JUNE 18, 2019: HOW FAR CAN YOU REACH?

JUNE 18, 2019

HOW FAR CAN YOU REACH?

Getting to the harbor at about 4:45 it looked like we had at least a little wind on the Crow’s Nest flag.  As we approached the start mark, it sure looked like the wind was from the South. When we checked it at the mark, it was the very predictable wind direction of 240.  You have to love the predictability of our Santa Cruz!  We set the mark for the other end of the line and called for course  W2, taking advantage of the longer days we are having.  We had 15 boats out for the fun.  We blew the 5 minute horn and set up for our start.

On this particular night, we thought the wind was lighter close to land and increased as we sailed further out.  Pacific Spirit and Avatar both had excellent starts, crossing the line right on time.  Most of the boats followed the natural move used in Santa Cruz: tack over to port as soon as possible to take advantage of the lift on the inside. On Pair A Dice, we thought it was better to sail out to get into the better wind outside.  We actually “sailed to the corner” and tacked over toward wharf mark and as it came into view we appeared to have it right on our bow.  With the better wind outside, we were ranging on most of the boats that had taken the inside course.  As we got closer to wharf, our inevitable header kicked in for us as the inside boats got lifted.  At wharf mark Avatar was first around with Tusitala, Nidaros and Pacific Spirit following.

From wharf, it was a nice reach to Mile and another reach to Gov followed by another reach to the finish mark.  How far can you reach?  Most of the boats reached all the way to the finish mark!  At the finish it was Avatar 1:08:56, Tusitala 1:15:47, Nidaros 1:16:55, Pacific Spirit 1:20:26, Pair A Dice 1:24:21, SandPiper 1:32:00, Dusk to Dawn (Sweet Pea) 1:41:50 followed by “Just Us” whose Race QS track stopped short of the finish line (no time to record).  All times are elapsed and the length of the course was 3.93 miles.

Race Qs:

It is great to see more boats uploading their tracks.  It is hard to explain why a boat track can cut out then restart again later.  Race QS is not a perfect app, but it’s worth every penny we pay for it!  Watch your track and turn on the “T function” in the lower menu to see how efficient your tacks are. Also setting it up so you compare yourself to another boat, puts an arc in front of your boat.  The dots that appear at the edge of that arc show how well you are steering.  If the dots are spread all over, you are not steering a straight course.  If you are steering a straight course, the dots will be clustered close together.

To see the track for tonight, click on this link.

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=59694&updatedAt=2019-06-19T02:36:43Z&dt=2019-06-18T17:45:10-07:00..2019-06-18T19:36:37-07:00&boat=Pair%20a%20dice&time=1560905129994&focus=Pair%20a%20dice&rival=Just%20Us&tab=fleet&view=auto

THE START:

Accurate judgement of “time and distance” is critical for a good start. As a competent sailor, you can know time and distance.  Frequently, there are several factors that can alter time and distance calculations.  One is variable wind (speed and direction) which frequently can change drastically.  Another factor that comes into play is the surf: sailing down wind and down waves can take much less time than sailing up wind INTO the surf.  This must be factored into calculations, especially in lighter breeze.  The last factor to consider is competing boats which can cause disturbed wind as all boats crowd together on the line. I have found that to compensate for all of these factors, staying close to the line can help.  The only problem that can happen with this strategy is needing to stall to not be OCS and dealing with many boats in close proximity on the line.

SAILING TO THE CORNER:

Traditionally, it is not best to “sail to the corner”. This expression means to sail on one tack from the start to the lay-line for the first mark. The traditional thought is that it better to take advantage of the lifts and headers sailing up the middle of the course.  On Pair A Dice, we saw more wind outside and this was verified by our greater speed than the inside boats (as read on Race QS).  Ultimately the “headers and lifts” came into play which hindered our performance.

I am looking forward to next Tuesday.

Barry L. Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice