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2026 ASSA Race

Text and Photographs by Paul Clayton.

Sailboats marshalled at Albemarle Plantation Friday the 24th of April, 2026, in anticipation of the 2026 Albemarle Sound Sailing Association sprint race to Elizabeth City and return. Run pursuit-style, the first boat would cross the line at 9:00 the following morning with a staggered start by way of handicap, with the last boat leaving sometime after 10:00. We would sail the 33 miles to Elizabeth City Saturday and then make the return on Sunday - that was the plan. Taylor, Dave and I sailed the 18 miles from Edenton, arriving in early afternoon, and tied up on the outside of the T on B-Dock, along with a huge catamaran fresh in from the Bahamas. Through the good offices of the Osprey Yacht Club, Albemarle Plantation and the marina dockmaster, space was made for all the visiting boats in for the race. Since the marina clubhouse and grill were under renovation, we cooked on the boat, and then attended the short captains' meeting where the race committee went over details for the following morning's race.

I ventured to use the quarterberth rather than take down the dining table to convert it to a place to sleep, and other than the pungent odor of diesel and motor oil radiating from the adjacent Yanmar, it proved a comfortable bed. Up early in the morning, I prepared our traditional breakfast of egg and cheese sandwiches with coffee, and soon additional crew arrived in the form of Hal, a co-member of Taylor's Edenton Yacht Club, along to get a taste of this freakish form of racing that didn't involve sailing in triangles. He had just enough time to stow his seabag before we cast off and made our way out the mouth of the Yeopim River. Boats congregated near the start line off Drummond Point for the pursuit-style start, with Mahogany, a Bristol 26, making the first start at 9:00. We were scheduled third off the line but the 2nd boat did not start. We crossed the line within 1 minute of our scheduled start time of 9:28:03 with Mike Burke on Time Machine three minutes behind us. The rest of the fleet started at interval according to their PHRF ratings. The last boat to start was big Catalina 42 Tamrick at 10:10:57.

The route was lined up to start far enough off Drummond Point to allow boats to clear the shoal at Marker 4AS and make a beam reach to 2AS, where a course adjustment of a few points to port would allow for a straight shot broad reach all the way to the mouth of the Pasquotank River at Marker 1PR. Locals "know" they can cut 1PR and save a couple of miles, but the race rules required boats to round it and then proceed upriver to Elizabeth City, which, if the winds stayed steady, would be something close to dead aft.

With light airs off the starboard quarter several boats were flying big drifters. Two of the faster boats gradually caught and passed Never Enough and disappeared down the sound. The winds dropped to almost nothing, allowing our light and easily-driven boat to keep up with a group of bigger hulls that ordinarily would have left us far behind. Eventually the wind really did drop to nothing and we wallowed around in company with with a Baltic 39 (a noted offshore racer/cruiser), a Catalina and a Beneteau. This was demoralizing all around and our crew had a heated exchange about whether we should drop out and motor home, while those aboard the other three boats within hearing distance trash-talked each other as serious racers are wont to do. I have seen more than one of these mid-day lulls and argued that we should give it some time. The sky was getting hazy and some anemic thunderheads were brewing to seaward, which suggested that a front was close and might bring us some wind. About this time the captain of one of the boats that was further ahead reported wind building in from the southeast, and within minutes we got a good sailable breeze. The wind increased in power and soon we were sailing at 5 to 6 knots, seeing 7 as we surfed the bigger waves, great speed for Never Enough but not nearly enough to keep up with the big boats around us. They all accelerated into the distance while we kept plugging along at or near hull speed. The wind was just far enough ahead that we had to make a couple of tacks to round the marker at the mouth of the Pasquotank, where we spotted a boat aground off Wade Point. We hailed her but got no reply.

Running up the river with the wind off the starboard quarter, the jib getting blanketed by the main, we were making plenty of speed, so we decided to strike the jib. As we followed the river north in a big sweeping arc, the wind came around to dead aft, and I let the boat jibe - fortunately not taking off anybody's head. Soon after I relinquished the helm to Hal, who handled the boat expertly up the river, winds gusting to 28 knots and the boat making 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 knots, more in the puffs. Taylor took the helm for the last few miles into Elizabeth City. It was late in the day and the winds were moderating a bit, just enough to allow Jensen Marine Hazy Waters to start creeping up on us, so with the wind a bit freer on the port quarter, we reset the jib to insure our place. We crossed the finish line at 7:05. Hazy Waters crossed a few minutes later and Mahogany finished things up at 7:45.

Due to the light airs in the morning and the flat calm at mid-day, none of the boats would have finished the race by the original 5:00 cutoff, so the race committee extended the time to 8:00, which allowed all the boats that ran the course to finish.

The finishing order was as follows: Bristol Go with the Flo was first, Baltic 39 Knot so Fast second and Catalina 42 Tamrick third. Fourth was another Catalina, Our Time. Taylor, Hal and I finished fifth aboard Never Enough. In sixth was Hazy Waters, followed by Beneteau Lucky Duck in seventh, and in eighth, Bristol 26, Mahogany. Two boats didn't finish - San Juan Big Juan out on the shoal at the mouth of the river, and Beneteau Time Machine, which turned back to Albemarle Plantation. Three more boats signed up for the race but didn't start.

My take on the day's racing was that it unfolded just as would be expected, with the big, powerful cruiser/racers out in front and the smaller boats with less speed in their DNA trailing behind. Hal, Taylor and I all agreed that we ran a good race and got the most out of Never Enough. Hal brought a whisker pole from his boat and we rigged it during the light air stretch. It helped the jib catch wind and went a long way to smooth out the ride with the wind astern. During the 13.2NM stretch from Marker 1PR up the river to the finish line, we averaged 5.4 knots, running under just the main until late in the day when we saw Hazy Waters gaining on us and set the jib to insure our position. Hal chastised me for cleating down the jib sheet, but I just shrugged and told him that's the way we do it on cruising boats. I'm sure he was irritated enough that we hadn't run the jib all the way up the river. If any boat deserved a trophy, it would be Mahogany. Last year, Mahogany started single-handed with a relatively inexperienced captain and rough conditions. The captain didn't understand the starting drill and didn't properly cross the starting line. He was getting beat up pretty bad by the wind and waves by the time the committee boat could catch him and explain that he hadn't officially started and for his own sake and the sake of the boat he should retire and seek shelter. He took their advice and returned to port. This year, with more experience and a crewman to assist, he handled his boat better and persevered to finish a difficult race.

The Seven Seas Cruising Association was supposed to be in town for their spring gathering, with wild-eyed rumors of 70 boats in attendance, but in truth we found no more than five. The boats belonging to the Pasquotank River Yacht Club ran on upriver to their club dock, leaving plenty of dock space for the two boats flying the Roanoke Island burgee, and us, the sole representative of the Edenton Yacht Club. The Osprey Yacht Club sailing out of Albemarle Plantation was unrepresented, but their gracious hosting of the race was much appreciated.

Nobody hung around the dock for long. I was shocked that not a single crew was willing to come visit for a while in the evening and partake of the large rum punch we were serving. No, sailors are not what they used to be. Even our crewman Hal had his wife drive up from Edenton and cart him off. Taylor and I walked over to Elizabeth City Pizza and got an enormous Supreme to carry back to the boat. On an earlier trip, Taylor's wife had called him around dinner and asked if we were having pizza and rum. This time Taylor was able to take a picture of a slice of pizza in front of a rum bottle to send her.

The day's wind was just a precursor to a powerful front sweeping in from the north, and by late evening a small craft advisory had been set for the sound for the following day. The Albemarle is notorious for difficult, even dangerous conditions in stormy weather, so the race committee made the decision to cancel the second leg, back to Albemarle Plantation, of the race. We had already informed them that we would not sail Sunday and instead stay over another day at Elizabeth City, and we may not have been the only boat. I am innately a cruiser and Taylor has a lot of cruising blood too, and it is natural for us to lay over in port when the weather is bad. We both enjoy living and overnighting on the boat, as opposed to most of the others who hurry home after each day of racing to sit on the couch with their wives and watch Jeopardy. Taylor and Gail do that too, but she is understanding of him missing a few episodes.

Sunday morning the big Catalina 42 Tamrick cast off lines and braved the seas to return to their Roanoke Island base, leaving us and Greg Florence's Go with the Flo as the only race boats on the dock. All the other finishers had proceeded upriver to the Pasquotank River Yacht Club. The forlorn Big Juan remained on the shoal at the mouth of the river. It was a blustery, rainy day and we spent a fair amount of time at The Kraken, the coffee shop just acrosss the street from the dock. They have good coffee, better than average pastries and free WiFi. They are very tolerant of sailors sitting at a table nursing a cup and catching up on email and news of the outside world. Elizabeth City is revamping the dockside shower facilities and we were able to use them through the good efforts of the rose buddies even though they were not quite done or officially open. Super plush like a five star hotel. Access through credit card, $1 for a shower.

We walked up to the Atlantic Christian docks above the bridge and found plenty of space on the face dock. From what I've heard, the face dock at Jennette Brothers is open for dockage as well, so in truth there is plenty of free space in Elizabeth City.

That's about all there was to do on the city dock this rainy day. I'm a bit surprised there weren't more transients but frankly a lot of them used to be Canadians, South Americans and Europeans, and evidently they don't feel as welcome on our waterways as they once did. I used to enjoy chatting with all the far-flung sailors that transited Elizabeth City to visit the fabled Dismal Swamp Canal, but I guess those days are over, at least for now.

Leftover pizza for dinner, and plans to sail early Monday morning. The small craft advisory was due to expire at 2:00PM. We considered reefing the main on the dock, but decided that with a following wind forecast for all of the day that we would run under Yanmar and jib, and not worry about accidental jibes. Back in cruiser mode, racers no longer.

We got off the dock at 7:35AM and made a fast run down the river, rounding Marker 1PR at 9:48, 13.7NM in 2:13, averaging 6 knots.

As we got farther up the sound, the seas got choppier, reflecting off the converging banks, and while we kept our speed, the ride got worse and worse - corkscrewing, flogging jib. We remembered how well the whisker pole had smoothed out the ride during the race, so Taylor went to the mast to try to install it. All we knew was to do it the way Hal had done it. That time we had been sailing in smooth water and gentle breezes, and he had just stabbed the pin through the clew grommet of the set jib and clipped into the mast fitting. With the clew beating and thrashing around, Taylor started a long and frustrating process of trying to get the pin through the grommet, all the while with me at my comfortable seat at the helm goading him on and expressing my disbelief that he couldn't achieve this simple task. He finally got it through the grommet, and then when he attempted to clip the inboard end to the mast fitting, a stray gust of wind shook the pole, bent the clip and kicked the pin out of the grommet. He gave up and came back to the cockpit in a snit and sat around and fumed for a few minutes, and then went back to the mast. With a brutal stab, he nailed the grommet, and forcefully pushed the clip into place. Back in the cockpit he adjusted the jib sheet and lo, the jib calmed down, the corkscrewing diminished, and we enjoyed a smooth ride up the sound. Back at home a few days later I looked up "how to set a whisker pole". Well duh! You're supposed to set it up with the sail rolled in. I bet that would have made it easier. Have to try that next time.

At the Edenton dock I packed my gear into the car, wished Taylor fair winds until the next trip, and set off on the five hour drive to Winston-Salem. I hope we get a chance to go cruising aboard my boat, Terry Ann, sometime this summer, and with any luck he will invite me to crew for him aboard Never Enough in next year's race.

There are more pictures from the race here.