the 2010 Wayfarer U.S.
Nationals & Rock Hall Weekend Chester River Yacht & Country Club/Rock Hall YC Rock Hall, Maryland * June 11-13, 2010 Report by Mark Heffernan ![]() ... |
My Annual Pilgrimage
to Rock Hall
Each year since 2006
(except 2009) I have made the arduous one-hour drive
from my home in Dover, DE, over to Rock Hall, MD for a
fun-filled weekend of sailing and socializing.
Each year in June the Rock Hall Yacht Club hosts the
Chester River Down River Race, held on Friday, and
then the One-Design Regatta on Saturday and
Sunday. If you have never been to Rock Hall for
these races, you should definitely make the effort to
do so if your schedule and finances allow. The
RHYC is a very gracious host and does an outstanding
job hosting the regatta and associated
activities. The venue is beautiful and I
guarantee you will leave on Sunday with many wonderful
and lasting memories of the weekend. I don't own
a boat, so when I go to Rock Hall, I crew for my
father, Jim Heffernan.
![]() This year my mother
Linda, the editor of the SKIMMER, asked me to write an
account of my experiences in this year's Down-River
Race. I obliged her, as a good son should always
do, and agreed to write it. Hopefully, you'll be
able to make it through my accounting of Friday's
activities, and better yet it will encourage you to
sail in this unique race.
The Down River Race
starts at the Chester River Yacht and Country Club in
Chestertown, Maryland and finishes twelve miles down
the Chester River at the mouth of Langford Creek,
which is only about one mile from the RHYC.
Final placing is determined using the Portsmouth
Handicapping System. It is a unique experience
sailing among so many different classes of boats, and
it also makes for a very crowded start line since all
classes start together. This year's race included five
Wayfarers, skippered by Andy Douma, Jim Heffernan,
Tony Krauss, Frank Pedersen, and Al Schonborn.
We launched from the
docks after the skippers' meeting. The start
line was formed by the club's dock and a buoy placed
about 200 yards away in the river abeam the
dock. When we launched, the weather was clear,
temperature about 80 degrees, the wind was blowing
about 10 knots down the river, and the tide was going
out, which made for about a 2-knot current flowing
down the river. This combination of wind and
current could cause an inexperienced sailor to get
pushed below the line early. Fortunately my
skipper was able to easily negotiate this challenging
situation. We crossed the starting line on a
port tack, which was a gutsy move by the skipper since
the majority of boats were on a starboard tack.
We made a clean start and headed down the river.
The 10-knot wind
lasted for about 30 minutes, and then it just died and
we languished there in the river hoping for some
wind. The wind gods would tease us by increasing
the wind, letting the wind die, and then increasing it
again. Also, each time the wind would increase
it came from a different direction. As my
skipper opined, it was "a classic battle of two wind
systems vying for dominance". At one point
during these shifting and fickle winds, we passed Al
and Tony as they were caught in a dead area and 30
yards away we somehow were in an area with wind.
Dad said to me in a hushed voice, "Enjoy this moment
while it lasts". Sure enough the moment didn't
last. A few minutes later our wind situation was
reversed and Al and Tony overtook us.
Dad was frustrated
during all this as he didn't know where the wind would
come from when it shifted and increased. Finally
the wind filled in from the west, which left us
tacking back and forth to work downriver. We
settled into the third place Wayfarer spot well behind
Al and Tony, and enjoyed the beautiful day and idyllic
scenery of the Eastern Shore.
As we approached the
last point of land to round before the finish line, we
were surprised to see Al and Tony on the left side of
the river beyond some fish weirs off the point.
We had somehow caught up to them, possibly because the
wind down river had lessened while our wind stayed
good. This wasn't hard to believe after all the
shifting and lessening of wind we had experienced so
far. Dad and I discussed going between the fish
weirs and point to give us the most direct line to the
finish, but we were worried about the water
depth. My skipper decided, with a little input
from me, to go between the weirs and point. We
figured we had nothing to lose. If we went
around the weirs we would most likely not catch Al and
Tony. We went for it and the gamble paid off as
we positioned ourselves ahead and upwind of Al and
Tony. Al flew his spinnaker and overtook us, but
we were able to maneuver, steal his air and overtake
him. During all this maneuvering Tony also
overtook Al. We crossed the line 18 seconds
ahead of Tony, and 21 seconds later Al crossed.
Frank crossed 2 ½ minutes after Al. This was a
pretty close finish, especially considering we were on
the course for 4 ½ hours.
If you're still
reading this, thanks! I hope my accounting of
this year's race will evoke fond memories for
you. If you've never participated in this race
maybe reading this will entice you to do so.
Happy sailing!
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