The Other Side of the Dock: Leg 2 from Initiatives

© Ryan O'Grady

See more of Ryan O'Grady's photos from Leg 2 here.

Throughout the night the wind slowly rose into the high teens. Along with the wind, the sea state had continued to build too, and by dawn, teams that headed offshore were beginning to decide whether or not to reef. Onboard Initiatives, we chose to keep full ballast and a full main, but Icarus, who was again right next to us, peeled down to a reef. After nearly 150 miles of racing, Icarus was close enough to shout to, and Mare was nearby someplace. Spirits were high on Initiatives. We had an awesome battle going on with the overall race leader. Something good must be happening, and the position reports soon told us that we were all fighting for the lead. The boats that went inshore suffered through less breeze at an unfavorable angle. Every update showed us gaining on the outside, and we were loving every minute of it! The big question was going to be when to go back. Mare was the first of the group to tack away, leaving Icarus, Bodacious Dream, and us as the furthest boats east. For Rob and Emma, choosing the side of Block Island to pass would dictate our layline call and when to tack. Based on our data, and Rob’s experience winning this leg last year, it was decided to pass between Montauk and Block Island, given that we’d be in the Montauk area with the current favorable enough to pull us in, then change and push us towards Newport. Thus, Mont

auk became our weather mark, and we did our best to call a layline from 50 miles away. Of the 3 boats left going east, we tacked away first. Icarus tacked after gaining a few miles of leverage, and no one knew where Bodacious Dream was. In hindsight, we should have been paying more attention to them.

As it turns out, the further east a boat went, the better. There was better pressure and angle towards Newport for every degree of longitude east. Bodacious Dream was willing to go farthest east, and was rewarded with an almost commanding lead by the time we all approached Block Island. Similarly, Icarus was now in second, due to being further east. We were in third, with Mare and Campagne de France in fourth and fifth. We could see Icarus, and we were convinced that we could get them and take second place.

Converging on Block Island was awesome. Two of the oldest boats in the fleet were beating the perennial global-class favorites. Who needs a big budget when you have local knowledge, right? All we needed to do now was hold them off. The first cross with Mare and Campagne had us a mile or so ahead. Unfortunately, we weren’t laying Montauk, so a mid-ocean tacking duel was going to begin with four boats. With Icarus’ eastern position, they didn’t need to tack as often as us, putting them at an advantage. Every tack we had, we seemed to lose a bit. Mare and Campange were getting bigger on every cross, but we were still ahead, and they looked committed to going east of Block Island. We could still do this, right? Right?

When everyone had made their choice on which side to pass Block Island, we were a mile or so behind Icarus, but still appeared to be ahead of Mare and Campagne. Block Island would determine the fate of second through fifth. Bodacious Dream appeared to be out of reach. On our side, the tide was doing exactly what we wanted it to do, and we were sailing faster than Icarus. A second or third would be huge for this team, and the desire to beat the best Class 40 sailors in the world was at its peak. It didn’t matter that they hadn’t slept in nearly a day; Rob and Emma were constantly moving the stack and trimming to get every advantage. There would be no excuses left out here.

As we converged into Newport, reality set in. The boats that went east had gained. They had a much better wind angle with more pressure and likely sailed four miles less than those of us on the west side of Block. Crushed, but not defeated, Rob and Emma now looked at the rest of the race to preserve their fifth and try to pass Icarus for fourth. The miles to the finish at Fort Adams were agonizing, as the wind shut off, and the current out of Narragansett Bay was running at full ebb. At times, we were tacking through nearly 180 degrees, and we felt like we’d never make it home. Finally, we crossed the line at 2:44 a.m. on Monday morning in a well-deserved fifth place. Rob and Emma gave this leg their all and can be very proud of the job they did to hang with the top boats in the world. Given the proper resources, this pair can take on and beat anyone in the Class 40. All they need is a sponsor to believe in them. As many an American sailor has learned, the race to the top of a class like the Class 40 lies not only in talent and ability, but the ability to raise funds too.

You can follow Emma online at www.emmacreighton.net.