SEPTEMBER 18, 2018: COULD IT GET ANY BETTER?

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

COULD IT GET ANY BETTER?

Predict wind was calling for a light wind for the evening.  Predict wind obviously does not know about the Santa Cruz Eddy which gives us our evening Easterly Breeze.  Sure enough, when I got to the harbor the Easterly breeze was showing on the Crow’s Nest flag.  As we left the harbor there were over 12 boats out for the fun.

We set the mark for the end of the line, called for course B4 and gave a five minute horn.  The start line presented an unusual dilemma.  You could start at the start buoy end of the line and nearly fetch the mark, or start at the red buoy and be much closer to the first mark.  On Pair A Dice, we decided to start at the yellow start mark end.  We had an excellent start, but still had to tack to make Blacks.  Zoop was right in front of us at the rounding and we all set our whisker poles for the long downwind run to Gov. 

We picked our way through the kelp field thinking it best to rhumb line it to Gov.  Our thought was that staying a little ways out from the beach kept us in the favorable current.  We rounded Gov behind Homer on Yellow Belly and just ahead of Zoop.  On the long beat back to start mark Zoop passed us and finished just ahead of us.  Yellow Belly was a couple of minutes ahead of us. Pair A Dice crossed the line at 41:30, Avatar (43:18), Perfect 36 (45:50), Pacific Spirit (46:20) and Nidaros (49:13) Higher Power (1:01:00).  All times elapsed and course length is 2.43 miles.  I know we had 15 boats out tonight, but only a few were running Race QS. Remember: to be counted you must download and use this app.

With the wind we had, the beautiful weather and sunset we all experienced, it really emphasized the feelings we all had: Could it get any better?

WHEN APPROACHING THE KETCHUP BOTTLE:

As usual, we had a great time at the Crows Nest after the race.  We got into a big discussion on tactics and rules.  For lack of better props, we use utensil napkins as boats and a ketchup bottle representing the mark.  Though  future rule books will not state “when approaching the ketchup bottle”, it was very interesting and educational.  I encourage everyone to come to the Crow’s nest, the food is good and the company is fantastic. You might even learn a little more about sailing and racing.

PROPER ATTITUDE:

Who among us has never fouled another boat on the race course?  As careful as we try to be, mistakes and fouls will happens.  When a rule has been broken and you have been fouled the proper thing to do is to point out the infraction and state ‘PROTEST!’.  It is not the time to impugn the other sailor or denigrate their skill as a sailor or racer. Most of us know the rules well enough to know what we have done and will take our turn to exonerate.  Remember ‘PROTEST!’ is all that is necessary to say.

OTHER REGATTAS:

Tis Saturday is the annual Jack and Jill regatta.  If you have a boat and a willing partner of the opposite sex, this is a very fun regatta.

This Sunday (9/23) is the second day of the score series.  At this point, Sailing Pair A Dice is the only jib and main boat registered.  It would be great to see some of our Tuesday night boats in this regatta.  You only need a PHRF certificate and pay the registration

 NEXT TUESDAY IS THE LAST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH AND IS BARBECUE NIGHT AT THE CLUB.

BRING YOUR FAVORITE GRILLING FOOD AND GET TO KNOW YOUR COMPETITORS.

Barry L. Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice