10/29/2013
The last Tuesday night of the year did not dissappoint. The wind was from the northwest, sky was clear and the whales seemed to be all over the place. The fall chill is definitely in the air. We decided on a short course: start to mile and back to start. The short course was necessary, little day light left and we had a barbecue to get to.
There were four boats out for the last night this year, Pair a Dice, Pacific Spirit, Free Spirit and Tres Santos. On Pair a Dice, for the start, we were windward of Pacific Spirit in a position they could have luffed us up over the line early. We were seriously stalling coming up on the mark too soon. Rather than luffing us up, Pacific Spirit tacked off and went off on port as we started on Starboard tack. We really felt we had the better of them since we were sailing more toward the mark and they were sailing away from it. The last laugh was on us, since as they sailed off on port tack they had completely clear wind. As we continued to beat our way toward Mile, we were a quarter mile or so east of the mark. When Pacific Spirit tacked out toward the mark, we watched as they ranged ahead on us. They definitely had better speed than we did. When we tacked over to round Mile, Pacific Spirit was well ahead of us. Once we rounded mile, we extended our pole and started closing the gap on Pacific Spirit. If we had a five mile leg, we may have been able to overtake them, but Pacific Spirit rounded well ahead of us. Pacific Spirit won the last race of the season handily. Way to show us how it is done! Congratulations to Pacific SPirit and crew.
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We had a great barbecue at the yacht club with some great discussion on how to keep the ball rolling through this winter and next summer. Suffice it to say, there will be Catalinas out this winter. We will sail, weather permitting, on Saturdays, with a switch to Sunday if the weather is better on that day. Since it is once a week sailing, I usually like to make the most of it and get out around noon or so and Pacific Spirit likes to come out around 2 oclock. We try to set up courses using fixed marks like Mile, SC7 and GOV. If you have never sailed during the winter in Santa Cruz, you are really missing the best of it. Rather than damp fog, we have plenty of sun and 10-15 knots of wind. Personally, I like winter sailing as much as I like summer sailing. If you are interested in crewing on one of the boats during the winter, either comment on this blog, or drop me an e-mail at LLL3@prodigy. net. GIve me your cell phone and your name and we will get you in the crew list for winter sailing.
Thank you to everyone that participated this year. It has truely been a pleasure sailing with and against all of you.
Barry L Keeler
Sailing Pair a Dice
OCTOBER 22, 2013
You can really feel the fall chill in the air, and it came so quickly. Just this last weekend was hot and sunny. This Tuesday night was cool with a big fog bank hanging just off shore and the sun was already low on the horizon making daylight very short for a sail. To complicate matters, the wind was very light, with a northwest on the outside and an Easterly very weakly attempting to fill in closer to the beach. After some discussion, we decided on course 7: Start to Mile and back to start. Partcipants this night were: Sailing Pair a dice, Pacific SPirit, Blue Ribbon (Homer's C&C 25), Emeritus, Free Spirit, Iris and Tres Santos.
At the start, the transition line between the northwest and the lighter easterly was right at the start line. Since the northwesterly was much stronger, we approached from outside the start line using wind and waves to get our speed up. At the start Emeritus, Iris and Pacific Spirit and Blue Ribbon were just ahead of Pair a Dice. As we all romped toward Mile into the building northwest, most of the boat were sailing lower, further away from Mile, while Pair a Dice attempted a higher line closer to Mile. Emeritus was the first to tack over to the inside, since it was a port rounding around Mile. When we tacked over Emeritus was charging back out and crossed us easily, but attempted to tack over to steal our wind. We easily sailed out of their shadow and quickly tacked over to round mile. We all had to pinch to round Mile, Homer rounding comfortably in front with PAD, Iris and Emeritus following.
We all marched off toward Start right into a broad transition zone. We watched as each of the boats gave up and furled their sails and motored toward the entrance. Even Homer who was way ahead and seemed to be dead in the water seemed to be motoring toward the harbor. On Pair a Dice, I had visions of burgers grilling and was all ready to start toward the harbor when I felt the weakest hint of an Easterly. As the easterly began to fill in, it was not comforting to note that the start buoy was 0.38 miles away. Suddenly we could see Homer sailing back toward start, this race was not over! We crossed easily in front of him and when we tacked over to get around start we went far enough to be certain we would be windward of him for the approach to the mark. Somehow Homer was able to roll us to leeward and beat us by less than half a boat length. Good job Homer and crew.
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We had an awesome barbecue at the yacht club, with great food and company to complete the evening.
Next Tuesday will be our last Tuesday night for this year and will be another barbecue at the yacht club afterward. At this barbecue, I would like to have a group discussion. The floor will be open for anyone that wants to participate and volunteer comments on: Most important thing you learned this season about sailing, what you like most about Tuesday night sailing and how we could make it better.
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Now that winter is coming, let the racing continue! When weather permits, we meet on Saturdays anywhere from Noon on. We set up races using stationary marks such as SC3, Mile and GOV. It is even more impromtu than Tuesdays and with the lighter winds of winter can be very fun. If the weather is inclement on Saturday, we can even change to Sundays if you can make it. Winter sailing in Santa Cruz is not nearly as cold as you would expect since it is nearly always sunny with light wind and no summer fog. We can exchange phone numbers for people desiring to crew and owners needing crew, so be sure to come to the barbecue.
As the harbor shoals over in the winter, keep an eye on the harbor website to see how deep the channel is and the best way out and in.
See you next Tuesday for our grand finale.
Barry
October 15,20113
We are so lucky to live in such a blessed place, and this particular evening was a night that emphasized this point! At first, it seemed a little disappointing as we exited the harbor and saw all of the boats floating around with limp sails! Another night with NO WIND, Bummer! As we approached the start buoy we were impressed with all of the boats in the vacinity. Many more boats than normal and many more non Catalina boats. Then we saw it, A whale blowing in the midst of the boats. It was a time for whale watching. I announced to the Catalina fleet, the racing was on hold until the wind filled in. Somehow, I could just "FEEL" that the wind would fill in. There was a slight easterly blowing as we exited the harbor and we saw the normal northwester blowing outside. Which of the winds would prevail in the end? As we enjoyed the many humpback whales feeding at close quarters, we noticed the wind filling in on the water with a northerly (of all directions) filling in! We quickly called a course for a north wind, not a normal course, but the nights are getting short and the courses are getting shorter! We decided on a start line between Start and Blacks, with start to port. FIrst mark was GOV (to port) and return to start mark taking it to port.
Boats taking part in the fun this night were Sailing Pair A Dice, Aeolian, Emeritus, Iris, Free Spirit, Katrina "Blue Ribbon" (Homers C&C 25), Tres Santos and Bellisima (Chappie's Erickson 35).
Iris did well with her one minute head start and all of the other boats filed in for the normal start. Aeolian seemed to be first at the line with Emeritus edging Sailing Pair a Dice at the start line. We were all marching off to GOV which called for a hard on the wind course. This night was all about boat speed, not tactics since there were no tacks involved. Who could get the best boat speed and sail trim? It seemed like the start predicated everyones position with little change. Aeolian and Iris were neck in neck with Aeolian rounding just ahead of Iris and Blue Ribbon right after them. Emeritus rounded just in front of Sailing Pair A DIce and Bellisima and we were off back to start mark on a reach. Just as the sun was setting, Aelian rounded the finish mark first with Iris hot on their heels. Emeritus, and BLue ribbon were next with Sailing Pair a DIce close behind followed by Tres Santos and Katrina after us. A beautiful evening! The wind ultimately was 14 knots. Not bad for starting out with no wind!
RACING! VS STARBOARD!
I once witnessed a situation where there were several boats sailing toward a mark on port tack in a race with a single starboard tack cruising boat in their way. All of the racing boats were screaming "we are in a race!" while the cruising boat called "Starboard!". Who has right of way and what is the best way to handle this situation?
We have been in many races and faced with this situation. We have been known to hail the other boat "we are racing, do you mind?". This action indicates to the starboard tack boat "we KNOW you have right of way, would you mind altering course so we can continue on?" Often this is just a minor course alteration for the starboard tacker, which they are glad to accomodate with. If you attempt to claim right of way when you don't have right of way, you are butting heads in a loosing situation. Starboard tack always has right of way over port tack! Also keep in mind if one of your competitors sees you not yielding to a Starboard tacker, they can protest YOU!
If you are sailing in a tight pack of boats, you can use the starboard tacker to your advantage. If you are paying attention, these situations don't catch you by surprise. By heading up or falling off a little, you can use the starboard tacker as an "obstruction". You can cause one of your competitors to clear room for you just as if it was a pier or jetty in your way.
I was once in a race and saw a boat sailing parallel to the finish line just ahead of us on starboard. I altered my course so I was set to pass just ahead of the starboard tacker, but not leaving room for my competitor. It slowed my competitor just enough to allow me to cross the line just ahead of them.
The point is to analyze every situation. Sometimes you can POLITELY ask for right of way to your advantage. Other times you can use a starboard tacker to your advantage. Always be aware and think ahead. As stated earlier, these situations don't come out of the blue and may be used to your advantage with proper planning.
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Keep in mind, the next two Tuesday nightsw will be our last for the season. Both the 22nd and the 29th will be barbecue nights at the Yacht club. Plan on bringing your grilling stuff for a friendly finale.
See you all next Tuesday,
Barry
October 8, 2013
Another great evening sailing in the Monterey Bay. Great wind around 20 knots blowing out of the East with a little Northerly direction. With so much wind , we decided to use course 9, a rather long course considering the shortness of the daylight. The course was start to blacks, SC3 and back to start. We actually had two Catalina 27's which had a 2 minute head start on the rest of us. Other Catalina's out this night were Emeritus, Pacific Spirit, Tres Santos and Sailing Pair a Dice.
Iris and the other 27 had good starts and were off and running to blacks. We (PAD) had a good start right at the pin and Emeritus started right on time a little further down the line. Pacific SPirit was breathing down our necks right at the start. We were able to fend Pacific Spirit off until we all rounded Blacks. In the long run to SC3, Pacific Spirit was able to roll us to windward and Emeritus was right with them. We had the hardest time trying to pass Iris, which was sailing nicely, considering the weird chop that was in the water. The smaller the boat, the harder it is to overcome the disadvantage of chop, but they were doing a great job of it. As we got closer to SC3, we decided to tack off to clear our air from Pacific Spirit and Emeritus. Pacific Spirit rounded SC3 easily with a commanding lead, while PAD and Emeritus were having trouble getting around SC3, having to tack several times. Alas PAD even grazed the buoey as we tried to round. Fortunately, with as much wind as there was, the one turn penalty was not too painful. Right after rounding, PAD headed inside while Emeritus stayed outside, while Pacific Spirit was romping on ahead. When we finally got closer to shore, we turned more toward the mark and were able to set our pole. It seemed like we were closing on Pacific Spirit, but their lead was too much and the crossed easily (about 2 minutes) in front of us. We crossed ahead of Emeritus, which was sailing without a pole, a distinct disadvantage on such a long down wind run. Good job Pacific Spirit!
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Steering in challenging conditions:
I was at the helm of my boat for this night and I found it very challenging. Normally, when steering, you want minimal handling of the wheel and you want to maintain an even angle of heel. On this night, we had many gusts of wind and the waves and chop seemed to be coming from every direction. Normally, you can use the waves to "surf" a little closer to the wind. This night, it seemed every time I attempted to surf, there was chop fighting my attempt. I felt like I was using way too much helm with all of the gusts and definitely lost my cool when attempting to round a mark in close quarters. I am open for suggestions from people more in the know.
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The end of the season is quickly approaching and what a season it has been. Participation has grown almost exponentially this season. Thank you all for making Tuesday nights part of you routine. Keep in mind and plan for the fact that the last two Tuesday night of the season will be Barbecue nights! Both October 22 and 28 will be followed by a barbecue at the yacht club. Lets have a grand finale on the 28th.
Looking forward to seeing you next Tuesday.
October 1, 2013
As we left the harbor, it looked like a major float-fest going on. It was certainly a beautiful evening: clear and sunny but verly little wind filling in from the East. We set the course to the shortest Easterly wind course, cut in half. Start to Blacks and back.
Catalinas out this night were: Pair A Dice, Aeolian, Free Spirit, Emeritus, Iris and Pacific Spirit. Joining along were Homer in his C&C 25 and Chappy in his Erickson 35. We gave the Catalina 27's a 2 minute headstart. Somehow, Homer absolutely nailed the start right on time followed closely by Iris. For the 30's and larger boats, Pacific Spirit beat us to the line and we were left with dirty air. Emeritus started further down the line in clear air and was clipping along nicely. Light air sailing is always and challenge, especially when you are being blanketed by your competition. Pacific Spirit sure is a pretty boat, but I enjoy looking at her from her bow rather than her stern! I had Fred Molnar on the helm and he did an excellent job of climbing above Pacific Spirit to get clearer air. Despite his efforts, we still rounded behind Pacific Spirit. As we were fighting it out, apparently Homer rounded Black on the wrong side, and had to go back to round again. Maybe, Homer has determined that the blue course card is too much weight for his boat? He was still sailing very fast.
After rounding Blacks, we were off for the start mark, following Homer, Iris and Pacific SPirit. Homer took start to the wrong side and Iris won, with Pacific Spirit second and Pair A Dice maybe 3 seconds behind Pacific Spirit. Way to go IRIS.
After the race was over, there was still some light, so we sailed out about 2 miles and ran into a pod of whales. Beautiful sunset and whales blowing all over the place. It just doesn't get much better than this.
"It doesn't get much better than this"???. Steve Nieman shared photos from the Wednesday night sail. Where we saw whales spouting and some backs coming out of the water, check Steve's photos out.
