Updates

We will have 7 Sun Cats competing in the Nationals this year, including the five mentioned in the previous post plus late entries from Indy Anna and old Sun Cat #8. Also sailing with us will be former Sun Catter Paul in his new-to-him old Com-Pac 16.

It was nice to see familiar faces and meet a couple of new participants last night at the welcoming party. Tom Scott handed out a small “cheat sheet” for all the boats, depicting the course on one side and the starting procedure on the other. He also emphasized that NO ONE should hit Whimsy for ANY REASON.

Although we generally discard a lot of the Racing Rules of Sailing for the Sun Cat Nationals, one traditional rule is being kept: the committee boat includes anything that might be tied to the committee boat, such as a 15′ Whaler belonging to the Head Jib Trimmer In Charge.

After Tom explained the race to everyone, we all headed down to the creek to watch the sunset, then over to my neighbor’s restaurant for some dinner. Nice night!

We will have at least 5 boats competing for the Sun Cat Class National Championship this year, including defending National Champion Scott W in Suitsus and previous National Champion and beloved Head Jib Trimmer In Charge, me, sailing Wily Conch. Don will be back with Frisky and new jibs, Catnip will return for some more bruising, and we are joined this year by new participants Bill and Mary on Stray Cat. We may also be joined by Dennis and Odd Duck, but not sure yet.

Unfortunately, Mike and the guys with the old pre-Com-Pac era Sun Cats will not be able to join us this year. We were hoping to have Tyler and Kiersten, but they had to cancel as well, leaving Paul alone in the Com-Pac 16 Class. We’ll let him race with the Sun Cats.

We will have a Skipper’s Meeting here at the HJTIC property on Friday evening starting around 4:30 or 5 and Tom Scott will probably provide details about where we are going to race, when we are going to start, the fact that NO ONE should hit Whimsy’s NEW PAINT JOB for ANY REASON and other regatta-related stuff.

We look forward to seeing all our catboat friends and if she’s in the mood, introducing you to newly appointed Sun Cat National Championship mascot cat, Kahlua!

The 2012 Sun Cat National Championship Regatta will be held starting November 2, 2012 with a welcoming reception at the property of the Head Jib Trimmer In Charge, as usual. We hope that Tom Scott will show up with printed racing instructions, perhaps with a special admonition to the Horizon Cat Class. I don’t think anyone can stop him from explaining what we’re supposed to do the next day, but no one can really make us listen either, so it should be fun.

Don has been sighted with some new jibs and Scott seems to be stretching out that oversized sail of his, so this may be an appropriate time to remind everyone of The Class Rule: you must sail a hull that is arguably a Sun Cat hull. We of course welcome Catboat Willy in Sea Bird, Paul in his old Com-Pac 16, and even Good JuJu, but mostly just because Isy is so cute. Those are not Sun Cats. We hope to see Mike again with old Number 8, this time with intact sails, and maybe even Number 12 with new sails. I’d rather they have sails than names. Those boats ARE Sun Cats, and any crazy modification to rigs, foils, or hardware is acceptable. I know someone is going to ask, so the answer is yes, if you chop your keel off of your Com-Pac, it is still arguably a Sun Cat hull. The HJTIC has spoken.

I want to officially invite Charlie Jones back to take another shot at competing in our boat, and this time I promise to lock myself in the cabin so as not to once again hinder his performance.

Sun Cat sailors and fans, make your plans now, tell your fellow sailors, grab your boats and gear and come on down the first weekend in November!

Between races two and three the wind died down a bit more, and while we still had a lot more wind than we saw for the 2010 Nationals, it was no time for reefed sails. Scott shook the reef out on Suitsus and showed us his full 180 sq ft sail for the first time.

On board Sun Cat Number 8, Mike had set the sail reefed back at the boat ramp. Being singlehanded and having a few equipment issues in the borrowed boat, he decided not to attempt to shake out his reef before the start of race three, so he was racing with a pretty serious handicap. Two handicaps, if you count the age and condition of the sail. I think he said there was some damage to the foot of the sail that was protected by keeping it reefed.

We did not see too much of old Number 8 during the race.

Though the wind was down, there were still a few gusts around. Charlie J did a great job on the tiller of Wily Conch but this picture should not be taken as a guide on Sun Cat sailing. Chances are, if your Sun Cat is heeling this much, you are doing something wrong.

Scott got off to a good start and was so far ahead by the time he got to the windward mark that no other boats appeared in this picture, even before I cropped it. It looked like he was racing all by himself.

Despite occasionally heeling like a sloop sailor, Charlie J got us around the windward mark in second position. In this picture, Catnip is closest behind us, followed by the Sunday Cat. Frisky is just coming around the mark, this time with guest helmsman Steve J driving. In the distance, Good Juju and Sea Bird are approaching, with Odd Duck between them.

