TuesdayApril 5 : SAILING AGAIN!

Tuesday APRIL 5:  SAILING AGAIN!

Harbor entrance clear? Check! Is the tide high enough to not present a problem? Check!  Is there no swell to speak of? Check!  Will there be wind tonight? Check!  It has gotten to be a very interesting sailing environment these days in Santa Cruz.  But boy is it worth the hassle!

As I got to the harbor, my crew had already swapped out the 135 for the 155.  This seemed interesting to me since the crows nest flag was not limping at all.  By the time we left the slip, their prediction had come true and the wind seemed to be dying already.

It was great to have 6 to 7 boats out for the fun.  We set the start buoy and set the course: start, SC7, gov and finish.  Initially I had thought it would be good to include Mile, but with SC7 being more to windward, Mile was scratched off the course.

We gave a 5 minute and a start horn.  At the start line, Pair a Dice was just ahead of Pacific Spirit which attempted to climb to windward of us.  We successfully pinched up to give them bad air and they tacked over for clear air.  We continued out like most of the boats.  We all had the waves slowing us down.  When Pacific Spirit tacked out to meet us, she seemed a little ahead of us but before crossing us, she tacked over again.  It seems like the flatter water on their port tack was working for them.  This became apparent because they rounded SC7 just ahead of us.  As we sailed toward GOV the wind was dying and all of the boats compressed together.  After rounding Gov it was off to start again.  Pair a Dice had a fun time messing with Pacific Spirit sailing above and below her trying to slow her down.  At the finish it was Pacific Spirit (once again) just ahead of Sailing Pair A Dice.  There was a heated contest between Kicks and Odonata (Santana 22 flying a kite), but Kicks prevailed in this duel.  Then Sea Quake squeaked over the line just ahead of Aeolian.

What a Beautiful night for a sail!

Tactics:

On the way toward Gov, we noticed Pacific Spirit sailing below the mark making it look like they were getting headed.  We sailed higher in anticipation of this header and may have made a little time on them by doing this, or was it just the compression of all of the boats?

After rounding Gov, Sailing Pair A Dice should have made a definitive move to roll Pacific Spirit to leeward.  We were having fun trying to steal their wind, but the object is to round the mark AHEAD of them.  If we had maintained a leeward position on them, we would have had overlap at the mark and would have been able to round ahead of them.  Always plan ahead for the next mark rounding!  Where do you want to be to establish an advantage at the mark? These plans are usually made right after rounding the last mark.

OTHER REGATTAS:

SCYC is hosting another Leukemia cup regatta on Saturday June 4.  I participated in this regatta last year and it is very fun.  It is very similar to the Big Brother Big Sister regatta we have every summer, but this regatta is a benefit for research to treat Leukemia.  There are employees of Dominican Hospital Outpatient Oncology that are very interested in participating in this regatta and are looking for rides on boats.  If you have room for one or two novice sailors on your boat and are going to sail in this regatta, let me know and I will get you in contact with these potential participants.

See You Tuesday,

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice