Racing on the Ultimate 24 (soon to be Antrim 25)

Pete, the owner was short on crew for the YRA series, this race being sailed out of Golden Gate Yacht Club so he asked Garett and I to join in. Pete’s the guy who loaned us his U24 for the Pacific Sail Expo.

I have to say I was excited at the prospect. The Ultimate 24 (U24) was the Sailing World “Boat of the Year” in 2004 for good reason. It’s a nearly perfect blend of speed and utility. Very lightweight at 2040 lbs (with 750 in the keel bulb) and still it offers a full (for 24 footer standards) interior...amazing. There’s even a porta potti in case you have lady crew :-)

Garett and I met the boat with Pete and his regular crew, Kelly, aboard. Winds promised to be heavy and I was nervous with anticipation. The yacht club was all abuzz with pre-race preparations from a dozen boats nearby. Lots of people doing lots of last minute things. We rigged up the new sails Pete just had Santa Cruz sails design and build for the boat. Nice stuff...push away from the dock and we’re gone.

My first sensation is just how stable this ultra-ultra light boat is. The U24 is a cored fiberglass boat with carbon fiber reinforcements throughout, a carbon fiber mast, boom and bowsprit. It feels light, in a substantial way...hard to explain.

Pre-race maneuvers go well. Pete’s a good helm guy and Kelly knows the boat well so Garett and I just sort of blend in like we belong. We nail a solid start for the beat to weather heading up to Blackhauler buoy at Crissy Field. It’s uneventful except for the building wind. There’s some discussion as to setting the asymmetrical spinnaker and if we have indeed rigged it right for hoisting. We round the windward mark, still a little unsure if we’re setup properly but what the hell, hoist away....WRONG! We’ve hoisted the kite (spinnaker) upside down, that is to say, the clew is flying at the head of the sail. I hate it when they don’t mark those corners with the word “clew” LOL. We actually tried to sail it that way, just to see if we could. Bad Idea, very slow and not too photogenic. A quick douse and reset has us clipping along at 15-16 knots sailing toward the leeward mark, #1 which lies ENE of Alcatraz about half a mile. A pretty uneventful leg of the race except I now realize we’re racing against not only another U24 in our class, but a Flying Tiger too and not just a Flying Tiger but the boat that has been beating all the other Tigers (including the one I occasionally race on!)

The spinnaker douse at the mark goes smoothly, we turn the mark and start our beat to weather. The tide still has some flood left in it so we head off to sail close to the City Front to stay out of the incoming current. The wind has built to a steady 20 knots but the U24 handles this with ease. The other U24 reefs, which turns out to be slower and while they rounded the mark well in front of us (our little fiasco with the first spinnaker set slowed us considerably) we more than make up for it gaining perhaps 30 boat lengths and rounding the windward mark well ahead of them.

The wind has built to a solid 26-28 knots now with 30+knot gusts. We decide to set the kite cautiously and are we glad we did. It’s a WILD ride back down to #1. The boat is skipping along the wave tops. We’re all yelling a screaming like kids on a roller coaster. Pete calmly mentions that we just broke his boats previous 17 knot speed record by hitting 18.4 knots. Certainly something to celebrate. The Other U24 has sailed a great downwind leg and is right beside us. The Flying Tiger is off to port and having a world of trouble...they’ve crashed (broached) the boat hard and can’t seem to get things under control. We urge Pete to just look at the waves, the boat, the kite and get us to the mark. A good douse and mark rounding have us pounding, and I mean POUNDING our way back to the Cityfront and the finish line. The chop built to a steep 3-4 feet and the wind was gusting 35 knots plus. The other U24 was right next to us. We traded tacks all the way back to the Golden Gate Yacht Club and they managed to beat us by a couple of boat lengths. The final beat was filled with exhilaration and carnage. We saw several boats lose their masts, many spinnaker crashes (broaches) and general mayhem among the fleet.

Yup, these are tough little ocean racers, fast and fun. I’m so looking forward to adding these well made sportboats to our fleet....soon!

Hauling out large Sailing Catamarans

Every two years, Sea Raven has to come out of the water, or drydock, as we say. with most boats, this is a fairly easy and accessible task. There’s dozens of boatyards surrounding San Francisco Bay, from Sacramento all the way through the City, East Bay and beyond. Pull your boat into the slipways, a big hoist pulls over the bow, lowers a few straps, lifts the boat, steam cleans the bottom and places her in the yard supported by jackstands.

Unfortunately, things aren’t so simple with Catamarans. M

ost are too wide to fit into the slipways and between the legs of the moving hoist. Traditionally big Cats are hauled on either a marine rail or a lifting drydock. Both of these methods are normally used to haul BIG, heavy ships. While Catamarans are very wide, they aren’t particularly ‘big’ in the ship sense. Both drydocks and railways are quite expe

nsive to use...something Catamaran owners just have to deal with. Our normal marine rail in Sausalito was so busy (there are fewer and fewer of these every year) so they simply couldn’t squeeze us in for a good six months. Sea Raven is US Coast Guard certified and as such has prescripted inspections. We needed to get boat hauled before May 1.

A friend of mine, Hans, who owns a couple of commercial boats told me about a little yard in Napa, Ca that specializes in hauling big Cats (and all sorts of boats). They use a rather unique marine rail system and they aren’t small at all. Quite to the contrary, they might have more boats in their yard than I’ve ever seen in any other yard, literally hundreds. They store what looks like most of the commercial herring fleet. Add in the odd seaplane and some contraption called “tin can” and you have an eclectic mix of things that supposed to be floating.

Napa lies 8 hours north, by water, of our San Francisco location. What starts out as a normal delivery from point to point ends up turning into a lovely sightseeing trip up one of America’s most beautiful waterways. The mudflats of San Pablo Bay give way to the vineyard lined shores of the river, quite a sight to behold.

We’ve hauled Sea Raven out on many marine rails, but never one like this. Most rails you just pull the boat up onto a BIG electric winch. It’s very much like pulling a ski boa t out of the lake, just in bigger proportions. Yes, I’m oversimplifying it, but you get my point. The Napa yard has a large rail car a big winch BUT instead of the boat sitting on the rail car, the boats belly or ‘bridge deck’ (the expanse between the two hulls) rests on the car. There’s all sorts of engineering that has to be factored into this style of haulout; where the main structural members of the boat are located, how much stress they can take, where to place supports and pads...it’s all pretty complicated.

Garett and I were filled with visions of all sorts of things going awry. Sea Raven has never hauled on ‘her belly.’ Add to that, a fair crosswind and the necessity to place Sea Ravens fiberglass belly within a 2 or 3 inch tolerance in a 15 knot crosswind, you get the idea.

Surprisingly, it worked, thankfully. Now begins the task at hand, pulling shafts, props, sanding, more sanding, painting, more painting, pull out an unused generator for rebuilding, more sanding and painting. Finally the easing of the boat down the rail, into the water and the truly lovely ride through all the vineyards and beauty that is Napa Valley back to our cozy little harbor in San Francisco. Thanks Mike at Napa Valley Marina, you run a great yard!

Back at South Beach, in her berth...Whew...what a journey.