This picture was taken at about the same moment by Sonja on board the mark set boat. She was quite a ways away, so foreshortening in the picture makes it appear that Scott is not all that far ahead of the rest of us. He is quite a ways ahead, the rest of us are in a pretty tight pack. I’m not sure what Number 8 is doing there. Barely visible in the left part of the photo are Good Juju just passing Odd Duck

As we were heading down to the reach mark, I noticed this random daysailer crossing the harbor next to our course. I had been having so much fun with my fellow catboaters that I had not really noticed that we had the entire harbor to ourselves. This is inexplicable. It was a perfect Saturday to be out in a sailboat or a powerboat, yet we had seen neither. It was as if we had rented the entire harbor for our little event. Later on, we did see the small fleet of Precision 15’s from Isles Yacht Club and a few powerboats went by in the channel, but almost no one else was out enjoying the perfect sailing conditions. Oh well!

Back on the race course, we were holding off the other Sun Cats on the leg out to the reach mark. The wind was down enough that Don’s home made orange jib appeared on Frisky for the first time this day. He is trying to pass between the Sunday Cat and Catnip.

As we were rounding the reach mark, I grabbed my camera to catch this image of Suitsus already well on the way to the downwind mark. He was long gone, no way to catch him with his big sail. This is the kind of information I hoped to learn with the very loose class racing rule that says only that you must sail a boat that is arguably a Sun Cat hull. I think one of the old Sun Cats can be turned into a much faster boat, and this is how we will find out!

After we got around, I turned back toward the pack approaching the reach mark. They are closer to one another and maybe a bit closer to us than they were at the windward mark. In the distance, Indy Anna and Odd Duck are fighting for next-to-last position and Number 8 has not quite made it around the windward mark.

At about the same moment, Isy took this picture from Good Juju showing Catnip around the mark with the Sunday Cat just rounding and Frisky coming right behind. If you look closely, Don is being his own jib trimmer for this maneuver as Steve J is driving. I can’t wait to see what kind of sail he puts on that long bow sprit.

We held them off for the second reaching leg and this was the scene looking back up the course as CJ and I prepared to round the downwind mark and head upwind. Or maybe I should say, as we approached the downwind mark…

We got to the mark and Charlie J turned upwind. At first, I was still having fun with the camera, taking this shot of the pack of three Sun Cats turning upwind behind us. Charlie had a puzzled look on his face and was looking up at the sail. I looked around and realized we were really not pointing very well, even by Sun Cat standards. We both focused our attention on the sail, but could not see anything wrong. Something was wrong. The other boats were starting to outpoint us, and not just by a little bit.

Operating on the theory that we had to change something, we tacked. This did not help. In the background, the other three are trimmed up and pointing upwind. We were still just not sailing well upwind at all, and the more CJ and I looked at the sail, the less sense it made. Then I looked down at the cockpit sole and happened to notice all the centerboard line piled up around our feet. Ooops! I quickly dropped the board and apologetically explained to Charlie that it should do a bit better now. Catnip managed to overtake us before I realized what was going on, but we still took third in the race. Once again I think it is fair to guess that Charlie would have done better if unencumbered by my assistance.

I’m not sure why Number 8 is in this picture. I think perhaps he got lost.

The efficient race committee and mark set crew were cleaning up the marks as the last boats came around. Running a regatta sure is easy! I mostly just rode around in my boat taking pictures the whole time!

(I’m probably going to pay for that comment, but what the heck, it amuses me and that is the whole purpose of the Sun Cat Nationals.)

Isy got this great shot of Wily Conch and Frisky sailing toward home after the race. I have lots of pictures taken from our boat, and one of the things I like most about the Sun Cat Nationals is getting a bunch of pictures taken of our boat!

Odd Duck’s jib trimmer demonstrates the hiking backrest potential of the stainless railing in this picture taken through the boom gallows of Good Juju. In the background, the mark set boat has just delivered another mark to Whimsy.

Catboat Willy seems to have waited until racing was over to fly his full sail and tilt his outboard engine out of the water on Sea Bird. That’s exactly the kind of behavior that makes him welcome at the Sun Cat Nationals!

We put the boats away and gathered back at our place for the awards dinner. Everyone wanted to congratulate our new Sun Cat National Champion, Scott, and he mostly appreciated it. He got a huge congratulatory kiss from Charlie M. The picture captures his reaction pretty well!

Most of us chose the more traditional handshakes and applause, like Charlie J in the foreground and Mike J in the background.

It was kind of hard to see in the earlier sailing pictures, but this closeup has pretty much the exact same look that Scott gets on his face when he sails above you and steals you wind. Sort of a cat and canary thing going on here.

This is not really the best picture of any of the people involved, but it cracks me up because Dennis appears to be drinking skim milk, Tom has his grape soda, and in the background, Luke the Cowdog is leaning hard into a turn in pursuit of Libby. Watching those two chase each other is always funny.

I do not remember what I said when joking around with Isy as she was reading one of the results printouts that Race Committee Chairman Tom Scott brought.

Whatever I said, saying it with a stick within her reach was probably not a great idea!

There was much merriment and sailor talk. Paul had a rough ride the day before in his Com-Pac 25 and did not make it out to watch the races, but at least was able to join us for dinner. They’re probably talking about jibs or something.

There might have been a bit too much merriment, as some of the pictures started to come out fuzzy. Here guest chef Scott S. has quite a flare up going on the party grill, but he turned out some good steaks!

It was not just the fire messing with the autofocus on the camera in the shot above. This one is not much better, but pretty amusing all the same. Primary purpose achieved!

It may be hard to believe looking at the picture, but this might have been the only completely sober person present!

And the Sun Cat Class officially has a new National Champion! Com-Pac Yachts generously provided us with hats and shirts as prizes and here I am officially awarding Scott his prize. He has that same look again!

Com-Pac Yachts sent down six prizes, but as I worked my way down the final standings of the Sun Cat fleet it hardly made sense to give one of the shirts back to Tyler Hutchins. He brought them to give to everyone else! That meant that seventh place boat Indy Anna won a prize. When I tried to award it, Larry assured me that there must be some mistake, and that his performance could not possibly have earned a prize. I think I ended up saying, “Oh just have a shirt anyway!”

After the awards presentation, we all enjoyed some of the 2011 Sun Cat Nationals cake that Butch brought. What a great idea!

Charlie M. gave Butch a soft bumper to hang on his engine in future races, just in case he happens to stop in front of a speeding Horizon Cat again. I know, they’re called fenders, but this one is a bumper.

The following day, Wily Conch was the only Sun Cat to participate in the harbor cruising portion of the Sun Cat Nationals. I might have to start feeding them after this part of the event to get more to stick around! The Horizon Cat class came out to play, along with our committee boat Whimsy and his neighbor Tim in his Tartan 3100. Sailboat magnetism attracted the Morris 29 over to our little group. It was another great day to be out on Charlotte Harbor!

That’s it for the 2011 Sun Cat Nationals. Next update will be whenever we get around to having another Sun Cat Regionals, or when I set the date for the 2012 Sun Cat Nationals.

It has been a few months since the 2011 Sun Cat Nationals, time enough for even a catboat jib trimmer to get around to posting the rest of the photos, so here they are!

Between the first and second races, Sonja got quite a few good pictures in the catboat parking area. Here comes Good Juju reaching into the pack as Catboat Willy approaches in Sea Bird out beyond committee boat Whimsy.

Click any picture to enlarge.

 

 

Catboat Willy’s Sanderling Sea Bird makes a fine picture as he waves to Sonja on the mark set boat.

 

 

I got a nice shot of the new Sunday Cat going by, moving along well under full sail. Hmmm… perhaps I should have noted that fact at the time. We still had a reef in our sail.

 

 

As the start of the race approached, the Sun Cat fleet started our tactical maneuvering and timed runs to make the start line on time and with good speed. Well, we mostly just sailed around off the stern of the committee boat. The Horizon Cat class did not participate in this charade.

 

 

The crew of Horizon Cat Good Juju take a break between races from the demanding work of paying attention to the string that controls the catboat sail.

 

 

Meanwhile, I evidently had snacktician duties requiring my attention down in the cabin and failed to notice that the wind had died down a bit. Enough to shake the reef out of our sail, it turns out.

 

 

By the time the Sun Cat fleet started, I was looking under the baggy reef in my sail at a whole bunch of unreefed Sun Cats! The only one who still has a reefed sail is Scott in Suitsus, but his big sail reefs down to the size of our full sails. I had a feeling we might be in trouble, even though the wind still felt pretty strong.

 

 

We were moving pretty well with the fleet despite our reduced sail area on the upwind leg. We crossed above Catnip the first time our paths crossed, but Butch had closed some distance since the start and was coming on strong.

 

 

We were unable to close on Suitsus at all on the upwind leg, but he did not cross all that far in front of us so we were not losing much ground either.

 

 

Suitsus got around the windward mark ahead of the pack, but Catnip was not too far behind and looked to be in good position to take an easy second place in the race. Fortune (or something) was about to intervene to make things a bit harder for Catnip.

 

 

It is not clear exactly what happened next up at the windward mark. Catnip was trying to get around when Horizon Cat Good Juju managed to rub against her outboard engine, putting a couple of two foot long scratches in Good Juju’s gelcoat. The ordinary Racing Rules of Sailing are supplemented by the admonition from the Head Jib Trimmer In Charge that no boats shall be scratched for any reason during the course of the Sun Cat Nationals, but my edicts only apply to the Sun Cat Class. If the Horizon Cat Class allows a bit of bumper boats, that’s OK just as long as they don’t hurt a Sun Cat or, God forbid, either race committee volunteer boat. Catnip’s engine and mount sustained no damage and Butch probably got a little speed out of the event, so no harm, no foul! (But we might slip a sea anchor on Charlie M’s stern cleat next year, just in case.)

