Bill
Nederlanden 2025 Race perspective

August racing is guaranteed to be hot and the chance of rain is high. Wind is another story. We may get blown off the water by the ramp up of hurricane season or we may run the gamut of no wind, some wind or the rare 10-15 kn day.

For 2025 we had a mix of wind with Aeolus granting us a bit of wind, just not when we needed it.

10 boats came out for the Bill Nederlanden coastal race placed into 3 sections, JAM (Jib & Main), MULTI and GNK (Gunkhole) Each section had 3-4 boats, so we had competition for each fleet.

Contrails brought the start mark out and positioned it to use a swim buoy as the other end of the start line. The crew of Commotion anchored in line with the start line to act as committee boat and then begin racing after all sections were clear & started.

The wind was forecast to be from the SE at 3-6kts which would make for a painfully slow race for all but maybe Contrails. All the boats were milling about the start area by 9:15 checking the start line, current and wind. A storm cloud from the south made its way to the start line and brought a blast of 10-12kn of winds which filled the sails and brought the racers to life and provided great photo and video opportunities as well as some nice sailing. It was too bad it happened 20 minutes before the start and died shortly thereafter.

At 9:55 the first warning was announced and the JAM boats positioned themselves for the start. There was still a bit of left over storm wind and Contrails and No Compromise had nice, clean starts within sections of each other. Sharyn Leigh followed behind a bit. Sharyn Leigh and Contrails headed east/se chasing the dying wind. The wind began to fade; Contrails tacked to the beach. Sharyn Leigh’s timing to tack wasn’t soon enough and she got caught in the 2 kn northbound current and started an unwilling trek to Boca. Sharyn Leigh did a full circle back to the start line to head south again.

The Multihull boats looked like they were making time on the way to the start until the wind died and stopped their forward motion – and then the current got them.

The Gunkhole boats suffered the same fate with the wind abating by their start. The GNK start time was 10:10 and some of the boats did not actually cross the start line until an hour later.

We had 3 possible courses for the race dependent on the wind. The long course to Port Everglades and back. The short course to a virtual mark near the Commercial Ave pier and back. The short, short course which would use HI as a rounding mark for one or two laps. The initial course decision was to use the two-lap short course with the option to shorten course further during the race if necessary.

After all the sections were started, Commotion raised anchor, got turned around and unfurled our sails to be met with no wind. We were waffling between re-anchoring to prevent us from being pushed north and trying, hoping to be able to sail. Cats’ paws began appearing on the water and a wisp of wind began moving us southbound. We caught up to No Compromise who had been stopped near the swim buoys. The wind slowly filled in. Contrails who were closest to HI reported wind speed and the race committee conferred and made the decision to shorten course to a single lap with HI as the rounding mark. Within 5 minutes of making the decision, the wind filled in more and the boats started moving. The wind was never above 10 kts so shortening the course was the right decision for all the participants.

Spruce Goose - past commodore Mike Megarity’s classic boat - was looking sharp with new sails and was gliding through the water with the newly generated wind.

Feeling Nauti – Ken White’s new boat and past commodore Hal Steward’s former boat - was looking pretty on her inaugural race with a ringer crew of Hal Steward, John Antwiler and Ken White.

The Multihull boats found their groove once the wind filled in and allowed them to have a nice reach down the beach.

The day required constant sail maintenance with the fluctuating low wind. The crew had to work to maintain the momentum: Trim the main, trim the jib, move the jib car, adjust the outhaul, all to eek out a quarter of a knot or if the crew got lucky, a half a knot! But that is what wins a race.

Thank you to all the boats who participated in the Bill Nederlanden Regatta.

As the race chair, I hope to see the same boats and more out for the Commodores Cup on September 20.