OCTOBER 1, 2019
FUN(KY) WIND NIGHT
The last few days have been very windy on the bay with
reports of 30 knot winds. In
anticipation of this type of wind tonight, I thought I would certainly need to
swap out my trusty 155 jib for the 135.
Predict wind did not forecast big wind and when I got to the harbor,
there was a weakening northwest wind showing on the “Nest Flag”. We went out and there was a very weak wind
coming from 230 degrees and set an appropriate line for this wind direction.
We had 17 boats out for the fun and called for one of the
shortest NW wind courses: Whiskey 5. As
the clock was ticking down with 7 or so minutes from the 6 pm start, the wind
died once again and we called for a 5 minute postponement to see what would
happen. Initially there was no hint of
wind from anywhere. Once again the ever
observant Mark from Kicks noticed that the flag on the Casino (over a mile
away) was showing a strong Easterly.
Then we noticed a small texture on the water toward the east and toward
shore. We changed the course to B5 with
the option to shorten course if needed and gave a 5 minute horn for a 6:05
start.
The wind slowly filled in from the East, or North or South
depending where you were. The wind was so light that several boats (including
PAD) could not get to the right side of the start line before the start. We
rounded the end of the line and fit right in with the procession of boats that
had started at start mark end of the line. Suddenly the water showed a strong
Northerly wind developing toward shore. There
is nothing like beam reaching toward the windward mark in up to 15 knot winds,
until you sail out of the northerly into the Easterly and feel a southerly wind
on your skin?! With these conditions and
17 boats out for the night and a short course, everyone was sailing in close
quarters.
At the finish Makani was first over the line but took the
start mark to port rather than starboard. Makani crossed at 18:36, Perfect 36
18:48, Pair a Dice 20:13, Pacific Spirit 20:20, Kicks 20:24, Sandpiper 21:38,
Aeolian 22:38 and Nidaros 23:44. The
course length was 1.12 miles. Kudos to the Crew of Perfect 36, who were in the
same position as PAD, having to cross the line late because of the light wind
then came back for a spectacular finish!
The days are getting shorter and many of us were putting our
boats away in the dark. It was one of
the most unusual nights I have seen, from no wind at the start to 15-18 knots
from the North, a pretty good Easterly filling in and even some south you could
feel on your skin (closer to water level). The wind was very fun, but the
constant change of direction and strength was very funky. It was a fun but funky evening.
RACE QS
We had 17 boats out tonight and only 8 had tracks showing on
Race QS. Several of the boats that did very
well did not have tracks. The only way I
can recognize you and your boat is by uploading Race QS. The track for this night can be found at:
DEALING WITH FLUKY (FUNKY) WIND:
The strongest wind was closer to shore coming from the
North. It is walking a fine line, do you
sail further away from the rhumb line to get into this greater wind? I know on
PAD we did not sail far enough into the northerly because soon after we tacked
we were back into the weaker Easterly and becalmed. Yet, even with this unfortunate
slowness we made it to Blacks before another boat we had started with.
In dealing with funky winds, follow the indications of what
the sails are telling you. Do not let
the sails get back winded. It is also
critical to adjust sails for any new wind direction and NOT to steer too much
since too much use of the rudder only slows the boat down more.
See you next Tuesday.
Barry L Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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