May 31, 2016: FOG WIND

TUESDAY May 31, 2016

FOG WIND

As I showed up at the harbor, you could see a steady breeze was still blowing with a heavy bank of fog offshore.  As we left the harbor, we checked the wind and it was blowing from 210, so a little south of our normal wind.  We were not certain whether the wind would sustain or back off through the evening and with the BBQ awaiting us, called for a short course Start, Mile, start-finish.  We gave a 5 minute horn and everyone started setting up for their start.   On Pair A Dice we wanted to be right at the start buoy on starboard tack. 

We were successful in our start and found Pacific Spirit right behind us slightly to windward.  We did our best to climb up to lee bow them and when we were in position we traveled up on the main to disturb their wind even more.  This worked and they tacked away.  Oh the nasty things we must do to competitors that are faster than us! All in fun of course.    We sailed on out into the choppy seas and a little more wind.  We were wondering why we could not achieve our normal speed for the conditions when I noticed a strand of kelp on our rudder.  I was starting to get the boat hook when the decision was made to “try to lose it on our tack”.  This was successful and the boat got up to it’s normal hull speed.  On our way to Mile Odonata passed easily in front of us, but the next time we met we were well ahead.  Chris was out sailing by himself and doing a great job.

For the rounding of Mile, we had not estimated the lay line correctly and had to pinch to make the mark but were able to round the mark with mere inches to spare.  Alas there was no red paint to clean off the boat.

The next leg was the long slog back to start finish.  On long legs like this in the fog, it really helps to have the marks in your GPS so you can sail directly to the mark without searching for it. 

On this night we were lucky enough to be first followed by Pacific Spirit, Kicks, Odonata, and Aeolian.

We had a great turnout for the Barbecue and it was great socializing with crews from other boats.

Tactics: Playing oscillating winds

This night had pretty consistent wind that was oscillating  left and right about 10 degrees.  You can see this by watching your compass bearing as steering to weather.  Obviously the helmsperson must be steering according to the telltales.  If he is steering correctly you can see the boat swing back and forth. Check for the amount of swing and the time of the swings and you can really use the oscillations to your advantage.  Always remember and header on one tack is a lift on the other.

TIGHT ROUNDING OF BUOYS:

This night was a huge lesson for me on this. We knew it was close as soon as we tacked.  We were praying for a right shift to lift us but our prayers were unheard!  We pinched up to the mark and then just before the mark, we fell off just enough to increase our speed, then used the inertia built up by this move to coast around the buoy.  When attempting this maneuver, sail trim is EVERYTHING!  You cannot afford to backwind the jib when trying to coast around, but as soon as the mark is midship, harden up on the jib and loosen the main to help the boat round the mark. This was very impressive to see for us on the boat. Collectively we were all holding our breath but the seals were jumping in appreciation of our move!

See you next Tuesday.

Barry L. Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice