SANTA CRUZ CALIFORNIA: CATALINA TUESDAY AUGUST 20 2013

AUGUST 20, 2013

It was a cold damp evening in the Santa Cruz harbor, with a huge cloud bank hanging just off shore. The wind was blowing out of the northwest at around 10 knots. In our sailing around before the start, the wind seemed to pretty similar between inside and outside with possibly a very slight bit more wind inside.

We decided on a shorter course (course 4): start to wharf (SB) GOV (SB) finish at start mark taking it to port. Once again, it is amazing to see all of the boats starting at the same time. On Pair A DIce, we started on starboard tack and were right behind DIver Down and Pacific Spirit, with Emeritus sailing to windward of us. We were stuck in a bad situation with bad air all around, so at the first opportunity, we tacked over and cleared Emeritus's stern. Iris was trucking along nicely on their port toward the pier. As Iris tacked outside, we had to duck their stern. Homer had tacked over earlier and had gone further outside. On Pair a dice, we felt we were getting the best of it, taking advantage of the greater wind that seemed to be right at the edge of the cloud bank. We kept getting blanketed by different boats and had to keep tacking to get clear air. Diver Down seemed to sail further outside than the other boats. With all of the different tactics employed by everyone, Homer rounded Wharf ahead of Iris. We had to pinch heavily to make wharf, but had inside overlap over DIver Down and Emeritus. Somehow, despite bad wind and pinching, Fred was able to coast Pair A Dice around the mark, and it was Emeritus, Diver Down and Pair A DIce headed toward GOv. DIver DOwn was able to open the gap between all of us and we slowly rolled Iris, trying our whisker pole first on starboard, then port. Pacific SPirit was in the thick of the battle also, ducking quickly to windward of Emeritus and rolling them. We all watched as Homer rounded GOv way ahead of everyone, with Diver Down rounding right after them Pair A dice was the third to round with Iris right bihind. We all headed toward start mark. At one point, it looked like Iris was going to roll us until we made a few minor adjustments in our sail trim. Homer was the first to finish, with Diver Down being the first Catalina around the mark. We came in third after Homer and Diver DOwn.

It was a very tight race all around the course. Great starts by all boats, tight roundings at WHarf and Gov and all boats finishing within 5 minutes of each other. ANother great night of sailing and racing Catalinas on Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz.

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KICKING IT UP A NOTCH:

We all enjoy our Tuesday nights racing against similar boats in our relatively unstructured environment. The fact that our starts are so close in itself shows everyone knows how to start correctly. We all have the opportunity to carry our racing abilities to the next level. This Sunday the 25th is the first day of racing in the fall Score races. All you need to enter these races is a Monterey Bay PHRF certificate, which is pretty easy to get. After your certificate, you can register online. All information is on line at SCYC.org under racing.

It would also be good to get a large turnout of Jammers (Jib and Main) boats in the Big Brothers BIg Sisters regatta on September 1. This is really a fun event and a good cause to boot. It is a reverse PHRF race, so the slower boats start first. This is a fun time for everyone.

I am looking forward to seeing you next Tuesday night.