6/28/18 GREAT WIND, BUT DON'T COUNT ON IT

6/26/2018

GREAT WIND, BUT DON’T COUNT ON IT

Predict wind was calling for the wind to die as the evening progressed.  On my approach to the harbor,   the flag was flying briskly showing a good northwest breeze.  By the time we got the boat ready and headed out of the harbor, the wind was dissipating a bit.  Being a Barbecue night, I did not want to have too  long of a race and called for course W3: Start, wharf, Blacks finish.  We gave a five minute horn and started setting up for the start.  On Pair a Dice, we wanted to start at the red buoy end on starboard and accomplished this goal.  In this position we had most of the fleet pinned.  One by one each of the boats tacked over to port tack toward wharf mark.

We all made our way to wharf mark with Avatar, Tusitala and Pacific Spirit leading the way.  After rounding Wharf, it was very crowded as we all made our way in a tight bunch toward Blacks.  As is customary some of the boats had quite a lead on us.  But as we approached black  About this time there was a wind line inside showing an Easterly building.  the wind inside was dying and many of the boats compressed on the leaders.

We had sailed all the way to Blacks with Makani and we split tacks at this point.  Pair a Dice sailed in for the Easterly building on the inside.  Makani tacked away sailing away from blacks.  I could not believe it when Makani got the northwest and sailed easily down to Blacks and rounded ahead of us.

As we sat in a dead zone after rounding Blacks, we watched Avatar, Tusitala and Pacific Spirit round the finish mark, boats started to retire from the race.  The wind was absolutely dead as we joined the chorus to retire also.  Sometimes a Barbecue is more enticing than bobbing on the water.  With the great wind at the beginning, it was obvious we couldn’t count on it to finish the race.

The boats that actually finished the race were Avatar 1:00:00, Tusitala 1:03:40, Pacific Spirit 1:08:17, Nidaris II 1:09:50 and Makani 1:11:20.  All times are elapsed and the length of the course is 3.23 nautical miles.

LIGHT WIND SAILING:

Many sailors know how the jib and main sail interact with each other.  It is true you can often steer a boat in normal wind with adjustment of the jib and main.  If you want to fall off tighten the jib and ease the main.  If you want to head up, travel the main up and loosen the jib.  When the wind gets so light that the boat is not moving and there is no steerage, these same principles come into play.  Sometimes, in order to get the boat to head up, you need to furl up to jib and use the very light pressure on the main to turn the boat in the direction you want to go.

SAILING AWAY FROM THE MARK?!

Years ago, when there were only 3-4 boats sailing on Tuesdays, our rival frequently was Pacific Spirit.  They had an excellent helmsman, “Joe” who was one of the best sailors I have ever known. We would watch in amazement as he would often sail their boat directly away from a mark. I admit, we were stymied by this action and sometimes mumbled to ourselves “what a fool”.  We frequently found ourselves following this “fool” around the mark. After this happened multiple times, we finally learned what he was doing. He was sailing to the area with the most wind. Sailboats need wind to move and we learned that it is ok to sail away from a mark to get more wind from Joe.  When Makani started sailing away from Blacks on this night, he saw more wind outside, we thought we saw more wind inside.  Makani scored and actually finished the race rather than retiring.  To this day on PAD, sometimes my crew will say “remember Joe” as we sail for an area with more wind.  RIP Joe.

I hope to see you on the Boreas race this weekend.

Barry L Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JUNE 19, 2018: SUMMER SAILSTICE

JUNE 19, 2018

SUMMER SAILSTICE

My heart sank with my first view of the Crow’s Nest flag.  We had an Easterly breeze blowing again, but the flag was indicating that the wind was already starting to die.  As we left the harbor, I thought we should set a short course.  I hate nights that I overestimate the wind and boats retire from the race one by one.  My crew opined that we should set course B4 (Blacks, Gov, Finish) and if the wind started to die we could shorten course.  We went with this option, and sure enough the wind seemed to build after the 5 minute horn was blown.

On Pair A Dice, we had a second row start right at the start mark but behind Kicks.  After the start, we were able to point a little higher than them and we all rounded Blacks behind Tusitala, and Avatar.  We were then off toward Gov, some boats sailing in toward shore and some of us rhumb lining it to Gov.  It did not help that there was a Coast Guard cutter tied to the buoy.  Doug on Avatar checked with the cutter and they requested giving them a 200 yard clearance.  Of course this 200 yards was subject to interpretation, but most of the boats kept an appropriate distance.  

After rounding Gov, the wind seemed to be building.  The 3 boats in the lead tacked over toward the beach while Pair A Dice continued to sail further out, almost to the layline for the finish.   We experienced plenty of wind outside and seemed to get a little lift as we sailed further out.

At the finish, it was Tusitala (39:45), Patricia J (40:20), Avatar (41:04), Pair A Dice (42:15), Pacific Spirit (42:40), Jersey Girl (44:00), Perfect 36 (46:00), Nidaris II (46:45).  All times are elapsed and the distance for the course was 2.43 nautical miles.

OUTSIDE INSIDE?

Once again, it seems the outside tack worked out better. At one point, Avatar had a 212  meter lead on us, but when we met close to the finish mark, we got as close as 54 meters from them.  Common knowledge for this area is that the Easterly is stronger toward shore, but this is not always the case.  Watch the water texture to estimate where the most wind is.

RULES AND SAILING:

I have had the pleasure of participating in the Santa 22 team racing.  This is an amazing experience.  All of these guys know the rules and try to follow them. In this arena, if a boat hooks you (establishes an overlap), you know they will luff you up over the line at the start.  Don’t even think about barging!  The door will be slammed quicker than you can say “Oh Sh_ _!”.  It is all in good fun and the meetings afterward are a blast.  As beers are being shared, you’ll hear remarks like “man you really got me on that start when you luffed me over the line”.  I really admire these guys because they know that winning the race is not everything.  Winning the respect of fellow sailors is much more important.  Oh and let’s not forget to have fun doing it!

OTHER REGATTAS:

On June 30, the Little Boreas race will be put on by Elkhorn Yacht club.  This should be a fun event since the longest leg is downwind to Moss Landing.  The question is “how well can you surf?”  I am looking forward to participating in this race.

NEXT TUESDAY IS THE LAST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH AND THE BARBECUE AT THE YACHT CLUB.  BRING YOUR FAVORITE GRILLING FOOD AND SOCIALIZE WITH SAILORS FROM OTHER BOATS.

Barry L Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JUNE 12, 2018: BE ONE WITH CHAOS

JUNE 12, 2018

BE ONE WITH CHAOS

Leaving work at the hospital, I was impressed with how strong the Easterly was blowing.  Sure enough as I pulled into the harbor lot, the Crow’s Nest flag confirmed a strong wind from the East.  We sorted out crew issues and finally left the harbor at 5:30. We got out in time to set the mark and called for course B1, the longest course in the Easterly breeze part of the course chart.  We had 15 boats out for the fun and we gave the 5 minute horn. 

On Pair A Dice, we wanted to start right at the start mark end of the line assuming the risk of being called for barging.  As it turned out Pacific Spirit could have called us on barging, but we anticipated and slowed down and were able to start right behind them at the mark.  We were able to keep a line pretty much in line with the first mark (Blacks) and we were the first ones around, then we sailed on toward Mile.  On the way to mile sailing into the waves, we were able to keep our speed between 5 and 6 knots.  I was excited thinking that we would get better speed sailing with the waves on the way to Gov.  Sailing to Gov our speed was a miserable 3-4 knots as the wind seemed to be waning a bit.  The seastate was downright chaotic with waves generated from the strong Easterly mixing with the outside chop from the northwest blowing outside.  On top of everything there was a strong south swell on the water.  Avatar was able to pass us to round Gov just ahead of us.  We noticed that an Easterly current at Gov.

As we thought there was more wind outside we tacked outside right after Avatar.  On the leg back to start mark, Avatar stretched the lead out on us and finished first at 1:02:51 elapsed time.  Tusitala followed (1:07:46), PAD (1:08:26), Nidaros II (1:09:25), Pacific Spirit (1:10:14), Kicks (1:10:46), Perfect 36 (1:11:02), Andiamo (1:12:43), Aeolian 1:14:46).  All times are elapsed.

By the end of the race, with the chaotic conditions on the water, I thought it was ironic that we chose course B1.  We all tried our best sailing course B1 in unusual conditions on the water.  B1 with chaos!

