The Wild Goose Chase Race will be
conducted on September 14, 2024. This is
a pursuit style race in which cruising class boats start first. The race will begin near the ESSA mark “A”(Green
Can 3) and continue towards the Choptank Light near Oxford and return to
Cambridge. The race will finish at ESSA Mark “Z”.
Choptank Duet Announcement
Introducing the new Choptank Duet -
a mixed doublehanded sailing race on Saturday, June 22. Each
team will consist of one man and one woman.
The Notice of Race will be posted on
the CYC and ESSA websites around June 1.
So, talk it up, recruit your team
and get ready to race the Duet!
Choptank Skippers,
The process as laid out by RMS is quite simple and it only takes a few minutes to submit your certificate application. It only took about 30 minutes to get Paprika, my Pearson Flyer, setup using a pre-existing set of values found in their database. Jim Whited is our regional coordinator and is willing to help out as needed to make sure our boats are accurately entered in their system. Once entered, they will add our fleet to their database which in turn will be setup for their scoring system, all done online. After the race has finished and scored, the results will be available in a few minutes, even as we motor back to our slips, making for lively discussions of the outcome over a post-race beer. Their setup also accommodates one-design classes, which would allow the Tangier fleet to experience the same benefits.
Curt
Getting Lucky on the Choptank. By George Breig, Photo By Tim Fuhrman
The wind was a pleasant 8 knots blowing from the northwest
which was typical for ESSA Wednesday Night races. A short 1.8 mile upwind-down
wind course was assigned by the committee boat. The weather mark was NW.
"Tango 22” is a Tanzer 22 with a PHRF of 240, the highest
rating of the ESSA Choptank Fleet. My crew and I had no special expectations. On
a good night, we hoped to pass our rivals and enjoy the boat ride.
On a starboard tack, the spinnaker fleet sailed close-hauled
to the west toward the Cambridge side of the river. Seven minutes later, the non-spinnaker fleet followed. They also
headed west. As always Serena was on the
tiller. Mike and I managed the sails. After we cleared the starting line, we
headed north on a port tack to shallow water to avoid the half-knot current in
the middle of the river. That seemed to be a good theory.
Halfway to the weather mark, we tacked. Then came the history changing moment. Several minutes later we were blessed with a 40-degree wind shift which sent us directly to the mark. Wow! With a half-mile to go, the boats on the west side were pushed north, well behind us. We had the big lift. They had the big header. After we turned at the mark, our sails were set to a broad reach. One-by-one, the spinnaker fleet with their kites flying, passed us. Several shouted, “What are you doing here?“ We smiled and shrugged. Somehow Tango 22 finished 6 seconds ahead of the last spin boat. The non-spin fleet was just turning at the weather mark. We couldn’t believe our luck. How does a boat with a PHRF of 240 win against boats with ratings of 138, 162, & 178. Just call it “getting lucky”. By the way, it never happened again. Being lucky is often better than being good. Being good and lucky is even better.
 |
| Winning without help from PHRF |
Several ESSA skippers and their crews have been racing in other events on the Chesapeake.
 |
| Rocket J Squirrel on right at Annapolis |
 |
| Dotty and Anastasia trimming the sails |
This year the WGC will be a Non-Spinnaker Pursuit Race.
Slower boats go first. All boats ahead must be passed to win.
Round trip from "Z" to the Choptank Light.
Handicaps are modified PHRF ratings.
Click Here for printable Wild Goose NOR & SI
Starting Times
|
Length of Race - NM |
16 |
Shorter Course |
Length of Race- NM |
6.54 |
Modified N-S PHRF CR |
|
Start Time |
Boat Name |
Z-C-E-C-A-Z |
Start Time |
Boat Name |
|
|
9:00 AM |
Rosina |
S-P-P-S-S-S |
9:00 AM |
Rosina |
297 |
|
9:04 AM |
Jitterbug |
|
9:01 AM |
Jitterbug |
280 |
|
9:09 AM |
Lazy Ethel |
|
9:03 AM |
Lazy Ethel |
263 |
|
9:20 AM |
Tamarind |
|
9:08 AM |
Tamarind |
196 |
|
9:21 AM |
Crazy Brit |
|
9:08 AM |
Crazy Brit |
221 |
|
9:27 AM |
Chupacabra |
|
9:10 AM |
Chupacabra |
217 |
|
9:28 AM |
Sawdust |
|
9:11 AM |
Sawdust |
192 |
|
9:30 AM |
Dudley Do Right |
|
9:12 AM |
Dudley Do Right |
184 |
|
9:30 AM |
Callinectes 2.0 |
|
9:12 AM |
Callinectes 2.0 |
184 |
|
9:37 AM |
Paprika |
|
9:15 AM |
Paprika |
158 |
|
9:40 AM |
Touché |
|
9:16 AM |
Touché |
146 |
|
9:41 AM |
Gabrielle |
|
9:16 AM |
Gabrielle |
142 |
|
9:47 AM |
No Mas |
|
9:19 AM |
No Mas |
121 |
|
9:47 AM |
Epicure |
|
9:19 AM |
Epicure |
121 |
|
9:47 AM |
Nothing Artificial |
|
9:19 AM |
Nothing Artificial |
121 |
|
9:47 AM |
"3-6-9 |
|
9:19 AM |
"3-6-9 |
121 |
|
9:52 AM |
Aura |
|
9:21 AM |
Aura |
104 |
|
9:54 AM |
Rocky J. Squirrel |
|
9:21 AM |
Rocky J. Squirrel |
96 |
|
9:56 AM |
Blur |
|
9:22 AM |
Blur |
87 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notice of Race
The Wild Goose Chase Race will be
conducted on September 9, 2023. This is
a Non-Spinnaker pursuit style race in which slower boats start
first. The race will begin near the
Cambridge Yacht Club, continue towards the Choptank Light, and return to
Cambridge. The spirit of this race is to
give those boats that never win a chance to be competitive.
Boats with higher handicaps will start
first. This year modified PHRF ratings will be used to determine
the appropriate delays. The PHRF ratings will be tempered with actual
performance records from the regular ESSA season. No boat will be delayed more
than 60 minutes. The winner must pass all boats ahead. The first boat
across the finish line is the winner.
Starting times will be posted on http://essasailing.blogspot.com/
no later than September 7, 2023, at 1200.
 |
| Since 1992 |
