Catalina Tuesday March 18,2014

Since I was not present for this night (darn vacations), I can't give a blow by blow description of what happened.  I heard that there were 13 boats out.  What an awesome turnout, let's keep it up.

Starting tactics:
Obviously, many of the boats have experienced sailors and racers on board.  This is demonstrated by many of the starts where many boats are crossing the line right on time.  Some of this may seem pretty simple to the experienced.

 I was talking to one of our newer participants in the harbor.  He had a boat full of eager sailors.  The skipper was enthusiastic and said they were coming out so the other boats wouldn't have to be last.  I told him we all start at the bottom and work our way up.  To me, and I think I speak for many sailors, it's not who is first or last that is important.  What is important is what we learn in the process!  I once heard a sailor say 'all sailing is is doing a thousand things exactly right'. Maybe a little exaggeration, but there is an awful lot to learn.

When preparing for a start, there are several choices that need to be considered.  Which end of the line is favored? Is a starboard tack preferred over a port tack approach?
Which side of the course is favored?

To determine the favored end of the line, luff your boat head to wind on the line: the end of the line your boat is pointing toward is the favored end.  This is because it is closer to your destination, actually starting ahead of everyone else.  There are very few times that the line is square to wind and neither side is favored.  This is pretty elementary to racing sailors, so it is not uncommon to see crowds at the favored end of the line.  Rather than mix it up with this crowd and get stuck in everyone's dirty wind, it is often preferable to start a little down the line in CLEAR AIR.  Clear air trumps line position any day if your boat speed is good enough to get out in front of your competition.

Starboard versus port tack start.  Since starboard tack has right of way over port tack, most people choose to start on starboard.  Very accomplished sailors that can accurately judge crossing situations have been known to cross entire fleets on port tack!  Suffice it to say, the safest tack is starboard tack on a crowded line.

Which side of the course is favored is determined by the amount of wind and also the direction of the wind.  If you see more wind on the right side of the course and you have started on starboard tack, you want to tack over to port at your first opportunity.  The direction of wind is also important.  Often one side of the course will create a lift that will pull you closer to the mark.

There are other considerations when starting, but these three will get you started on the right tack.

I got a little sailing in today on princess cay in the Bahamas.  Crystal clear, warm water.  It was pretty nice even though it was a Hobie Wave Lisa and I were sailing on.  FYI Hobie Waves are not high performance boats, but the conditions more than made up for the boat performance.

I will not be out next Tuesday either, but you guys have fun!

Barry

FIRST TUESDAY NIGHT OF THE YEAR: MARCH 11, 2014

OPENING NIGHT: March 11, 2014

It was a beautiful, clear warm evening as the crews filtered to their respective boats.  It is hard to believe we are already back to sailing our Tuesday nights!  I believe I got the new coarse charts on most of the participating boats.  If you do not have the new chart which is lavender in color, let me know or show up at my boat at Q16 for yours on any Tuesday evening around 5:30.  There are some slight changes in the coarses from last years card which is blue in color.

As we finally were leaving the harbor, it was apparent that we were dealing with a pretty strong Northerly breeze.  It was gusting up to 20 knots straight off shore.  Pacific Spirit’s crew was kind enough to place a buoy close to where the normal start mark is.  Since we had a north breeze blowing, we set the starting line between the buoy and the radio towers.  Since it was blowing pretty strong we used a coarse from start to GOV (to port), mile (port) and back to finish (port).  There was quite a crowd of boats, some  actively racing and others just “tagging along”.

At the start it was Vance and Diver Down out in front with Pacific Spirit in hot pursuit.  There was a whole group of boats close behind the front two boats and we (Pair A Dice) were behind most of the boats.  Iris, Aeolian and Tres Santos were further to windward than us, but we were closing the gap.  Tres Santos was the closest directly in front of us.  We passed them to leeward and by the time we all arrived at Gov, Diver Down was still in front, followed by Pacific Spirit, then Sailing Pair a dice, which rounded just inside of Scotty C on his Catalina 40, Rosa Nautica. 

As we headed off to Mile, we seemed to be slowly closing the gap sailing alongside Scotty.  At Mile, we were still trailing Diver Down and Pacific Spirit as we rounded once again with Rosa Nautica.  We tried to close the gap sailing to windward of Pacific Spirit, but found we were getting lee bowed by them and tacked over.  Diver Down and Pacific Spirit both sailed to the corner attempting to make it back to start with one long tack.  Diver Down finished with a comfortable lead followed by Pair A Dice then Pacific Spirit.

TACTICS:

When passing Tres Santos in the first leg, passing to leeward versus to windward.  Since the wind was so strong, we felt it was safe to pass to leeward.  We would simply have had to pinch too much going to windward.  You certainly do not want to stay in bad air, but you can always fall off for more speed to get by the bad air.

From Mile to finish we tacked inside rather than follow close behind Pacific Spirit.  Actually, this tactic employed two principles.  First, If you don’t have enough speed to pass, it is not good to continue in bad air.  It was obvious if we followed them, we would not pass them.  The second principle is: do not sail to the corners.  By sailing clear to the layline, you are giving up any chance to use lifts to your advantage.  Though tacking a keel boat is often frowned on, if you see more wind in a certain area, it is usually advantageous to get to the windier area and sailing up the middle of a course allows you to use lifts to squeak ahead.

 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR SPEED:

First and foremost: have a clean bottom.  You need a clean bottom to get the boat moving.

 

 

Second sail trim and sail handling:  In gusty conditions, your mainsheet trimmer must keep on his toes, travelling down every time there is a gust.  The object should be to keep the boat at the same angle of heel.

Third Steering: A steady hand on the wheel is crucial.  You will not pass boats by oversteering and sailing twice the distance. As in sail trim, the skipper should concentrate on keeping the boat on an even angle of heel.  If your boat is heeling way over and coming up to relatively flat, imagine the amount of energy you are losing.

There are sailors much better than me participating.  Please feel free to comment on these observation, so we all can learn from your expertise. 

It was an awesome start for the first time out this year.  Tell your friends about the fun you are having and encourage them to come out.  We have a new boat joining us this year: TOAD a Beneteau 32 owned by Dan Larson. Welcome Dan to the fun!

Unfortunately, I will be out of town for the next two weeks, but the races will continue and hopefully, I can get a recap out on the blog.

Have fun and sail safe!                                 

Barry

HERE WE GO AGAIN: ANOTHER SEASON OF CATALINA TUESDAYS

BOATLESS IN SANTA CRUZ

It has been a while since my last posting. I have always wanted this blog to promote our Catalina Tuesdays, so when we are not sailing, why blog? In reality, it seems like yesterday we were wrapping up an awesome season of Catalina Tuesdays.

So, how was your winter? It certainly was not a winter without sailing for me. Though, my boat made a meager appearance in the Midwinter series of races, the highlight of my winter sailing was participating in the team races in the Santana 22 fleet. What is team racing?

Team racing is much more involved than anything you could imagine if you have only been involved in fleet racing. What are the differences? In fleet racing, which we normally are involved in, it is you against everyone else. The goal in fleet racing is to get to the finish line faster than every other boat. In team racing, you are in one of two teams of boats sailing against the other team. There may be from 2 to 4 or more boats in each team. The course that is set up is very short and you have a committe boat scampering about to call OCS situations and finishes and to call rule infractions. The course is set so you have a start line between 2 buoys, one windward buoy taken to starboard, a reaching buoy to starboard, a leeward buoy to port another reaching buoy to port then off to the finish line. With normal wind, this whole coarse takes all of 12 minutes, and in a normal day of racing, there may be 8 races or more. In team racing, the motto is "slow down we are racing!" The goal is to get the best score for your TEAM, so if you are way ahead, you go back to assist your team mates. Suffice it to say, in one of these races, you get more "rules" use than in a whole year of fleet racing. It is all very fun and engaging.

So why "boatless in Santa Cruz"? I have not taken my boat out for over a month now. When I did my yearly oil change, I noticed excessive corrosion on the engine and have been attempting to get the engine repaired. My engine is 34 years old and is raw water cooled, meaning salt water running through the engine block. As anticipated, this is not a good combination and may mean a short life for my engine. I am hoping to make it out for our first Tuesday on March 11.

So what is in store for this year on Catalina Nights? After consulting with other participants, We have come up with a few other course options and a new course card for all participants. A copy if the courses follows. Any course with a letter is a new course. Another change from last year is the rounding of the finish buoy. If coming from the East, the finish buoy will be taken to starboard, making it easier to sight the line to the light house. The new course cards are lavender in color. If you have participated in the past, you may find one in your boat. In addition, there is a chart showing where all of the marks are on the chart.

Here are the courses and we will see you out there on March 11.

CATALINA TUESDAY COURSES

_/)Marks all left to port unless designated (SB) which shall be rounded on starboard.
_/)Start line shall be a line between start(to port) and lighthouse on jetty approx. 5 boat lengths from start. If a different line is used, it shall be designated for the course.
_/)Finish line shall be designated for each course as rounding the start buoy to port (P) or starboard (SB) within 5 boat lengths of the buoy. If rounding buoy to port from the northwest or to SB from the East, finish line is an extension of line from lighthouse to buoy. Start buoy=finish buoy.
　
NORTHWEST WIND COURSES:
COURSE 1: START, WHARF, MILE, BLACKS, FINISH (SB) DISTANCE=4.04
COURSE 2: START, WHARF, MILE, GOV (SB), FINISH (P) DISTANCE=3.93
COURSE 3: START, WHARF, BLACKS, FINISH (SB) DISTANCE=3.23
COURSE 4: START, WHARF (SB), GOV (SB), FINISH (P) DISTANCE=3.07



COURSE 5: START, WHARF, FINISH (P) DISTANCE=2.68


COURSE 6: START, MILE (SB), GOV (SB)=FINISH (BETWEEN END OF WHARF AND GOV, 5 BOAT LENGTHS FROM GOV. DISTANCE=2.24
COURSE 7: START, MILE, FINISH (P) DISTANCE=2.17
COURSE 7A: START AT MILE(SB)LINE UP WITH LIGHTHOUSE AT STEAMERS, SC7(SB), FINISH AT GOV(P)LINE UP WITH WHARF END.
DISTANCE=1.45
　
　
EAST WIND COURSES:
COURSE 8: START (SB), BLACKS (SB), MILE (SB), GOV (SB), FINISH (P) DISTANCE=4.03
COURSE 9: START (SB), BLACKS (SB), SC3, FINISH (SB) DISTANCE=3.04
COURSE 10: START (SB), SC3 (P), BLACKS (P),FINISH (SB) DISTANCE= 2.95
COURSE 11: START (SB), BLACKS(SB), MILE (SB), FINISH(P) DISTANCE=2.72
COURSE 11A:START (SB), SC2(P), FINISH (SB) DISTANCE=1.2
COURSE 12:START(SB),BLACKS,START,BLACKS,FINISH (SB) DISTANCE=1.12
COURSE 12A: START (SB), BLACKS, FINISH (SB) DISTANCE=0.55
NORTH WIND COURSES
For north wind courses: START LINE IS BETWEEN START AND BLACKS, 5 BOAT LENGTHS. START TO PORT.
COURSE 13: START, GOV, MILE, BLACKS, FINISH (SB) DISTANCE=4.03
COURSE 14: START, GOV, BLACKS, FINISH (SB) DISTANCE=2.45
COURSE 15: START, GOV, FINISH (P) DISTANCE=1.98