AUGUST 14, 2018: TORTURED BY LIGHT WIND

August 14, 2108

TORTURED BY LIGHT WIND

As usual I checked Predict wind in the morning and the forecast was for light northwesterly winds in the evening.  I was surprised to see the Crow’s Nest flag showing an Easterly when I came to the harbor.  It was not until we were leaving the harbor that the northwest wind was apparent on the outside.  We set the red mark on the outside of the start mark to keep everyone in the northwest wind.  We called for W5: Start, Wharf, Start and gave a 5minute horn.

In the 5 minute countdown, I was horrified to see the northwest wind die as all of the boats did their best to cross the line with light wind and waves on the bow.  On Pair A Dice, I doggedly thought the Northwest wind was the place to be until well into the race.   Finally, it dawned on us that the boats that were doing well were sailing inside using the building Easterly.  We inched the boat around and used the waves to the best of our ability to get inside where the wind was.  Finally we got to the wind and sailed up toward Wharf.  It seemed too good to be true.  We went from last to first place in one slick move, but the race was not over BY A LONG SHOT!  Just as we approached wharf mark, the wind died and all of the other boats rounded ahead of us.  Ah the vagaries of fickle, inconsistent wind!

All of the boats that rounded ahead of us made a rhumb line run straight back to Start mark.  We thought there was more wind outside and sailed deeper into the wind before tacking over toward the start mark.  We passed several boats on our way, but at the finish it was KICKS! (1:40:46), Pacific Spirit (1:44:55), Avatar (1:45:25) Pair A Dice (1:46;22) and Rosie (1:49:45).  All times were elapsed and  the length of the course was 2.68 miles.  Congratulations to KICKS for another excellent night of sailing!

VIEW FROM THE WINNER KICKS! THANKS DAN  FOR THE PIC!

It was a night that we were tortured by light winds, but it was a beautiful night on the water.  Would you rather be bobbing on the water or sitting at home watching TV?

USING SAILS TO STEER THE BOAT:

This night was a real test of seamanship with the light variable winds.  Often we did not have enough movement to steer the boat, so we had to use the sails to steer the boat.  Think of the mast as a fulcrum.  On one side you have the main sail and the other side of the fulcrum you have the Jib.

 With light wind blowing from the port side of the boat, if you want to turn the boat to starboard, tighten up the jib and release the main and the boat will turn that way.  If you want to turn the boat to port, tighten the mainsheet and loosen the jib.  I have a 155 jib on my boat so in light winds if I needed to turn to port (in this situation), I need to furl the headsail at least partially to accomplish this.  

LEARNING IN ADVERSE CONDITIONS:

Imagine that every time you go sailing, there was perfect 10-15 knot breeze from a consistent direction with no shifts in wind. It sounds like sailing heaven!  If conditions were always perfect, what would you learn?  Probably not much!  Kudos to all of the boats that stuck it out to the end.  These challenging nights are the most educational and will invariably improve your sailing skills.

See you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A DIce