Messing About In Sailboats

An Epilogue for the Around Long Island Race 2009 by guest author Jeff Campbell

As our crew of five closed in on the mooring it was a great time to reflect on what we had just experienced. It had been tough race and we had abandoned on the first night. That said it was an experience that I would not regret. What if I sailed all my life and never go though a 40 mile a hour wind or experience a 10 to 20 foot swell or even a storm? Looking at my crew-mates and knowing that my life and theirs depended on the skills that we demonstrated as yachtsmen. Returning to port, we sat in the cockpit and recalled surfing down waves at 10 knots, and how I was shouting out that this was sailing at its best, Oh boy did I have a great big smile on my face! The skipper smiled at me as if to say he's nuts (the verdict... Read more →

"0-2 And Taking It Personally" - An account from the Around Long Island Race 2009 by guest author Ethan Garr

"That's Seafeather heading back towards home . . . [muffled] . . . should we poll the . . . [muffled] . . ." Through the whistle of the 30 knot winds, that is what I heard about 2.5 hours after the start of the 2009 Around Long Island Race. I was on the rail, taking a beating with the rest of our crew in 7 foot waves. I was wet, soaked through my foulies and starting to get cold, and I'd be lying if I said my stomach was fine. So when I heard those words I was, frankly, relieved. From the beginning things were hairy. We fried a battery during the load, and one of our crewmembers got stuck in traffic so we were late leaving the dock. We got pounded progressively worse as we approached the start and we had reports that the weather was going to... Read more →

A first hand account from Around Long Island Race 2009 - "Why, oh Why?"

Here is an account from a sailing buddy who took part in the ALIR on a boat he had never crewed on before. To protect the innocent, I will keep the boat name anonymous. My friend had some big questions about the experience: The first time I saw the boat, my first response was why am I going offshore in a boat that looks like it won't make it around the corner let alone make it around long island (why)? Why am I in an all new crew with a person who has raced the ALR six times (why)? Why is there a rookie dressed in shorts and tee shirt in a rainy weather and who has never left the bay? Well we headed for start and the weather went from worse to worse real fast. We were about 3 hours early for the start in six foot swells (why... Read more →

Around Long Island Race Update - The Finishers

In an earlier post I erroneously said that no one finished. Thanks to the Tillerman I stand corrected. According to the results, 10 boats did complete the race including the Navy's entry, Swift. Congratulations and BIG respect to all those who made it, especially to the skippers and crews of: On the Mark II Hammerhand Black Mallard WYNSUM YDA4A Tenacity III Inessa II Swift Cathexis Zaraffa If anyone has any accounts from the race, I would love to hear about them and will most definitely share. Read more →

Around Long Island Race 2009

Last year, I took part in the 190 mile, 2008 Around Long Island Race. The course starts off Rockaway Point, NY, you then leave Montauk Point and the Orient Point Lighthouse to port, to the finish line off the Glen Cove Breakwater. We had a blast but the conditions were so light that we did not finish. I did not take part this year as Knot Again was not racing. It sounds like a missed a lot of excitement. Last night I received this email from RYC Past Commodore, Vicky Jo Neiner in the daily club email blast: The 2009 Around Long Island Regatta was started yesterday afternoon in some of the worst conditions in the event's history. NJ was represented well. Some of the boats included: RYC: Sea Feather Poppy Quintessence Beatnik Persistence KYC: Desdemona Healing Power AHYC: Surface Tension Jade Falcor There were gale conditions at the start... Read more →