JUNE 6, 2017: MODERATE EASTERLY

JUNE 6, 2017

MODERATE EASTERLY

The wind in the harbor felt like an Easterly.  There was word of a strong Northwesterly on the outside.  I decided to keep use the 155 jib for the night.  We left the harbor and as we approached the start mark I could not believe all the boats that were out, and there were even more coming out behind us.  I believe “Catalina Tuesdays” is getting to be very popular.  More and more boats other than Catalinas are joining us.  It is all great fun: Learning to race and improving your sailing skill.  This is a great venue for improving your knowledge of saililng.  We decided on and Easterly Course B4: Start, Blacks, Gov, Finish and gave our ‘5 minute to the start’ horn.

We had about 15 boats on the line, many trying to start at the start mark end of the line.  Pair A Dice started a little down the line with clear air.  Makani and Perfect 36 were up the line a little from us as we all raced toward Blacks. Slowly they waterlined us and left us in their wind shadow as all three boats approached Blacks.  Makani had inside rights and took Perfect 36 down a bit before rounding the mark.  This left a wide open door for us to turn tightly around the mark.   On the long run down to Gov, we reached upward of Gov to maximize our wind in the sails and to minimize the slowing effect of the waves on our bow. Perfect 36 sailed even further out and Makani was trying the inside track closer to the beach.  When we reached the point where we could sail dead down wind, we set our pole and inched very slowly toward Gov.  Our strategy worked well and we rounded Gov ahead of Makani and Perfect 36. 

After rounding Gov we sailed outside searching for more consistent wind.  We saw a steady 9 knots of apparent wind that did not dissipate until we were almost to the layline for the start mark. We were watching Makani as they took an inside line closer to the beach.  When we crossed, Makani had closed a large part of the gap between us as we tacked to cover them.  Ultimately we rounded the finish ahead of Perfect 36 which was followed by Makani, Guenther on his “fin”, Nidaris II, Pacific Spirit, Kicks, Aeolian, Sea Quake and Toad.

STRATEGY VS TACTICS:

Strategy is sailing the course the most efficient way as if no other boats were competing.  Using tactics is applying the rules to maneuver and basically try to better your position by applying these rules against another competitor.  There are many examples of using rules to improve your position: luffing someone up at the start, establishing inside overlap  for a better rounding of a mark are just two examples.  It is a fine art balancing both of these principles (strategy and tactics) in racing.  Tactics are ultimately used intensely in team racing which is another topic completely. Overemphasis of either of these principles can hurt your performance.  Suffice it to say in normal fleet racing, like we are engaged in, any time you engage in a tactical battle with another boat, you may be leaving the other competitors a way to pass you.

SIZE DOES MATTER:

Pair A Dice was using a 155 jib on this night.  In these light wind conditions, every inch of sail area improves your performance.  Equipping a boat for racing can be an expensive proposition between sails for all conditions, and efficient equipment such as whisker poles that work well and adjustable fairleads can allow fine tuning of the boat while under way.  This does not mean you cannot learn how to improve your sailing using the equipment you have.  Everyone starts racing by finishing DFL.  As you learn more and get a team that works well with each other, you will start moving up through the pack. So do not get discouraged if you do not finish first. Keep coming out, keep learning and improving.

Please keep in mind the next SCORE regatta day is Sunday June 25.

I am looking forward to next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice