The 17th Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race...

October 11, 2006

The Year of a "Little Bit of Everything" and "More Than We Asked For"!

A southerly breeze quickly propelled Woodwind up to Baltimore for the Parade of Sail.

Those cannons are LOUD!

Upon arriving in Baltimore,we boarded some folks for the Parade of Sail,including our liaison Carolyn Mollenkopf, with her bag of goodies, including her brownies-to-die-for, and her fun personality. We paraded around with 38 other schooners including the Pride II and Virginia. Many of the vessels fired cannons, including us, and it was the noisiest parade in memory!

The 17th Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race started with a light northerly breeze as the boats sailed down from Baltimore to the starting line just south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis. The starting line consisted of two anchored Navy YP (Yard Patrol) boats. We jockeyed for position at the starting line, staying away from all the big schooners that carry tons of sail area that would steal our breeze. We had a terrific start (1:40pm) as the 1st boat over the starting line tied with Sultana (as a historic, heavy boat, she kind of just sat there at the line).

With the wind gently out of the north, we flew our asymmetrical spinnaker. This kept us in front. Close by us was Adventurer, a Cherubini owned by Art Birney, with her spinnaker. but the wind began to lighten to barely a zephyr. Our speed went down to less than 2 knots and behind us we could see the smaller boats who were just starting had trouble even making it to the starting line! An hour later, the wind then increased a bit but from the south and we picked up speed as we tacked our way down the bay, exchanging tacks with Adventurer. They gave us an "arghhhh" and we kindly replied. The rest of the fleet fell further behind. Then the wind built to a steady 20+ knots, perfect for us which lifted our course to a perfect rum line down the bay while sailing close-hauled. We pulled ahead of Adventurer as she had to reduce sail area, while we had all 4 sails up. Our speed was between 8 and 9.5 knots!

Crew Andy Schell went out on the bowsprit to catch all hands on deck while we're doing 9 knots over the water!

We're ahead of Virginia at the start!

About 8 PM a dramatic wind shift took place from the NW packing 30+ knot winds. Since it was dark out, we couldn't tell the shift was coming. We were knocked on our beam's end, then finally eased our main and bore off on a broad reach. We reduced sail to just Jib and main, then later adding our staysail. Since there were only 4 crew on deck, we were concerned about adding more sails. Finally at the turn of the next watch (shift) with 8 hands on deck, we flew all four sails. Jibing down the bay we hit a high speed of 15.5 knots.

During the last 4 hours of the race, Pride of Baltimore II passed us and was 20 minutes ahead at the finish, first to finish. We finished next and Virginia was behind us. We were not able to cover our time on Adventurer and Heron and finished 3rd on corrected time. If we had sailed more aggressively immediately when the shift occurred (not shortened sail) we might have won in all categories, but hindsight is always 20-20. Just to give you some insight as to hard Heron sailed, she carried her .8 ounce spinnaker after the shift occurred. Our spinnaker is rated at .5 ounce and would have shredded to bits and pieces.

A terrific and safe effort by all of our crew! Aboard: Cptn. Ken & Ellen Kaye, Cptn. Jen & Dan Brest, Rook Singer, Andy Schell, Linda Ramirez, Rai Muhlbauer, Kimberly Hellebush, Paul Dills, Toby Washington and Pam Bible.

Yes, we flew our shoot for a while!

Above photos by Andy Schell.

The Sixteenth Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race...

October 13, 2005

From Top to bottom, l to r: Crew Jocelyn Craig, Capt. Jon Krisman, Rai Muhlbauer, Capt. Ken Kaye, Ed Rodier, Paul Dills, Crew Kevin Lampo, Liaison Greg Moore, Ellen Kaye, Kimberly Kelley, Dan Brest, Capt. Jen Brest. Missing is Adam Lamb.

Woodwind Reaches Her Fastest Speed Ever During the Race!

A terrific northerly breeze quickly propelled Woodwind up to Baltimore for the Parade of Sail. Our captains and crew took advantage of the favorable breeze and trained our guests on sail handling and helming throughout the day. Upon arriving in Baltimore,we boarded some folks for the Parade of Sail, including our liaison Carolyn Mollenkopf, with her bag of goodies, and her fun personality. We paraded around with 35 other schooners from the gorgeous 122-foot, Virginia to the smallest schooner in the fleet, the 32-foot, Ann Elizabeth.

The 16th Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race started with a strong northerly breeze as the boats sailed down from Baltimore to the starting line just south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis. The starting line consisted of two, anchored Navy YP (Yard Patrol) boats. We jockeyed for position at the starting line, staying away from all the big schooners that carry tons of sail area that would steal our breeze. We had a terrific start (1:40pm) as the 1st boat over the starting line, followed closely by Imagine.

