First Timer’s Guide to the Harvest Moon Regatta |
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Note: This is not an "Official" Website sponsored by Lakewood Yacht Club or the Harvest Moon Committee
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By Rus Records of ketch "Voyager" Two-time Winner of 1St place in Class |
Each year for the past 15 years, the Lakewood Yacht Club has sponsored the classic Harvest Moon Regatta race from Galveston to Port Aransas, Texas, a distance of 153 nm on the rhumb line. Each year, approximately a third of the boats and crews are doing this race for the first time, and for many it’s their first experience in an offshore or coastal race. The race is always held in October (17-20th October 2002) to roughly coincide with the full moon. Last year, over 250 boats set out from Galveston (239 finished) For 2002, a Captain’s Roundtable was held at Lakewood Yacht Club on Saturday, September 7th to pre-brief the prospective racers and to encourage captains and crews to make the commitment to be part of the race classic. A lot of the Roundtable information that Jeremy Hood and others present is replicated here. (Thanks, JH). The final Skippers meeting was on October 11th at Lakewood Yacht Club where scratch sheets and final race instructions were handed out. You have until the day of the race to turn in your crew lists to Lakewood Yacht Club.
This web page is presented as a guide to the first-time captain and crew who are trying to decide whether they feel confident in setting out for the first big one. Recommendation: Go for it, you can do this!
Like last year, it will be a sailing race, and MOTORING IS NOT PERMITTED. If you motor at all, you are disqualified. Before you click away in disappointment, note that the race is now a full 49 hours long, starting Thursday, October 17th at 1400 and ending on Saturday, October 19th at 1500 at the Port Aransas jetties. With any kind of wind at all, most boats should be able to make it under sail alone, since all you need to do is make 3.2 knots good toward the finish. Also, NO AUTOPILOTS in any class.
The Start is usually between the Pier on the Flagship Hotel and an offshore floating mark, usually an orange pyramid-shape. If you’ve always been terrified of sailboat starts, don’t sweat this one. You can hang back out of the gentle commotion and not fall more than a few boat-lengths behind. There will be about 24 separate classes of similar boats, so your chances of winning a prize is pretty good. The 24 classes are organized into 7 starting groups that start out together 15 minutes apart between 1400 and 1600, with the slowest boats going first. Just don't get tangled in the offshore mark; a few years ago someone got the anchor line for the mark wrapped around their prop. Before you get to the start area, however you must navigate out of Galveston Harbor, and we suggest that you review your charts before you try this for the first time. In 2000, one boat ended up aground and being pounded ashore on the south side of the harbor entrance. In 2001, there was a dismasting just inside the jetties, so prepare your boat if it's not been outside Clear Lake in a while. Be sure and leave enough time to get to the starting area, it's about an hour sail from the Jetties.
| The Start: It's quite a site to have over 200 boats maneuvering towards the start line. The boats are organized into about 24 separate classes with 7 different start times so it's not as hair-raising as this telephoto shot from the Flagship Hotel seems to indicate |  |
The signals for the start will include flags, a cannon, and radio announcements on Channel 68, originating from the Flagship pier. Each group will fly a particular color of streamer that will be handed out at the Race Briefing. At 15 minutes to go for a particular group start, the group streamer will be raised on the pier. At 5 minutes to go, the preparatory signal (usually the "repeater" signal flag) will be raised. At 1 minute to go, the preparatory signal will be dropped. At the start time, the group streamer will be dropped and the start cannon will fire. The race committee will also call all of the signals on channel 68. Remember that channel 72 is the normal race committee frequency during the race. If this seems too confusing, just hang out with the boats that have the same color streamer as you do, and DO WHAT THEY DO.
