AUGUST 23, 2016:PLENTY OF WIND, PLENTY OF BOATS

AUGUST 23, 2016

PLENTY OF WIND, PLENTY OF BOATS

The flag on the Crow’s nest was indicating a lot of wind, but once again there were few white caps indicating wind less than 20 knots so we kept the 155 jib.  As we left the harbor, there were many boats out with even more coming out of the harbor.  With about 18 knots of wind and close to 15 boats on the line, conditions for the start got a little more exciting than normal.  We called for course whiskey 3: Start, Wharf Mark, Blacks, Finish. We gave the horn at 6:00 for a 6:05 start.

On Pair A Dice we wanted to start on Starboard tack down the line from the buoy.  Being down the line would allow us to tack over to inside whenever we wanted to, since we would not be trapped by other boats. As it turned out we were a little early and had to stall .  At the start we had several boats to our starboard in close proximity.  It took us awhile, but we were finally able to pull ahead and were able to tack over toward the inside.   We stayed on this tack until we thought we were on the layline for Wharf mark. Once we tacked, it looked like we may have been a little optimistic in our judgement.  We would need a lift in order to clear the mark.  Suddenly there was another concern.  Perfect 36 was crossing us on Port tack.  From my perspective, it was one of the closest crossings I have seen in a long time, but they cleared us without us having to duck.  Congratulations to Steve and the crew on Perfect 36 for precise judgement.

As we got lifted on our approach to wharf Pair A Dice was first to round wharf, followed quickly by Perfect 36 and Homer’s Equinamity (Hunter 34) and the rest of the fleet.  On the long run back to Blacks, we set our pole and started gauging our comparative speed. I have a laser device that indicates the distance to objects.  At first when our crew was hanging out in the cockpit of my boat, Equinamity was slowly gaining on us.  We moved everyone out of the cockpit and got them on the foredeck.  With this ‘minor adjustment’ we started keeping the distance between us the same or even gaining.

We rounded Blacks and pulled up tight for the march back to start mark.  We finally tacked over toward the start mark with Homer breathing down our necks.  At the finish it was Pair A Dice, Equinamity, Perfect 36, Makani, Kicks, Pacific Spirit, Sea Quake, Aeolian, Southern Cross (Tartan 34?), and NadarusII (Santana 30).

What wins races?

The story goes that there was a discussion between parts of the body as to which organ was most critical. The brain claimed superiority since it controlled everything.  The heart because it provided blood throughout the body.  When the anus claimed superiority, the other organs laughed.  The anus quit doing his job and soon all systems came to a grinding halt.  This may be a crude story but the same goes for sailing.  It definitely takes a “TEAM” to win races.  You can drive better than anyone else, but if your crew cannot handle the boat appropriately, it does not win.  It is critical for the skipper to place crew where they are most efficient.  If a crew member cannot grind in a jib sheet quickly and efficiently during a tack, it hurts overall performance. So when your boat wins, it is the team working together.

NEXT WEEK (AUGUST 30) IS BARBECUE NIGHT AT SCYC.  THE CLUB AND BAR WILL BE OPEN.  BRING YOUR BEST BARBECUE FOOD!!

CORRECTION IN LAST WEEKS BLOG:

In last week’s blog I committed a serious error. I forgot to include Perfect 36 in the recap.  Perfect 36 was second only to Sagittarius last week.  My sincere apologies to Perfect 36 and crew.  Great job Perfect 36!