With the wind blowing from the north at around 20-22 knots, the wind conditions were ideal for gaff-rigged schooners and heavy air spinnakers. In fact, many of the gaff-rigged schooners sailed "wing and wing" so they could run directly downwind, straight down the Bay (see picture below) Woodwind has a staysail rig that makes sailing directly downwind, slow and unsafe and the wind was blowing too hard to run with our spinnaker without destroying it. So, instead of sailing directly downwind, we had to jibe down the Bay, which is faster but not as direct. We were reaching speeds in excess of 9-10 knots.

When and If (left) and Alliance (right) in pre-start maneuvers

Wing and wing heading down the Bay: L to R: When and If, Sultana, Mystic Whaler, Liberty Clipper, Lady Maryland

As nightfall came, we were behind Imagine and Adventurer, and crossing jibes with the newly built Schooner Virginia. The other schooners still in sight were Liberty Clipper and Heron. As the evening wore on, the waves and wind were building, especially as we sailed further down the bay in record time. By 9:00-10:00pm, the waves built to around six feet behind us. Our crew called out the big waves as they towered above the helmsman's head. Surfing down the waves, our speed was increasing near 13 and 14 knots. As Captain Jen Brest was at the wheel, she called out speeds from the knot-meter 14.2, 14.9, 15.4, 16.1, 16.7 (19 mph), her voice getting louder and higher. The navigator, Rai Muhlbauer, down below then yelled back- "you hit the record on the GPS, 16.5 knots"! Our speed record before that was a mere 15 knots, during the schooner race of 2002.

As we were surfing down these waves the wind lifted us a bit more to the finish line. We saw the running lights of four schooners behind us during the last three to four hours of the race, so we knew we were doing well. About 50 minutes before we reached the finish line, "Imagine" finished, setting a record for the fastest time down the Bay. At 3:27 am, we finished next at the Thimble Shoal finish line 127 nautical miles down the Bay from the start. We had sailed the race in a total of just 13 hours and 47 minutes, a Woodwind record for the elapsed time. (Average elapsed time for us in this race is around 22-24 hours). About 20-40 minutes after our finish, we heard the finish calls for the Virginia, Liberty Clipper, Heron (MD), and Adventurer 56.

Many schooners damaged a spar (boom or mast) or sails, and some had rigging issues. The only damage that we had were two broken plates, as a wave lurched the boat and jostled them off the drying rack and onto the floor-we thought "Corelle" was unbreakable!

After correcting the time for the handicap system (including our 1st place penalty), we finished fourth in class, and fourth overall. A terrific and safe effort by all of our crew! Aboard: Cptn. Ken & Ellen Kaye, Cptn. Jen & Dan Brest, Kevin Lampo, Cptn. Jon Krisman, Jocelyn Craig, Rai Muhlbauer, Kimberly Kelley, Paul Dills, Ed Rodier, and Adam Lamb.

Above Photos by Crewmember Matt Cordrey while aboard Woodwind II.

Above: For fun, we had these boxer shorts made up to wear during the pre-start manuevers and at our yearly rum punch party.
We'd like to know if you like 'em?

The Fifteenth Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race...

October 14, 2004

From Top to bottom, l to r: Pat McIntyre, Crew Tom Pinder, Rai Muhlbauer (navigator), Traci
Blamphin, Dan Brest, Crew Mark Talbott, Captain Ken Kaye, Jim Harding, Ellen Kaye,
Captain Jen Brest and Bud Moser. Missing is Crew Mike DiQuinzio.

Woodwind wins 1st Over the Finish, 1st in Class A and 1st Overall on Corrected Time, two years in a row!

Woodwind left Annapolis for the Parade of Sail in Baltimore on Wednesday. The Parade had been canceled due to bad weather for the past three years, but as we left our dock, there was every indication that this year's parade will finally occur. It was quite a sight to see 35 schooners parading under sail (and engine) in the inner harbor. Friendly cannon fire is typical and this year was no exception. After the Parade, the skippers and crew all socialize at a "all hands" party in Fells Point. It's always a special time to see old friends from previous races.

Thursday morning, Oct. 14th, we departed Baltimore for our 4 hour trip to the starting area just south of the Bay Bridge, near Annapolis. As the time grew near to our starting time of 1:40pm, we were concerned that the wind was very light and would be a slow downwind run from the starting line. There was a strong current in our favor, so all the schooners had to time their start very carefully for fear of crossing the starting line too early. As the starting horn sounded, we were a few yards from the starting line, but a few boats had crossed too soon. After our start, we quickly raised our spinnaker (yes, a borrowed spinnaker to help us with any downwind conditions) and felt Woodwind come alive as the "chute" helped increase our boat speed considerably. We were able to pull out in front of the fleet with two other schooners flying chutes not far away.

By nightfall, the wind clocked around to being right on our "nose", but still very light in strength. So, the chute came down as we made a quick correction to the new wind direction. Thankfully, the current was still helping to push us down the Bay. The light wind conditions lasted through the night, and we experienced boat speeds ranging from .10 knots to 3.7 knots. We all thought that this would become a very long race. But, the weather forecast was absolutely accurate for a change and as daylight dawned, the wind picked up in speed, but it was still on our nose. Gradually we had to reduce sail area as the wind built to over 30 knots. Abeam of the Potomac, we had steep, short seas as we had to pound through the waves. Not a very comfortable trip at this time. Four people onboard were feeling not well, or a bit green. We were heeled over quite a bit, mattresses went sliding along with duffels, shoes and more.

After the Potomac, the current turned against us which made progress south very much in question, and we point up well for a schooner. This would not be good news for the gaff riggers in the fleet. We kept tacking from West to East and kept seeing the same latitude on our GPS.Finally, we decided to "foot off" some more (a few more degrees away from the wind) and found that the seas were not slamming us as much and our progress was measurable. At this point, there were no schooners in sight anywhere. We had a good idea where they were during the night based on radio contacts with passing commercial ship traffic. We were pretty sure that no one was in front of us. However, the slow progress coupled with discomfort made everyone onboard a bit impatient to finally cross the finish line at Thimble Shoals. We finally finished at 7:40:11 pm on Friday, almost exactly 30 hours after our start. We radioed in our finish time to the race committee and learned we were the first schooner to finish! As we were motoring into Portsmouth to our berth for the next few days, we also learned that most of the schooners had dropped out of the race, opting to take shelter in Solomons and Reedville. It was unfortunate that the docks at Portsmouth had only a few schooners there for the weekend activities.

The oyster and pig roast party on Saturday afternoon was most enjoyable as always. At the awards ceremony, we learned we won three awards: 1st over the finish, 1st in class (A), and 1st overall on corrected time. We received another beautiful handmade mantel clock by Robert Latimer, which makes our collection number five. Woodwind was also engraved on the perpetual trophy for the second year in a row. We have the distinction of being the only schooner to have won the perpetual trophy three times. The closest finisher to us on actual time was our friend Aram, on Heron, who finished about 2½ hours after us. Next was Imagine, a minute later, followed by Grand Nellie a half hour after Imagine and then Pride of Baltimore II finished 4 hours after us.

We had a terrific group of guest crew onboard, who were commited to doing what they can to help us through the grueling race down the Bay, even though the trip was not as comfortable as we all had hoped. We thank all of them, plus our regular crew, and our longtime friend/navigator supremo, Rai Muhlbauer, who spends so much time down below trying to figure out our best navigation strategy in a pitching boat heeling 25 degrees while slamming "to weather".

Fourteenth Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race...

October 15, 2003

Woodwind wins 1st Over the Finish, 1st in Class A and 1st Overall on Corrected Time!

When our crew of twelve showed up at the dock in Annapolis, ready to depart for the trip to Baltimore to begin the festivities prior to the start of the Race, it was like deja vu of previous years. A strong Northwesterly wind was blowing with gusts beyond 30 knots. The forecast was for the winds to remain strong until nightfall. We knew that the "Parade of Sail" in the Inner Harbor would be canceled again. Should we leave Woodwind at the dock and drive our cars up for the parties? The votes came in and we decided to drive up by car. It ended up being a wise choice as we would have been too exhausted to really enjoy the festivities, which were a high priority with us! Baltimore does a fantastic job of hosting the parties for all the crew of the 36 schooners. Our liaison, Carolyn, brought us 2 tubs of her homemade brownies and a special care package of snacks and goodies for when we are on "watch". Carolyn hasbeen our Baltimore liaison for more than 6 years.

We all met at Woodwind on Thursday morning to prepare for the 1:30pm start. The wind had turned around to the Southwest, blowing between 12 and 22 knots. This was perfect weather for us to do the race as we do very well beating into the wind compared to the gaff-rigged schooners. After a picture-perfect start, we took off inthe perfect wind to sail our own race. As we tacked down the Bay, the rest of the fleet was well behind us, and by nightfall, we could not see another schooner. Once we cleared the Choptank, the wind cooperated to allow us to steer 180 degrees, close hauled on a starboard tack all the way down the bay to just before the finish line, where we had to put in a short tack to finish over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It was 9:19:37 am and when we contacted the race committee to report our finish, they confirmed what we already knew, that we were the first boat to finish the 14th Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. At this point, we were able to see the Pride of Baltimore II in the distance behind us. She finished at 11:00 am.

It was lonely at the docks in Portsmouth waiting for the rest of the fleet to arrive. We celebrated our arrival with a champagne toast and a great big breakfast which Capt. Jen prepared. The other schooners started to arrive after dark on Friday and into the morning on Saturday, nearly a full day later than our finish.

The hospitality at Portsmouth was fantastic, plus it is a beautiful spot for all the schooners to dock together. There were two more days of parties including the awards ceremony. We received a beautiful handmade clock for the first schooner to finish, a framed, signed print by John Barber for first on corrected time plus three silver tray trophies. Pride got first in her class (AA) and a trophy for the schooner which had the largest margin of finish time to the next finisher in her class. Captain Jan Miles should be proud of how well he sailed her, having to tack her down the Bay.

Our guest crew were lots of fun to have onboard: Frequent Sailor Susan, Frequent Sailor Paul, Gerry and Yvonne. Rai Muhlbauer returned as "navigator supremo" for his 10th time and regular crew Matt, Mark and Chris offered their expertise in addition to family members Ellen, Captain Ken, Captain Jen and Dan.

The Thirteenth Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race...

October 16, 2002

Pride of Baltimore II and Woodwind crossing the line at the start of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. In barely a zephyr, we were blanketed by her huge sails. Photo by George Plant. All rights reserved.

The day we left Annapolis for the Thirteenth Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race's opening ceremonies in Baltimore was one of the breeziest, wettest, coldest days of the entire 2002 sailing season. The frigid nor'east breeze was right on our nose all the way up the Bay into Baltimore Harbor. It was blowing a steady 30 knots with gusts to over 40. Once we arrived in Fells Point and docked, the Race Committee had decided to cancel the Parade of Sail through the Inner Harbor due to the rain and high winds. Since we had just spent 4 hours motoring in that wind, we weren't disappointed to have to stay put in our slip. Of course, we were all curious what the weather was going to be like for the race start the next day, Thursday. As it turned out, as soon as we arrived, the rain stopped, the wind lightened and the sun even came out.

The hospitality and pre-race parties in Fells Point were absolutely fabulous. Our wonderful repeat liaison, Carolyn Mollenkopf, greeted us at the dock when we arrived with a big canvas bag of goodies she assembled for our crew to munch on during their watch. She also brought her famous, and our favorite, double fudge brownies with chocolate chips. Then she took the crew's wet clothes home to dry them out. Now, that's hospitality!

Thursday morning the wind was light, but we had sunshine. The forecast was for light northwest winds, 5-10 knots. Not really enough to make a quick race! When we arrived by motoring to the start line south of the Bay Bridge for our 1:30pm start, the winds went super light to less than 5 knots. The starting gun went off as planned and all of the 37 schooners just started drifting with the current. Since we would soon be fighting a current against us, we had no choice but to anchor just after crossing the starting line, an hour later. At around 4:30pm the wind filled in a tad from the NW and up went the anchors. We barely moved at between 1 and 2 knots. So, we hoisted a borrowed J120 asymmetrical spinnaker on our foremast in place of our jib and fisherman. The sail filled nicely and we kept it up and flying through the waning daylight. Having some really experienced guest crew onboard that frequently race with spinnakers helped us immensely with the huge sail.

Once the sun set, the wind picked up nicely and Woodwind moved along at a 10 knot plus boat speed. Then shortly after 11:00pm, the wind became a bit too strong to fly the spinnaker. We had already taken a healthy lead on the entire fleet. So, down came the big spinnaker and up went the jib and fisherman while surfing down some pretty big waves. Our boat speeds were the highest we had ever experienced! A whopping 11 to 13 knots sustained with bursts to 14 and 15 knots. We were planing! After speeding by the famous Potomac toilet bowl, we had to put in a jibe just before Windmill Point. Right after we did a noisy, controlled (somewhat uncontrolled?) jibe, we heard a bang! Our main halyard had parted and our mainsail crept down the mast. We spent 23 miserably frustrated miles sailing without our mainsail and for at least half of it we had out fisherman down as well so we could hoist a crewmember up the mast with that halyard to make the repair.

The chosen crew was Capt. Jen's husband, Dan. He said "this isn't the most comfortable place to be at this time!" Since we were still making decent speed with large waves tossing our stern around, Dan had to tightly wrap his legs around the top of the mast 65' above the water. The job of reaving a new halyard line took longer than usual because of the strong winds. The winds were 35-40 knots instead of 5-10. A slight understatement in prediction making. Our boat speed during this 23 mile period had been reduced by about 3 knots per hour. At this time, a few boats had caught up to us and began to scream by us: America, Imagine...!, and Pride of Baltimore II. Once we were able to set the main and fisherman, our boat speed was back up to pre-breakdown speeds.

Since we had sped down the bay after raising anchor, we finished early Friday morning at 6:52am. America crossed the finish line at Thimble Shoals, Norfolk, an hour before us. Imagine...! crossed 30 minutes in front of us and Pride crossed 5 minutes ahead. We corrected out to 2nd in class and 2nd overall based on handicap. We have a 5% penalty from placing well last year. One of our favorite competitors, Adventurer, had broken his steering system about an hour after we passed him in the toilet bowl area. He did not finish the race. Another boat in our class, Raindancer, had to drop out when a crewmember got whacked in the head by the boom and had to be rushed by helicopter to a shock trauma facility at about the same time that Adventurer lost their steering.

The activities in Norfolk were special once again. The Norfolk parties were fantastic, including our own annual "Woodwind Breeze" rum punch party for all race participants and volunteers.

Hats off to the greatest guest crew for their congeniality and knowledge of sailing with a spinnaker: Dr. Larry Hennessy, Dr. Debbie Whitehead, Rai and Trudi Muhlbauer. Also Joni Brooks and Dr. Richard Brinker were eager learners and lots of fun to have onboard and at the parties.

The Twelfth Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race- 2001

The day we left Annapolis for the Twelfth Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race's opening ceremonies in Baltimore was one of the breeziest days of the entire 2001 sailing season. The frigid northwest breeze was right on our nose as we entered the Patapsco River heading into Baltimore Harbor. It was blowing a steady 30 knots with gusts to over 40. Once we arrived in Fells Point and docked, the Race Committee had decided to cancel the Parade of Sail through the Inner Harbor due to the high winds. Since we had just spent 4 hours sailing and motoring in that wind, we weren't disappointed to have to stay put in our slip. Of course, we were all curious what the weather was going to be like for the race start the next day, Thursday.

The hospitality and pre-race parties in Fells Point were absolutely fabulous. Our wonderful repeat liaison, Carolyn Mollenkopf, greeted us at the dock when we arrived with a big canvas bag of goodies she assembled for our crew to munch on during their watch. She also brought her famous, and our favorite, double fudge brownies with chocolate chips.

Thursday began with much lighter winds and somewhat warmer temperatures as the captains and crews readied their vessels for the trip down the Bay to the Bay Bridge for the 1:30pm start. By the time the race was ready to get started, the wind became more westerly and was really light in strength, only about 10-15 knots. Our navigator, Rai Muhlbauer (his 8th time at that job), forecasted the winds to veer around becoming more southerly as the sun started to set (a few hours after the starting gun). Our strategy was to start to windward of our class with good forward momentum (speed!) and stay on the western side to take advantage of the dying breeze which would be more predictable (and stronger) than venturing over to the eastern shore. We quickly took an early lead at the starting gun, being first over the line and the leader down the bay throughout the waning daylight hours.

Once night fell upon us, we went into our planned watch system with 4 crew on duty (out of the 12 onboard) for 4 hours shifts. Captains Ken and Jen and navigator Rai were the watch captains. The 4 guest crew were David and Diana Toomey-Wilson and Felix and Natalie Fisher. They were our most enthusiastic guest crew ever! Other crew onboard were Admiral Ellen, Sean Ellis, Jim Washburn, Ed Reilly and Dan Brest (Captain Jen's hubby).

The night sky was absolutely spectacular. Throughout the night, flashlights were focused on the sail trim yarns (telltales) as the southerly winds required us to sail as close to the wind as possible in order to tack our way down the Bay. Every six hours, a new tidal current had to be factored in as we had the current in our favor and then six hours later it would be against us. Rai had to figure where he wanted us to be with these currents. Careful sail trim to maximize our speed was essential. Almost all of the photos from the race show our crew always looking up at the sails! When we weren't checking on the sails, we were looking for the other schooner's running lights and trying to figure out which boat was where. We also have to keep track of the commercial traffic of tugs, freighters and container ships.
When dawn came, we could see a few vessels in the fleet way behind us. We still had one third of the bay to cover before reaching the finish line at Thimble Shoals off of Norfolk. One thing we realized, the schooners we thought were around us were not, instead we had different schooners than previous years slightly behind us. Through the night we thought we had done really well, but with the recognition of these other boats, we were confused.

Most of this time was spent bucking the unfavorable tide trying to make progress down the Bay in very light winds. Wolf Trap lighthouse remained unreachable for many, many hours. We all got impatient with the same view! Once at the lighthouse, we had to decide whether to chance going inside to catch a more favorable current or to remain outside and go slower. Going inside required us to be sure we could follow a narrow channel of deeper water. We took the chance on the inside passage, and right then the wind shifted slightly so we didn't even have to put in a planned tack. Whew!

We finally finished with a favorable current late in the day on Friday (around 5:00 pm). The wind had picked up a bit by then and we didn't have to agonize over seeing the Thimble Shoal lighthouse for very long. After finishing, we called in to the Race Committee and they confirmed what we thought: we were the first schooner to finish the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. A champagne celebration followed the radio call.

We want to thank our excellent guest crew members for all their help, Felix and Natalie Fischer of Washington D.C. and Diana and David Toomey-Wilson of Connecticut.

As the winds lightened from a beam reach at 15-20 knots to a broad reach at 10 knots or less, that's when things began to heat up. There were 6 boats that flew spinnakers and four of them passed us after sunset.What could we do? We tried to do a "wind dance"; we tried whistling (guest crew Paul Dills of Kentucky told us it worked for him when he sailed every time!). We wished we had a spinnaker (a large nylon ballooning sail to catch the wind when running downwind). The only answer to our prayers came when the wind shifted more forward of the beam and those spinnaker boats just ahead could not fly those "chutes". Gradually, we passed each one out, except for one, which became the first to finish and first in class (Adventurer, a Cherubini 56'). She was just ahead enough to jybe over before the wind shift and catch more downwind breezes the rest of the way to Norfolk! She flew her big running spinnaker all night and the following morning while the boats behind us had to tack their way down the way. Yes, the wind was light and "variable". At least we were able to sail on a close reach to the finish and not have to feel penalized for not having a spinnaker with us when the wind shifted over. And, we never had to put in a tack.

The night brought light winds, frustratingly light. We had to tweak the sails all through the night using flashlights. At one point the knotmeter read "0.00" and slowly went up to between 2 and 5 knots. Fortunately, we had the current "with us" and we weren't going backwards over the bottom. We finally finished at 1:24 pm on Friday, some 2 plus hours after "Adventurer". It was painful to see the Thimble Shoals Light (the finish line) for so long before we crossed. It took hours to cross once the light was in view, screaming along at 2.2 knots. In less than an hour, the current would turn against us and make the short distance seem even longer in these light airs. And, the rest of the fleet behind us had to deal with a windward beat to the finish line with tacking and sailing against a foul current. The rest of the boats in our class finished more than 5 hours after us, having to struggle with these frustrating conditions. Our favorite competitor, Imagine...!, finished nearly seven hours behind us!
 
We are indebted to our faithful crew for all their work tweaking the sails and navigating us through the current and flukey winds to a finish we can be proud of. Captain Jen was outstanding as captain and cook. We certainly ate well during the race. Our guest crew were eager learners and most congenial.

Thanks to our "guest" crew members: Joel Brest from Connecticut, Vicki Waidner from Maryland, Paul Dills from Kentucky and Dem Answine from Pennsylvania.

The Tenth Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race- 1999

But... it wasn't anything like that. Because we were sailing downwind, the speed of our vessel was subtracted from the wind speed and it was a fast and comfortable sail down the bay in 18-20 knot breezes.

Right after the starting gun, we shook out the double reef in our main and hoisted the fisherman, so all our sails were up. We scooted off to an early lead on the fleet for quite some time. Boat speed was around 10 knots and sometimes faster. This was awesome, comfortable sailing! Just before sunset, "Imagine...!", another schooner built by Scarano Boatbuilders, same builder of Woodwind and Woodwind II, decided to try to pass us to windward because Highlander Sea, a 154-foot, Nova Scotia Grand Banks Schooner was aiming to pass them to windward. So, Imagine needed to protect the wind in her sails and started to edge closer abeam to us. She couldn't pass underneath us (our sails would blanket her wind), so she tried to steal the wind from our sails, to slow us down and pass us. But we wouldn't let her do that!

Captain Jen was at the helm and she kept altering course towards the west to prevent "Imagine...!" from getting to the weather side of us. The racing rules and tactics allow and encourage this. This went on for over an hour, sailing side by side at times as close as 50-feet away. "Please pass the Grey Poupon" was shouted in good fun. Captain Jen broke the stalemate by initiating a fake gybe and "Imagine...!" went over on a 120 degree more easterly course.

Darkness had set upon the fleet, it became very difficult to see all the running lights and to decipher where our competition was in the sea of black. In fact, the sky was so filled with stars, our crewmember, Rai Muhlbauer thought it felt like we were sailing in a planetarium. Once we lost track of their running lights, we didn't see Imagine...! again until after they finished the race 20 plus minutes behind us.

The one light we saw was (unfortunately) a stern light from the winning schooner ahead of us. A 56-foot, Cherubini design named "Adventurer" finished just 14 minutes ahead of us as the first schooner to cross the line. We finished second and "Highlander Sea" finished 4 minutes behind us.

We attempted to fly a reaching asymmetrical spinnaker that we borrowed from a J-120, but it didn't seem to be worth the work as it was getting too dark to be able to tend to it effectively. Of course, since we never fly one, the entire arrangement for it was jury rigged and gybing it became an all hands on deck request (we had 12 crew onboard). Adventurer flew a running spinnaker throughout the race and since the rum line was directly downwind most of the time, she had a distinct advantage being able to use it.

We were able to sleep comfortably and Jen made us a great Italian dinner. We arrived at the finish line at 5:27am Friday morning, which meant the race was less than 16 hours long for us. Since the length was 127 miles, we averaged 8 knots. It is especially impressive when you take into consideration that the winds lightened considerably at sunset and did a major 90 degree shift in direction a little bit later. Our celebration breakfast was cooked and served upon our arrival at the Norfolk docks at around 8:30 am. We had all of Friday to rest up.

The planned activities in Norfolk on Saturday got under way at 1:00 pm with the Pig and Oyster Roast and pizza party right nearby the 42 participating schooners. The awards were presented at 4:00, followed by our annual Woodwind Breeze party where every participant and volunteer was invited aboard Woodwind for our signature rum punch. We've never had so many people onboard. Them Eastport Oyster Boys performed, too. The resident meteorologist broke up our party at 9:30pm for the next sponsored party ashore. He talked to us about the impending hurricane, "Irene". More beer was served. Upon awakening on Sunday morning for the official farewell breakfast, a lot of aspirin was dispensed on most boats.

It was a great five days. We corrected out to 3rd place in the race. Our guest crew did a fine job. Two of the four were repeat guests and have become invaluable sailors. The others were quick learners and all aboard were a congenial mix.

Thanks to our "guest" crew members: Dr. Larry Newton, Jeff Beauvier, Susan Helbert and Greg Bressler.

The Ninth Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race- 1998

Schooner Woodwind finished first in class and first over the finish line in the 9th Annual, 128-mile, Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race from one mile south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (near Annapolis) to Thimble Shoal off of Norfolk, Virginia in mid-October.

We, aboard Woodwind, crossed the starting line to the windward side just astern of the 88-foot, Ocean Star for clear air in a downwind race down the bay against a foul current. Woodwind headed toward the western shore in hopes of catching a bit more breeze from the northwest as she passed the Severn River, South River and Rhodes Rivers while sailing in shallow waters to diminish the effects of a flood tide (which flows up the bay). This strategy paid off as the boat quickly accelerated to a large lead on the rest of the fleet.

Later in the evening the tide was expected to turn in our favor, so we took the route towards the deep part of the bay. The winds went fluky and light, out of the northeast. Our boat speed ranged from 4 to 7 knots in this breeze. This made it easy for a great dinner and good level sleeping accommodations for the crew.

We had a watch system of 4 crew members on watch for 4 hours and off for 8 hours. Pretty easy with such calm conditions. However, on watch we had to constantly monitor the trim of our sails with flashlights all through the night because the wind was off our quarter (almost dead behind us) and all sails needed to be filled. Considerable shipping traffic also needed constant attention because we were close to the shipping lanes. We tried to keep track of the running lights of our competitors near us: "America", "Imagine...!", and "Farewell".

As dawn broke, we held a narrow lead over “America” and “Imagine”. However, our new task was to decide what to do when we reached "Wolf Trap" , a lighthouse marking shoal water away from land, and how to approach Thimble Shoals for the finish line. We had to consider the tide which was against us and the fluky, calm north-east wind. We went inside the light at Wolf Trap into shallower water. This helped the effects of the foul current! Other boats remained much more to the east and out in deeper water. Sailing this route also would provide us with the shortest distance to the finish line, which was about 12 miles away. We crossed the line at 10:46 am Friday. “America”, 139-foot Scarano built schooner, finished after us, next was the 76-foot “Imagine” and then the 47-foot “Farewell”. These are all gaff rigged schooners! As usual, the parties were absolutely great in Norfolk. We hosted our own "Woodwind Breeze" party to celebrate our win after the awards. This race was by far the most pleasant in terms of conditions during the race and the warm and balmy 70+ degree weather we had throughout the weekend. It was also the race with the least damage to masts, sails, and crew AND with enough wind for most boats to finish.

We were very pleased with our win. Our closest competitors were larger boats, and their rigs are designed for downwind sailing, whereas Woodwind’s staysail rig excels in going upwind and tacking. This forced us to sail smart as well as fast.

We want to thank our excellent guest crew members for all their help, Joe and Joan Warren of New Jersey, Barbara Halge of Maryland, and Ed Bednarz of Maryland. We deeply thank the organizers that work so hard to make this event the highlight of our seaon. We wouldn't miss this event for anything!

The Eighth Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race-1997

Twenty-five schooners started the eighth annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race on Thursday, October 16 at 1400, in breezy downwind conditions that could push the schooners quickly down the bay to Norfolk, Virginia. The race is 127 miles long that can last between 14 hours and 36 hours, or even longer.

The race was exciting this year because we were in constant sight of at least two other schooners during the entire race. The two schooners were the magnificent, 171-foot, gaff topsail schooner Pride of Baltimore II and the 76-foot, gaff-rigged schooner Imagine, which was built in the same yard as Woodwind.

The lead of the race changed at least five or six times during the night. We hit our top speed ever (12.9 knots). Woodwind finished the race around 5:00 am. Fifteen minutes earlier, Imagine finished the race and the Pride finished minutes in front of Imagine to cross first across the finish line. The Pride of Baltimore II and Imagine are excellent downwind sailing boats, while in comparison Woodwind excels in upwind conditions. Woodwind finished second in her class.

The race was uneventful compared to previous years, as there was no storm near the finish and there was no hard tacking down the bay. All the schooners finished early this year, which left much more time to party in Norfolk.

Thanks to our "guest" crew members: Dr. Larry Newton, California, Bud Tayman, Maryland and Paul Dills, Kentucky.

The Seventh Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race- 1996

Twenty-eight schooners started the seventh annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race on Thursday, October 17 at 1500, in relatively calm wind just south of the Bay Bridge to race 127 miles down the Bay to Norfolk.

The start of the race is always magnificent, not normally for tactics, but to see the number of schooners all under full sail reaching for the starting line. This year, tactics and knowledge of rules were used when 112-foot Seljm tried to cross the starting line to windward of Annapolis' own 74-foot Woodwind. Woodwind having rights on Seljm forced the bigger schooner into a slow 360 degree turn away from hitting the committee boat and restarting around seven minutes later.

The wind was not cooperating with these schooners. Calm winds between 2 and 6 knots blowing right up the Bay do not help push schooners toward the finish line. Add in an ebb current and some schooners were going backward through the night. Liberty Clipper, New Way, and A. J. Meerwald dropped out that night realizing even a storm could not get them to the finish line by the time limit of 1100 Saturday morning.

And the wind did come. By late Friday afternoon, the wind had built to 20 knots still out of the southeast and the waves were up to three feet. Early evening, Seljm and Woodwind, the leaders in the race, crossed tacks with Woodwind slightly ahead.

Shortly after 2300 Friday, a whomping thunderstorm hit the schooners with up to 65 miles an hour winds. Eskasoni, a staysail schooner from Galena, MD got knocked down with three sails shredded. Other schooners saw the storm coming and motored for cover into a bay or river.

Woodwind and Seljm were near the finish line at Thimble Shoal. Seljm, from London, crossed the finish line as the storm hit. Woodwind was eleven miles when the storm forced them to go east while dodging commercial traffic in the York Spit Channel. Jennifer Kaye, daughter of Woodwind owners Ken and Ellen, was captain as the storm hit. Her first "real " storm as captain, Jennifer was at the wheel facing the rain, sleet, and waves breaking over the deck. She refuses help. "I'm going to stay at the wheel until I drive us out of the storm," she yells to her father down below who is navigating through the traffic.

After the threat of traffic was gone, Woodwind tacked to go back toward the finish line. The wind behind the schooners now, but many with only one or two sails up, were screaming toward the finish.

Woodwind finished around 2 hours behind Seljm, correcting to 13 minutes behind the bigger boat, but first in class. Flutterby and Ocean Star from Portland, Maine finished respectively around six hours later. Farewell, also from Annapolis, MD finished first in her class which finished at Windmill Point.

Ron Weller, a passenger on Woodwind who stayed out on deck the whole time (during the storm), sums up the experience of a lifetime, "I just wanted to take it all in and be present for every second of it," he says, "It's an experience we'll never forget."

A special thank you goes out to the three guest crew members who helped us to our victory of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. Thank you- Lisa DeGroot, Ron Weller, and Doug Bourgoine. We couldn't have done it without you!

The Sixth Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race- 1995
by Jeff Holland for "Wind" Magazine

Annapolis' own Schooner Woodwind proved herself worthy, taking line honors, first in her class, and first overall at the sixth annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race in mid October last fall.

Heading a crew of 13, Woodwind owner and skipper Ken Kaye guided the 74-foot staysail schooner over the finish line at Thimble Shoal near Norfolk, Virginia, 23 hours, 3 minutes, 59 seconds after the start south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge off Annapolis, more than 130 miles north. Woodwind crossed a minute and a half in front of the just-launched schooner America. The two fastest boats were both built at the Scarano Brothers Yard in Albany, NY.

The race started in light, southeasterly winds at 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 19, with 35 entries, ranging from the 36 foot long Foon Yin, a junk rigged schooner, to the 171-foot Pride of Baltimore II, skippered by Bob Glover. Pride crossed the north/south starting line first on a broad reach, followed closely by Woodwind; but Woodwind quickly took the lead and held it through to the end.

The winds picked up after sunset Thursday evening, and stayed brisk even through dense fog that covered the mid-Bay before dawn on Friday. When the fog lifted the crew of Woodwind was dismayed to see America hull-up on the northern horizon and growing larger by the minute.

America had a late start, having been caught in what looked like a raft up off big rigs, each one blanketing what little wind was there was for the other. America was one of the first to extricate herself from the cluster, and gained ground steadily throughout the course, but it was just not quite fast enough to catch Woodwind in the end. "Woodwind was made for these conditions," said crew Jennifer Kaye, "if we couldn't win this one, we'd never win any schooner race."

The southerly wind forced the majority of the fleet to beat from the Eastern Shore to the Western Shore repeatedly and with little progress. It was Woodwind's marconi staysail rig that allowed her to point to weather better than anyone else, and to reach Norfolk before a cold front moved across the Bay Friday night and Saturday morning. The storm pitched 45-knot gusts at the fleet, blowing out four sails on Clipper City and snapping the foretop mast of Tree of Life.

Conditions were so awful that more than half the boats in the fleet had dropped out of the race before reaching Cove Point near the mouth of the Patuxent River, leaving only 15 still competing; only 10 of these crossed the finish line. Once the weather cleared, the crews celebrated at a pig and oyster roast held Saturday afternoon, where prizes and trophies were doled out to the winners of the four classes.

Comments from Jennifer Kaye: A special thank you goes out to the four "guest crew members", Susan Helbert, Larry Newton, Julia Kasinkas and James Johnson, for an excellent job while on watch, tending sails, helping with the navigation, and steering Woodwind to glory!! We could not have done it without you!