JULY 16, 2019
THE LOVELY BUT FADING EASTERLY
This
was the evening of the lovely but fading easterly.
As
the fleet assembled, there was a pleasant easterly of about 6-8 kts, with warm,
sunny skies, and a light swell. The course was called as Start, SC3
(Pleasure Point), Blacks, Finish. There were over a dozen boats (eleven had
RaceQs tracks). A couple were late to the start by a few minutes.
The
start seemed to be clean from where we were, with no obvious conflicts. Most of
the boats stayed inshore on starboard tack, while a few tacked onto port and
headed out to sea with clear air. The breeze seemed a bit stronger out there.
The boats that stayed closer to shore eventually had to tack out to avoid the
kelp beds, but then tacked back hoping for a better easterly breeze closer to
shore.
Around
this time, the breeze started to fade and several of the boats at the back of
the fleet headed back for the harbor. Those that stayed in the race were
flopping around with winds less than 3 kts.
Then
we called for a shortened course, changing the first mark, SC3, into the finish
line. As the leading four boats drifted toward the finish, Patricia J ghosted
in from the outside, Pacific Spirit came from the shore side, followed by
Pair-a-Dice, and Avatar came up the middle.
Patricia
J, singlehanded by Jason Lauer, crossed first. Avatar was close behind. Pac
Spirit was third by perhaps a minute, and Dice followed her by about five
minutes more. It was rather amazing how all four were so spread out over
the race course, yet converged so close together at the finish. Three other
boats also finished: Nidaros, Mikani and Kicks.
Since
it was an entirely upwind race, the two tacks made a big difference, especially
as the wind speed dropped. The starboard tack was generally favored, with a
good angle to the mark, and the swell coming from the starboard quarter to push
you along. But eventually you had to tack out to round the mark. The port tack
was the killer, as it forced the boat to head into the swell. Out near SC3, it
was about three feet and steep, enough to seriously slow down a boat. The
inshore boats got caught in this trap, because when they had to tack over to
port, the wind had died, but the swell had not. Oh well.
Overall,
it was a fun time. Those that finished dealt with fluky winds and still kept
moving. Those that went in early avoided the frustrations of a dying breeze,
and some made it to the Crow's Nest before the beer ran dry. A good
race by any measure.
Thanks to Doug Mahone (
Avatar) for providing this excellent recap of the race. I was not able to be there on Doctor’s orders,
but observed the race from the Aptos hills and immediately knew course B2 had
been picked. From this perspective, it
looked like a wonderful night on the water, little did I know the wind would
die. Thanks to Stefan and Fred for putting
the race on in my absence and their great call to shorten course.
At the finish line
(extension of line from Capitola wharf through SC3), Patricia J was first
around (Race QS burped and I could not determine his time), Avatar was second
55:39, Pacific Spirit 56:38, Pair A Dice 1:02:03, Nidaros 1:05:18 along with
Makani (looked like a tie with each going around together!?) and Kicks 1:32:09. The length of the course was 1.43 miles.
The Race QS track for
this race is at:
Thanks to everyone
for participating. Next Tuesday will be another race.
Barry Keeler
Saiing Pair
A Dice
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