The final mark is #6 off Port Aransas, and the Finish Line is in the entry channel to Port Aransas, abeam the Channel View Condos from which the Race Committee watches the finish. Captains and Navigators must define their own track between these two lines, taking into account wind and weather. One important caution: If you sail a straight line between the start and finish, your boat and crew will end up on the beach at Freeport around 0300, so you need to figure out the course to clear marker # 2 at Freeport, then dogleg back towards Port Aransas, clearing marker #6 to starboard. You should set a depth alarm at 25 feet or so once clear of Galveston so that if you get too close to the beach, you will have some warning. While this may seem an unnecessary precaution, boats have ended up on the beach for real in the middle of the night.
Most of all of the offshore platforms out from Freeport and Matagorda are well-lighted and noisy, so don’t worry too much about hitting some dark shape in the middle of the night. Just keep a careful watch. Some will be unlighted, but with the moon you should be able to see them. You do need to be especially alert for fishing boats, crew boats, seismic vessels, and big ships leaving Freeport Harbor at night. I strongly suggest reviewing your Chapman's to understand night-time boat lighting schemes for different boats. You will be at sea for possibly two nights and one long day, so plan some training and recreational activities for your crew. Its supposed to be fun.
Remember: This year’s race begins on Thursday at 1400, rather than Friday at 1200 as in some years before 2000. You must arrive over the finish line NO LATER THAN 1500 on Saturday to qualify, and no motoring is permitted. Beware of the extensive traffic inside the Pt. A channel; there are cruise ships and Naval vessels coming and going and the Rules of the Road still apply. In 2001, one racer was disqualified because he cut in front of and dangerously close to of a Naval ship to enter the marina. Wrong!
Once you are over, head for the City Marina to the left of the main entry channel. Hopefully, you brought plenty of dock lines and fenders.
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Once you enter the City marina, the Docking Committee (new this year) will direct you to a slip or have you raft up alongside another boat. Rumor is that Island Moorings is closed at present due to shallow waters, though I've heard different recent reports about dredging there. If you don't want to raft up with 10 other boats, you can go anchor out. There are usually crews going back and forth in dinghies to get you over to the Marina for activities, but you may want to bring your own dinghy to make sure. Don't worry too much about where to put your boat down there. Everyone is very accommodating; well, mostly everyone. Be sure and pay the Dockmaster for your stay, even if you didn't get a luxurious slip, you still need to pay for hanging out with 10 other boats. Hey, that's how they stay in business. |
Remember, you also need to get your boat back home. Some racers leave their boats in Port Aransas at the City Marina or on a mooring until the following weekend, but most leave on Sunday to return to Galveston by late Monday night. There will be a bus going back on Sunday at 11:00 for those crew who can't sail back. Some use the week to do some cruising up the Texas coast. Make sure you arrange crew for the return as well as the race leg. There are lots of folks driving down and back for the Saturday parties and Lakewood always arranges a bus, so transport down and/or back shouldn’t be a big problem. There are several hotels in the area for crew to stay in as necessary.
The
LYC information for the course advertises “usually a beam reach in the bright
moonlight”, but this is not as common as it might seem.
If the wind is truly out of the SE, then the race is a speed run down the
coast in sight of the beach. However,
significant wind shifts during the 24 - 40 hour race frequently occur, and must be
figured into your race strategy. The
passage of a powerful cold front, which happened in 1999, changed the wind
direction from 20 knots out of the SW to 25 knots out of the North.
The winning crews starboard-tacked into the SW head wind, working far
offshore braving 8 ft seas, then headed back inshore after the wind clocked
around to the North early Saturday morning.
In 2001, there was a series of storms that came up the coast on early Friday morning. The boats that were inshore missed most of the action, while boats that were farther offshore got as many as 3 separate squalls to contend with. Guess where the winners were. Many boats had some damage, so you need to be prepared for challenging weather.
