2010 Southern Straits Race onboard Astral Plane (J109)

[iappsdev]

That is normal weather conditions for us in Japan Sea. We were racing in much worse weather conditions on the 25 foot racer Conrad-25R, with just one storm jib and we was going against wind, so you was lucky to go before the wind. :)

[tsullyhits]

What kind of digital/video camera did you use? The video looks crisp and clean!

[billnsarina]

the j-109 is agood boat to race and awsom to surf I race on one in Texas called Suprise

[AmericanFrog]

Wow! So glad the folks on incisors are safe. Aside from this accident, the grins on the faces of the sailors of the J109 say it all. Loved the video, thanks for posting - Amazing.

[taskwatch1]

Seamanship is also about good judgement. The race committee and racers did NOT use good judgement by choosing to race that day. The forecast was there, and forecasting is pretty accurate these days. I was involved in the rescue to save your yachty peers. The rescues could have been avoided had 'good seamanship' been exercised. I have recovered people that look alot like you in that video.

[Prestostark]

Nice job, guys! Congrats on making Nanaimo. Those were some brutal conditions and very exciting, no doubt. Having been in the Straits of Georgia under similar conditions, I know the video doesn't do justice to the size of the swell and wind waves. Great job on capturing some video.

[w1a1t1c1h5me4]

FUCK, watch SKY movies on

frexis dt com

[ShorelinePearson]

AWESOME VIDEO!!!!

[hgr1019]

Looks crazy fun...

[Olson30Lunchbox]

I think you video rocks. I also got some video of you crossing behind us on an Olson 30 named Lunch Box.

[premton]

wow...19 in a J109.

[captwacky]

cmeakin - The ultimate consequence is death. This was an intense race that tested highly skilled racers and well prepared boats. Like other high adrenalin sports, part of the game is knowing you could die if you don't have your $*it together. Yes, it sucks to have broken stuff and have a boat sink. Could be worse. Nice vid.  exciting stuff

[Scrubs2U]

Real pucker stuff, but I see grins all the way across on their faces. Would love to have been on board that one..

[cmeakin31]

@jimorsheryl Astral Plane is crewed by some very talented sailors. The night before the race we felt our crew and 35 foot J109 could handle the 35-40 knots that was expected in the middle of the strait the next day. Make no mistake, our boat and crew were well prepared. As you can see, conditions were worse than expected with gusts over 55 knots.

[stevemaclean2009]

I heard that Incisor capsized and sank during the storm. Why didn't she self right when knocked down and how was she swamped?

[cmeakin31]

@stevemaclean2009 Good question. Google "North Shore Outlook" to read an article that was written after an interview with the Skipper and Owner of Incisor (Currie). It sheds some light on what went on during the sinking and rescue of Incisor. Sounds like a breaking wave rolled the boat. The hover craft running over Incisor during the rescue probably didn't help either.

[alanw2005]

You guys are getting lots of views!

[cmeakin31]

@alanw2005 lots of interest that's for sure. the icon video is getting up there too.

[biscayforce12]

alanw2005. Viewer here from the UK. Recommended viewing by Scuttlebutt, hence the number of hits.

We did a Cowes Week race once (refered to as "Windy Tuesday") in 60kts and got 11.2kts under storm jib only.

Nice to see some good footage but sorry about the carnage in the rest of the fleet.

[macduff617]

@absolutekaos Sorry! We can't pay for things that are already free, but please continue to post sailing videos, and absolutely want to cover this on our website. Feel free to let me know when you have cool stuff for us to check out.

[wannabekunok]

Is the wind 55.5 knots, or the speed of the boat?

[cmeakin31]

@wannabekunok max windspeed we saw was 55.5 knots. I heard it was up to 60 in some places. max boat speed was 19.6 knots which is smoking in a J109. 65 foot icon's top speed that day was 23.5 knots.

[cmeakin31]

3am April 8th: 43 knots from the west at jericho.

[jimheinmiller]

Awesome ride! Thanks for taking me along on the ride! Well done to everybody on Astral Plane! Glad I was at home in my pyjamas!

[cmeakin31]

@absolutekaos is this RVYC absolutekaos? bet you're glad you didn't attempt the crossing.

[absolutekaos]

@cmeakin31

i am one of the crew from kaos yes. did the crossing on the schock 40. we were first to nanaimo and watched everyone else come in!

[cmeakin31]

@absolutekaos you guys killed it. what was your top speed?

[crystalskulls]

reminds me of a trip on the swiftshore on "infinity"

[cmeakin31]

@crystalskulls pray for decent wind this year infinity........

[macduff617]

Hi - I'm the web editor for SAIL Magazine, and I've posted this online. Thank you so much for the camera work!

[cmeakin31]

@macduff617 glad you like ;-) Thanks for posting with SAIL magazine. our crew is stoked to be on your website. cheers!

[ChrisCapitan]

We actually had no foresail up - just the main with a "5th reef" - some of the angles of the video are deceptive and it may appear as if we had a foresail up though.

[cmeakin31]

@ChrisCapitan I see it now! that part of the vid was shaky cuz i was zoomed in and getting knocked around by the wind. i didn't know you could 5th reef a main,.... that's nuts.

[asanrules]

3:42 HOLY SHIT

[Naliano]

Do you have complete video from the weather briefing? That was a meeting I'd like to show folks in its entirety.

[cmeakin31]

@Naliano I don't have much more than what's posted. Who are these folks you want to show all this footage to?

[alanw2005]

The waves looked like they were 3 metres. Were there really 6 metre waves out there?

[cmeakin31]

@alanw2005 I guess it depends how you measure the wave/swell. The biggest swell we encountered was 30 mins south east of entrance island. More like big fat moving mountains than anything. Guaranteed 5 metres with bigger sets. Agree the video doesn't do it justice. The Halibut Bank Buoy should be a good indicator. I've searched the Dept of Fisheries site but the historical data for April 2nd isn't available yet.

[alanw2005]

@cmeakin31 I believe the Halibut Bank Buoy that day was at 2.5 metres.

[cmeakin31]

@alanw2005 I heard it was bigger than that at Halibut. Too bad they don't have a buoy off of entrance where the big waves were ;-) I'll post the Halibut bank wave data for April 2nd when it becomes available.

[yardsale2000]

@cmeakin31 Halibut Bank reports significant wave height. A portion of those waves can be twice that height. There is a 7 fathom shoal to the east of Entrance Island, and Halibut Bank is nearly twice that depth. If you were over that shoal before 13:30 that day, the tide was still ebbing, so wind against tide + rapid shoaling = extra large standing waves...

[cmeakin31]

@SailBoy7 Hope you made it back to the dock ok without too much damage. Happy to help you use the video for teaching purposes.

[yardsale2000]

Great video! Hard to believe this is Strait of Georgia. Looks awesome!

[cmeakin31]

@yardsale2000 It's no longer myth and stories... the strait does get big and nasty. I found myself wishing I had my 8'4" wave board and a 3.2m2 windsurfing sail. Lots of nice bottom turns going to waste..... lol

[Naliano]

Thanks for posting this. It's highly educational. Please keep it up if you can.

I've VERY curious to know whether Global reached out to you to discuss copyright. If not, that's extremely unprofessional.

[cmeakin31]

@Naliano I have no idea how global picked up on the video. It only became searchable at 3pm yesterday. Nope, no courteousy call, just "smile..... you're on the 6'oclock news. We're freak'in what?"

[ChrisCapitan]

Great Video! The boat you see towards the end is us on TURICUM. We made it to Sister Island, rounded it before heading into Deep Bay.

Good sailing Guys!!

[cmeakin31]

@ChrisCapitan Was that a rag on your forestay a storm jib? There were some huge rollers coming through when we crossed you so was a great photo op. I just missed it when a swell picked Turicum up and hurled you forward at 12+ knots. Couldn't believe how fast you were going with bar poles. Glad you made it to safe harbour.

[alanw2005]

Matt, you made that crossing look smooth and easy!

[cmeakin31]

@alanw2005 Matt did an awesome job at the helm. Not bad for 25 years old.

[domlabr]

Colin, this is mental. I think you need to keep this up. If Global picked this up you need to go after them for copyright or ask for a fee.

[cmeakin31]

@domlabr I'm chatting with Adam tonight. I agree, getting a few $ from Global to pay for the broken gear would be good.

[cmeakin31]

thanks for the feedback. turns out global news just picked up on the video and aired big parts of it at 6pm. search "anything but smooth sailing" on the global tv website. undecided whether to keep this youtube video up or not.

[martinchchen]

great video

[SailBoy7]

dont take this down ! this is a great vid and still doesnt do justice to the weather. but great sailing on your crews part. it was great crossing paths with you about 30 min after the start, gave us a chance to see how our pace was for a little while