I was out of the house all day and it has gotten too late on the East Coast to ring anyone up and quiz them on what happened today at the Mug Race. Anyone have any scuttlebutt? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Unofficial Results. Wind was light but all cats finished under daylight.
Finish Sail (Boat) Skipper "Team/Boat"
1. 3030 (ARC 30) Eric Roberts "Dream On"
2. 34 (ARC 27)
3. 100 (ARC 27) Robert Lyman "Dadio"
4. 170 (A-cat)
5. 1 (M 20) Bret Moss "Carbon Cruising"
6. 35 (P 19 spin) Solo sailer
7. 196 (A-Cat) ?Dave Carlson?
8. 172 (A-Cat) Chris Cordes "Gone With The Wind"
9. 287 (H 20) Jack Woehrle "Tallahasse Lassie"
10. 480 (N 6.0) David Wallace "Golden Isles"

Hi John,
Somewhat better than a typical Mug Race. There was wind in the morning, so all boat got away from Palatka before the mid-day doldrums.
Wind picked up again in afternoon and almost all of the boats that wnted to finish could.
The North course was really hurt by little wind there race was shortened and boats still had trouble finishing.
The South course had the benefit of the tide running out which helped alot during the light air period.
Bill Roberts took off on the left side of the river at the Start, he had a nice wind along that shore and smoked the other RC who were both on the other side of the river at the time. He never had to look back.
At the turning mark at Buckman bridge, the two RC 27's and Clive Mayo on the A-Cat with spinnaker rounded together with one mile to go up wind to finish. The red RC picked up a crab trap allowing the Orange Rc to get the lead. The A-cat footed and had the same speed of the RC 27 but not the height. Clive had to tack to make the line the two RC's did not so they passed him at the finish.
It was very close at the end for the rest of the fleet. The two RC 27's had a neck and neck race the entire day. They passed through the Shand bridge (halfway point) at the same time. Lead changed with just about every jibe.
After the race a banana was discovered on the Red RC 27, which all agreed was the determining factor in their loss.
Great time on the water.
I am fuzzy on who the other A-Cat was, Skip Canfield was the solo P 19 sailor with/spinnaker.
Hope the west is treating you well.

It was definitely the banana.

ok, gonna expose my ignorance here ....... what does a bannana have to do with anything?
please be gentle !

its old sailing superstition.

Banannas = Bad.

(note that women on board is also a old sailing superstition)

negative mojo in a split decision

Along with it being unlucky to start a race or leave on a cruise on a Friday.

And recently there was some discussion in Scuttlebutt about whether it is unlucky for a boat to be painted green.

Speaking of which, did you notice the name of the filly that had to be euthanized after she came in second in the Kentucky Derby with two broken ankles. Her name was Eight Belles. That's close enough to Eight Bells for me to think it was not a lucky name. Eight Bells is a nautical euphemism for death when somebody in the sailing community dies, because 8 bells signal the end of a watch.

As the bearer of the banana, I was obviously unaware of the bad luck that accompanies bringing such a foul fruit on board a sailing vessel, a mistake that most definitely will NOT be repeated. I'm just amazed with the magical powers a banana can have on the movement of crab traps on the water.

I Would be interested in knowing what other superstitions that can hinder one's ability to compete effectively. Mary mentioned about painting a boat green, and I've heard about not changing the name of a boat and not bringing women on board (though I think that one needs clarification), are there any others?

Never look back once you've left port. It might indicate that you are not truly ready to embark and complete your voyage safely. This hesitation or indecision will bring about bad luck.
No priests, especially those who wear black.
No flowers, the se are for funeral wreaths. Priests are for funerals too
Sharks are a sign of death, Dolphin are fishermans friends and thought to protect mankind.
Right foot first not the left, I don't know why.

Hmmm, unless you're dancing... then the man always starts with his left foot. Go figure. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

On a Bright note, I forgot to mention that there was a class of 10- Hobie 16's. Also a class of Hobie 18's. That was a good sight to see.

If there isn't a woman onboard what chance do you have of getting lucky at all?

Never say anything stupid like:
"Nothing has broken yet!"
"I am surprised we didn't just pitchpole"
These seem straightforward, but you never know what you might say if you are thinking it.

First sail on the new boat I went out with my wife for about 30 minutes. I told her we had to go back, but I didn't want to say why. As soon as we were in, tied up, I told her it was because nothing had broken yet.
And... to screw myself next time I go out- I kind of wish I could change my boats name... but I am too superstitious.

My first Mug Race since 1972! It was pretty awsome to see the RC's run us down. They passed pretty early, maybe an hour into the race. After that, no other boat passed us and we settled into catching breeze along the East shore. The middle of the river was clearly lighter, but the current was better there.

I had never flown a spinnaker on a cat and Barbie had never seen a spinnaker, so I put her on the stick and did the crew work for most of the day. It took a while to convince her to bear off in the puffs (she's a pincher and she wanted to head up!). Eventually she got in the groove and was able to follow some pretty good shafts.

After the Shands bridge we and two other 20's (actually the H21 and N20)finally broke away from the cat pack. There was a big gap ahead and a giant hole. We sat for almost an hour with zip. The N20 (had a giant pink pig on the sail) moved by us again into about a 1 mile lead carrying their spinnaker in no air at all. I saw a flag moving on the lee shore so we turned left and crept over there, catching a nice little draft almost close hauled all the way to Orange Park. We came off the shore with a nice lift in a building sea breeze into the A mark ahead of the others, thinking we might be about sixth of seventh. Then a short trap beat to the finish.

We never saw the 3 A-boats that started and finished ahead of us. Word is that they actually finished up with the RC's.

Can't wait until 2009!

Jack Woehrle
Hobie 20 "Tallahasee Lassie"

Unofficial finishing order as posted above- close but not quite right: Not much air the last 2 hours.
5th- Bret Moss- Marstrom 20.
6th #196 Dave Carlson - 36 year old woodie Catnip with spin.
7th Hunter 21.6 waterballast mono 10 min back.
8th #35 P19 singlehanded with spin 15 minutes back
9th #172 Cordes A-cat 5 min after that.

I figure my $1K boat with 2 old free sails was beaten by $300,000 worth of new boats & sails. Lessee 300K divided by 5= $60K each. Yup- averages about right: 60X. Welcome to the 21$t Century.

Dave,

Good job! How old is your Catnip? Daddio turns 20 this year.

Rob

36 according to his post

That would explain why I always screw up the Hokey Pokey. I was trying to sing that to Hunter the other day.

OK, nevermind, this is getting weird...

Mike

The results are on the rudder club website:

http://www.rudderclub.com/results.html