Update: May 4th 2003      [View More Photos]   [View Videos]

Since our last update four weeks ago much has happened…between the Sail Expo boat show, the Ensenada Race, The Catalina Island series, the LAYC’s Whitney series and of course the building of boats number two and three, these last 30 days have been fun, exciting and exhausting. First, the Ensenada Race…

The Ensenada Race…with 461 yachts competing in the worlds largest international ocean race who would have expected one of the smallest boats in the fleet to finish second overall on elapsed time. Except for the 54 foot, 85 foot masted, cubin fiber sails equipped racing catamaran AFTERBURNER, the R33 cat Flyer beat all other multihulls and mono-hulls including the ULDB maxi sleds of Roy Disney’s Pyewacket and the new 77 foot long Alan Andrews designed Alchemy. We broke the current mono-hull record with the 4th fastest elapsed time of the Ensenada’s Race 56 year history with an elapsed time of 10 hours 28 minutes in the 125 nautical mile race. We sailed an actual 145 miles averaging almost 14 knots for the race. Our top speed was 21 knots in the 10 to 18 knot breeze.

We started the race with a clear air leeward start with the rest of the 21 boat multihull fleet above us but slightly behind us. It was only a 5-8 knot southerly breeze with the wind hard on our nose. Soon after the start we started to work the fleet by sailing slightly higher and faster than the other multi-hulls. Afterburner had tacked to go out to sea. About 30 minutes after the start the wind finally started to switch to a more normal southwest to west wind making it a drag race to Ensenada. The wind started to increase to about 11-12 knots and we found ourselves doing 17 to 19 knots in flat seas. It was at this point for about 10 minutes we found ourselves leading the entire fleet of monohulls and multihulls as we were neck and neck with Afterburner, Pyewacket and Alchemy but we were sailing rumbline where as the other 3 yachts were way out to sea and would have to sail a longer distance to the finish.

But before we could relish in our fleet position and as we were screaming along at 17 knots of speed with David my relief helmsman on the helm, we abruptly came to a screeching halt with the bows plunging downwards and the sterns heading skywards. The leeward daggerboard made a huge cracking noise and the crew was thrown forward 10 feet tucking and rolling on the trampoline like flying Chinese acrobats. As I was regaining my position on the boat I looked aft in our wake waiting to see what had just ruined our day. Was it a container, a log or kelp that stopped our boat dead in our tracks from 17 knots of boat speed to 2 knots??? In our wake was a large fin that rolled over and headed deep below the oceans surface…it was a very large 400-500 lbs sleeping sunfish who had just had his sunbathing time drastically interrupted.

After the collision, with the boat picking up speed again, I took back the helm from David “the fish killer” Buckley and slowed the boat down to about 8 knots to access the damage. The leeward daggerboard was slanted back 15 degrees and who knew what had happened to the hull? I yelled for Russ, my navigator, to open the leeward hull hatch to inspect for water if the daggerboard case had been compromised. Luckily the trailing edge crash box in the dagger board worked as plan and no water or damage was done to the hull.

The next job was to pull up the leeward board to see what damage was done to the dagger board but the leading edge of the board had been “slimed” by the large sunfish making it very difficult to pull the daggerboard up. But after a couple of minutes and three large crew lifting and tugging on the board the board came up revealing a large 6” diameter gash on the trailing edge of the board. Because of the damage we pulled the other starboard daggerboard and switched the two boards as we were going to be on a starboard tack for a while. Once sorted out we got into position and sheeted in and got back up to speed doing 17 to 19 knots again.

As sunset approached it was clear that the elapsed time honors were going to between four boats…Afterburner, Pyewacket, Alchemy and the R33 Flyer…the David of this Goliath fleet. The rest of the fleet including the fastest multihulls and monohulls on the entire west coast were but very small dots on the horizon. It was Afterburner that had pulled out to a nice 30 minute lead as we were approaching the Coronado Islands. We passed the Islands in second place with Alchemy 10 minutes behind us and Roy Disney’s Pyewacket about 5 minutes behind Alchemy. It was just after passing the Coronado Islands we attempted to jibe to get back to rumbline when during the jibe the lazy spin sheet fouled around the bowsprite and became a “knife knot” for the crew. With the spin out of control we jibed back to our original course and to re-organize for a second jibe attempt. Unfortunately, the lazy sheet could not be untangled easily so we had to run a spare spin sheet to the clew of the spin taking more time and forcing us to sail further out to sea than what we would have liked. Soon after the spin sheet had been run we jibed cautiously back to a port tack taking us back to rumbline as quickly as possible.

It was getting very dark now with dusk gone and only a few stars to light the way back to rumbline. Also the wind and waves were increasing to about 6 foot steep, close together swells and winds to 15 to 18 knots. With a full main and spinnaker we were speeding through the night at 20 + knots stuffing the bow through the backside of the slower swells and sending phosphorescent sheets of water 20 feet high from bow to stern. The phosphorescent would land on the trampoline making the trampoline look like the black universe with millions of tiny but bright glowing stars on it. At these speeds we were really leaving the two maxi sleds behind us who at this time we could only recognize by keeping our eyes out for their bow running lights. But with the seas increasing in size it was getting harder to do as the waves would hide their lights as we sailed further ahead.

