JULY 7, 2020: SURPRISING GUST

JULY 7, 2020

SURPRISING GUST

During the weekend, the news was commenting about the high winds we were to experience this week.  Predict Wind gave a much more accurate prediction and the wind was barely noticeable on the Crows Nest flag.  It was time to haul out the 155 jib!  As we were leaving the harbor at about 5:15, it was amazing how much South was in the wind which was confirmed when we took a reading, it was coming from 130 degrees at about 5:30 so we set a line square to that direction.  As 5:15 approached, the wind was going more East, but still very light.  In an attempt to be sure all boats could finish in this light wind, I came up with an impromptu course of Start to Blacks, the pin end of start line and finish at start mark.

As all 18 boats were setting up for the start in the very light wind, I was impressed that everyone got a clean start off the line.  By the time we got to Blacks, the wind had increased to the point that the whole race was going to be over in 10 minutes or less.  I announced a lengthening of the course to go around Gov and finish at the start buoy taking Start to port.  At Blacks, Aquavie was first followed by Perfect 36, Sweet Pea, Avatar, Pair a dice and Nidaros. 

             

On the run from Blacks to Gov, the question is always: outside course or inside course? It seems all of the boats went outside except for Pair A Dice.  We wanted to take advantage of more wind since new easterlies usually build more inside.  This required that we sail through some kelp beds, which can be a dicey proposition.  We rolled the dice and carried on going the inside route.  With Stefan at the wheel, I went forward to guide the path through the kelp.  This was when I noticed a very westerly flowing current that had all of the kelp flowing away from us, making the path less risky.  The westerly current was helping us, almost like riding a conveyor belt.  At Gov, Pair a Dice was first around followed by Zoop, Perfect 36, Avatar and Aquavie.

Zoop, Guenther and New Wave rounding GOV

On the beat back to start/finish, we sailed further out to avoid the adverse (for this point of sail) current toward the beach.  We sailed out until we saw the apparent wind decreasing a little and tacked back inside. At the finish it was Zoop and New Wave (no Race QS tracks for either), Pair a Dice 54:48, Patricia J 55:39, Perfect 36 57:00, Avatar 58:03, Nidaros 1:03:01, Aquavie 1:05:39, Sweet Pea 1:07:46 and Sophia 1:19:12.  All times are elapsed and the course distance is 2.80NM.  The surprising gust that appeared as we rounded Blacks stayed long enough for all boats to finish!

Race QS:

Par for the course, we had 18 boats out tonight and only 8 ran the race QS track.  The only way to be counted in these races is to run this free app on your cell phone. This app is also a fantastic way to improve your sailing.

You can review tonights track at:  https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011635&divisionId=65323&updatedAt=2020-07-08T02:22:44Z&dt=2020-07-07T17:19:17-07:00..2020-07-07T19:22:40-07:00&boat=Dice&model=J24&time=1594169744372&focus=Dice&rival=The%20Perfect%20Thirty-six&tab=setup&view=helm

THE WEST CURRENT INSIDE:

Using this west flowing current can offer a tremendous advantage.  From my experience, this current is more predominant when the Easterly wind is blowing.  I believe both the Easterly wind and current are caused by heavier Northwest winds outside.  All of the predictions for high wind were actually true, but it occurred off shore.  This creates the Santa Cruz Eddy which is the reason the Easterly wind and current happen.  You can ascertain which way the current is flowing by looking at how the kelp is streaming in the water and by looking at buoys.  Any line or kelp that gets hung up on the buoy will help detect currents and their direction.

HOW TO INCREASE BOAT SPEED:

There are many ways to help increase your boat speed. Many of these techniques were covered in our Tuesday night sailing seminars last winter. If your boat is in the water, like mine, one of my favorite ways is to keep the boat bottom clean.  I am not suggesting to have a diver clean your boat every week!  For less than $20 of material and ½ hour of time,  you can build a bottom cleaner that can reach to the bottom of the keel.  These devices do not work if you have 3 months of reef clinging to your bottom, but if you have a diver clean your boat, and use the device once a week, you will notice a vast improvement in boat speed.  Using this device, it takes about 10 minutes to clean one side of the boat.   I keep some of these devices (made of PVC pipe, floating foam and mat) on my boat which is at Q16.  Please feel free to copy the design.

See you next Tuesday,

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice