The ButterfieldCup, Exciting as Ever
A brisk breeze sailed across North Soundfrom the Northeast. The sky was clear. Caplets ran in the streamsof the rapidly increasing wind currents.
The decision was made to race in the NorthSound instead of taking the Catboats out into the sea to roundthe Western section of the Island. The alternate route was agreedupon earlier in case of bad weather. It was a long triangularcourse from Morgan's Harbour to the Links out to Fisherman's Rockand back to Morgan's.
Around the western end would mean a lotof water over the rails and possibly dragging the boom in anyof the 5 to 6-foot swells. In an open, unballasted, keeless boatan overpress of sail and the slightest wrong shift of human weightcould create an unwanted adventure. The CI Sailing Club was goingthe long way around, which was the harder way and the Cayman CatboatClub had planned on complementing their course by fulfilling thewhole rounding of Grand Cayman and meeting up on the Western shoreline.But that was changed now with the race placed in the relativelysheltered waters of North Sound.
Two racers faced off in this first of threedays of Butterfield Perpetual Cup races. Kem Jackson was goingafter Crosby Ebanks' winner's title. The lateen rigged Nina'sgig and our Brac Cat crew were there also but the race was reallybetween Kem and Crosby.
Kem has been possessed with a Cayman Catboatthe late Captain William Dalson Ebanks had built by Norris Jacksonabout sixty years back. She had been a winner in the Catboat racesof the 60s and 70s, even though she had been designed as an allaround working vessel. Man O'War has more beam than most of theCatboats today, which are mainly designed more as racers thanas turtlers or freight carriers. When the catboats started theirdecline Man O'War had her stern cut off and an outboard replacedher sails. Ironically, because she still was being used to fishwith the outboard she did not go the way of the other hundredor so Catboats used to burn rubbish or to rot.
Kem restored Man O'War's stern section andmodified her keel design. The shallow keel was cut away in thefront and rear at the advice of master Catboat builder, PeterEbanks. The sail design was Westbayed with a foresheet or jibadded. She would be fast.
On 10 January Captain Dalson died and popularsentiment decided Man O'War should be renamed, Captain D, to commemoratethe great mariner. She would be officially launched and renamedat the 3rd Butterfield day of racing as the opening event forCayFest 2002.
Captain Crosby Ebanks, on of the North SoundTrip pioneers and avid Catboat competitor designed and built GoingAhead with a passion to stop all competition or to stimulate it.Going Ahead was built for speed and stability and Captain Crosbywanted everybody to sit up and notice the difference between herand all previous racing Catboats.
But, with no competition Going Ahead wasonly raced once. Crosby preferred to race the slightly crankierbut definitely fast, SeeHerGo, a modified design of his. SeeHerGostarted off with loses due to the strategies of challengers, MarkClark and Carson Ebanks in the Elford Dilbert design, TraditionI.
In her winning streak over the past eightmonths she beat Mark and Carson on a Crosby favoured race courseof beam reaches and straight out speed. As Catboat enthusiast,Wenzil Burlington swore, "She looked like a motorboat."
Crosby's right hand in SeeHerGo's victoriesis weatherboardman and Catboat Captain, Austin Ebanks. It is acomplete drama to watch Austin and Crosby work a Catboat. But,Kem Jackson, with first time weatherboardman (and first time ona Catboat), Roy Bush and veteran weatherboarman, Erika Patersonupset and beat a reefed SeeHerGo in David Foster's Brac Cat.
This grudge match started out with bothboats beam reaching along the shoreline with full to burstingjibs and mains. Over a gray and green playing field of the GreatSound their bows stuck straight out above the water with surgingbow wakes starting one-quarter the way back and each sported fromtime to time rooster tails. The soon to be Captain D fell behindGoing Ahead by just a bit. This was the first time Kem sailedthe Catboat and only the five or so time that Captain Crosby sailedGoing Ahead.
A shroud turnbuckle on Kem's boat gave wayunder the strain and press of canvas and the mast sheared at thetruck, tumbling into the water. In sympathy, Captain Crosby didnot finish the course.
The Nina's gig had long past retired andwe ran back, nearly swamping while yawing in the increasing winds.The winds were reported between 25 and 30 knots.
The next day, Easter Sunday, we took theBrac Cat to Public Beach to give rides and to have a triangularcourse race on that side of the Island. It rained us out.
Easter Monday, the traditional day of theRegatta, saw CayFest being inaugurated by the launching and renamingof Captain D. Going Ahead and Brac Cat came to race a best twoout of three regatta for the Butterfield Perpetual Cup.
It was a perfect day of sunshine and moderatebreezes off Kaibo Yacht Club. There was a beach audience of overfour or five hundred, with boats and jet skis in celebration ofa good day to be on the water.
Owing to the misunderstanding of a verbalcourse description only two Catboats sailed the right course.Going ahead beat Captain D by a few seconds in her first officialrace under her new name in a beautiful display of sail symmetrywith just the right amount of wind. Because of incongruities therace was disqualified and a new best two out of three scheduledfor 6 April off West Bay Public Beach.
We took a lot of people out on the Catboatsand interestingly tough, except for Anthony Ramoon, all of thoseinterested enough to get aboard were women and children.
The 3rd Butterfield Perpetual Cup CatboatRegatta will be concluded off West Bay Beach during the CaymanIslands National Trust's Old Time Beach Garden party, a fund raiserfor the remodeling of Ms. Lizzy's schoolhouse. It will be a besttwo out of three triangular race course with the Cup, designedand built by Chester Watler's Woodworks, being presented to thewinner.
The races are planned to start at 1:00PM sharp.