HISC to Palm Beach Sailing Club RegattaMay 4, 2024

The annual HISC to PBSC Regatta kicked off with the Skippers Meeting Friday night with an open-air barbeque on the east side of Lake Boca. We had a nice breeze, and the temperature was pleasant for an outdoor event. There were around 30+ people in attendance with captains and crews

HISC sponsors the Skippers Meeting, hosting the PBSC boats who took Friday to sail or motor down the ICW to stage at Lake Boca for the race the following day. Mike Micelli volunteered his boat and time to shuttle crew from and to their boats on Lake Boca to the barbeque area dock. Norma Glanz served as the first mate. Once everyone had their food, the Race Committee from each club presented the SI (sailing Instructions), NOR (notice of race) and scratch sheet. The Race Committee reviewed the information with the captains and crew and answered a handful of questions. Everyone was ready to race on Saturday.

Saturday morning dawned early for everyone with a 10 am start. The start mark was dropped in the water and the start line was drawn. The Beach Committee was on station at 9:15 . The start mark was favored, and boats were sailing back and forth plugging the start line into chart plotters and timing the run to the line.

There was a minor blip in the morning with boat with a seasick crew that was asking for help from beach committee. Was there any way that their crew member could be transferred to Chasing Blue, our start mark retriever? Advice was given over the radio about how dangerous that could be to the seasick person and to the boats. There were some good size waves rolling through and presented a danger. The idea was dashed, and the crew member stuck it out to the end. One of the rules of racing is, you have to finish with the same number of crew you started with.

Back to the race. HISC Race Committee made a final announcement on the radio and handed the regatta over to the Beach Committee. BC performed a roll call and got all the boats checked in.

The first start was JAM at 10. The clock counted down to 10 and JAM was off the line. There were 5 boats in JAM and some good competition. We were using rolling starts so the start time of the prior section was the next section’s 5-minute mark. There was a blip of confusion over the next start due to a documentation confusion, but it was quickly remedied. The SIs are the golden rule when racing! ARC/SPIN started at 10:05 with 5 boats in the section. Our very own Commodore was first over the line with Commotion nipping at the stern. The ARC was a closely rated section and provided competitive sailing. 10:10 Multihull with 4 boats hit their start. At 10:15 we saw the lone Gunkhole boat start and the race was on!

We had steady winds 9-14 from the ENE & E by the end of the race with 2-4 ft waves. Boats headed out to catch the Gulfstream and take advantage of whatever forward propulsion mother ocean would provide.

Commotion was clocking the current and watching the other boats in ARC head out. It became apparent that going out was not helping the boats so we stayed mid-course. Later we confirmed this when the boats who went out stated they experienced the same current push (2.6ish) that Commotion experienced closer in. The fleets spread out and the larger boats used waterline and mast height to “make trees” on the other boats. Minutes turned into hours and the south Florida coastline moved along at a pace of 6-8 knots. Turtles were out and a few lucky boats were visited by dolphins.

Commotion was well ahead of all the pack for many miles and then we watched Sirocco put up a deck sweeping A-symmetrical. We watched them sail from the east to west and start to make trees on Commotion. We discussed the fact that based on the wind, Sirocco would run into the beach at the current angle and would have to tack to get to the finish. As we all know, the best laid plans do not always mean the best results!! The crew on Commotion decided it was time for our A-sail, so up went the blue and white chute. Our speed dropped by 2 knots; Sirocco kept charging up the beach. The frustration grew. Why were we so SLOW??? The chute came down on Commotion, speed came back. At this point Sirocco was running the beach, able to fly the chute and passing us!!!! The crew on Commotion popped the big white chute but it was too late, and the angle was not fast enough. Sirocco raced a great race and scooted in front by 4:19.

The next boats to finish were 12 minutes behind with the Commodores of each club finishing within 6 seconds of each other.

The boats continued to finish for the next 1.5 hours until 3pm.

I received text updates of each boat finishing since I was in charge of scoring the race. While the rest of the crew of Commotion were enjoying cocktails and relaxing, I was being good and drinking water and entering finish times in the spreadsheet.

Once all the boats were finished, finish times texted and the race scored for the 4 time, the party could begin.

The Palm Beach Sailing Club hosted a wonderful race party. We had a DJ, silly photo booth with Cinco De Mayo decorations, a cash bar and an extensive taco bar and desserts. No one should have walked away hungry or thirsty. Thank you to the staff of Palm Beach Sailing Club.

The awards ceremony was overseen by the joint club Commodores. HISC boats took 1st place in 3 of the 4 sections. Sirocco won the David Maraj perpetual trophy for the best overall winner.

We will have to have Chasing Blue provide a demonstration of their mark wrangling technique. The story sounded interesting and entertaining.

The day and night were filled with great boat racing, wonderful people, and fun.

A party after the party happened on Commotion, with the crew of Chasing Blue stopping by and the night rolling on for a while longer.

Thank you to everyone who participated in whatever manner you participated. Many hands lending a hand, make events happen. No matter if raced, managed, shuttled, danced, came out for dinner, or helped decorate, the club appreciates you for being there.