Sarasota Fleet Racing Mayhem

We have been "enjoying" quite a bit of rain lately which is typical for this time of year. The forecast for this weekend was improving so we thought maybe we would give it a go with the Sarasota fleet. It was looking like the perfect day and the weather gods had the storm chance at 20%. In the summer 20% is as low as it gets so we decide to go.

The 7 Scots met up at I mark where we would start the racing, perfect sea breeze, all good. We did the first race and lost the lead to Bob Twinem on the run but we held off Marshall Pardey for second. I recall looking at the cloud bank to the south and thinking it looked a bit odd. It didn't look threatening but the height was impressive and the edges looked really hard but the color was still white. Hmmm...

Race 2 was a good one for us, we did a "Ron" out to the left and rounded with a big lead. Running to the finish the white clouds were getting quite a bit more gray and some occasional rumbling could be heard. Since the weather was coming from the south and we had to go that way to return to the club I pulled out the cell phone for a look at the radar. "Jib up, were are heading in" There is an impressive cell running up the coastline.

We are the only wimps, the rest of the gang does a third race. As we approach the club the south is getting dark, we are pretty sure the others are in for it. We do the fire drill thing at the hoist and scramble to get the mast down before the shit hits the fan. The sky is now pretty black and the rumbling nearly constant. I snapped a couple photos with the cell phone;

Looking out the club dock with breeze on from the south, good that the fetch isn't too long. 

This is taken from the BBQ pavilion looking north where the fleet is. The leading edge of the cell has passed over our heads and is heading north.

One of the newer members of the fleet; Brian and Lisa live in Longboat Key so they high-tailed it back to the canal and arrived before the front. That leaves 5 on the water and we can soon see 4 boats capsized. As it turns out Bob Twinem was the only one who got the sails down in time and did not capsize. He rode out the storm on anchor, a lesson to be remembered. The 4 that capsized all swamped and got a tow back to the club. We also could see one of the boats under tow while still on its side, that was a first. I couldn't figure that out, but assumed the mast was still in tact or the boat would have righted itself or flipped upside down. I was having a bad visual of the mast at this point.

At the ramp waiting for the trailer and the slow drain.

Tow Boat US leaves after making and receiving a deposit from the club dock.

Marshall's boat #400 back at the hoist also doing the slow drain.  Note the small triangular thingy on the port seat.

It turns out this was the boat being towed on its side. When Marshall and Richard were attempting to right the boat they snapped the board off, the triangular piece is the souvenir to remember the day. That explains the strange tow into a spot where they could right the boat, then finish the tow in conventional fashion.

The mast is still staight! I know, WTF!!!!

In fact all the masts were undamaged, another surprise given the length of time the boats were over. All the people were undamaged as well, so it worked out mostly ok.

The proper use and installation of bow bags and transom ports is another story!