2008 Turkey Chase

It is time to sign up for this year's Turkey Chase: Registration is $26 before November 24. Several thousand people participate in this race, making it one of the DC Area's largest. It is also a NORSA favorite - last year 9 NORSA members and friends ran the event. See the 2007 NORSA Article.

Team NORSA at the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race

On Wednesday October 15th, 2008, Team NORSA member Adam flew to Baltimore to take part in the 19th Annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. His brother and fellow NORSA member Mark had been planning on traveling to Galveston, Texas to participate in a different sailing regatta; however due to the recent hurricane his plans changed. Mark came to the docks at Fells Point with Adam and was able to secure a position on the same boat.

One of the largest schooner gatherings on the East Coast, the Schooner Race raises money for charitable organizations involved in conservation of the natural resources of the Chesapeake Bay. The event begins in Baltimore with the parade of sail through the inner harbor and other pre-race festivities through the night. The next morning, the schooners shove off from Fells Point and make their way to the starting line south of the Bay Bridge just off of Annapolis. After jostling for position in a low wind start, the fleet sped off south towards the finish lines (Class B, C: Windmill Point; Class AA, A: Thimble Shoals light).



Much of the race was neck and neck between the two flagships of the Bay, the Pride of Baltimore II and the Virginia. Historically, the older Pride had won every race with the exception of last year, when the sleek Virginia claimed the prize. The rivalry between the boats is fierce and there was much anticipation leading up to this year's race. However, late in the night, the Virginia broke its main gaff, thus allowing the Pride to shoot away and win back the title of fastest schooner on the Bay.

Mark and Adam were crewing on the Martha White, a 68 foot bluenose schooner (Class B) out of Chestertown, Maryland. Owner/Captain Bob Kay and First Mate Cherri Reese primarily use the boat as a traveling venue for their bluegrass band "Schoonertime" but once a year push the boat to its limits in the Schooner Race. Also serving on the boat were James Boicourt, Adam's friend and a former student at North Carolina State University, along with mild mannered Kevin, fiery Parker, calm/collected Peter, feminine mystique Lisa, and irish nobleman Jerry.

The winds were calm for much of the afternoon for the Martha White, but as darkness fell a cold front came through and blew the fleet to Thimble Shoals in an almost exclusively downwind race. Both crew and vessel sailed well, but were hard pressed to match their second place finish of 2007. Considering the 5% handicap placed upon the boat for its performance last year, the crew decided to sail as best as they could without undue stress.

In the early afternoon on Friday the 17th, the Martha White rounded Thimble Shoals Light and leisurely made its way into Portsmouth for the post race festivities. A total of 51 schooner's took part in this year's race including such famous vessels as the Lady Maryland (part of the Living Classrooms foundation in Baltimore), the Woodwind (as seen in the movie "Wedding Crashers"), the Amistad (as seen in the movie "Amistad"), the 177' Gazela out of Philadelphia, PA, and the When and If (formerly General George S. Patton's personal sailboat).

Special thanks go to Captain Bob and First Mate Cherri for their great hospitality, James for providing NORSA with a spot on the vessel, NORSA member Steve Long for serving as Baltimore host, and Travis Dozier for serving as Norfolk/Portsmouth host.

Those of you who would like to get a chance to see the schooner fleet on the Bay, two more opportunities exist this Fall: the Downrigging in Chestertown, MD, and the Cambridge Schooner Rendezvous. Walk along the docks, tour the boats, and don't forget to stop in and say hi to the crew of the Martha White. Come back to the docks late at night after the bars have closed and you'll probably see them on deck with their banjo and fiddle playing an impromptu concert.

2008 Giant Acorn Sprint

On Saturday, October 4, 2008, NORSA sachem Steve completed the Giant Acorn Triathlon, which is a standard sprint distance race (750 Meter Swim, 20K Bike, 5K Run). This is the second time Steven has run the Giant Acorn, the first being in 2006. The race was held at Lake Anna in Bumpass, Virginia. [Matt – the essential information has now been disseminated. You may stop reading here, or “hang up the phone” if you want. “OK. Got to go. Bye.” *click*]

Although the race began at the appealing time of 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Steven decided to leave the Baltimore-Washington area on Friday so that he could go to the early packet-pickup and hang out with friend Andrew “Lat-man” Latimer, who resides in Richmond.

The drive to Lake Anna takes one off of I-95 and onto a nice series of country roads. After hugging some nice curves, Steven arrived at the Lake Anna Beach Marina and picked up his race number. In the first of several coincidences, Steven discovered that his race number was 429 – which is his birthday: April 29.

After picking up his race number, Steven had time to spare and decided to drive over the bike course so that he would be nice and familiar with it on race day. The bike course was a counter-clockwise square that consisted of gently rolling countryside. The views were great with 4 water crossings over Lake Anna.

So familiarized, Steven continued on his country drive before finally rejoining I-95, almost already in Richmond. Upon arrival, Steven met Andrew, who lives in his 3rd converted warehouse loft (this one made “paper boxes of every description” – see below).

The weather was perfect on race day: 75F and sunny. The lake, which is heated by a nuclear power plant, was 74 degrees. In a second coincidence, Steven’s car odometer rolled over to 40,000 miles when he parked at the race site.

Wearing his ridiculous NORSA jersey (without anybody there to make him!), Steven completed the race in 1:21:37. This was exactly 8 minutes faster than his 2006 performance (1:29:37). He placed 16th of 44 in his age group and 143 of 339 men. Steven improved in every category over his 2006 race. His second transition time is noteworthy at 37 seconds - 1st overall in his age group and 3rd overall of the men. Age Group Results.

The majority of the competitors were parked in until 1:00, which made the post race party large and fun. Two huge vats of Chili were cooked for all of the 650 competitors. When the crowds began to thin, Steven went back to Richmond and accompanied Andrew and his girlfriend to an Italian Street Festival. After eating, Andrew had to go to a football game. Steven, meanwhile, decided to go to Richmond’s best hot tub at Andrew’s former apartment building.

Steven had to get into the pool using his best James Bond skills. He entered the apartments through the freight elevator in the back of the building, then changed into his bathing suit in the main elevator. Emerging from the elevator with a towel over his neck and his sandals on, Steven pretended to talk on his cell phone (ask Tom about Steven’s fake telephone conversation skills) until he could follow somebody into the locked gym-pool area. The hut tub was nice, and the accompanying pool was the expected frigid 60 degrees, making for some nice hot-cold recovery cycles.

All in all, the Giant Acorn is probably Steven’s favorite race. It is held when the weather is just right, the smell of fall is in the air, and the leaves are beginning to change. Steven definitely plans on competing next year and hopes to see some more NORSA support!

Also, thanks to Setupevents for another smoothly run event.