DEALING WITH CHAOTIC SEASTATES:

As noted, we had small steep chop from the Northwest and from the East and big swells from the south.  On top of this, there were light areas of wind that also had notable shifts.  The swells do not have nearly the impact of the short steep chop which can quickly stop your boat, especially when trying to tack in these conditions. 

Usually, when dealing with waves, there is one tack that you are sailing with the waves and another tack that sails into the waves. In these conditions you want the jib fairlead further forward when sailing into the waves, yielding more power to keep your speed up.  You can have the fairlead further back on the loaded jib when you are sailing with the waves.

  On this night, with every point of sail having waves and chop, I believe a rounder jib (fairlead forward on both sides) and  a looser jib sheet  were the answer to keeping speed up.  With the shifty wind, the rounder jib also is more forgiving, though not allowing you to point as much as normal. I encourage comments from the many excellent sailors in our group about dealing with chaotic sea states.

RACE QS AS A ALEARNING TOOL:

We all know that you need maximum speed just before a tack. Studying my track for this night on Race QS, my frustration with the conditions was amplified.  With all of the chop and “chaos” it was nearly impossible to get speed up enough to tack. My tacks in these conditions were excrutiating.  On one tack I lost 90 seconds of time.  In normal conditions with good wind (and crew) I can usually execute a tack with 0 seconds lost.  My takeaway emphasized to me that you always must have speed through the water to tack!

STEVE, JEAN AND JUDY HAVING FUN ON SEA QUAKE

OTHER REGATTAS:

On Saturday, June 30 the little Boreas race will be held.  The course is from a buoy  in Santa Cruz (at 12 noon) up to Mitchells cove buoy then down to a finish line outside of Moss Landing harbor.  The party will be held at Elkhorn Yacht club.  I know several boats in our group will be participating.  The party at Elkhorn should be fun.

We will see you next week.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JUNE 5, 2018: TRANSITION ZONES

JUNE 5, 2018

TRANSITION ZONES

On my lunch break, I checked predict wind which was calling for 25 to 30 knot winds clear until 7pm.  I was cursing the fact that we had the 155 jib installed.  When I finally arrived at the harbor, you could see that the wind was dissipating from the looks of the Crow’s Nest flag.  As we left the harbor there was plenty of wind left for us to play in. We set the buoy for the inside of the start line, called for course Whiskey 2 and gave a 5 minute horn.  Scotty on Rosa Nautica volunteered to be sheriff for the night. 

We decided to start half way up the line on starboard tack.  Pacific Spirit had the same idea and we both crossed the line together. We traded tacks on our way to wharf and they finally rounded wharf just ahead of us.  We also rounded Mile just behind Pacific Spirit.  On the way to Gov, we all entered a transition zone as we saw the easterly filling from the Pleasure point area. We all slowly got through the transition zone and made our way back to the start/finish mark.  On this night the easterly was definitely stronger toward shore and both Pair A Dice and Pacific Spirit rode the stronger wind clear to the swim buoys along shore.  We both tacked out toward the start mark but on PAD we noticed that we were returning to the transition zone and tacked back in for the better wind inside.  Pacific Spirt and several other boats stuck it out and seemed to catch the northwesterly toward the finish mark.

At the finish Pacific Spirit crossed at 1:23:26 and PAD crossed at 1:24:40, Kicks at 1:34:22 and Nidaros II at 1:44:25 (all times are elapsed time).  The length of the course was 3.93 nautical miles.

TRANSITION ZONE:

It is a fact of life that we often have transition zones in our waters.  This is when there is a northwesterly on the outside and and easterly building on the inside.  When this occurs, there is an area where there is little or no wind that must be crossed to finish the race. 

There are several tricks to use in these conditions.  First, use every indicator you can find to tell the direction that the new wind is blowing: flags on land, which way are anchored boats facing?  Pay close attention to birds, both floating and flying.  Birds will usually sit in the water with their heads toward the wind.  On this night we saw about 5 birds flying (soaring) directly toward the beach.  This told us the wind was from the north at THEIR altitude. The wind will frequently be different at different heights.  You must decide whether to trim sails for the lower wind or the wind aloft.  While trimming sails in these conditions, no winch handles! You need to be able to switch sides easily NEVER letting the jib backwind.  Sometimes, you can detect an area where the easterly and northwesterly are very close to each other. You can use these areas to minimize time in the transition zone.  Use whatever legal means you can to get through the transition: waves and currents may be used advantageously.

In 2009, we competed in a national regatta in San Francisco.  We were in the first race of the regatta and the winds were unusual to say the least.  It was one of those days when everyone was using anchors to keep from be swept away by the 2 knot current from the ebb tide.  In these conditions, we found ourselves in last place as we rounded the last buoy before heading for the finish line.  We looked out and saw all of our competitors in no wind and being swept by the current again.  We had plenty of wind as we rounded the last mark and immediately sailed back along shore against the lighter current near shore.  When we saw an area where the two different winds were close together (reading the wind on the water), we crossed into the different wind and used the current to carry us through the finish line.  We startled the committee boat as we crossed the line.  There was a 45 minute cutoff time for the race, meaning any boat that finished more than 45 minutes after us was not counted.  We were the only boat to finish in our class and we had many compliments payed to us by our competitors.  This was only made possible for us because we knew how to deal with transition zones which are common here, but almost never seen in the bay.

RACE QS:

Though we had over a dozen boats out for the fun, only about 6 of us used this app on this night.  I encourage everyone to use Race Qs for your own education and in order to be counted for the race.

We will see you next Tuesday.

Barry L Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

MAY 29, 2018: IN'S AND OUT'S

MAY 29, 2018

IN’S AND OUT’S 

By the time I got to the harbor, my crew had already swapped out the 135 jib for the 155 with a nice easterly filling in.  As we left the harbor, there were about a dozen boats out for the fun.  We set the other end of the line mark (Thanks to Todd for the bigger mark buoy).  We called for course B4 like, before we can eat we have to do B4!  We set up as sheriff boat for the night and blew the 5 minute horn.  I had Fred on the helm and he nailed the start just crossing the buoy as the prestart 5 minutes expired.  No boats were OCS and the race was on. 

Everyone was rushing toward Black’s buoy and most boats had to tack over to make the mark.  The rounding was very crowded with many boats screaming for room at the mark.  After rounding Blacks, everyone’s strategy diverged. 

Everyone knows that an Easterly is stronger toward shore and most know that there is a westerly current flowing along shore.  What everyone knows does not always pan out. On this night there was a stronger river of wind right on the rumb line to Gov.  As the “boats in the know” battled for the lighter wind toward shore, some of us enjoyed undisturbed wind sailing directly for the mark.  Homer rounded just ahead of PAD and we all charged toward the finish line with the fleet chasing us. 

At the finish it was Homer, well ahead of us.  PAD crossed at 37:11 elapsed time, Tusitala 38.26, Pacific Spirit 38.54, Patricia J 39.00, Nidaros II 41.00, Perfect 36 42.5 and Aeolian 43.5.  The course was 2.43 miles long.

Strategy vs Tactics:

Employing strategy is sailing a course as if no other boats were on the course. Using Tactics is using racing rules to gain an advantage over other boats.  Unless you have a crystal ball to tell you where the stronger wind is, it is usually a crap shoot.  You can attempt to observe where the most wind is, but it is difficult to call.  Sometimes your best call will pay off and other times you get left behind.  On this night, the old rules that “always work” did not pan out for the boats that went inside.

Estimating Lay lines:

One boat got caught at the windward mark dead in the water right in the middle of all of the boats trying to round the mark.  We have all been in this position.  To prevent this from happening requires close examination of everything that is happening around the mark.  Are other boats getting headed at the mark? Is there an adverse current at the mark (check which direction kelp is streaming)?  Do you know the laylines for your boat?  

Every boat has it’s unique layline.  It takes practice to learn this for your boat.  You are sailing on port tack and want to tack onto starboard to clear a mark.  When do you tack onto starboard?  This is what your layline is and you will learn with practice and observation. On some boats you sight the bulkhead, some you sight the traveler. To complicate this, laylines will change when you change your sails. It also helps to tack efficiently (Use race Qs to evaluate this).

We had a great barbecue at the yacht club and we attempted to show everyone the benefits of using Race Qs.  

See you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice