Report: A Great Day to Watch a Race!
by George Maier and Mike Schneider
May 2006

t was an outstanding day.

It was the start of the seventh leg of the international round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. The 70-ft. boats would sail of out Annapolis after a 2 1/2 week layover in Baltimore and Annapolis.

About 32 years ago a group of ocean racing enthusiasts at the Royal Naval Sailing Squadron came up with the idea for a round-the-world yacht race. Initially there was no standard design for the boats and in 1973 a fleet of seventeen sailboats departed Portsmouth, England, on the first leg of a race that would take them on a 30,000 mile course around the world. Since then the race has been held every four years.

This year marked the ninth running of the event which has become the premier round-the-world sailboat race, with a fleet of seven boats competing. The race is now known as the Volvo Ocean Race after its current sponsor. There are nine ocean legs to the race as well as seven in-port races, all of which award points based on the finishing positions of the boats. The stopover in Chesapeake Bay marks the end of the fifth ocean leg and the beginning of the sixth.

For the third time since 1998, the JOHN W. BROWN anchored off Annapolis to afford passengers and crew a unique opportunity to watch the start of the sixth leg of the race. On May 7, 2006, 251 sailing enthusiasts paid to ride the ship to an ideal vantage point near the starting line. The initial course of the race took the boats upwind past the BROWN, around a buoy about four miles from the starting line, and then past the ship again as they raced down the Bay toward the Atlantic Ocean on their way to New York.

But first, for weeks prior, plans and arrangement had to be made for the participation of the BROWN. Meetings were held with the United States Coast Guard and the local Volvo Race Committee to establish time frames and anchorage areas that would allow the BROWN to become an excellent viewing platform for the start of the race. Also, a wide-ranging publicity and advertising campaign was initiated to attract an interested viewing public aboard the vessel.

The Coast Guard had established definitive spectator areas and restricted zones that defined where vessels could safely moor with restricting the progress of the race. We were able to come to an agreement with the Coast Guard and the Race Committee that would allow the BROWN to anchor at a point midway between the start and the turning point of the race course.

The passengers commenced boarding at 0630 at Pier 4 North Locust Point in order that departure could occur promptly at 0800, so as to conform to the agreed-upon time frame necessary to reach the anchorage area. All passengers were embarked by 0740 and the BROWN was underway at 0800.

The transit south down Chesapeake Bay was uneventful – partly cloudy weather with a moderate NW’ly wind, veering later to NE’ly. Passage under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was accomplished at 1012 within our allotted time window. The vessel proceeded to a point three miles south of the bridge in the eastern spectator area and let go the starboard anchor at 1041. The anchor held and the ship fetched up and lay in a north-south direction – a perfect position to view the race.

The weather was ideal for the cruise and for sailing. The sky was clear with the wind out of the north at about ten knots. An estimated 3,500 pleasure boats lines the course to watch the activity. World-renowned sailing expert Gary Jobson described the boats’ race maneuvers from a small boat over VHF channel 17. That narrative was patched to the ship’s PA system so the passengers could hear expert commentary on the race. Our own avid yachtsman, Jack Buchheister, provided additional information about the race.

The race started promptly at 1300 at a position north of Thomas Point Light and about two miles south of the BROWN’s anchorage. Brasil 1 was first across the line by a small margin. The seven boats, heading north, maneuvered individually and on different tacks and courses seeking to attain any advantage in stemming an ebb tide and a now NE’ly wind. With the ebb current against the boats at the start, skippers elected to move toward the sides of the Bay away from the main channel to avoid the strongest current. Two boats, Ericksson Racing and Brunel, went west while the other five boats, led by Pirates of the Caribbean, sailed right through the spectator fleet to hug the Kent Island shore on the east side of the Bay.

Small spectator boats, hundreds in number, did not impede the racer boats – in fact several racers amazingly enough sailed directly through the massed small-boat fleet. This benefitted those watching from the BROWN because sailboats passed on both sides of the ship on the initial upwind leg. Even more amazing was that two of the racers sailed in close proximity to the BROWN, to the disbelief and delight of all aboard.

The boats that went east fared better on the upwind leg to the first mark. Brasil 1 was first around the mark, followed closely by movistar and Pirates of the Caribbean. The same three boats had finished in the first three positions in the local race held off Annapolis on April 29.

Approximately one-half hour after the race start the first boat rounded the turn buoy located about one mile south of the Bay Bridge. Speed increased on the southbound leg and again the boats maneuvered to advantage in diverse positions all across the Bay. The downwind leg that brought the boats past the BROWN the second time was exciting and offered passengers and unparalleled opportunity to see the boats maneuvering at close range.

The BROWN became the apparent center of attraction again as several boats passed within heaving line distance of the vessel. Again, the boats passed on both sides of the ship and passengers moved from one side to the other to catch all the action. In fact, in viewing from the flying bridge, only the upper part of one boat’s sail was visible over the bow as it passed ahead close aboard.

Some concern was voiced that the racer’s keep, 17 feet in depth, might foul our anchor chain. Luckily such did not occur. At one point, movistar and Brunel passed close by the ship’s bow and Ericsson Racing went close under the stern.

As the boats passed our viewing position and sailed down the Bay on this leg of the race to New York prior to transiting the North Atlantic, we commenced having anchor. Once the boats reached the ocean for the sprint to New York, ABN AMRO One, the overall points leader at this point in the race, again demonstrated its dominance in the ocean portions of the race and moved to the front of the fleet.

The BROWN returned to Pier 4 North Locust Point about 1700 and debarked the happy passengers who had enjoyed the best possible vantage point for watching the restart of the Volvo Ocean Race. As usual our passengers also enjoyed the traditional hospitality of the ship and its crew.

It was an outstanding day.

Epilogue: In a sad postscript to this day, Hans Horrevoets, a crewman aboard ABN AMRO Two, was washed overboard at 0211 GMT on May 18, during Leg 7 (New York to Portsmouth) of the race. The boat mounted a search and located him but his crew mates were unable to resuscitate him. On May 22 Horrevoets’ body was transferred to a Royal Netherlands naval frigate from ABN AMRO Two.