APRIL 3, 2018
OBSERVATIONS FROM THE
DECK
Due to back problems, my physician recommended that I
refrain from sailing. I came down to the
boat to see my crew off and observe conditions.
The flag on the Crow’s Nest showed a building Easterly. The SCYC crew
had put out two of the yellow ball buoys during the day: start mark and Wharf
mark. I had arranged for Perfect 36 to
be the Sheriff boat for this night. I
went to the Crow’s Nest to observe the action.
For the second Tuesday nights sail, I was amazed at how many boats were
out. The problem I had from the Crow’s
nest was that I could not, even with binoculars, determine
the identify of boats unless unusual characteristics were apparent. Pair A Dice successfully set the mark for the
other end of the line. Though I could
not hear the horns, I could tell when the start began. Our temporary line mark was set inside from
the start mark and the line seemed to be long enough for the 17 or so boats
that were out. Just before the start, a
smaller boat (maybe a Moore 24) thought they were OCS and whipped around the
buoy for a proper start. The course
called was B2 off the course chart minus rounding Blacks.
About two thirds of the boats started on starboard tack and some
started on port tack at the start mark end.
As I saw Pair A Dice take the port tack start, I thought it was
brilliant strategy on my boat because I could not see SC3, thinking it was too
small for me to see. I thought they were
sailing directly toward SC3. Sagitarious,
Homer (Equinimity) and Pacific Spirit and the 40-foot blue hulled boat owned by
John Nugent were in the Starboard tack boats.
It was interesting observing the boats make their way to SC3. It was not until I noticed that SC3 was very
visible very close to shore( from my perspective) that I realized that the port
tack starters were sailing away from the mark, though in stronger wind. The Starboard tacking starters were sailing
much closer to the mark, but what seemed to be lighter wind. The report that I got was that starboard
tacking boats crossed ahead of the port tack starters.
As all of the boats approached the finish mark, my task got
very difficult since I could not identify the boats that were finishing. I started writing down names of the boats
that I “thought” were finishing. Later I found out I was not identifying boats
correctly.
I had attempted to arrange seating for everyone at the Crows
nest 1 and ½ hours before, but there were several parties already going on
taking up our space. Maybe the Nest will
be more prepared after the season is well started.
READ THE SI’S:
Since we are setting a line mark for the starts this season,
I added to the SI’s (the back of the course chart): “When finishing, finish
mark shall be passed within 5 boat lengths per course description. For finish
at SM, line is extension (or line formed) by start mark and Jetty
lighthouse”. I noticed many boats taking
the SM to port, which made sense because the line buoy was still in place. To be correct, for B2, the SM should be taken
to starboard, as noted in SIs within 5 boat lengths. The purpose of the line is
to have a line square to the wind for the start. The temporary buoy will be removed once Pair
A Dice gets to it. Following the instructions on the course card prevents some
people finishing through a line and some finishing without a line.
ORGANIZATION:
My observations from this and last week has emphasized the
point that it is impossible to call the finishers in order any more. With so many boats with such varied hull
speeds, it is impossible to call winners when our boat is a half a mile away
from the front runners. There
are many excellent sailors in our group that are very competitive. As stated
previously, I cannot call the order of boats any more. Our group of boats has grown from 4 boats 10
years ago to a regular 17 now. I encourage
all of this involvement, we even had some Moore 24’s out on this night! Since we do not have a committee boat to call
the finishing times, we need to use technology to fill in the gap.
RACE QS:
There is a FREE app available on any cell phone called Race
QS. If you are serious and competitive in your racing, for our Tuesday night
sailing, it will be necessary for the competitive boats to run this app. If you do not run this app, you will not be
recognized in this blog. Race QS will
replace the committee boat for finishes. It will be easy to ascertain the proper winner with
the race QS app.
Once you download this FREE app to your phone, you can
preset the start (6:00PM for now) before you leave your slip. You mount the phone as close to centerline so
the top of your phone faces forward with no movement. I have a plug on my boat that keeps the phone
charged at all times though this is not necessary. Once you get back to your slip, you can
either save your track to upload when you are in a WIFI network or you can
click save and upload. When you get home
to your computer, you can pull up and register for race QS on line and replay the
whole nights race from several perspectives.
The advantages to using this system are multitude. First, we can see who finished first and the
placings of each boat as they finish.
The other is that each boat can compare their results and the difference
in time between their finish and the other boats, in a way applying PHRF rating
so we can see how well we really sailed. The last advantage is being
able to see how the winning boats operated: what was their angle of heel and
how consistent was it, how did they perform their tacks compared to yours. Each time a boat tacks on race QS it leaves a
white dot at the “corner”. You click on
that white dot and you get a full analysis of the tack: amount the boat fell
off of hard on the wind, time lost (or gained) in the tack, the time it took to
finish the tack. Seriously there are 8
parameters measured every time a boat tacks.
This is valuable information that we can all learn from.
COMMODORES REGATTA:
Keep in mind the Commodores regatta coming up on April
14. This race does not require a PHRF
certificate and I believe it is only $20 to enter. It is time to apply all you have learned from
Tuesday night sailing and enter a real race.
This is a reverse PHRF or pursuit race where the slower boats start
first. These are always fun races where
you are doing all you can to stay ahead of the faster boats. I encourage you to enter for the fun. It is always fun at the yacht club after the
race.
I am looking forward to next Tuesday.
Barry Keeler
Sialing Pair A Dice
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