muller, tactician on Saturday's winning boat, Das Boot.  Here's what Cate had to say:

"Saturday our main goal was to get out and get clear air. We didn't want to get too far offshore given the forecast, but at the same time we didn't want to be in the entire fleet's bad air. so we found ourselves a high lane and stayed with it the whole way up. I have to say it was a total team effort, and everyone stayed focused on our boat and making it go fast.

"Sunday was, as I think it was for everyone, a matter of staying in control. Once again, our A-Sail proved to be a fantastic advantage, and we all stayed focused on keeping the boat in control and going fast. Since it was a pretty straight forward sail back home we didn't put too much emphasis on going inshore vs. offshore, and simply focused on control. We also learned in the last mile or so, how critical the vang can be on these boats....we were pretty much using it as our main sail control since the whole sheet was out already!

"LOADS OF FUN!!!"

Final results:

Photos of the 40.7 Fleet at the Colors Regatta start at: 

Waukegan Photos

Suggestion:  use the full screen play option.

More 2008 & 2009 fleet photos start with:  40.7 Photos

Anyone can submit photos for publishing on the 40.7 websites.

Email to cygnus(at)interaccess.com.