The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race Shearwater 45 Trophy

The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race is an annual 118 mile dash from Baltimore MD to Portsmouth VA. It has been raced every year since 1990, after Capt Lane Briggs of the Tugantine "Norfolk Rebel" challenged "Pride of Baltimore" to a race down the bay. It is a charity event, supporting various charity organisations involved with maintaining the health of Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.

The match-up between "Norfolk Rebel" and "Pride of Baltimore 11" was far from even

, a sailing tug against a much bigger and more powerful trading schooner replica. That set the tone for all races since then, with schooners of all types and sizes handicapped to race against each other.

I have sailed in this race on three different boats, all of my design. They were the 60ft "Ancilla 11", the Hout Bay 40 "Adventure" and the Shearwater 45 "Apella". This year there is another Shearwater 45 competing, the near-identical sister "Moonbeam". These two boats were built alongside each other in Cape Town, where they were owned by friends and business colleagues. Now they belong to two different friends, Dan Hall and Mike Ritenour.

Shearwater 45 schooners "Apella" and "Moonbeam"

This race originated as a challenge between two schooners. In that spirit, last year I challenged the two Shearwater 45 schooners to race for a trophy that I would provide. And here it is. It is a floating trophy, to be raced for each time both boats are in The Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. It is named the "Shearwater 45 Challenge". The winning boat will have the right to mount it on a bulkhead in the saloon and carry it with bragging rights until they next meet on that same course. I will provide the winner's name plate each year, to be attached to the trophy as the historical record.

Shearwater 45 Challenge trophy

I have three people to thank, for assisting me to create this trophy.

1) Hunter Gall, good friend and client. He reworked my 3D model to prepare it for 3D printing as a half model.

2) Philip Gurecki and his company Accurate Machine. He did the 3D printing of the half model.

3) Kevin Agee for the beautiful piece of sapele mahogany for the back board. This is an off-cut from the toerail of his new 27ft sportfisherman that is nearing completion in York County VA.

I will be sailing in the race this year on "Moonbeam" with owner Mike Ritenour, two of my friends and whatever other crew Mike manages to Shanghai on the wharf. My two friends are surfing buddy and cruising sailor Scott Page and accomplished single-handed circumnavigator Anthony Steward.

Dudley Dix

GCBSR Report Back

As described in my previous post, a big fleet of schooners (35 of them) of all types and styles, sailed from Baltimore at the northern end of Chesapeake Bay to Portsmouth at the southern end. Starting on Thursday lunch time, after a big Wednesday evening dinner party at the Polish Home in Baltimore, most boats were in Portsmouth by early Saturday in time for the big lunch-time oyster, clam and pig roast and prizegiving.

On the Shearwater 45 "Apella", owned and skippered by Dan Hall, we acquitted ourselves quite well with second in Class B behind the 65ft "Tom Bombadil". In a schooner fleet quoted length includes the bowsprit, so our Shearwater 45 is listed at 54ft. Winner in Class C was "Adventure", the Hout Bay 40 gaff schooner (listed at 42ft) on which I sailed this race about 5 years ago. I don't know why she only gains 2ft in her listing, her bowsprit is considerably more than 2ft.

Classes B and C started 10 minutes behind the bigger boats of classes A and AA. The fastest of the first start boats sailed away from us but we had the opportunity to view some of the others as we sailed through the back end of the bigger fleet, with opportunities for good photos.

"Mystic Whaler", out of New London, Connecticut. She is a regular in this race.

A few boats fell out of the race along the way. The weather turned out to be considerably less favourable than the 8-10mph westerly breezes with smooth water that were forecast. We had those conditions for the first 6-8 hours of racing but then the breeze started to head south and continued that trend until it was pretty much on the nose and increased to about 25 knots (about 3x the forecast). With wind against tide most of the time, the seas were short and sharp, rather uncomfortable. This was too much for some crews, who retired from the race.

Hauling in "Lady Maryland"

I succumbed to the uncomfortable seas and donated my dinner to the fish, crabs and clams of Chesapeake Bay for a few hours from about 4am Friday until we reached smoother water south of our finish at Windmill Point. My own fault of course, I believed the forecast and didn't take my usual precautions until after we hit the rough water. By then it was too late to do much good.

Some of our crew. L-R Joe Miller, Dudley, Scott Page. Owner Dan Hall at the helm.

I really enjoy sailing among these boats, particularly the big ones like "Pride of Baltimore", "Mystic Whaler", "Lady Maryland" and others that are dedicated to educating people from all walks of life and of all ages. They do so in the interests of the community, teaching skills that will be lost to humanity without such dedicated people serving as stewards, to look after and pass on the crafts and skills of traditional schooners and the coastal waters in which they operate.

"Pride of Baltimore" docked in Portsmouth, other big schooners in the background.

I have sailed many thousands of miles and sailed most of my life but my skills are insignificant beside these true watermen and women. Some of these boats are skippered and crewed by women and they are well-respected by the men among whom they sail and compete. Being female is no disadvantage in the world of schooners, all must prove themselves on an equal basis.

Overall, this was another memorable Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. This event was the brainchild of the late Capt. Lane Briggs, who sailed in most of them in his steel gaff schooner "Norfolk Rebel", a sail-assisted tug. The innovative Capt. Briggs was a sturdy pillar of the community in Hampton Roads, initiating many events to support, educate and entertain residents and visitors alike. The many volunteers involved in creating and hosting the Schooner Race every year do a wonderful job of keeping alive the aspirations of Lane Briggs, ensuring that they will continue for a long time into the future.

Dudley Dix

Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race 2015

I will be away from my desk from Wednesday morning early, through to the weekend. I won't have my laptop with me, so you won't get me by email for a few days. The reason for this gap in my connectivity is that I will be preparing for and sailing in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race.

"Apella" approaching the start line for the 2014 race.

The race connects the two port cities of Baltimore at the northern end of the Bay and Portsmouth at the southern end, both of which throw excellent parties for the crews. The course is actually a bit shorter, starting  just south of the Bay Bridge that spans Chesapeake Bay north of Annapolis and finishing at Thimble Shoals off Hampton Roads. That is for the bigger boats but the smaller and slower boats get to finish at Windmill Point about 50 miles further up the Bay, then choose to either sail or motor the rest of the way to Portsmouth in time for the festivities.

I will be sailing on the schooner-rigged Shearwater 45 "Apella", the same boat on which we won Class B last year. She is owned by Dan Hall, who lives aboard and keeps moving up and down the coast wherever schooner events and whim may take him.

Some of the "Apella" crew showing off the silverware in 2014.

It was as we crossed the start line last year that, sitting astride the cockpit coaming and grinding the Genoa winch, I dislocated my left knee. I'll have to be careful about my body placement when grinding this year.

I was wrapped up because it was chilly last year, after a stormy party night.

Great news is that twin sister to "Apella", "Moonbeam", has been bought by a friend of Dan Hall and she is being brought north from Florida for a refit, after which I anticipate that the two boats will get together often. I look forward to match racing these boats down the Bay in future years.

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