AUGUST 8, 2017: MISERABLE START, AWESOME FINISH

AUGUST 8, 2017

MISERABLE START, AWESOME FINISH

There was a steady northwesterly showing on the flags as I approached the harbor, so it looked like a great night for sailing.  We sorted out the crew issues on Q dock and headed out.  Even at 5:45 there was still a lot of northwesterly breeze even as far in as the start buoy.  We chose course W3: start, wharf (to SB), Gov (to SB) and finish to port.  We gave a 5 minute horn for a 6pm start.

As frequently happens, conditions changed quite a bit in 5 minutes countdown to the start.  At the start, only Pacific Spirit was in the last vestiges of the northwesterly breeze right at the start mark.  They romped off into the horizon in the still strong northwesterly that refused to come to the start area. They were not seen (except in the very far distance) for the rest of the evening.  Any boat that was not right at the buoy at the moment of the start was left in a no-win(d) situation.  All of us were struggling to make headway with the dead northwesterly and the easterly very gently trying to fill.  I was not timing it but most boats did not pass the start line until 10 minutes after the start time.  This had to be the slowest building easterly I have witnessed.  Even as it was trying to fill, it came in very small patches of wind that would propel one boat for a bit then another boat then move on to another boat.  It was amazing to me how close all of the boats were to each other as we rounded Wharf mark.  Sea Quake rounded just ahead of Pair A Dice and the whole fleet seemed to be right on our heels as we sailed toward Gov.

THE ROUNDING AT WHARF

On the way to Gov, It felt delicious to sail to weather again as the wind steadily increased.  Pair a Dice was second to Pacific Spirit (by over an hour) in rounding Gov.  Passing Gov, we continued to sail further inside for the better wind on the beach.  We tacked our way along the beach and headed out to the finish mark.  It seems half of the boats tried to sail outside and the other half sailed inside like we did.  At the finish, Pair a Dice was second (after Pacific Spirit) followed by Sea Quake, Guenther (on his Finn), Nidaris II, Rosa Nautica, Kicks, Aila (Beneteau 32), Tara, A Tartan, Toad, Aeolian and a Ranger 33. What started as a miserable start ended to be an awesome finish with most boats finishing the entire course.

OTHER REGATTAS:

It is still not too late to register for the Brig Brothers Big Sisters regatta this Sunday August 13.  You can even register at the event in the boat yard at the yacht club.  I would show up no later than 10 am if you plan to register late.  This is a great event and a great party after the event.

The fall Score series will start on Sunday August 27.  Be sure to register and compete in this fun series also.  You can register for this series on line at SCYC.org under regattas.

See you out there next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice