July 25, 2017 HEADERS, LIFTS AND WHALES

JULY 25, 2017

HEADERS, LIFTS AND WHALES

It was shaping up to be a stellar evening on the Monterey Bay.  We had a low cloud cover hovering over the beach which meant there would be no Easterly wind tonight.  Under the cloud cover the air was so clear, it seemed you could reach out and touch Monterey.   To add to the excitement, there was talk of whales breeching practically right on the beach.  The wind was less than stellar at about 8 knots from the northwest, but if they can fly Americas cup boats in 8 knots, we can at least race in it! 

As we left the harbor, there were about 15 boats out once again and the boats outside were chattering about whales being out there.  On Pair A Dice, we could see some of their backs coming out of the water in the distance. 

  With the wind blowing from 240, we decided on course W5: Start, Wharf, Finish.  We gave a five minute horn.  On Pair A Dice, we thought we saw more wind inside and wanted to start on Port tack, which we did without having to duck too many boats. Most of the boats headed outside for the customary  wind outside.   Pair A Dice was sailing more directly to the mark and with the waves on our beam rather than our bow, we thought we were making progress on the boats sailing outside.  Our goal was to make it inside the point so when we tacked out there would be less wave action on our bow to slow us down.  As the wind started to decrease and with 30 degree shifts in wind direction, we finally tacked out into the bucking seas.  As we crossed the outside boats, Guenther on his Finn,The Perfect 36, Pacific Spirit and Kicks crossed in front of us so our lead was not what we thought it was.

At the rounding of Wharf mark, it was Guenther, Perfect 36, Pacific Spirit and Pair a Dice.  There was talk of shortening course, but I thought we had enough wind to finish the race.  Alas, the lure of the barbecue enticed all of us to retire before finishing.  All except Guenther who was the only boat to finish the whole race.

 

COURSE ALTERNATIVES:

We have come a long way in our Catalina fleet.  Years ago, we had 3 or 4 boats coming out every Tuesday night for an impromptu race.  We would agree on a course and sail it.  It was easy to communicate between 4 boats.  Now we customarily have 15 boats out with varying degrees of skill in sailing and racing.  In order to be consistent, considering the crowd we have, I feel it is important to stick with the course cards. Communicating a mark rounding or delineating finer elements of an extemporaneous course gets very tedious with 15 boats out.  Using a course on the course cards has all of the information right there (or on the back). The start line, how to round the mark and all other elements are right there on the course card.  I admit, in retrospect, the course on this night should have been shortened to just rounding wharf mark, especially with it being a barbecue night.

Despite this consideration, I do not want to be dogmatic.  I have offered it before and the offer still stands if someone wants to call a race you can call it and run the whole race (give the 5 minute horn, answer all questions about the race during the race etc).

COURSE CARDS:

We have some new boats out for our friendly sails.  I want to make sure everyone has the course cards I keep referring to.  These course cards give all of the courses we use on the front of the card and the general sailing instructions on the back of the card.  Also on the back of the card are the location and description of all of the start lines and marks used.  I am on Q dock every Tueday evening.  Stop by and get one if you need it.

Looking forward to next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice