OCTOBER 13, 2020: GREAT EVENING SAIL, WITH A HITCH

 

                                                              OCTOBER 13, 2020

GREAT EVENING SAIL WITH A HITCH

Predict Wind did not give an encouraging prediction for the evening sail, calling for light and variable wind. I got to the harbor around 4pm and the flags showed no wind at all.  As 5 o’clock approached there was a little wind coming from the East.  When we left the harbor at about 5, there was a little texture showing on the water but still light wind.   As if the wind gods realized we had a race to get off, as 5:45 approached, the wind increased to 11-12 knots from 100 degrees.  We set the mark and called for course B5 knowing we could shorten course if the wind decreased. Such is life when you only have an hour to get a race off.  We blew the 5 minute horn at 5:40 for a 5:45 start.

While sailing around before the start, we noticed considerably more wind on the inside, closer to the red ball end of the line.  We decided to attempt a port tack start at the red ball, lucked out and timed it perfectly.  As we were approaching our start, someone radioed that Guenter had capsized his boat.  I figured that the closest boat would assist if necessary and Aquavit was the closest boat.

After starting, it was a drag race between Pair A Dice and Sagittarius who also started on port tack further up the line from us.   At Blacks for the first rounding it was Sagittarius, Pair A Dice, Nidaros, Tusitala, Pacific Spirit, Toad, Perfect 36 and Aquavit. For the second time around Blacks, the order was the same except Toad was last to round.

At the finish, it was Sagittarius 27:24, Pair A Dice 29:26 Aquavit (corrected time 29:35), Nidaros 30:03, Tusitala 30:55, Perfect 36 32:07, Pacific Spirit 32:53 and Toad 35:10.  All times are elapsed and course length was 1.8NM.  It was a great evening for a sail, though we did have a hitch with a capsize at the start.

Race QS:

Nearly all boats are using this app which really helps on a night like this.  The track can be seen at: https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=68194&updatedAt=2020-10-14T02:02:11Z&dt=2020-10-13T17:30:03-07:00..2020-10-13T19:02:03-07:00&boat=Pairadice&time=1602636499368&focus=Pairadice&rival=Sagittarius&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.950552&lon=-121.993727&tilt=25&range=230&heading=77

CORRECTED TIME:

Aquavit was late getting started because of helping Guenter right is boat.  Aquavit crossed the start line 3:19 minutes after the start. I subtracted this time from his finish time (32:54-3:19=29:35).  I think this is the correct way to handle this and will correct any boat’s time in a similar situation.  I do not know if the incident slowed any other boats down.

ANATOMY OF A PROBLEM AND IT’S RESOLUTION:

I asked Guenter to describe what happened and with his permission, this is what he presented.

My start plan was to starboard tack closest to the yellow buoy and then immediately tack again to get out of the way of the big boats.

Having a Casio stop watch hanging from my neck makes it difficult reading the time left and handling the boat at the same time.

When I noticed other boats heading for the start line, I started jibing for the start line while simultaneously trying to figure out time left.

 

I made 3 mistakes in that process:

1.       Didn’t run the downwind angle enough to safely position the boat for jibing.

2.       Didn’t uncleat my traveler lines to make jibing safer.

3.       And most important, moved  too late from the approaching leeward seating to the windward seating to stabilize to boat (because still figuring out time left).

 

Needless to say handling a tack that way doesn’t require much wind to capsize a Finn or any other dinghy.

Having sailed a Finn for over 30 years and capsized a few times, I can blame only my 76 years of age for this. What was I thinking?

 

In the water, I swam around and was able to get the boat upright again by pulling the centerboard down.

Trying to get in, the boat capsized again, probably because of the cleated traveler and/or the mainsheet line was tangled up in the pulley block and/or there was too much water in the boat.

I noticed Aquavit was kindly on standby to help under skipper Michael Hutchinson and his crew. I realized that I couldn’t do it alone and shouted for help.

A young crew member and student of UCSC, Jeremy Burke, jumped into the water and I knew immediately that he was a dinghy sailor too and that I will be in good hands when he asked me to get into the boat and that he will pull down the centerboard to upright the boat.

The plan worked on the first try.

 

I cannot thank Jeremy enough to rescue the boat and me as well as skipper Hutchison.

 

My attitude has been that capsizing the Finn on Santa Cruz water is not an option. Not anymore. I need to practice capsizing and rescue in the harbor.

This is a great chronology of events and an analysis we can all learn from.  I sailed Hobie Cats for 14 years and have capsized well over 500 times.  Hobies all have righting equipment but we quickly learned two critical things for righting the boat: the mainsheet must be uncleated and the bow(s) of the boat should be directed toward the wind.  This technique worked even in stronger winds.  

I am proud to be associated with sailors like Mike Hutchison (skipper) and Jeremy Burke for springing to action and saving the day.  If we ever get out of this COVID situation I want to buy each of them a drink.            

We have two more Tuesdays before the time changes and ends our season.  Due to restrictions imposed by COVID, we may not be able to have a barbecue on our last night.  We can hope this situation changes. If they do I will post it in next weeks blog or send out an e-mail blast.

Pray for wind and we will see you next Tuesday for a 5:45 start.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice