MARCH 23, 2021
WILD NIGHT ON THE
WATER
Predictions for the night were for high winds, but when I
got to the harbor, the wind seemed to be light.
Occasionally there would be a gust of wind that would roll through the
harbor, but nothing I saw seemed to be out of control. The crew arrived and as we left the harbor,
nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The
light wind was coming out of the North, so I decided to set the start mark
approximately where the normal start mark is located. I had a “brilliant idea” and decided to set a
fender as the other end of the line and tried to set a course square to the
wind. I had a mushroom anchor but no
chain and I thought enough rode for the anchor to hold. By this time, the bombs of wind started to
hit the water and us. We all know how to
deal with 25 knot winds, but when the wind vacillates suddenly from 13 knots to
25 knots it gets exciting.
I called for a course from the start, Gov, Mile and back to
start (finish). In conditions like this,
the question arises: Reef or no reef? Do
you set your boat up for the light wind or for the heavy wind? I would say, reef if you are out for a casual
sail. If racing use full sails. Indeed, this is the way all the boats set up.
As my “brilliant idea” played out the fender end of the
start line was drifting away. I guess
with no chain and not enough rode, the mushroom anchor skips across the
bottom! Understandable as most boats
sailed by the red mark for the start.
PAD had another bad start and had the “pleasure” of watching the boats ahead of us getting blasted with
the gusts. Many boats heeling over or
rounding up.
At Gov, Aquavie was first, followed by Pacific Spirit,
Geronimo, Kicks, PAD and Nidaros. Everyone sailed their own course trying the
maximize the effect of the gusts on their way to Mile. At Mile, Geronimo was first, then Aquavie, Pacific
Spirt, Kicks, PAD and Nidaros.
As we all made our way back to the start mark, we were once
again watching boats get blasted with the wind.
Many boats were getting heeled dramatically as we all tried to get to
the finish line. At the finish, it was Aquavie 34:35, Geronimo 34:52, Pacific
Spirit 35:29, Kicks 38:26, PAD 38:28 and Nidaros 43:13. All times are elapsed and the course length
was about 3.15 nautical miles.
Thank you for the brave souls that ventured out for the fun
and wild night on the water.
RACE QS:
I think this was the first night that all boats recorded
their tracks. The track for tonight can
be found at:
SAILING
FROM BEHIND:
Pair A Dice had a horrible start for this
evening, once again emphasizing the point to not venture far from the start
line especially in gusty winds. Getting
stuck with light wind far from the line is not fun.
DEALING WITH GUSTS:
Remember one concept emphasized by leading
sailors: Always try to keep your boat at
the same angle of heel! The thought is
that every time your boat changes its angle of heel, the flow over the foils that pull your boat along
are disturbed and are not efficient.
These foils are above (sails) and below (Keel and rudder) the
waterline. But how do you accomplish
this in very gusty winds? I reminded my
mainsheet trimmer of this concept at the beginning of the race. Each time we saw a puff approaching on the
water, the trimmer “blew the main” and I used the extra wind on the jib as a
lift. Using this technique, kept the
boat heeling at the same angle and got us around Gov without having to tack.
The run to Mile was interesting as everyone
used different tactics. Some sailing
dead down wind, some broad reaching and several using whisker poles. We didn’t use a whisker pole, but we broad
reached down until we could go DDW to tack over to round mile.
On the beat back to the start mark after Mile,
we found that strapping the jib in tight and playing the main worked well for
us. Releasing the main in the puffs and sail strictly with
the jib kept the boat at a consistent angle of heel.
ANCHORING:
I know anchors are attached to chain then
rode. I did not have chain and I
misjudged the rode length. The results
were not good, with the fender mark drifting with the wind and waves. The chain attachment to the anchor keeps the
anchor dug in to prevent dragging. Even
with a chain on the anchor, it is critical to have proper rode length, even for
a small thing like a fender. I would
suggest at least 1.5 to two times the water depth for a fender.
BECAUSE OF COVID RESTRICTIONS, THERE WILL BE NO
BARBECUE NEXT TUESDAY.
See you out there next Tuesday.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice (PAD)
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