Matheson Hammock Distance Race
February 12, 2005
Participants in order of registration:
Crew----------------------------- Boat---------------------Rating
Christophe Ribot------------------Inter 20---------------------59.2 x 1.02 = 60.384
Guy Ribot---------------------------no spi.
Bret Moss---------------------------A-Cat-----------------------65.0 x .96 = 62.4
------------------------------------------spi.
Rafael Quesada-------------------Hobie 20-------------------64.9
Claudia Schmid
Brian Kamilar----------------------Hobie 16-------------------76.1
Timmy Zenderman
Kenny Pierce----------------------Stiletto 23-----------------65.0 x .97 x .96 = 60.5
------------------------------------------solo, spi.
John McKnight--------------------Hobie 20------------------64.9
Oriol Cruzeta
Carla Schiefer---------------------Marstrom 20-------------56.5
Jamie Livingston
Ivan Loya----------------------------Tornado--------------------59.0
John Esquivel
For Christmas, I was given one of those remote sensing thermometers that indicates the indoor and outdoor temperatures. It is one of the neatest things I have ever gotten as a gift. It sits on my kitchen table and I look at it numerous times during the day. Saturday morning, when I got up for the race, I glanced at the thermometer. The outside temperature was reading 41.3 degrees. Wow! That is really cold for Miami. I had checked the weather the night before and I knew it was going to be chilly, but this was down right cold. The forecast was for a high of 69 degrees and winds out of the north at 10 to 15 knots. I thought we could deal with those conditions. After all, that is just a nice summer day up north.
When we arrived at the beach and started setting up, it was still chilly, but the bright sun started to warm us up. By the time the boats were rigged, I was down to a T-shirt. Bret Moss got there early to set up his A-Cat with a new spinnaker rig. As the air warmed up, he commented that it was turning into a "Chamber of Commerce Day. " He was right, the day became dazzling. It was crystal clear, cool, and refreshing.
We decided to change the course for the day because of a forecast of large waves for the ocean side. We are hearty but not foolhardy. We kept the race on the bay in protected waters. The new course was from the Rickenbacker to Matheson Hammock, to marker #21 at Biscayne Flats, and back to the beach. The winds were not as strong as forecast and ranged from 5 to 10 knots.
Eighteen sailors showed up on eight boats. There were four spinnaker boats, and this was their day to shine. The first leg to Matheson was a perfect downwind run for the spinnaker equipped boats. They loved it. The Marstrom 20, A-Cat, and the Stiletto 23 jumped off to an early lead on the rest of the pack. The second leg from Matheson to marker #21 was a close reach. The third leg was a beat back to the beach. This leg was characterized by constant wind shifts of 15 to 25 degrees. If you were out of sync with the shifts, you got hammered. If you were able to stay in sync, you made out like a bandit. Even with this shorten course, it still took the lead boats 3 hours to finish.
It turned out to be a fabulous day for a race. If you were properly dressed, you did not even get chilly. It sure beats the heat we experience in the summer. First place on corrected time and line honors went to Bret Moss on his A-Cat. Second place went to Kenny Pierce, soloing his Stiletto 23. Third place went to Carla Schiefer and Jamie Livingston on the Marstrom 20. Everyone had a good time and enjoyed yet another pleasant day on our bay.
Your can see some aerial photographs of the start of the race on the CABB forum on catsailor.com. Look at the left hand column of the Cat Sailor home page. The third forum down is our CABB forum. Or, you can go directly to the CABB forum by clicking on this:
http://www.catsailor.com/forums/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=CABB. The pictures were taken by Wilder Robles from a helicopter. The photos are spectacular. The images highlight what a beautiful spot we have to sail. Thanks Wilder, you did well!
John McKnight
