JULY 19, 2016 WHICH WAY TO GO?

TUESDAY JULY 19, 2016

WHICH WAY TO GO?

It looked like a light easterly was blowing as we left the harbor.  As 6 o’clock approached the wind was nil and it looked like we might get skunked with no wind.  I called for a postponement to see if any wind would develop.  It did not take long for a mild easterly to begin filling in.  We called for course B4 to stay inside with the building wind from the East. There seemed to be a lot of boats out on the bay and about 10 in our group for the start. Fred Molnar came out on Schock Therapy (Santa 22) for the first time.  We gave a 5 minute blast on the horn and everyone started setting up for their start.  From our perspective it looked like a couple of boats were over the line a little early at the start, but there is no way to judge this without sighting the line. On Pair A Dice we were behind several boats right after the start, but seemed to get relatively clear air in a gap  between two boats to windward of us.  In order to round the mark to port at Blacks and to get clear air we tacked over onto port tack.  Makani was doing a good job preventing Sagitarius from tacking over to port tack, as Pacific Spirit was pinning us preventing us from tacking over to starboard toward the mark.  At the first mark it was Mistress Quickly followed by Equinamity (Hunter 34), Pacific Spirit, Pair a Dice and Makani and Schock therapy. 

As we rounded Blacks and started toward Gov it got very interesting because there were so many options available.  Would the wind fill in outside?  It sure looked that way since the water showed more wind outside.  The fact that Homer started going outside added impetus to this opinion.  On Pair A Dice we were rhumb lining it toward the mark splitting the difference.  We were surprised to see Homer turning in through a gap in the kelp to get in toward the beach, while Pacific Spirit turned to go outside.  Most of the boats seemed to be sailing directly to the mark.  On Pair A dice we followed Homer inside the kelp bed but not nearly as close to the beach.  Apparently the wind was building closer to the beach because Homer rounded Gov comfortably in front of us.

As we all sailed back to the start mark, there seemed to be even more options.  Homer went back inside toward the beach while we sailed outside on a closer angle to the mark.  Our thought was to avoid the obvious current that flows west along the beach. Pacific Spirit also sailed further inside following Homer.  The wind seemed to be building for us outside and we thought we saw dead spots on the water toward the beach.  Finally we sailed into an unexpected hole with no wind.  We quickly tacked over to stay in the wind.  It was no surprise that many of the boats were getting frustrated with the conditions and were heading for the harbor.  At the finish Mistress Quickly was first with Equinamity (Homer) following and Pacific Spirit finishing third, Pair A Dice, Schock Therapy and Perfect 36 and Makani and Kicks coming in quick succession.

Rules of racing:

I know our Tuesday nights are an informal affair.  There is not a committee boat to call the line, and no penalties called if there is a rule infraction.  Basically we are all on the honor system.  Believe me, there have been times in the past when I did not do a turn and it has haunted me. I can only appeal to your sense of fair play.  If you hit a mark, do your turn.  If you fail to yield proper right of way, do your turn. Round all marks appropriately.  We are not invisible and all of our actions are noticed. In the end, it is great to be competitive, but if you are the first over the line and did not observe the rules, what good did it do?

See you next Tuesday.

Barry L. Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice