Tuesday August 5,
2014
And yet another Tuesday night with perfect sailing
conditions. This night, we had between
15 to 20 knots of wind out of the northwest.
When Pair A Dice came out of the harbor, there were already 5 boats out
and chatter from other boats in the harbor on their way out. We decided on Course one: Start to Wharf,
Mile, Blacks and Finish with a start time of 6:20.
We timed the start with Pacific Spirit just ahead of us just
leeward of us and Diver Down coming up hot on our heels. As we all headed out on starboard tack, Diver
Down passed us to leeward and Pacific Spirit was leading the pack. As we were sailing out into more wind and we
had our 155 jib on, we decided to tack back over to the inside. We sailed all the way in to the layline for
Wharf, as the other boats stayed outside in more wind. This was our error as we sailed further
inside with less wind trying to make the layline. One thing we learned a long time ago, but
obviously have not learned well enough, always sail to where the wind is! Pacific Spirit rounded wharf just ahead of
Diver Down and we followed with Perfect 36 following close behind us.
The same order was followed around Mile with Perfect 36
closing the gap and rounding immediately after we did. It was a long slog to Blacks, with Diver Down
sailing more downwind to heat up at the end of the run and Pacific Spirit
running the rhumb line to Blacks. Pair A
Dice was being waterlined by Perfect 36 as they tried to steal our wind and
slowly overtook us. At the mark, Pacific
Spririt maintained their lead over Diver Down.
Perfect 36 had inside overlap on us so we had to give them room at the
mark. We swung down to make more of a
“tactical rounding” to come up tight and squeak to windward of “P36”. Our plan failed and we were stuck leeward of
Perfect 36. Perfect 36 tacked out for
more wind outside, but miraculously the wind filled inside for us instead. Pacific Spirit finished ahead of Diver Down
with Pair a Dice coming in third and Perfect 36 fourth and Sea Quake (C&C
29) fifth. Close races like this are always
fun and keep us on our toes!
Last Tuesday (7/29)
I was not able to sail last Tuesday, so was not able to give
a proper report. I heard that there was
great wind and the winner was Diver Down followed by Perfect 36 then Sailing
Pair a Dice, Blue Ribbon and Makani. It’s
great to have Perfect 36 join the party!
They appear to be a very well run boat from what we can tell viewing
their sternL. Sounds like a fun night on the bay.
Other racing venues:
It seems we have all had a blast sailing our Catalina
Tuesdays. There are many other racing
venues we can all race in. Personally I
missed the Santa Cruz to Monterey race a few weeks ago, but I heard it was a
blast. There are score races and the
midwinters during the winter. We could
even have a contingency go up to the bay for the windjammer, an overnight race
from St Francis to Santa Cruz. Most
eminent is this Sunday’s Big Brother Big Sister. Having sailed in this race multiple times I
can attest that it is one of my favorites. Let’s have a great turnout for this
benefit regatta and have some fun this Sunday!
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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