This year will have its own challenges with a cold front expected on Friday sometime. Check the latest weather at http://www.gbca.org/nwsWx.php3#gmx
If you have support "crew" back home, making that cell phone call and getting a weather briefing fresh off the Waterford web site can spell the difference between finishing early and looking at a blown-out main while your competitors pass you by.
| Weather information is available from a number of sources, include Navy Ocean Office, NOAA, and private sources like MAXSEA. These will give you wind direction and speed forecasts as well as wave height and direction for the entire Gulf, which can be a big confidence builder. As Captain, you must know what's out there and what kind of conditions your boat and crew will experience before you leave the starting line. This is the wave chart from the beginning of the Veracruz Race that shows 6 to 8 foot waves all along the North Texas coast and out almost 100 miles. Hmm. |  |
Even
with the extended timeframe, you should always track how far you are from the
finish line and how much time remains. Your “circle of death” is the circle out from the finish
with a radius of how far you can sail at the existing wind angle and resulting
speed to arrive at the finish line given the time remaining before the 1500
deadline.
Example: If you can sail at
6 knots maximum VMG on a heading to the finish and it’s 0800 on Saturday (7 hours to go) then the “circle
of death” has a radius of 6x7=42 miles out from the finish line.
Let's say that your distance to the finish at 0800 is 32 miles, so you're safe
for now. As the time remaining decreases, the circle tightens. Hopefully, you will always stay inside the “circle of death” radius by
sailing hard and smart.
However, if the “circle of death” catches up with you, then you're
out. Then you can
decide whether to sail a) harder and smarter, b) just start the motor and head for the party, or to
c) withdraw and head back to Galveston. Depends where you are. During
the 1999 race, we encountered strong SW winds (on the nose) for the first 12
hours of the race, and our “circle of death” caught up with us at midnight on
Friday. Since we were just off Freeport
and were faced with 17
hours remaining, motoring at top speed into a 2 knot current, we turned around and sailed back to
Galveston on a “beam reach in the bright moonlight.”
Given
that this year’s race starts on Thursday, there is now more time to deal with
adverse winds during some part of the race.
The race
for better or ill has become a sailing race and hopefully more sailing crews will
complete the race, rather than withdrawing because they can’t reach the finish
in time to qualify.
You
need to give careful thought to your crew complement, considering both skills
and temperament. A “good”
number for the crew of a 40 footer is six sailors, which gives the Captain
flexibility in making watch assignments. You
should have at least one person who can back you up as Captain, hopefully
someone who is used to running a boat and has some offshore experience. As
Captain, you should assume the role of “team chief”, since even though you
might be the most skilled person in all roles, you cannot do them all
simultaneously, and you need to rest as well.
Your job is to see that the boat is sailed well and safely.
You should have someone who is a competent Navigator, as well as
weatherman and race strategist. He or she should be responsible for assembling a
forecast and conducting a weather briefing for the crew, as well as recording
and plotting hourly position and recommending course changes.
You need someone who can perform the role of Engineer, fixing the
inevitable breakages and stoppages. Being
able to replace fuel filters quickly and purge air from lines is the critical
skill. He or she should inventory spare parts, filters, and needed
tools and make sure everything is aboard.
| The choice of crew for the Harvest Moon should consider each members skills, strength, and temperament. Each member should know what their primary responsibility and secondary duties will be ahead of time. As Captain, you need to delegate responsibilities and "manage" the boat. Your job is to get them there fast and safe. |  |
You need someone to perform the role of Chef/Steward. While you might want to let everyone share cooking duties, someone needs to honcho this that can plan a menu, knows where the food is stored, where the pots and pans are, and how to safely operate the stove. This will be more important this year, since we may be at sea for two nights instead of one.
Everyone should be competent at the helm and at the other
basic sailing skills like trimming sails, though if you have good coverage for
the key roles, you might consider bringing along some rookies to get some
experience. Seasickness is always a
concern for rookies, so hopefully they have been offshore fishing and know what
to expect. You need to manage their
use of mal de mer remedies to ensure that susceptible crew take the right
dosage; too little and it doesn’t protect, and too much and they will begin
hallucinating. Been there, saw
that!
Once
you have your crew, plan a couple of weekend training sails to get them
acquainted with your boat, where everything is, and how to sail it
competitively. You might find that
one of your crew is simply not a fit with the rest of your crew, or can’t
master seasickness, and it’s much better to find that out before you're 30 miles
offshore.
Your
crew will get hungrier and thirstier toward the end of the race, so plan
accordingly.
You should create and enforce a watch schedule that suits the size of your crew and their skill level. I generally set up the two-man on-watch by pairing up an experienced person with a rookie, and we generally have four-hour watches during the day, and three-hour watches at night. If you have a crew of six, then they each get 6-8 hours off, which is plenty of time to get good sleep. If conditions get rough, then shorten the watch period to two hours or even one hour if it’s raining and cold. Write up the watch schedule and post it where everyone will know when he or she is up next. Insist that off-watch crew gets rest; even if they can’t get to sleep they should get below, get horizontal and relax. This is especially important the first night out; when everyone will want to be up and crowded into the cockpit. Get them out of the cockpit and below resting. You need to ensure that your boat provides enough sleeping accommodations for the race, which is generally a port tack. If all of your bunks are on the port side, then you need to install lee cloths before the race.
The
key pieces of equipment for this race are a good GPS, reliable VHF radio, and a
set of binoculars. Everyone should
have their own small flashlight, and a good pair of deck shoes. Each crew should
have his/her own foul weather gear, because it is frequently wet from spray or
even storm. Tell your crew to pack light and use soft-sided bags, rather than
American Tourister. For the engine, spare fuel filters are very important, since
you may stir up sludge from the bottom of your tanks with the wave action, and
need to change filters once or more during the race if you are forced to motor.
Try to get portable backups (buy or borrow) for all key electronic gear,
especially the GPS and VHF radio.
On
my boat, each crew must have his/her own inflatable PFD, which needs an attached
whistle and a strobe, and a strong tether. Rig jacklines along both sides of the
deck so that crew can hook up without leaving the cockpit or companionway. You
need a man-overboard pole, and a crew rescue device like a Life-Sling.
Practice recovering someone from the water during your training sails.
You’ll find that it’s harder than you think.
Conduct an inventory of Coast Guard required equipment, and test
everything. You are not required to carry a life raft, but if you can get
one on loan, then it’s a good thing to have along.
You should also carry an EPIRB. You
should begin your safety routine and start using your safety gear as soon as you
leave Clear Lake. Don’t wait
until you are actually in the race to be safe.
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Minimum individual crew equipment should include good deck shoes, foul weather gear, an inflatable PFD with whistle and strobe light, a small flashlight, trusted mal de mer remedies, spare eyeglasses, and layered clothing, from T-shirts thru a warm pullover. As Captain, you need to ensure that each crew is prepared. |
It’s
surprising how fast the fleet deploys and disappears, especially if your race
strategy takes you offshore, and even with 230 other boats out there you may not see anyone
after the first night until the fleet converges on the finish line.
If your VHF is in good condition, you should be able to establish radio
contact with at least
several boats over the horizon who can reach you in a couple of hours. The
Coast Guard will not be far away either, and can reach you quickly by helicopter
or C-130. If need be, they can drop you emergency pumps or a life raft.
Any
reasonably competent skipper with a safe near-coastal boat and semi-experienced
crew can have a safe and enjoyable Harvest Moon voyage.
You need to plan and prepare your boat and crew ahead of time, and brush
up on any rusty captaining skills, but all the work and preparation is worth it
when you cross that finish line in Port Aransas!
| The Race Fleet arrives in at the Finish Line in Port A. In the 2000 race, the spinnaker boats did a run down the beach, while the non-spinnaker boats ran faster offshore. At the finish, the two groups converged at the entrance to Pt. Aransas fully a day before the official finish time! Note the mix of spinnaker and non-spinnaker boats at the finish line! |  |
For more information and the official point of view, log onto the Lakewood Yacht Club website at www.lakewoodyachtclub.com. Also check out Jeremy Hood's site at www.bluewatercruising.com.
Have a great sail and Voyager's crew will see you at the Party!
