September 8, 2015: STEADY EASTERLY

September 8, 2015

STEADY EASTERLY

As I walked across the parking lot when leaving work, I felt a gust of easterly breeze.  This being my favorite wind direction, I smiled knowing that this was going to be a great night. I was not disappointed when I got to the harbor and saw flags confirming a steady Easterly breeze.  We had a lot of work to complete before we left the harbor. We had to swap out to the 155 jib and clean the bottom.  There was also a rather nasty strand of kelp that was tangled around my rudder.  We finally left the harbor and saw 8 boats out for the fun.

We called for an easterly wind course: start, Blacks, SC3, finish and gave a 5 minute horn. Everyone went into their start routine.  On Pair a Dice I really wanted to start right at the mark on starboard tack.  We were coming into a very crowded start line and were prime candidates for being in a barging situation since we were running parallel to the line.  We were not alone in our plan.  Kicks was just ahead of us on the same line.  Seeing that Don Radcliffe was at the helm on Pacific Spirit, I knew it was going to be a challenging start.  As we approached the line, I stalled to avoid being caught barging.  I figured it was better to be late to the start as long as I started at the pin.  As predicted, Pacific Spirit nailed the start perfectly and Kicks was pinched off attempting to barge.  As they turned to avoid the mark, Sea Quake was setting up to pinch us off also.  As we spun also we started right behind Kicks.  We were the last ones over the line, but we were at least at the pin, accomplishing at least one of my goals.

The 155 jib worked like a charm in these winds, helping us point higher than the other boats and also creep by Kicks.  At Blacks, Pacific Spirit rounded comfortably ahead of us with Kicks and Aeolian rounding behind us. The wind was consistent all over the ocean as we all made our way to SC3.  Though we were able to close the gap with Pacific Spirit, they rounded SC3 still comfortably ahead of us.

We all slogged back to start attempting different tactics: pole on port then starboard, trying to get inside to smoother water.  Ultimately Pacific Spirit finished at least one minute ahead of Pair A Dice, followed by Kicks, Sea Quake, Perfect 36 and Tres Santos.

The finer nuances of Barging rules:

The rules that govern barging are rule 11 and rule 17.1. Rule 11 establishes that leeward boat has right of way and may luff up at will.  Rule 17.1 dictates that if the leeward boat establishes its overlap from astern they can luff up at will UNTIL the start signal, then must assume proper course. This is called a restricted overlap since they are restricted to proper course after the start signal. If the windward boat establishes overlap from behind or if the leeward boat tacks into an overlap position, the leeward boat can continue to luff up even after the start signal- an “unrestricted overlap”.

If you are caught in a windward position and someone hails “leeward coming up” the windward boat must head up immediately.  The leeward boat must not luff up so fast that there is a collision.  If in a real race, you neglect to luff up fast enough as windward boat, you could find yourself in a protest hearing. 

All of this applies in sanctioned racing with committee boats, signals and race committee.  In our Tuesday night racing, it all falls on our honor and doing the right thing.  As Ernie Rideout said: “If you win a race and have lost the honor of competitors, you have not won!”

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This weekend will be a phenomenal time to be a boat owner in Santa Cruz.  Many options are available: observing the West Marine fun regatta for the Juniors, participating in the Monterey and back regatta or sailing down for the Capitola Art and Wine festival.  Whatever you do, be safe and we will see you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice