Travel
Colin Hayward at the helm.
Sailing one of the fastest boats ever built
BY COLIN HAYWARD
Spring 2011 |
Three years ago, I stood on the wharf in my rain gear as a hard rain swept across San Diego Harbor driven by 25-knot* winds. Below me, one of the fastest sailboats ever built, Dennis Connor’s Stars and Stripes, rocked at her slip on the swells churned up by the winds. I had flown down to San Diego out of a Canadian winter to visit my father and to ride the Stars and Stripes, but today she was not going anywhere. I am a sailor and spend a fair amount of time in San Diego, California. That winter I had discovered members of the public could book a two-and-a-half hour sail on the Stars and Stripes. I immediately contacted the website and booked a ride. The price was reasonable: around $100 (US). When I awoke the morning of the sail and looked out the window, my spirits sank. San Diego’s year-round temperate weather had been overwhelmed by a torrential rainstorm accompanied by high winds. Still, if there was a chance the Stars and Stripes was going out, I intended to be on it. “We’re not sailing today. Wind’s running 24 knots, gusting to 30,” captain/owner Troy Sears told me. I did not point out that, like most sailors, I had been out in heavier winds. I knew the modern America’s Cup boats, with their 114-foot masts, are so stripped down for speed that they cannot handle heavy winds. “We’re going out again tomorrow,” Troy added. Unfortunately I was flying back to Sudbury the next morning so, reluctantly, I accepted the refund and vowed I would try again. Over the next three years I sailed my own boat, the Moondance, on Lake Wanapitae and even captained the Mystique, a 40-foot catamaran, around the Whitsunday Islands in Australia, but I never forgot the Stars and Stripes. I still wanted to ride a true America’s Cup boat. Named after the yacht, America, the America’s Cup is the oldest international sporting event in the world. In 1851, America, the brash challenger from the New York Yacht Club, crossed the Atlantic and won the 100 Guinea Cup racing the cream of British yachtmen around the Isle of Wight. Queen Victoria watched the race. When she asked the signal master if the yachts were in sight, he replied, “Yes, your Majesty.” “Which is first?” she asked. “The America,” she was informed. “And which is second?” she pursued. “Ah, your Majesty,” came the reply, “there is no second.” The British trophy was carried to the United States and, a few years later, became the America’s Cup, a coveted prize for the most famous races in yachting history. It was not until the 1980s that Dennis Connor, the most famous name in the sport, transformed the America’s Cup from a race for gifted, wealthy amateurs to a race for gifted, wealthy professionals who train all year. Connor’s Stars and Stripes series of boats are still the most famous of all the America’s Cup sail craft. His 1995 version, an 80-foot-long sloop with a mast towering 114 feet, entered the fray. This is the Stars and Stripes, complete with Connor’s original sails, that sails out of San Diego and gives sailors and landlubbers alike a chance to sail on a piece of living history. The opportunity to try again arrived this summer when my brother, Tony, and I met in San Diego to see our father. This time the weather was fine, the winds a perfect 10 to 12 knots. The Stars and Stripes had moved to a slip farther down the wharf beyond the Star of India, a square rigger that has graced San Diego Harbor for many years. Although she can accommodate up to 20, this day the Stars and Stripes was going out with only seven paying customers and a crew of three. We were greeted by Troy Sears as we boarded and his first question was, “Which of you is Tony Hayward?” My brother laughed and said, “Me, but I’m not that Tony Hayward,” referring to the much-in-the-news CEO of British Petroleum at the time. Within minutes we had cast off, turned into the wind, and were pressed into service to haul up the two enormous sails, a mainsail and, forward of the mainsail, the jib. When the weight of the sails grew too much, two volunteer grinders took to the three speed winches and completed the haul up. The jib sheets (lines) were run back through the winches. Immediately the sails filled with an off-shore breeze coming over the port** side so the small crew hauled in the starboard sheet until the jib hardened and then cleated it off. The Stars and Stripes heeled a few degrees as we settled on a port tack taking us south toward the Mexican border. Already we could feel her speed as she sliced through the slight chop at close to 10 knots. The San Diego skyline tracked across our port side. When we reached the Embarcadero, the U.S.S. Midway loomed up on our left. For the next two and a half hours, we cruised south to the Mexican border, and then tacked back under the arcing Coronado Bridge and on to the vast navy yards that dominate much of the harbour. When my turn came, I took over the helm and really felt the boat. She answered briskly to the helm as I took her under the Coronado Bridge at close to 11 knots. My ride on the Stars and Stripes had definitely been worth the wait. Some days when more than 20 clients book a ride, the Stars and Stripes goes out with her sister boat, Abracadabra, and the two America’s Cup boats race each other. On my next trip to San Diego, I intend to be part of the racing crew. San Diego’s attractions, besides its weather, are many, including a world-class zoo, Seaworld, Balboa Park, and its beaches. But for a special time, whether you are a sailor or not, try an unforgettable trip on an America’s Cup boat. website: www.stars-stripes.com *one knot = 1.1 mph **starboard, the right side of boat. The term originates before the invention of the stern rudder. Before that the stearboard was on the right side. Port, the left side of the boat. To avoid damaging the stearboard, ancient ships would dock on the left side.
