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!