MAY 22, 2018: GREAT WIND, GREAT SAIL

May 22, 2018

GREAT WIND, GREAT SAIL

I had just returned from vacation and was looking forward to sailing again.  I had no idea what the predictions were for wind, but when I showed up to the harbor, there was a strong northwesterly blowing and my crew had the 135 jib installed for a great night of sailing.  As we left the harbor, we knew the wind would not let us down so we called for the most ambitious course, Whiskey 1 and after setting the start line, got off a 5 minute horn for the start.  We did not have a sheriff boat this night and everyone seemed to honor the start line.

On Pair a dice, we decided to start at the red buoy end of the line on starboard tack and accomplished this with no other traffic around.  Shortly after the start, Pacific Spirit crossed us clearing us when they were on port tack.  We all made our way to wharf mark with various crossings taking place and Tusitala and Pacific Spirit leading the way around Wharf Mark.

  On the way to mile buoy we had Patricia J roll us to windward and round Mile with Yellow Belly (Homer’s boat) just ahead of us.  We could not close the gap on the way to Blacks buoy. It’s hard catching up with fast boats with excellent helmsmen! 

At the finish it was Pacific Spirit with 44.49 elapsed time, Patricia J with 47.36, Pair a Dice 48.20. Kicks 55.00, Aeolian 59.21.  All of these times recorded from Race QS are elapsed time.

SAFETY IN SAILING (AND RACING):

More important than winning a race is safety on the water.  How do you accomplish this when boats are sailing in close quarters that would make a cruising sailor faint?  I heard a story that there was a beer can race up in San Francisco last weekend.  Two Catalina 30’s did not see each other and one boat hit another mid-ship, taking out 3 stanchions and all life-lines  on one side of the boat. At the same time the colliding boat impacted with such force that the bow was holed below the waterline.  This required an emergency dive from a diver that was able to apply an underwater patch to prevent  the boat from sinking. 

When all boats are sailing as close as we do in the starting sequence, it is not surprising that something like this could happen.  In order to prevent this kind of horror on Pair A Dice, I always tell my crew: “Never assume I see all boats!”  “Never refrain from telling me about other boats!”  The conversation before races is often simply: “Do you have the one o’clock  on starboard at 100 yards?”, while another crew member will say “Do you have the 11 o’clock at 200 yards?”  This keeps the skipper apprised of all of the boats that are close to us.  In theory, this should help to avoid collision and has worked well for us.  But what do you do when another boat is oblivious and sails on a collision course with you?  This is where rule 14 comes into play: “avoid collision!”  It does no good to maintain your right of way and damage your boat or even worse cause harm to crew members regardless of who has right of way.

  I emphasize that we are beer can racing and we are all trying to learn. While we have no protest committee, if a boat does not abide by the rules, let me know and I will cover it in this blog WITHOUT naming boats.  We have many excellent sailors and racers, but some are just learning about racing and may not know the rules as well as others.   Remember rule 14.

NEXT TUESDAY IS BARBECUE NIGHT AT THE YACHT CLUB.  REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR FAVORITE GRILLING FOOD.  THE BAR WILL BE OPEN AT THE CLUB.  WE PLAN ON DISPLAYING  RACE QS ON THE TV AT THE CLUB TO SHOW THE BENEFITS OF THIS PROGRAM.

I am looking forward to next Tuesday.

Barry L Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice