Weegie in Annapolis for Race to Newport

Weegie in Annapolis for Race to Newport

Weegie In Annapolis

by Francis K George

ANNAPOLIS, MD   May 31 – June 3
Beep, beep, beep! “Already?” My hand groped blindly for my alarm. I let out a tired sigh. It was 1:30am, two days before the start of the Annapolis to Newport Race. In order to catch the tide to launch Oakcliff’s Weegie, we had to hit the road at 2am.
Sean O’Halloran, the boat captain, had worked tirelessly all week alongside Ethan Johnson to get the boat road-ready. It was our first time trailering the Colombia Carbon 32 so far. Not only that but the Annapolis to Newport Race would take her farther offshore than she had ever been before.
There were a lot of firsts for this trip. Sean and Ethan were both stressed out but they neither of them let it show; they trusted in their preparation and kept their poise.
The crew and I piled into the Suburban with all our gear and hit the road just a few minutes after our estimated departure time of 2am. We had to stop a few times a few times to re-tie things or shift around gear to get the proper tongue weight, but we made it down to Annapolis in one piece.
Just two short hours after our arrival at the Truxton Park Boat Ramp we had the boat in the water. Unfortunately it was two long days before we actually had her keel down and ready to sail. The had keel chafed against the edge of the cabintop leaving a sizeable gash in the trailing edge. Luckily, our training at Oakcliff had us well-prepared for a situation like this. We booked it to West Marine and picked out our supplies: West System 206, 80-grit sandpaper, putty knife, Acetone, rags, etc.
We knew exactly what to do but the problem was time. We had so much else to do too: tune the rig, provision the food, pack and organize the gear, study the weather maps and come up with a strategy for navigation. It was all hands on deck for two days straight but by the morning of the race Weegie was cruising around the harbor with the keel down and sails up.
All their hard work paid off; 83 hours after they left Annapolis, they crossed the finish line in Newport Harbor in 3rd place in their class (PHRF 2) and 12th overall.
Onboard crew: Staff – Sean O’Halloran, Ethan Johnson, and Greg Adams. Saplings – Sam Tobio, Connor Vliet, and Chris Holman. Inshore crew/media: Francis George.
I compiled a video recap of Weegie’s week of preparation. Go ahead and check it out!
Oakcliff’s Class40 also competed in the race and they finished 3rd in their class (PHRF 1) and 3rd overall. Onboard crew: Staff – Tim Kent and Andres Guerra-Font. Saplings – Harry Hall, Isak Peterson, Chris Booher, and Kay Wang.