JUNE 22, 2021 JUST ENOUGH WIND

 

JUNE 22, 2021

JUST ENOUGH WIND

Predict wind was calling for light 9 knot winds decreasing through the evening.  Listening to the radio on the way to the harbor, they were calling for 15 knot winds through the evening.  As we left the harbor at around 5:30 it was apparent that Predict wind was more accurate.  For this evening I was sailing with Jim Weaver and the crew of Tusitala again. We saw that the wind was coming from 220 degrees, a little south of the normal 240 degrees.  We set the line square to the wind and called for course M2: start to Mile and back to the start mark for the finish.  It was discouraging to see the wind decrease as we were ticking down to the 6:00 start.  I blew the “5-minute horn” at 4 minutes to 6, resulting in a 6:01 start.  I guess this goes with our theme of “developmental racing series”.  There is always room for improvement!

With about 20 boats competing for a good start, it was good the line was a little longer than normal.  Almost all boats started on starboard tack but a couple of brave boats tried a port tack start which did not seem to work well as they had to tack to fit in with the rest of the boats.  It seemed like there was a lift on the right side of the course.

At Mile, first around was Kasatka followed by Good Timin, Avatar, Geronimo, Perfect 36, Makani, Tusitala, Toad, Pacific Spirit, Sweet Pea and Natorious.

On the run back to the finish, it was frustrating because it was difficult to avoid the pockets with very little wind.  At the same time, it was encouraging to see more wind on the water further ahead. At the finish it was Kasatka 39:40 followed by Good Timin 44:08, Avatar 47:20, Geronimo 52:40, Perfect 36 53:40, Guenter on his Finn 54:32, Makani (no track=no time) Tusitala 57:26, Toad 59:14, Pacific Spirit 1:03:37, Sweet Pea 1:15:08 and Natorious 1:26:53.  All times are elapsed and the length of the course was 2.07 nautical miles

It was a glorious warm evening with just enough wind to complete a short course.

RACE QS:

I keep trying to remind people to run their tracks.  It is good to set it up before you even leave the harbor so it starts at 17:45.   By doing this you get the pre-race action and can see how your strategy worked against other boats.  If you set Race QS to start at 6pm, your boat will be sitting still on the playback before the 6pm start. Having your track on Race QS is the only way to be counted and scored for the race.  The track for tonight can be seen at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1071260&updatedAt=2021-06-23T02:41:40Z&divisionId=72926&boat=Sweet%20Pea&model=&dt=2021-06-22T17:15:38-07:00..2021-06-22T19:41:35-07:00&iframe=true&time=1624415213825&focus=Sweet%20Pea&rival=Kasatka&tab=fleet&view=follow&lat=36.960189&lon=-122.005508&tilt=1&range=3048&heading=278

 SAILING WHILE ROCKING OUT:

On Tusitala, we were sailing up the right side of the course and enjoyed a lift that was stronger on that side.  I watched as the boats downwind from us on the way to Mile were rocking along with the waves directly on their bow. Their masts were whipping forward and backward violently with each wave. The waves were not steep enough to stop the boats but they were slowing the boats down as they rocked. Do you think this motion affects the efficiency of the foils? Geronimo made a wise move and tacked over to port where the waves were on the beam rather than the bow and pulled ahead of several boats.  With the lift we were enjoying, it let Tusitala take the waves at a slight angle giving a slight advantage.

BARBECUE AT THE CLUB:

It was fantastic to see everyone get together at the yacht club for a barbecue.  We had quite a turnout and the food was excellent.  We are in the process of trying to make Tuesday nights like Wednesday nights with the food service provider selling food for us to grill ourselves.   I will keep you informed about developments in this area.  For next Tuesday we will have another barbecue but it is still bring your own food and get your drinks at the bar.

These events are fantastic educational opportunities where you can discuss tactics and rules with fellow sailors. A suggestion was made that we should all have name tags indicating our names and the name of the boat we sailed on.  I will follow this suggestion in the future.  

It is critical for all of us to remember we are in a residential area so we must be discreet in our actions.  Loud talk and laughter after 9 o’clock does not go well with neighbors.  On future Tuesday night barbecues, the bar will close at 9 o’clock and the clubhouse will close at 9:30.  I hope to see you there!

 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice (Tusitala for this night)

JUNE 15, 2021 SOLSTICE TUESDAY

 

                                                                              JUNE 15, 2021

                                                                       SOLSTICE TUESDAY

This was the night of the long daylight and the light easterlies.  We had a strong westerly outside, and the pretty good SE wind as the boats headed out. We counted 19 boats.

 

Barry was out of town, so Chris Hofmann and the Tusitala crew set the start line and called the course.  The wind had started going more east as they set the red ball, and it also looked as though it might be dying a bit, so Chris called for a Start/Black/Finish Course and alerted the fleet that if the wind was still good after the first one we might try something new to squeeze in a second race since it was the latest sunset of the season.

 

We got the first start off at 18:00. The line was pretty square to slightly favored at the pin end for both starts so the fleet was able to spread down the line and build a good head of steam to power off the line. It was a fairly crowded and exciting start.  It appears from RaceQs that Sagittarius and maybe Kasatka were over early.  Sagittarius returned and restarted. 

 

Sagittarius sailed well after the missteps at the start, again proving that often you can recover from a late start.  The breeze held up ok, at around 5-8 kts from the east.  The boats that headed toward the beach got somewhat better wind, but then had to tack back into the fleet on port tack to the layline for Blacks.  That’s fine if you’re ahead, but if not you can end up ducking a bunch of  boats and getting bad air.  This made for some tight racing on the short course with boats frequently crossing tacks to get around the Black Pt. Buoy.  The second leg was  a bit slower reach/run heading into the light chop back to the finish. Some boats experimented with a whisker pole for a near beam reach, which seemed to work reasonably well. Nobody was going DDW in that breeze.

 

The elapsed times at the finish (reading from RaceQs) were: Kasatka 13:55, Good Timin’ 15:27, New Wave 18:00, Aquavit 18:35, Tusitala 22:08, Perfect 36 24:40, Pacific Spirit 24:37, Makani 25:17, Toad 25:20, Avatar 25:52, Sagittarius 25:55, Natorius 28:28, Kicks 29:32, Meia Duzia 30:28, Sophia 31:06.  The course was 0.8 nm.

 

Here’s the RaceQs track: https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1010599&divisionId=72655&updatedAt=2021-06-16T02:23:25Z&dt=2021-06-15T17:50:03-07:00..2021-06-15T19:23:22-07:00&boat=Makani&time=1623804992286&focus=Makani&rival=Nueva%20Ola&tab=fleet&view=manual&lat=36.949695&lon=-121.986745&tilt=1&range=1663&heading=1

 

The second start was at 18:38 and can be viewed in RaceQs by going to the lower left tab for course set-up (with the cross flags icon).  Click on that, then click on the 18:00 start time to see the next 18:38 start time.  Then click on 18:38 to get the replay of the second race and all its data.

 

We kept to the same course for race #2, and it was mostly the same conditions with enough breeze to keep the boats moving around the course. This gave everybody a second shot at getting a good start (good practice). There were more tight crossing situations, ducking, and close mark roundings at Black's, and at the finish.

 

It might have been the tightest bunching of boats we had so far this season with the 2 races lasting about 25-30 minutes each.  The Cat27 Meia Duzia sporting a new clean bottom, and small spinnaker assist kept pace finishing close to the larger boats.  Toad was also moving along pretty well picking the shifts and puffs in the lighter but steady winds. Kasatka iced the entire fleet both times.

THE SECOND START

 

Here are the results for the second race:  Kasatka 12:25, Aquavit 13:54, Guenter on his Finn, Sagittarius 16:03, Pacific Spirit 16:25, Toad 16:38, Avatar 16:51, Tusitala 17:01, Good Timin’ 17:30, Makani 17:50, Perfect 36 18:44, Kicks 20:11, Natorius 20:25, Meia Duzia 25:21. Again, the course was .8 nm

 

We had 14 boats recording on Raceqs, and maybe a few more boats in the races. Tusitala had some RaceQs hick-ups on recording even though they  had two recorders going.  Some boats seem to just stop dead in the water because their batteries died or they turned off the app.  Despite the occasional glitch, we encourage everyone to get and run the free RaceQs app on their smart phones to record their tracks and learn about their boat and about the competition.  If you want to see some funny tracks, look for the boats that have a crew member carrying their smart phones around the deck during the race.  They seem to leap ahead when the guy goes up to the bow, they sail backwards when the guy is walking back to the cockpit, they spin around when the guy is looking for whales, etc. (It’s best to set it in a secure place, aligned with the keel, and leave it there, ideally plugged in so the batteries don’t die early.)

 

We probably could have gotten a 3rd race in, or even gone for the longer course out to SC3 and back, with the breeze building slightly around 1900 as the boats headed in. Overall, it was a pretty good evening, with pleasant sailing  and some close racing. As Marc Barshay on Aeolian points out, “The boats that finish at the back of the fleet are actually the winners, because they get more sailing time on a pleasant summer evening.”

 

We attempted to gather at the Crow’s Nest for a group dinner as we usually  do, but it was a failure that evening. It was the “official end” of Covid restrictions in California that day,  and it seemed the entire world was out for dinner and drinks.  The manager had never heard of the Tuesday night sailors, and even if they had, there weren’t enough staff to serve us and everybody else there that evening. The usual balcony area where we meet was closed off and they wouldn’t open it for us. The best they could offer was “Look for a table or two and we’ll serve you like everybody else”.  We only found one four person table, so most of us just went home. Maybe next week won’t be so crazy.

 

Doug.

 

Douglas Mahone

305 Harbor Drive

Santa Cruz  CA  95062

 

doug@dmahone.com

(916) 541-6607

 

Thanks to Chris for calling the race and to Doug for posting the blog.

We will see you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

JUNE 8, 2021 MORE THAN ENOUGH WIND

 

JUNE 8, 2021

MORE THAN ENOUGH WIND

I was working on my boat in the harbor for most of the day.  As I was working, the wind was out of control even in the harbor. The sounds of clanking halyards and wind whistling through the rigging in the boats was hard to ignore.  Predict wind was calling for decreasing wind as the evening progressed.  On this night I had the pleasure of sailing with Mike Hutchison and crew on Aquavit.  Thanks to Mike and the crew for putting up with me. 

As we left the harbor shortly after 5pm, it looked like “victory at sea” conditions with white caps as far as you could see.  We determined that the wind was from 240 degrees and approaching 30 knots.  We set a line square to this wind and called for the longest Northwest wind course: Whiskey 1.  We had about 12 boats out for the fun and almost all boats were reefed.

On Aquavit we were early to the line and were stalling, trying to not be OCS.  Sailing slowly on the start line leaves you in a vulnerable position for faster leeward boats to luff you up over the line and, sure enough, this happened to us.  We were OCS and had to sail back to dip the line and restart.

All boats tacked their way to Schuyler and at the windward mark, Sagittarius was first around followed by Aquavit, Tusitala, Perfect 36, Good Timin, Avatar, Pacific Spirit and Makani, Kicks.  All boats rounded Mile in the same order and headed for Blacks.  The ride to Blacks was exciting with waves behind us, we were able to maximize their effect by getting bodies out of the cockpit and on the bow.

After rounding Blacks, all boats made their way to the finish line.  First to finish was Sagittarius 44:39, Aquavit 45:58, Tusitala 47:41, Perfect 36 47:49, Good Timin 48:17, Makani 48:40, Pacific Spirit 49:30  Avatar 50:08, and Kicks 52:45 .  All times are elapsed and the course length was 3.95 nautical miles.

Watching the action on the water, with almost all boats heavily reefed it was apparent that we had more than enough wind for a race.

RACE QS:

Almost all boats are using this app.  To be counted, you must use this free app on your smart phone.  The track for tonight can be found at:

 https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1147771&updatedAt=2021-06-09T02:15:15Z&dt=2021-06-08T17:50:02-07:00..2021-06-08T19:15:14-07:00&boat=Aquavit&time=1623203408466&focus=Aquavit&rival=Sagittarius&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.951199&lon=-121.993679&tilt=10&range=376&heading=246

REGISTRATION:

Almost all boats taking part in our Tuesday Night Sailing series are registered.  To be counted in this series and to be recognized for your performance two conditions must be met: 1) registration and 2) run the Race QS app on your phone.  If you have not registered, the form is below.

 

 

 

 

2021 Series Entry and Waiver Form

 

Each Tuesday Night during Daylight Savings Time

 

Santa Cruz Yacht Club, Santa Cruz, CA

 

Entry Form

 

Name: _____________________________ Sail Number: _______________

Address: ___________________________ Boat Name: ________________

Boat make and model:_____________________ PHRF:________________

City/St/Zip: _________________________ Boat location(slip#)__________

E-mail: ______________________      Cell Number:_____________________

(E-mail and Cell number will be available to other participants)

 

Waiver and Release of Liability

In consideration of my entry in the Regatta on behalf of myself, my heirs, successors and

assigns, I hereby waive any and all claims, actions, suits and demands against Santa Cruz

Yacht Club, the respective officers, directors, employees, and agents (all the forgoing

hereby referred to as “the Hosts”) for any personal injury (including death) or property

damage resulting from the negligence or other acts of omission by the Hosts or any of

them as a result of my participation in the Event and do hereby release and discharge the

Hosts there from. I acknowledge that participation in the sport of sailboat racing involves

substantial risk of personal injury or even death and I hereby assume the risk of any such

injury that may occur while participating in the Event.

I agree to be bound by The Racing Rules of Sailing and any other rules that govern this

event.

 

Owner/Skipper __________________________ Date ________________

Entry Fee for series: $35 for SCYC members    $50 for nonmembers

 

Payment options:

Cash

Check (Check Number ____________) payable: Santa Cruz Yacht Club

Payment received by _______________ Date ________________

 

 

Print this form out, fill it out and drop it off with your check at the yacht club with ATTN: Barry on the envelope. If you do not have a PHRF certificate, indicate specifics about your boat: folding prop?, size of your largest jib (135, 155?).  We will assign a PHRF for your boat using this information.

STARTS:

The start of a race is a great opportunity to gain an advantage.  From my experience the best starts are accomplished at speed at the line with clear wind.  When you find yourself stalling because you are early to the line, you are not starting with one of the most critical elements: speed at the start.  I like to sail down the start area on port before the start looking for a boat to tack behind.  I find it better to sometimes tack behind a boat further down the line so I can maximize my speed up the line and not run out of line.   Complicating this whole process is when conditions are changing.  If there is a possibility the wind will decrease, don’t venture far from the line!  The more starts you do, the better you will get at it.  Indeed, this is one advantage of Tuesday Night Sailing: practicing and improving your starts.

LET’S GO SURFING:

Going down wind and down waves is my favorite point of sail.  Looking around at other boats you see many boats sailing in these conditions with the cockpit full of people.  I find that even on larger boats, getting bodies out of the cockpit and on the bow can keep you in the waves for a couple of seconds more.  On a run from Mile to Blacks, you may have several hundred waves pushing you along in succession.  If you can stay at your maximum speed when surfing waves for an extra couple of seconds per wave, this can be a significant effect.

OTHER REGATTA EVENT:

On June 19 there is a race put on by Elkhorn and SCYC called the little Boreas race.  It is a race down to Moss Landing on Saturday then return to Santa Cruz on Sunday.  A very fun race and you can register for it at the following site:  https://www.regattanetwork.com/event/22613

Next week, Chris Hofmann and the crew of Tusitala will call the race.  Remember, we can meet at the Crow’s Nest for dinner after the race.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice (Aquavit for tonight)

JUNE 1, 2021 GOOD TO THE LAST GASP

 

JUNE 1, 2021

GOOD TO THE LAST GASP

Checking Predict Wind in the morning showed wind over 10 knots through six o’clock and dissipating rapidly after 7pm.  On this night I had the pleasure of sailing on Tusitala with the largest crew I have ever sailed with.  Besides Jim Weaver and John Nugent who are partners on the boat, we had another John, Chris, Sergio, Kyle, Kate, Marc, Rob, Guenter, Elen (visiting from Germany) and myself.  It is good it was a 40 foot boat and such a big happy family. Thanks to all on the boat for tolerating me for the sail.

As we left the harbor at about 5:20 it was apparent there was enough wind to have a race.  We determined that the wind was from 240 degrees and we set a line square to this wind. While sailing around before the race, we noticed the wind was several knots stronger outside and already lighter toward the beach. With the wind prediction calling for the wind dying around 7, I wanted a short course to be certain everyone finished.  We called for course M2: start, Mile and finish at start again.  This made the start mark end of the line the favored end and most boats tried to start at that end of the line.

On Tusitala our strategy was to run the line and start on starboard tack close to the yellow ball end of the line.  Geronimo absolutely nailed a port tack start right at the yellow ball and seemed to clear every boat.  This is a risky strategy, but they pulled it off perfectly. It was interesting seeing the boats all spread out across the bay all making their way to Mile.  At the rounding of Mile, Geronimo was first followed by Sagittarius, Perfect 36, Patricia J, Aquavit, Avatar, Pacific Spirit, Kasatka, New Wave, Makani, Tusitala, Nidaros, Muffin and Sweet Pea.

On the way to the finish line, most boats sailed the same course straight to the finish line.  At the finish, Geronimo was first (Race Qs track stopped before finish so no finish time) followed by Perfect 36 34:14, Aquavit 34:30, Sagittarius 34:42, Patricia J 35:09, Avatar 35:45, Kasatka 36:03, New Wave 36:15, Pacific Spirit 36:23, Makani 36:59, Tusitala 37:43, Nidaros 38:26, Muffin 40:46 and Sweet Pea 41:53.  All times are elapsed and the course length was 2.07 nautical mile. It is interesting to me that with the different tracks taken by the boats, that most finishes were within 2 minutes.

It was a chilly foggy evening with just enough wind to have a race and all boats finished as the wind was getting weaker. It was a great sail good to the last gasp of wind.

Race QS:

Almost everyone is using this app and the tracks are fun to study.  I like to plug my phone in to keep it charged so the track continues through the end of the race.  The course for tonight can be seen at:  https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011074&divisionId=72115&updatedAt=2021-06-02T15:36:26Z&dt=2021-06-01T17:55:04-07:00..2021-06-01T19:26:09-07:00&boat=Tusitala&model=Bavaria40&time=1622597561865&focus=Tusitala&rival=Makani&tab=setup&view=follow&lat=36.946857&lon=-121.998298&tilt=11&range=1167&heading=246

PORT TACK STARTS:

As previously noted, this is a risky way to start but tonight was a special night.   There was more wind further out so they could get your speed up, plus they were going down waves adding to boat speed.  The most brilliant move though was timing the start to be right at the line at the right time with speed!  This was a perfectly executed port tack start.  From my experience with port tack starts, once you dip one boat your strategy spirals out of control as you must dip all the boats in the fleet!

NEW EQUIPMENT:

One of the benefits of sailing on multiple boats is being exposed to different equipment.  While at the dock after sailing, I noticed the spring lines tied somehow to a piece of line on the rail. I had heard of soft shackles, but had never seen them used.  A novel way to shackle two things together: a simple line with a small loop woven into a short piece of line (usually a stronger line like dyneema).  The finishing touch is a knot in the other end of line just big enough to fit through the loop.  Once this knot is in place, tension on the line prevents the line from releasing and voila you have a soft shackle.

WHISKER POLE DYNAMICS:

During the last weeks, I have witnessed several ways of dealing with whisker poles and how they attach to the clew.  Some just attach the pole to the working sheet and slide it up to the clew of the sail.  Tension keeps the pole in place.  This works well if the jib sheet is a smaller diameter. You can also attach the pole to the knot tied in the jib sheet at the clew.  This can cause problems removing if there is tension and pressure from the working sail. 

 I like a collapsing whisker pole that is about 8 feet long that expands out to about 13 feet.  It is by Forespar and you expand the pole by pulling a line connected to blocks inside the pole.  This line was designed to be tied on a cleat at the boat end of the pole, but I replaced the cleat with a jam cleat.  I also have a loop of wrapped cable (like used in many lifelines) swedged onto the clew.  This loop is about 6 inches in diameter.  The outward jaw at end of the pole, when cocked, automatically closes when the loop clips into the jaw.  If the clew is not jumping around, you can reach out with the 8 foot pole to clip onto the ring then attach the pole to the mast and extend the pole.  This pole can also be collapsed to clear the forestay when jibing. This type of pole can be handled by one person in normal conditions for my boat size.

CROW’S NEST:

I talked to one of the managers at the Crow’s Nest last Tuesday about accommodating our group for dinner after our Tuesday Night Sails.  It helps that she waited on our tables pre Covid and she was excited about our return.  I put out an email Tuesday afternoon to the group and we had 24 people show up for last Tuesday after the sail.  These have always been fun events with many discussions about all things sailing and racing.  Our usual group before Covid, was between 25-30 and they handled us well.  As our group grows and more people come, my thought is that we may stretch the limits of the Crow’s Nest ability to accommodate us.  I am engaged in discussions trying to get the club to open for us as they do on Wednesday nights. On Wednesdays, they sell burgers and other food for us to grill on the barbecue. For now,  count on the Crows Nest next Tuesday but check your email as next Tuesday approaches for an announcement if there is a change in plans.

I am looking forward to next Tuesday Night Sailing.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice (Tusitala for tonight)