WHALES, PORPOISES,
SEA LIONS AND BIRDS,
OH MY!
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9,
2014
I went to the boat Monday evening and as I was leaving the
harbor I noticed an easterly wind was blowing.
I thought “it sure would be sweet if an Easterly came in for our Tuesday
night!” As I approached the harbor on
this Tuesday, I saw the flag on the Crow’s nest showing an easterly. There was question as to how strong it would
be, but as we left the harbor we saw it was strong enough to have a good
race. We called course 11: start to
Blacks, Mile to finish. Once again we
gave a 5 minute horn so everyone could synchronize their watches.
On Pair A Dice, there is always a discussion between crew
and skipper before each start. What is
the plan? The skipper says what he would like to do, like “fight for a
starboard start at the mark”. Feedback
from crew is considered and when everyone knows what the agreed upon strategy
is, we set about executing the plan.
This night we were headed for the mark and Homer was in position to
force us out on a ‘barging’ call. I
luffed up to stall for a few seconds which gave Homer time to actually
start. Once he was over the line I was
clear to start, just slightly behind but to windward of him. It’s what I call the dance at the start. It requires quick thinking and a crew that is
in tune to adjusting sails for quick actions taken on the helm. Pacific Spirit was just to windward and
behind us for the start. Since they were
being lee-bowed by us, they made the correct tactical decision to tack over for
clear air. This plan worked well for
them because as we all approached Blacks, Pacific Spirit was coming in on
starboard, had right of way and was first around the mark. Right after rounding Blacks, Homer and
Pacific Spirit ran a hotter line, mixing it up with each other, while we rhumb
lined it to Mile.
Despite the different strategies used to get to mile,
Pacific Spirit once again beat us around the mark, as Homer (Blue Ribbon) and
Pair a Dice followed close behind. After
the long slog into the waves toward Mile, it was great to actually be sailing
again. We finally were able to sail into
Homers wind and he tacked over for clear wind, while Pacific Spirit sailed
further in toward the beach before tacking over for the Mark. We thought we would meet with Pacific Spirit,
but they tacked back over toward the beach.
As it ended, Pair A Dice was first, Blue Ribbom second, Pacific Spirit
third, Diver Down, Makani, Iris, Aeolian, Dreamer (cat-27), Andiamo and
Emeritus.
Tactics:
There were some great tactics employed tonight. When we gave Homer bad wind, he immediately
tacked over for clear air as Pacific Spirit also did right after the
start. One critical rule in tactics IS to
‘stay BETWEEN your competitors and the mark!’. You obviously must be ahead in
order to accomplish this. Right after the
rounding of Mile, Pacific Spirit had enough of a lead to tack over to “stay
between us and the finish mark”. By
delaying and allowing us to freely tack over to the layline, they gave up their
advantage. It would have been very interesting and possibly a different outcome
if they had defended their position.
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| BLUE RIBBON AND PACIFIC SPIRIT ON THEIR WAY TO MILE |
 |
| BLUE RIBBON ROUNDING FINISH MARK |
I witnessed one boat approaching the finish line, but just
leeward of rounding the mark on the correct side. Several boats passed this boat as they
attempted to luff around the mark. It
impressed me once again on the importance of knowing your tacking angle. How do you know when you are on the layline
for a mark? Every boat is different and individual boats will have different
laylines for each jib sail and each velocity of wind. When you have sailed your boat enough to know
all of these factors you can still be destroyed by a header that comes up at
the most inopportune time! So on top of
learning our tacking angles, you must keep an eye on the wind: Is it consistent
or shifty? Learning tacking angles is no
easy skill to acquire! On Pair A Dice,
with one jib, we will sight across the bulkhead. With a larger jib, we will sight across the traveler. Some people know their tacking angle and use
their compass to determine what their new heading will be after a tack.
Whatever method you find that works best for you, learn it and use it to your
advantage!
With the beautiful, warm, clear weather and the whales all
over the bay and porpoises and birds, capped by a gorgeous sunset it was a
spectacular Santa Cruz evening to be sailing on the bay.
 |
| THE END OF ANOTHER PERFECT DAY! |
See you out there next Tuesday!
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair a Dice
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