J/145 RADIO FLYER Sailing N2E Update

One of the crew aboard Carolyn Parks' J/145 RADIO FLYER, Jeff Mueller, kindly provided us an update on how Carolyn's team came together, sailed the boat and nearly won the entire Newport 2 Ensenada Race, having to settle for 3rd overall and 1st in PHRF A Class (the first woman to win it ever!).  Here's Jeff's report-

"Going into the 2012 Newport to Ensenada Race the Radio Flyer philosophy boiled down to two main things:  bring a team that could keep the boat moving through the night and choose a route that would keep us in at least modest pressure without sailing too far.  Led by Owner/Skipper Carolyn Parks the dedicated amateurs on board included a strong sailor for each key position on both watches.  Half the crew had never sailed together, but the mellow personalities blended well from the start.

Having sailed the 2011 race in great pressure but too many miles offshore we were determined to get it right this time.  Although it's a blast to be on the 145 in 15-20 knots, it's a marvelous boat even in 5-9 knots.  Seeing a wind hole along the coast as likely we knew it would need to be an outside course, the question was how far out?  To find the best route we culled through numerous weather sources until we lost cell service a little after 3 PM on Friday, from there, seeing that the winds were a bit more moderate than the forecast, we interpolated and focused on sailing a VMG course that would keep us in pressure.

Off the line with the light 1 up Radio Flyer moved well.  While a few boats turned in, most of the fleet near us stuck with starboard and hoisted Code Zeros.  Sometimes it's good not to have too many options.  We don't have a Code Zero and the breeze wasn't strong enough to hoist the Jib Top, so we opted to go to the 1A rather early, dropping our course much deeper (and more towards Ensenada) than the boats with the Zeros up.  We were happy living there on starboard until 4:30 Saturday morning when the wind went right and built to about 14 knots.  The watch on deck pulled off a sweet gybe without any assistance and we barreled along for about half an hour before it pooped on us.  That started the focus game, keeping the boat moving in very light air while bone tired is essential to any successful Ensenada campaign.  After a gybe back looking for pressure we continued to the Ensenada layline, placing us nearly 50 miles offshore.

Daylight found the big red J all alone in the ocean.  Was that good or bad?  Was there pressure all along the coast all night and had all the boats that went inside already finished?  As land was coming into sight we caught a glimpse of the very distinct spinnaker of a maxi that we know well.  It was about 5 miles behind us!  Our confidence rose and adrenaline kicked in as the crew squeezed max speed out of Radio Flyer in a dying breeze.  Our team could now see a few Cruz and Maxi boats along the shore and even though the gybe angle looked nasty we decided to go back out rather than risk being becalmed under the cliffs.  As we turned the wind backed and built gliding our big red wagon directly to the finish at a healthy clip.

All in all it was a beautiful race.  We never saw less than 3-4 knots of pressure and the J/145 never stopped moving - generally in the right direction.  The team work was excellent and cooperative and everyone ended up doing just about every position at one point or another, which we credit with relieving fatigue.  Clearly the J/145 is a phenomenal boat for this type of race.  Not to mention awfully comfy down below."

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