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
_/)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 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
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