SURPRISE: WE GOT
WIND!
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 23,
2014
I checked sailflow in the morning and they predicted 6-8
knots for the evening. When I got to
then the harbor there was no talk about the wind. As we sailed out of the harbor it looked like
the wind was building rather than dying.
By the time we sailed out to the start mark we were seeing 21 knots
apparent. With the 155 Jib, we had way
too much sail up, so we swapped out for the 135. Even with that, there was too much wind. We called course 3: start, wharf, Blacks and
finish. As we were counting down the
last five minutes, we put a reef in the main.
Right at the start, Makani and Pacific Spirit sailed out on
starboard tack. The rest of us (Pair a
dice, Blue Ribbon, Aeolian and Odonata (Santana 22) and Sea Quake (C&C29)
sailed inside on port tack. Pair a Dice
was pinned by Blue Ribbon and we could not sail faster to pass her so we
finally tacked out as the rest of the port tackers continued inside. We tacked up the middle of the course and had
a front row seat as Pacific Spirit and Makani were fighting it out, with
Pacific Spirit passing Makani to windward, Makani tacked out for clear air. When we all met at wharf mark, Blue Ribbon
was first around with Makani and Pacific Spirit and Aeolian, Odonata and Pair a
dice following behind.
After rounding wharf, it was a long downwind run to blacks.
Makani did a great job setting their pole in the 20+ knot winds. Most of the
boats ran the rhumb line to the mark. On
Sailing Pair A Dice, we thought we saw more wind outside, so we ran high of the
rhumb line. Alas when we all rounded
Blacks Makani had a great lead and, once again we had 5 boats (Blue Ribbon,
Pacific Spirit, Aeolian, Odonata and Pair a Dice) rounding blacks at the same
time. Since all of the boats ahead of us
were sailing in for the layline for the start finish mark and we saw more wind
outside, Pair A Dice immediately tacked outside after rounding Blacks.
Once again all of
the boats converged on the finish mark.
Makani had a healthy lead at the finish. Pair a Dice finally tacked over
toward the finish mark attempting to
cross the line within 5 boatlengths.
It appeared that Pacific Spirit and Pair A
Dice crossed the line simultaneously. Since Pacific Spirit was closer to the
mark, I would have to say they took second place. Since we were sailing down
the line formed by the mark and lighthouse it appeared we crossed the line
before Blue Ribbon then Odonata and
Aeolian and Sea Quake. Congratulations
to Makani for a first place finish.
Once again a beautiful windy evening
on the Monterey Bay!
CROSSING PART TWO:
While we were beating our way
out to wharf, I witnessed a beautiful example of an excellent duck. Makani was
on port and Pacific Spirit was on starboard.
Makani headed lower to show his intentions and swept close around the
stern of Pacific Spirit and then took advantage of the lift from the disturbed
air and immediately headed up. I am not
saying Makani won the race because of this excellent duck, but it certainly did
not hurt them as they went on to win the race!
Well done Makani.
BACK INTO THE FOLD AS “KICKS”
For over 13 years there have
been three boats consistently enjoying Catalina Tuesdays: Pair A Dice, Pacific
Spirit and Odyssey. About 3 years ago
Todd Johnson moved Odyssey up to the city for a place to stay when in the
city. Todd recently purchased a newer
Catalina 30 (Kicks) and moved it to Santa Cruz.
It’s great to have Todd and his crew back for Catalina Tuesdays. When you see them give a warm welcome to the
crew of Kicks: Todd, Dan,Chris and Ford.
_/) _/)
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PLEASE NOTE: NEXT
TUESDAY IS BARBECUE NIGHT AT THE YACHT CLUB AFTER THE RACE. BRING YOUR FAVORITE GRILLING ITEMS FOR THE
FUN!
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