We've had incredible sailing weather this July, only one Wednesday night race was cancelled due to lack of wind; and most of the fleet raced informally anyway. Last year there were several races where we actually could have gone faster if we'd jumped in the water and pushed.
For the second summer series CORA split the non-spinnaker class into two fleets, D and N. The N fleet are the non-spinnaker boats that rate less than 200 phrf. This made for a lot more close racing for us and for a change we weren't the lowest rated boat in the fleet. As the season shaped up our arch rivals this year have been "Fate" and "The Usual Suspects" who we owe 5 seconds and 33 seconds a mile respectively. Unfortunately I was out of town for the first two races so we didn't have enough finishes to be scored in the series, but race 6 was our most successful race, although we finished fourth we finally beat Fate! For more frequent updates visit the S/V Peregrine facebook page.
One of the highlights for me during the second half of the season was the addition of a GoPro camera (birthday present from my adoring children) to the ship's equipment list. I'm still working on the best place to mount it to capture both crew activities and some of the close sailing we're experiencing.
Peregrine's new light air spinnaker
We've recovered from our spinnaker disaster in the Sheriff's Cup to Bohicket race where we completely blew out our only spinnaker shortly after turning South outside of the jetty. Our replacements include a light weight symmetrical from Bacon Sails and a Gennaker picked up on eBay.
Our next race will be an ocean race, the Savannah Cup and we'll be back in C Class. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll have an incredible night sail down the coast.
We've also started fund raising for the Leukemia Cup; this is a two day regatta that takes place in September. As a ship our goal is to raise $10,000 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, in addition to funding research they also provide financial support to patients. If you are able to support our team send me a note or go to our fund raising page at: http://www.leukemiacup.org/pages/sc/char14/TVienneau
Your contributions of any amount are greatly appreciated!!
Last Saturday kicked off the 2014 Offshore Series in Charleston and it was an incredible day to spend on the water. It was still a little chilly but with our move up to C class anyone working the spinnaker stayed warm enough. We had several new crew members aboard as well as many of our regulars from last season. The winds were a little light but perfect for learning to deploy and trim the spinnaker. The tidal currents were favorable for both the inbound and outbound legs of the race which made the trip go a little quicker.
We were still shaking the cobwebs out from winter so we weren't as quick as I'd hoped but we did have a great day out on the water and are looking forward to the next race.
Some interesting history on the name Peregrine:
Peregrine - Wandering, traveling, migratory. Not native to a region or country; foreign; alien.
Extrinsic or from without; exotic.
From - Peregrē - foreign (to or from abroad)
In 1620, Pilgrims William and Susanna White chose the name Peregrine for their son, the first English child born in the New World. Peregrine was born aboard the Mayflower while it was harbored in Provincetown. (At the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts and you can still see his cradle!)
Emperor Commodus sent the first Saint Peregrine to his death in the late 192 AD. His relics now reside in St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota;
In the late 200s, another Peregrine set out for Gaul, converted the locals to Christianity and built a cathedral in Auxerre, before meeting his fate during the Diocletian persecutions;
The sixth century Italian bishop Saint Cetteus is also known as Peregrinus;
The thirteenth century Saint Peregrine Laziosi gave up his wild youthful ways following a vision, became a monk and is now considered the patron saint for cancer and AIDS patients.
So far the 2014 racing season has not been kind to Peregrine, for the CORA frostbite series we decided to move up to C class, which is with spinnaker. We were all set for the first race, but it was cancelled due to lack of wind. Unfortunately we also managed to clog the fuel filter so ended up drifting down the channel and finally anchoring while the intrepid crew changed the fuel filter and purged the fuel system. In the mean time a fog bank rolled in and we stationed a crewman to ring our fog bell since we were anchored at the edge of a channel. After about two hours we were able to fire the engine and motor back through the fog to the marina.
Race two was also a challenge and this time there was more wind than we were comfortable flying the spinnaker in. This was a good safety decision but didn't help our finishing position; we decided to withdraw when it appeared we were going to be lapped. The third race Peregrine stayed at the dock. David crewed on the J-24 Dirty White Bouy and I worked with the race committee at the start/finish line. It ended up being another drifter and was fun to watch from the Carolina YC dock. The fourth race was looking good but when we got to the marina wind was gusting to 30 knots and I decided it was too risky to try to get out of the marina with that much cross wind, most of the other skippers agreed with me and only a few boats started that race. The B fleet actually decided to defer a day and race Sunday instead.
This brings us to the final race of the series, scheduled for tomorrow. Last weekend when we were readying for a pleasure sale we discovered a crab pot float had fouled our propeller. I was hoping to clear it today but the cold weather deterred me and Peregrine will remain at the dock until the weather warms up. We did manage to get a picture of the offender and it doesn't look pretty.
With any luck the weather will warm up so I can get in the water and clear the prop and inspect the running gear. Hopefully this is not an indicator for the season.
