TUESDAY APRIL 28, 2015: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WIND?

TUESDAY APRIL 28, 2015

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WIND?

There are more races than our Catalina Tuesdays.  SCYC had a regatta this past Sunday that became a rather tortuous event. The course called for us to round SC3.  By the time we approached SC3, the mark was smack dab in the middle of a transition zone between an Easterly and our normal northwest wind.  The problem was that the waves in this corner of the bay are disorganized and very choppy.  The Easterly would fill, then the northwesterly would fill, back and forth multiple times with the wind never getting over 3 knots.  On Pair A Dice we were stuck attempting to round this mark for one to one and a half excruciating hours.  Finally the race got cancelled.

Imagine going through this and coming back out on Catalina Tuesday and have some idiot (me) call for a course rounding SC3.  What was I thinking?  I figured we had experienced enough “Yin” at that mark and deserved a little “yang”.  At the start of the race, we had plenty of wind from the East. 

It was a beautiful, clear evening with 13 boats out for the fun.  We called for a 6:10 start time and Course 9.  It was a great start with several boats right on the line just a little late for the start.  Since the ‘pin end’ was favored, we set up to cross right at the start buoy.  Several boats were ahead and to leeward of us.  With a start right at the buoy we came very close to laying the first mark and we were all on our way to #$%^&*  SC3.  It was really fun on such a long leg trying to use the headers and lifts to out sail competitors.  Finally as we approached SC3, it was a replay of our race on Sunday.  The wind died and we were at the mercy of the waves.  After bobbing for close to a half hour, Homer expressed that it would be good to finish the race on rounding SC3.  Since Pair A Dice was closest to the mark, I thought it was an unusual request but agreed to it.

We bobbed for another 5 minutes and noticed that Diver Down was moving and increasing speed.  We watched in amazement as they easily rounded the mark ahead of us, then Makani inched around with Pair A Dice right on his stern, followed by Odonata (Santana 22) and Pacific Spirit.  It was a long motor back to the harbor.

 

We had an awesome barbecue back at the club with over 50 people showing up.

Light wind tactics:

We all love the feeling of sailing in great wind.  How do you deal with light wind?  On a Tuesday night about 5 years ago, we got caught in a transition zone with a very light Easterly blowing.  The rhumb line to the mark put the waves square on our beam.  The very light wind was not enough to overcome the intense rocking caused by the waves on our beam and we were not moving at all.  I told the helmsman to steer so the waves took us on the stern.  This had two effects: The waves would wash us further (though sailing away from the mark) and the boat started rocking  stern to bow.  Think about this effect.  Every time the boat rocked forward, the sails filled momentarily and sucked us forward, increasing our speed to catch the next wave better.  We immediately sped up  sailing more into the Easterly and soon rounded the mark.  I was excited and announce to the crew that this was the “Keeler Effect”.  To this day, on Pair A Dice whenever we use waves to our advantage, someone will quip “the Keeler effect”.  Give it a try next time you are caught in light wind and waves.

Leukemia Cup:

It is not too late to partake in this regatta.  It would be great to have a healthy contingent of Catalinas in this regatta.  I hope to see all of you out there on Sunday.

 

It seems last months picture of our barbecue attracted a lot of attention (and more participants).
Here is another picture to entice!

 

See you next Tuesday.  Hopefully we will have better wind.

 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

VACATION AND IMPROVING YOUR GAME

TUESDAY APRIL 21, 2015

VACATION!

I happened to be out of town for this evening’s sail, so will not be providing a recap of this evenings events.  If someone wants to leave a comment with a recap of this evenings events, I would appreciate it.

Instead of a recap, I would like to give a rundown of what it takes to win races. I believe it comes down to three factors:  boat, crew, strategy/tactics.

Boat:

Is your boat adequately equipped to win races?  Is the bottom of your boat faired and smooth?  Ask Vance about the effects of a properly faired bottom of a boat.  If you do not have a whisker pole, you cannot expect to compete downwind with boats that do.  If the bottom of your boat is not clean, you cannot consider yourself to be a serious contender.  Is everything in mechanical order.  Nothing hurts more than losing a race due to a mechanical issue that pops up at the wrong time.  Weight! If your boat is used as a storage unit, weighed down with baggage, you cannot expect to compete effectively.

Crew:

Any skipper that says THEY won the race without acknowledging their crew is not being honest with themselves.  A crew that works well together is crucial to winning races.  A winning crew really does take time to develop.  In my opinion, I do not need egos on my boat.  Egos do not win races!  A crew (team) that works well together is a thing of beauty and wins races.   

I think there are several winning elements in a valuable crew member. First is a thirst for knowledge, constantly desiring improvement in the team and himself.  Do they “hustle” (move quickly) when things need to be done quickly?  Are they physically fit enough to handle the challenges of racing?  Are they available for racing and practice?  Practice is something all winning boats do regularly.   You cannot win races if you are working out kinks (in lines AND crew) while in a regatta.  A good crew is crucial, but the skipper has their job to do also!  Steering with a steady hand taking advantage of lifts is not an easy job.  Once again practice helps with this. 

Strategy/Tactics:

Strategy are the decisions you would make to sail the course in the quickest time with no other boats on the course.  Tactics are the decisions you make, using the rules of sailing, in dealing with other boats in order to follow your strategy.

Whenever dealing with a particular race, several questions must be answered.  Which is the favored end of the start line?  (the end of the line that is closer to the wind). Is Port tack start favored over starboard start?  (fewer boats in start and right side is favored). Is the left side of the course favored over the right side? (Which side is more advantageous when dealing with wind/current/waves?)

As you can see, winning sailboat races is a multi-faceted project.  Getting them all in line will help your results.

See you next week.

Barry Keeler

TUESDAY APRIL 14, 2015 : A CLEAR NORTH WIND EVENING

TUESDAY APRIL 14, 2015

A CLEAR NORTH WIND EVENING

As is typical for my Tuesdays, I was noticing the wind in the trees all day as I worked.  It was very breezy during the day, but what would it be like for the evening sail?  By the time I got to the harbor, it had backed off a bit but was still quite strong from the North, with a tiny bit of West in it.  We headed out of the harbor and were relieved to see that the Blacks buoy had been set.  We had about 10 boats milling around waiting for the fun.  Since it was a North wind we called for course 13: start (to port), Gov (P), Mile(P), Blacks (P) and finish/start (SB). We gave a 5 minute horn and all of the boats began their “starting dance”. 

On Pair a Dice, we determined that a starboard tack approach would be best with a start as close as possible to the start buoy.  As windy as it was; we sailed much faster than we anticipated and ran out of room at the pin.  We sailed beyond the buoy and did a quick 180 to pass the buoy on the correct side.  As awkward as this move was, it did not take long before we crossed the line and were in the race.  Kudos to Makani for an excellent start and Pacific Spirit for a great start also.  As we crossed the line, we had our work cut out for us, with Makani out in the distance and Pacific Spirit charging up on us to windward.  Makani was not able to point as high and had to tack over on the parade of starboard tackers.  I watched as Makani planted a perfect lee bow on a boat who’s skipper was screaming “STARBOARD!”  It did not take long for Makani to leave them in the dust.  On Pair A Dice, we were sailing just ahead and to leeward of Pacific Spirit close enough to have intimate conversation.  We were finally able to creep ahead enough to lee bow them and rounded Gov just ahead of Pacific Spirit after throwing in a quick tack to round the mark.  The wind was very fluky around Gov and many of the boats had quite an ordeal getting around in the crowded conditions.  It is so much easier when you are lucky enough to get clear wind! 

After Gov, we marched on out to Mile and watched as Pacific Spirit and Makani fought it out.  Makani got an inside position at Mile and pulled ahead of Pacific Spirit.  At the finish, Pair A Dice crossed first with Makani second, Pacific Spirit, Sea Quake, Toad and Kicks. 

The Lee-bow:

All sailors know that when you are behind and leeward of a boat, you are in their “shadow” and do not have clear air to sail in.  Though this is a horrible position to be in (we have all been their!), another bad position is when a boat sails just ahead of you but in a leeward rather than a windward position.  Yes, there is disturbed wind just off the windward stern of a boat sailing to weather!  Lee bowing  is a great tactical move if you can pull it off.  It is difficult to tack into this position without fouling the other boat, because in order to be effective you must be close.

 

The Corinthian Spirit:

Everyone talks about a Corinthian Spirit in sailing.  We are all competing to the best of our ability.  How do you handle defeat? How do you handle Victory?  I have been participating in the Santana 22 team racing and have been amazed to witness the degree of Corinthian spirit in the group.  These guys use the racing rules and tactics that many would consider mean spirited, then laugh about it together over beers afterwards.  It is a level of sportsmanship to be emulated.  The bottom line: use rules and tactics to compete aggressively and fairly.  If you foul someone, take your turn(s) and keep sailing.  Afterward, congratulate competitors on their great moves even if you suffered the brunt of those moves.  Congratulate and compliment the winners as a fellow sailor.  As a victor, graciously accept the compliment and offer tips to improve THEIR game.  Make them better, and you must improve in order to win.  This is what sailing is all about: fun and improving your skills.

 

 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

TUESDAY APRIL 7, 2015 BLUSTERY RAINY NIGHT

April 7, 2015

BLUSTERY RAINY NIGHT

With a dark wall of rain clouds looming on the horizon, we were all wondering about what sailing would be like tonight.  Despite the foreboding conditions, we had 6 boats show up for the race and even more out for the sail.  Aeolian, Diver Down, Kicks, Makani, Perfect 36 and Sailing Pair A Dice showed up for the fun.  We called course number 2 and a start time of 6:10.

 

At the start, Pair a Dice was charging the line on starboard tack with Diver Down close behind on our starboard hip.  Perfect 36 was coming in from our port as the three boats crossed the start line nearly simultaneously.  Pair A Dice was very close to lee bowing Diver Down but could not succeed in this move and Diver Down ultimately rolled us to windward.  We tacked over in front of Perfect 36 and Diver Down tacked to cover us again and quickly left us in the dust.  No sooner were we free of Diver Down’s bad wind than we had to deal with the same from Perfect 36.  Diver Down rounded Wharf well ahead as Pair a Dice and Perfect 36 dueled their way to the mark in the peppering rain.  Ultimately Pair A Dice rounded Wharf just ahead of Perfect 36 and Makani just behind.  Pair A Dice was able to fend Perfect 36 off and rounded Mile ahead, but on the way to Gov, Perfect 36 passed us to windward. After Gov, we were not able to keep up or pass Perfect 36.  Diver Down horizoned the fleet and rounded the finish line well ahead as Perfect 36 rounded second with Pair A Dice and Makani following. Aeolian and Kicks had a little drag race coming into the finish with Aeolian squeaking ahead for the finish.

 

We had an interesting dinner at Crows Nest with over 20 people showing up for the comradarie.

 

Strategy:

In any sail boat race, keeping clear air is essential.  This is often easier said than done.  This evening Pair A Dice spent too much time in bad air and could not shake the cover of other boats.  Possibly,  we could have tacked over earlier right after Diver Down passed us on port tack.  We could have cleared Perfect 36 and succeeded in following the often repeated axiom: “stay between your opponent and the mark”. When we returned to the slip, we noticed an 8 foot strand of kelp that had caught on our bob stay tang at the waterline of our bow.  We felt that the boat was not up to its characteristic speed and have no idea how long that kelp was there.

 

Other racing:

Keep in mind the other racing that is coming up.  There is the Commodores cup on this Saturday, the SCORE series and the Leukemia cup coming up on May 3.

 

See you next Tuesday.

 

Barry L. Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

MOORING BALL TECHNIQUE

This piece is from a talk I gave on bare boat chartering and the problems getting a mooring ball.

MOORING TECHNIQUE

Grabbing a mooring ball can be challenging when dealing with twenty knot breezes.  If you follow these techniques you will look like a pro in no time at all.  It is at least a two person procedure: One person on the helm and one on the bow. 

1.       As you are approaching the mooring field, the bow person takes two heavy lines to the bow along with a boat hook.  The boat hook should be secured so it does not fall overboard.  The end of one of the lines is tied to the cleat on starboard and the end of the other line is tied to the cleat on port.  The decision should be made which side of the boat the skipper wants to get the mooring ball on.  Whichever side the skipper wants to get the ball on usually because of visibility,  is where the ends of each line should be.  This means one of the line ends must be passed around the forestay. They can be loosely coiled and left on the deck with the ends draped over the bow pulpit.

2.       While all of this is happening on the bow, the skipper agrees with the bow person which mooring ball to get.  The skipper sets the boat up so when approaching the ball the boat will be motoring DIRECTLY INTO THE WIND.  It is amazing how being off the wind even 5 degrees in 20+ knot winds will cause the boat to spiral away from the ball. 

3.       While the skipper approaches the ball, the bow person has the boat hook in one hand like a spear aimed directly at the pendant of the mooring ball.  The other hand is held in a position where the skipper can see it.  Starting with 5 fingers extended.  As the ball is approached, the fingers are folded one by one.  The bow person can use whatever increments they want, but when the last finger is folded the hand becomes a tightly clenched fist.  This is the signal to the skipper that the boat should be stopped.

4.       The skipper watches as the fingers are folded and makes certain the boat hook is pointed directly toward the center of the bow.  When the fist is displayed by the bow person, the skipper stops the boat with a little reverse burst on the engine.  At this point he gazes laterally to set  up a range.  He keeps close to this range so he does not drift too far forward or get blown too far back.

5.       The bow person uses the boat hook to retrieve the pendant and secures the boat hook in a safe place (another set of hands helps with this).  With the end of the pendant on deck, the ends of the lines are passed through the thimble and back to the same cleat that the line started from.  The lines are evened up so the “bridle” is directly in front of the boat.  If there is intense competition for mooring balls, it is best to secure the ball with one line from one side of the bow, through the thimble to the other side of the bow.  Once you have secured the mooring ball, you can loop the other line.  In any event the final product must be a loop from starboard cleat through thimble and back to the same cleat.  Another loop must be made for the port side cleat.

 

If you follow these procedures and practice them, you will not be the subject of entertainment for all of the bare boaters on other boats.  Soon, they will be practicing your same techniques.

 

 

GREAT NORTH WIND AND A GREAT BARBECUE

 

 

MARCH 31, 2015

GREAT WIND, GREAT BARBECUE

With the flag on the Crow’s Nest as flat as a board, it was apparent we had plenty of wind for this night.  On closer inspection, all of the windexes on the boats were pointing toward the North.  Another great North wind night! As we left the harbor we were seeing winds in excess of 20 knots.  With about 10 boats out for the fun, we set another impromptu course starting with start to port and the other end of the line being the radio towers.  First mark was Gov to port, then wharf to port and finish back at the start buoy to port with the line being an extension from the jetty lighthouse. We gave a horn to designate the 5 minutes to start time.

 

In all of the excitement, I neglected to mention the standard “ten boat lengths from the buoy” start area.  This error on my part left it up to individual interpretation.  Many of the boats tried to start at the buoy.  The more intrepid boats took off much closer to shore which was the much favored end of the line.  The closer you started to shore, the closer you were to the lay line for Gov .  It is prudent racing to pick the favored end of the line, but without the restriction of a length of line and left to individual interpretation, starting 20 boat lengths ahead of other boats does not inspire other racers.  This was definitely my error and I will explore ways to prevent this in the future so the races will at least start even.

 

At the start Diver Down, Makani, Odonata and Pair a Dice were off the line romping toward Gov.  Diver Down rounded easily in front of Makani, then Odonata, Sea Quake (did they round Gov?)and Pair a Dice followed.  The boats in the second wave were Emeritus, Aeolian, Andiamo (welcome Katie and crew!) and Pacific Spirit.

 

On the way to Wharf Diver Down lengthened their lead and Makani followed Diver Down around wharf followed by Odonata and Pair A Dice.  On the long reach back to start the order did not change much except we were finally able to “waterline” Odonata and we rounded just ahead.

 

GROWING PAINS:

Catalina nights is a very unusual phenomenon in sailboat racing.  We have no committee boat to “sight the line”, nobody to call out OCS. We all try to abide by the rules and round all of the buoys.  We all have competitive spirits and I would like to think we are all attempting to improve our sailing abilities.  To me, Catalina Nights is all about improving sailing abilities. 

 

Regarding OCS situations, I have come to the conclusion that without a committee boat, the only way to have a start line that is valid is to use extensions.  In other words, start line would be an extension of the line between 2 points.  Examples would be an extension of the line between start and light house or an extension of the line from blacks to start.  This way any bow person can sight the line and tell if they are OCS.  In these situations, if the line is obscured by other boats, you can politely point out that they are OCS.  The penalty for OCS is to go back and dip the line and restart.  This is obviously a penalty we all want to avoid. Using extensions seems like a no brainer.  The problem is that it forces all of the boats into a tighter area and increases the danger of collisions.  We all need to be cognizant and abide by the racing rules of sailing to avoid collisions. These changes may need to be indicated on the course cards.

 

 

 

_/)

We had a great BBQ at the yacht club.  I did not count, but it seemed like there were 50-60 people showing up for the fun and food.

 

OTHER RACING:

If you really are enjoying Catalina Tuesdays, it may be time to broaden your horizons.  SCYC is putting on regattas through the summer with their SCORE series.  There is a Jib and Main division in this series, so all of us could participate.

 

The Leukemia Cup is another regatta taking place on the weekend of May 3.  This will be a reverse PHRF start like the Big Brothers Big Sisters regatta.  You will need a PHRF certificate for all of these regattas.  This is a simple procedure that requires filling out a form and paying $20.  Entering in this regatta helps raise money for Leukemia research, a worthwhile cause and a fun event!

 

See you next Tuesday,

 

Barry