 

 

They had moved on by the time we got there and Wily Conch made it around the weather mark ahead of Indy Anna and Sea Bird, but just barely. We were in third place with our reefed sail sailing against an unreefed fleet.

 

 

Sonja ran the mark boat over to catch this shot of most of the fleet coming around the windward mark. Suitsus was too far ahead by this point to be in this picture. From left to right, that is Catnip in second place, a slightly scratched Good Juju just behind, then Wily Conch, Indy Anna, Sea Bird and the Sunday Cat just coming around the mark. The sail just behind Wily Conch belongs to Frisky, and Odd Duck was far enough back to be out of the shot.

 

 

Our good position in the race quickly slipped away once we turned downwind. We had enough power in the reefed sail to sail upwind with the pack, but sailing downwind we were underpowered. Charlie J. and I discussed shaking out the reef right then, which would have been a good move but seemed like a lot of work just to get a better position in the Sun Cat Nationals.

 

 

Next the Sanderling Sea Bird passed us by. We were expecting that to happen, as it is a faster boat.

 

 

With our wind disrupted by the passage of two boats above us, it was not long before the Sunday Cat was passing us by. This was starting to get annoying. It’s just the Sun Cat Nationals, not any reason to get worked up, but it is hard to watch other boats sailing by even if you are not in a real race. Charlie J. and I talked a bit more about unreefing our sail, but still took no action.

 

 

Sonja ran the mark boat over to the reach mark, getting there just before class leader Suitsus rounded the mark. She got the entire race two fleet in one photo. From left to right, that is Odd Duck in the distance, still trying to round the windward mark, then Frisky, Sunday Cat, Indy Anna, Suitsus, Wily Conch, Sea Bird, Catnip and Good Juju.

 

 

Charlie J. and I decided that when we got around the reach mark, we would swing the boat up into the wind and quickly shake out our reef. My two line reefing system, detailed with other Sun Cat rig modifications here, showed a couple of weaknesses and the operation was not so quick. Putting the reefing lines on the boom works fine if you can reach the boom, but without the engine, we could not bring the boat far enough into the wind to put the boom over the boat. I had trouble reaching the clew reef line, which was on the horn cleat that came with the boat. That one needs to be replaced with a jam cleat.

I got the clew reef undone, jerked the tack reef out of the jam cleat, and started hauling the sail on up. I expected it to be a bit difficult since we were beam to the wind, but just could not get it to go all the way up at all. I looked around trying to figure out what was stopping my sail from going up, and noticed that the gaff boom downhaul line had worked its way around the front of the mast and hung up on the bow navigation light fixture. I quickly let off the halyard pressure, ran forward to clear it, then got back into the cockpit and finished raising the sail. The picture shows our sail luffing as the fleet goes on by. With the amount of time we lost trying to unreef, we would have done just as well to sail on with the reefed sail.

 

 

By the time I got things sorted out and Charlie J. got back on course for the downwind mark, the pack we had been chasing was going around the mark. Suitsus, Catnip and Good Juju were already well on their way to the upwind finish and we found ourselves looking down the course toward Sea Bird just rounding the mark as Frisky and Indy Anna start to head upwind, both several boat lengths behind the Sunday Cat. In the end, we were able to pass Indy Anna on the upwind leg, but could not catch the rest and took a fifth place finish. Once again, I suspect Charlie J. would have done a bit better if not encumbered by my assistance.

 

 

Sonja moved over to the end of the start/finish line to get this nice shot of Scott winning race two in Suitsus. Congratulations on getting in ahead of Catnip even after he got a helpful shove from Good Juju!

 

 

While we were hanging around in the catboat parking area after race two, Mike showed up in Sun Cat number 8. I had been worried that he might be having some trouble and be unable to make it out to race. This vintage Sun Cat has a Marconi rig with a 160 sq ft sail, ten feet more than the modern Com-Pac Sun Cats.

 

 

This photo has several generations of catboat designs represented. On the left is Odd Duck, a Sun Cat of the modern Com-Pac type, but with an added stainless steel railing around the boat. To the right in the background is Suitsus, another Com-Pac but with a larger sail off another boat. Next is Sun Cat number 8, with Horizon Cat Good Juju in the background. The Horizon Cat is based on the Herreshoff America catboat. On the far right is Catboat Willy in his Marshall Sanderling Sea Bird. It was really quite a good show for a regatta that started out as a joke on the internet, and we still had one more race to go!