APRIL 29. 2014
T-BONES IN THE WATER…T-BONES
ON THE GRILL!
Finally the weather cooperated with us: no fog, no rain no
massive winds, just a very warm, sunny evening.
Just what we like for Catalina Tuesdays in Santa Cruz! The boats just kept coming out of the harbor
and the wind appeared to be steady from the northwest. Some people said there were 15 boats out, by
I only counted about eleven that were actively participating. With the wind so
persistent, we decided on Course number one: Start,Wharf,Mile Blacksand finish. By the time we started though, the wind
seemed to be dying rapidly.
For the start, Pair a dice was attempting a starboard start
at the pin, but we were a little early so we were stalling and Aeolian passed
us to leeward. About the time the wind
had died on us to the point we were barely creeping along, Aeolian cut in to
clear the mark and we had a very slow T-Bone with crews from both boats fending
off, the boats barely kissed! As I have
pointed out before, you are better to take the least advantaged end of the line
IF you can get clear air. Pair a Dice
had to tack a couple of times before we made it over the line. Meanwhile, Homer’s Blue Ribbon and Diver Down
started off in clear air and romped off ahead of everyone. It appears, since they had such great starts
that they were able to get to better wind sooner than most and extended their
lead over the rest of the fleet.
As we all headed for Wharf, the wind was steadily dying and
we decided to shorten course to end at GOV.
As the wind died even more, I figured it would be more fun at the
Barbecue than having a float-fest out there.
Homer’s C&C 25 and Vance’s Diver Down were way ahead of everyone else
and rumor has it Vance was sailing after Homer had started his engine.
Rules and Tactics:
Tactically, you are always best starting in clear air. This was demonstrated tonight as the clear
air boats romped on ahead of everyone!
At the start, Aeolian missed a prime opportunity to luff
Pair a Dice up over the line. As an overtaking
Leeward boat he had every right to do this.
As a leeward boat on the line at the start (on same tack), you simply
head up slowly hailing: “LEEWARD, HEAD UP!” The emphasis is slowly, the leeward boat must
give the windward boat TIME to move out of the way. The windward boat must heed the hail. In these situations, the windward boat can be
forced right up and over the line. As it
was, Aeolian waited and tacked on to
port tack giving up any right of way, since we were still on starboard tack. It was a great s-l-o-w motion learning
experience.
/) /) /)
As it turned out, calling the race early got everyone up to
the barbecue at roughly the same time.
We had an awesome turnout with close to 50 people showing up, socializing
and talking story. And the T-bones on
the grill were much better than the T-bones in the water!
We had a few newcomers that showed up for both the race and
the barbecue. Lets hope they come back for
more!
Here is a listing of most of the waypoint
|
Mark Name
|
Mark Location
|
Mark Description
|
|
Black Pt.
|
36°57.22’N – 121°59.29’W
|
Unmarked yellow ball
|
|
Capitola
|
36°57.86’N – 121°56.60’W
|
Rectangular yellow float (aka: Sponge Bob)
|
|
Government
|
36°57.47’N – 122°00.72’W
|
Large white metal ball marked “CG”
|
|
La Selva Beach
|
36°56.39’N – 121°53.56’W
|
Yellow inflatable tetrahedron
|
|
Mile Buoy
|
36°56.35’N – 122°00.56’W
|
Large RW “SC” WHISTLE buoy
|
|
Needle Rock
|
36°56.70’N – 122°06.20’W
|
Yellow inflatable Tetrahedron
|
|
Natural Bridges
|
36°56.58’N – 122°03.67’W
|
Unmarked yellow ball
|
|
SC3
|
36°56.49’N – 121°58.00’W
|
Yellow cylinder marked “SC3”
|
|
SC6
|
36°54.73’N – 122°01.97’W
|
Yellow cylinder marked “SC6”
|
|
SC7
|
36°56.30’N –
122°00.97’W
|
Yellow cylinder marked
“SC7”
|
|
Start
|
36°57.09’N –
121°59.62’W
|
Unmarked yellow ball
|
s we use and their
GPS coordinated
*****************
I hope to see you all out there this coming Tuesday!
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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