TUESDAY AUGUST 25,
2015
“SOME THINGS ARE
WORTH WAITING FOR”
It was going to be an interesting night with the presence of
wind being a huge question. As we left
the harbor, there were about 12 boats milling around. Since the wind was questionable and we had a
barbecue to get to, we chose a short course #4: start, mile finish. Someone on the radio said that the transition
would arrive right at start time. But we
were th
ere for a race and by God we were going to have one. We gave the 5 minute horn and everyone set up
for their start.
On Pair A Dice we were setting up for a starboard start a
little down from the start buoy. Pacific
Spirit was directly ahead of us as we stalled to not be early. It was obvious they were OCS and they
dutifully started rounding the buoy to start again (kudos for doing the right
thing), when suddenly the wind DIED. The
wind died much quicker than our optimism did.
With the waves on our nose and the dead wind, we were actually moving
backward. Looking through the fleet it was
apparent very small patches of wind were moving through the boats. You would see a boat sprint forward then
stop. Toad was the first boat over the line, soon to die in the transition
zone. Everyone was focusing on getting
to the westerly winds just outside of the transition zone we were hopelessly
mired in. Many of the boats had caught
their patch of wind and were substantially ahead of us.
As usual, Mark was on Pair A Dice and had his “head out of
the boat” surveying for conditions everywhere.
Those flags, the anchored boats and of course wind on the water
everywhere was being considered. Mark
announced that we should turn toward the harbor to catch the building
Easterly. As I was considering the
illogical move of sailing AWAY from the mark to get wind, Pacific Spirit turned
and went directly for the building easterly and seemed to be picking up
speed. We followed suit and immediately
started sailing. After bobbing for over
45 minutes it was exhilarating to be sailing again. We sailed toward the wharf,
picking up more speed the further we went.
We set our pole and turned toward Mile, seeming to close the gap with
Pacific Spirit.
The rounding at Mile got to be very interesting with Pacific
Spirit clear ahead and Makani, Aeolian and
Odonata just ahead of us. We had all
taken different paths but ended up at Mile at the same time. After Mile, most of the boats turned and
headed further inside on starboard tack, while Aeolian and Pair A Dice took the
port tack on the now predominantly Northerly wind.
 |
| AEOLIAN AFTER FINISH HEADING TO BBQ |
At the finish, Pacific Spirit was one minute ahead of Pair A
Dice followed by the Saber 34, Aeolian, Perfect 36, Kicks, Makani and Toad.
We had a great barbecue at the club with many discussions
about the sailing that night.
Dealing with Transition zones:
Transition zones are a way of life sailing in Santa Cruz so
learning how to deal with them is critical to do well.
-Critical in any light wind situation is having a clean
bottom on the boat.
-Another concept: in
very light wind DO NOT buck the waves, let the waves roll under the boat at an
angle even if you must sail away from the mark.
-Where is the wind building?
Use anchored boats, flags, birds and wind on the water to determine
this.
-Use sails to turn the boat rather than the rudder, if you
have a large jib, you may need to furl some of it to steer using the
sails.
-Last tip is to remember we are on sailboats, we need wind
to move, get to the wind even if it means sailing away from the mark!
Other Regattas:
Last Sunday was the first of the SCORE series. It was a great day for a sail with 13-22 knot
winds on the course. This first of the
series was a run from Moss Landing around wharf mark and finishing at Gov. Though we motored down early in the morning
for this race, it was a blast. These
SCORE races are a blast, and you can register on SCYC.org if you have a
Monterey Bay PHRF certificate.
September 12 and 13 is the Down and Back. This is another long race, down to Monterey
on the first day and back home the next.
You’ve been learning about racing all summer. Now is the time to apply that knowledge in a
sanctioned race!
See you next week.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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