MAY 28, 2019
5 MINUTE HORN: STOP
THE WIND!
I got to the boat by about 3:30
and immediately noticed a consistent Easterly wind was showing on the Crow’s
nest flag. BY the time we got crew
together we left the harbor around 5:40 and as we motored out to the start area
saw that the wind seemed to be coming from the south. Right at the start area we checked the wind
and it was once again blowing from 240 degrees, our most consistent wind
direction in Santa Cruz! We quickly set
the buoy for the line and called for Whiskey 3: Start, Wharf, Blacks
Finish. It sure looked like enough wind
for such an ambitious course, even if it was a BBQ night at the club.
Once again the challenge was to
find clear air on a crowded line with about 12 boats out for the night. As is becoming usual, we blew the 5 minute
horn. I believe the wind gods are taking
our 5 minute horn as a signal to stop blowing.
Several of the boats had good starts, but Pair a Dice got caught up on
the line trying to fight through bad air while giving right of way to other
boats as required. Most of the wind was
outside and we all needed to fight our way through the surf in light wind to
get outside where it was blowing about 15 knots. Finally we tacked over for Wharf mark and
ended up about 200 yards inside of it, once again in the lighter wind.
At wharf mark, Patricia J was
first around followed by Tusitala, Perfect 36, Avatar, Pacific Spirit, Nidaros,
Pair a Dice and Makani. On the long slog
to Blacks the wind was dying inside causing many of the boats the
compress. Even from the back of the
pack, I could see it was going to be a struggle to finish the course and called
for a shortened course finishing at Blacks.
At the finish, Patricia J was
first 1:04 (congrats to Jason Lauer sailing single handed), Avatar 1:14:20,
Tusitala 1:15, Perfect 36 1:19:12, Pacific Spirit 1:25:20, Pair a Dice 1:27:26,
Nidaros 1:32:45, Makani 1:34:17. All
times are elapsed and the course length was 2.94 nautical miles.
We had a great turnout for the BBQ
at the club. I usually make the rounds
to socialize with everyone but my sciatica was really hurting so I was not
snubbing everyone, I just needed to give it a rest!
RACE QS:
Race QS showed a couple of
malfunctions tonight with Patricia J’s and Makani’s tracks fading in and out so
their finish times are estimates. Only 8
boats had Race QS running tonight. I
know we had more boats out that did not employ Race QS. I am reminding everyone, running Race QS is
the only way to be counted in our races. It is also an app that you can use to
improve your sailing by looking at your track later.
Looking at the tracks for this
night, it appears there was quite a nail biter over the finish between Avatar
and Tusitala. You got to love those 155
jibs going down wind in light wind!
To see the race QS track for this
night click on the following link.
LIGHT WIND STARTS:
I find these situations to be
very frustrating. On this particular
night, I believe we may have crossed the line 5 minutes after the start. It appears the boats that really did well on
this night were right on the line at the start, consequently not getting bad
air. This also achieves another goal: if
first off the line, you should not need to tack to avoid right of way boats
assuming you are on starboard tack. The
only danger being on the line is if a boat gets to leeward of you, they can
luff you up over the line and make you OCS (on course side), which would
require turning back to dip the line for a proper start assuming we are
following the rules of sailing. Another
thing we have learned over the years is to not get too far from the start line,
especially if the wind is starting to die.
THE RRS (RACING RULES OF
SAILING):
In any sanctioned race (conducted
by a yacht club), there are two documents that need to be read and
understood. The Notice of Race (NOR) and
the Sailing instructions (SI’s). In
these documents they will indicate how the RRS are changed for the series of
races. There are two rules of the road documents used in sailing: Colreg and
the RRS. Colreg rules are used mainly on
the ocean and cruising. Since we are
getting accustomed to racing, we use the RRS.
It is good to learn these rules. By
sailing on Tuesday nights you are agreeing to follow these rules. I will usually cover some of these rules in
the blog when it is appropriate.
See you next Tuesday.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair a Dice
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