The Moonlight Ladies of the Southern Bay
T
by Lin McCarthy
he Moonlight Ladies of the Southern Chesapeake Bay are a special unofficial group of races that have a mystical appeal to sailors of every stripe—hardcore racers, mid-week casual racers, and even cruisers who race. The final two Moonlight Ladies of the summer are this month, August. In summertime on the Southern Bay, a moonlight race can be a lifetime memory. The heat of the day has passed, the trials and tribulations of the office are suspended, and the excitement of something different, yet familiar, hangs in the air. Catching a glimpse of Thimble Shoal, Wolf Trap, Smith Point, or York Spit Lights in a shaft of moonlight on the water is a gift no racer can turn down. Fluorescence flirts with the boat’s wake, the breeze carries a scent of honeysuckle, lights twinkle on a distant shore, and the string of pearls across the mouth of the Bay is in fact the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It is all part, albeit only part, of racing at night.
##Photo by Karen Grimsley
Then there is the other side. Even though schedulers try their very best to put them on the dates of full moons, these races can be daunting. Things happen. Clouds arrive in the evening, and there goes the moonlight. Then, to make it a bit dicier, the brilliant illumination of Wolf Trap Light is actually the flashbang of the 10-foot-wide lightning bolt. Ah, smell the ozone on the breeze—the 40-knot breeze that comes with the nighttime summer squall. The lights on the bridge-
tunnel disappear, and nobody, not even a sharp-eyed eagle with contact lenses, can see whether that tug has a tow or not. And, so it goes. Moonlight, a.k.a. nighttime, racing is a rite of passage on the Southern Bay. It is something racers are driven to do. If you do it long enough, you’ll have some good ones and some bad ones, but one thing is sure—you will never forget those nights on the Chesapeake. Take your camera and your foulies and wear your required PFD.
The Moonlight Ladies of August
Nighttime Races To Consider for 2012
Plantation Light Race (August 12) — This is the Grand Dame of moonlight racing, sponsored by the Hampton YC. This race goes from just inside Hampton Roads harbor across the Bay to the Eastern Shore, rounds a mark off the city of Cape Charles, and finishes back in the harbor near Hampton River. Usually, most of the racers enjoy dawn on the water. Smith Point Race (August 20) — This Fishing Bay YC (FBYC) race starts in early afternoon, and racers hope to finish in time for brunch at the club the next day. Success in finding Smith Point Light is the goal and then a timely return to the Piankatank area finish line.
Moonlight Triangle Race (July) — Less than five years old, this annual race is sponsored by Cruising Club of Virginia. The race starts and finishes off Buckroe Beach and aims to have the racers back in their slips around midnight. A mark at the exotically named Tail of the Horseshoe, a possible turning point, no doubt adds to the allure of this race. York River Moonlight Race (July) — This race has been rejuvenated by York River YC. The fact that York Spit Light is the turning point makes knowledge of the York’s currents a must and bears directly on the level of success. The course puts racers in waters where the French blockade hastened General Charles Cornwallis’s defeat. Moonlight Regatta (June) — FBYC manages this race each year. The start and the finish are usually around the mouth of the Piankatank River, and racers usually are home in time for breakfast.
72 August 2011 SpinSheet
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