As we approached Toto Santos Island and the finish line we were being headed by the wind making it impossible to sail rumbline to the finish. It was at this time we decided to take down the spin and change to the reacher. However, due to the blackness of night and the lack of lights onshore I decided to be conservative and to take the spin down without the speed advantage of pulling out the reacher. I was concerned that while pulling the spin down with the reacher up and going at 19 knots of speed that if we were to hit the wave ahead of us that I could be sending the bowman, David “the fish killer“, forward possible launching him over the bow tube and into the water….not a good thing to happen when sailing very fast and with no visibility….would have made for a very challenging “man overboard drill” not to mention we would have been late for last call at the bar in Ensenada : )

So down came the spin in a very conservative dousing that had us sailing for 10 minutes with mainsail only. Although this was a very conservative takedown losing precious time to our competition it was the safe thing to do. It was learned later that in the same conditions Afterburner had lost their chute overboard due to a broken bowsprite and shredded their $19,000 cubin fiber spin.

We were now doing 14 knots with main only I knew it would not be good enough to stay ahead of the maxi sleds as I knew they were doing in the high teens themselves. So, as described to me by my crew as being obsessed with speed, we unfurled the reacher and were smoking along at 17-19 knots again, slamming into big seas and giving the crew of Flyer an unforgettable ride.

Just a quick note for the non-racers out there…If we were cruising and not racing, conditions onboard would have been much different. We would have had a double reef in the main and only the jib set. We would have been safe, warm and dry going still at a nice clip of 14 knots and in total control. But when you are racing the boat is always taking right to the fine line of maximum speed vs. “out of control“. So far the R33 has proven forgiving and in control even with a crew of speed fanatics such as myself and my crew onboard. I was very pleased with the boats performance even when overpowered with our huge 54 foot mast, full main and large reacher in the big seas and winds. Now back to the racing…

As we approached the finish line the wind started to head us and get very light. Then out of no where sailing fast and to leeward and just slightly ahead of us was Pyewacket, who had managed to get by Alchemy as well. Pyewacket had over-stood the finish line but their mistake turned into a huge advantage as the wind lightened and clocked to head us. It was a drag race in light winds to the finish line. I was worried that after just over 10 hours of great racing and a good lead that the fickle wind gods would allow Pyewacket to just finish us on elapsed time.

At the finish it was Pyewacket finishing 4 minutes ahead of us but with a 20 minute earlier start we beat them by 16 minutes on elapsed time. Afterburner had finished 48 minutes ahead of us and Alchemy finished fourth behind Pyewacket. For the monohulls it was a record breaking race as Roy Disney’s Pyewacket broke the old monohull record. For us I was very happy with our results.

We did what we set out to do…beat all boats other than the favored, larger 54 cat Afterburner. I want to thank my fearless crew, Russ Turk - navigator, David “the fish killer” Buckley - foredeck and helmsman and Rob Harrison - all around crew and Ensenada tour guide. Thanks guys for a great race!

Turbo update:

How fast is the new R33 Turbo…how does 600 miles an hour sound??? Well maybe a little slower but it sure feels like 600 miles an hour. The R33 turbo is now sailing!!! With only her new North 3DL main and jib we hit 16 knots in only 8-10 knots of wind with 3 onboard!!!….the bow pole is not attached yet so we can’t wait to try the new 500 sq foot reacher in only 6-10 knots of wind…we may hit 18-20 knots!!! The bright colored yellow hulls with her 54.5 foot black carbon mast and North 3DL sails turns heads as we plan to race this super fast speed machine before she goes off to her home in Barcelona, Spain. How does a minus -123 rating sound for a boat that costs a lot less than an F31 yet sleeps four with head and galley. The boat is also getting a “bmw“ interior…ostrich headliner, sweude two tone grey and yellow cushions and maple burl doorskin liner with teak holly floorboards!!! Should be done in 3 weeks,,,will post photos when done. Also new hull graphics and window black-outs will make her look even faster. Call us for more info and pricing information.

The Boat Show… The 2003 Sail Expo show in Oakland was a great success. My partner Bob Long manned the booth showing continuous videos of the R33 and new drawings of the R48 catamaran. Highlights of the show were meeting many new enthusiastic sailors and 6 new prospective buyers of the R33 and R48 catamarans. Demo’s have been set up and we hope the hard work that went into the show will pay off with the building of more boats and a stronger fleet of Reynolds Catamarans.

The Catalina Island series... we tested and showed off the new Turbo rig on our proto-type “Flyer” to the fleet and won both races easily on elapsed time. The new rig proved to be as fast as the older rig in heavy airs and much faster in light airs. On the second day of sailing we hit the starting line and never looked back…within less than one hour the fleet was but a dot on the horizon in the 12 knots of perfect wind. The new rig increased our rating from a -92 to a -123 phrf.

The Whitney Series... a series that has many grueling offshore races proved again that the R33 is fast in all conditions. Although the fleet was small…about 30 boats overall and only 3-4 multihulls we finished the series with a first place corrected and elapsed. The monohulls gave us our best compitition as “Vicki”, a 70 foot maxi sled was racing for most the series.

To schedule a DEMO RIDE click here

Till next time…Fast Sailing!

Randy Reynolds