JULY 27, 2021 GREAT WIND WITH FOG JUST OFFSHORE

 

JULY 27, 2021

GREAT WIND WITH FOG JUST OFFSHORE

Walking my dog at the harbor around noon it was turning out to be a beautiful sunny day with the wind seeming to slowly increase.  Back at my house in Aptos, as the afternoon progressed, I noticed the fog was increasing.   There is a reason the locals call Aptos “Fogtos”.  Would the fog spread to Santa Cruz?  As I arrived at the harbor, it was apparent that it was foggy out on the water.  As we left the harbor, the fog was present but offshore so it did not affect our visibility for the race.

We determined the wind was from 240 degrees and set a mark square to the wind.  As it turns out, the line was a little short for the 20 plus boats that eventually came out for the fun. We called for course Whiskey 3 and blew the five minute horn.  As usual the starboard end of the line was very crowded as boats tried to set up for a start at that end of the line.  After the crowded line start, boats spread out across the bay making their way to the first mark: Schuyler. At Schuyler, first around was Kasatka followed by New Wave, Sweetheart, Zoop, Sagittarius, Avatar, Aquavit, Tusitala, Perfect 36, Pacific Spirit, Toad, Makani, Pair A Dice, Sweet Pea, Simpatico, Kicks, Sophia, Nidaros, Meia Duzia.

On the long run to Blacks, most boats sailed wing on wing straight toward the mark.  Several boats took a course further outside using the slightly stronger wind out there. At Blacks, Kastaka was first around again followed by Sweetheart, Zoop, Avatar, New Wave, Aquavit, Sagittarius, Pacific Spirit, Makani, Pair A Dice, Toad, Perfect 36, Sweet Pea, Simpatico, Sophia, Kicks, Nidaros and Meia Duzia. As usual, when sailing downwind we felt like the wind was decreasing.  It was refreshing as we rounded the leeward (Blacks) mark and sailing into the wind, that the wind was not decreasing.

At the finish, Sweetheart was first 50:49, followed by Zoop 50:58, Kasatka 51:22, Avatar 51:52, New Wave 52:15, Aquavit 52:57, Sagittarius 55:18, Pacific Spirit 55:36, Makani 58:37, Toad 58:41, Tusitala 59:24, Pair a Dice 1:00:29, Gunter on his Finn 1:01:00,  Perfect 36 1:01:15, Sweet Pea 1:08:08, Simpatico 1:10:39, Sophia 1:13:33, Nidaros 1:23:02 and Kicks. All times are elapsed and the course distance was 3.55 nautical miles.

It was an awesome evening for a sail with great wind and unusual lighting with the fog hanging just offshore.  We had a great barbecue at the club.  It was great to socialize around the barbecue again!

RACE QS:

It is great seeing almost everyone using this app!  The track for this evening can be found at:  https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=73968&updatedAt=2021-07-28T02:31:15Z&dt=2021-07-27T17:45:04-07:00..2021-07-27T19:24:18-07:00&boat=Pairadice&time=1627439058000&focus=Pairadice&rival=Pacific%20Spirit&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.948000&lon=-121.998506&tilt=7&range=742&heading=218

PHRF CONVERSION:

Somebody asked about how to apply the PHRF to see how your boat did against a competitor. I always record the elapsed time for each boats finish and the course length in the blog.  We all have individual boats we are competing with, but some boats are faster (lower PHRF) than others.  To determine how you did against another boat you apply the difference in PHRF, times the distance of the course in nautical miles.  As an example for this evening,  Pair A Dice’s elapsed time was 1:00:29 and TOADs elapsed time was 58:41.  This means that Toad crossed the line 2 minutes and 28 seconds ahead of PAD.  PAD has a PHRF of 180 and Toad is rated at 150.  This means that Toad is rated 30 second per mile faster than PAD.  30 seconds multiplied by course distance (3.55NM) equals 106 seconds (1 minute and 46 seconds).  Subtracting 1:46 from 2:28 means that Toad beat Pair A Dice by 42 seconds on corrected time.  It was a great race!

RULES:

With as many boats as we had tonight, rules become even more important.  There were several “incidents” that occurred, and though 360s were done to exonerate, it is always best to just follow the rules! This is a developmental series so while discussing rules, I will give suggestions on how to abide by the rules.

Windward vs Leeward on the start line:

This is a tactic used in more competitive situations and in team racing.  It involves rule 11: when boats are on the same tack and overlapped, a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward boat.  Rule 17 also comes into play and guidelines are determined by how the overlap occurred.  If a leeward boat achieves the overlap from astern, they may luff a windward boat above the line BUT after the start “signal” a proper course must be sailed (no higher than hard on the wind).  Team racers know better than to “get hooked” and avoid these situations.  While it is within the rules for leeward boats to luff up a windward boat, in our situation (with nobody sighting the line)  Race QS is not accurate enough to notice.  In any case, I like to give myself room away from the line to allow me to luff up if a faster boat overtakes me. Another tactic is to just slow down and let the leeward boat pass.

Mark rounding:

There was an incident where a boat tacked within the zone at Schuyler and thought they should have mark room.  I always plan my approach to windward marks outside of the zone.  If you follow this plan, you should always make your tack onto starboard outside of the zone.  This gets tricky with the unusual winds and currents frequently at Schuyler mark.  The rule that comes into play here is rule 18.3: If a boat in the zone of a mark to be left to port passes head to wind from port to starboard tack and is then fetching the mark, she shall not cause a boat that has been on starboard tack since entering the zone to sail above close-hauled to avoid contact and she shall give mark-room if that boat becomes overlapped inside of her.

Port vs Starboard:

This is rule 10: When boats are on opposite tacks, a port- tack boat shall keep clear of a starboard-tack boat.  We all know this rule. Compliance involves being aware of all boats.  Every crew member has a stake in keeping the skipper aware.  On my boat the policy is “there is never too much information about traffic!”  In tight situations, there is one dialogue between the skipper and crew.   The crew is always informing the skipper: “You have a boat at your 12 on starboard tack 100 yds away” Skipper replies “I got it”.  I encourage the use of this dialogue to prevent dangerous situations.  Maybe an airhorn in the cockpit of the right of way boat is a good idea since voices often do not carry in high winds.  

 

ROUNDING SCHUYLER:

This was an interesting evening with many boats misjudging the rounding of Schuyler with its shifty winds and currents.  On Pair A Dice, we got caught like other boats and had to “shoot the mark”.  This is a move you can use to round a mark when you are very close to not making it around the mark. It is critical to have the crew ready to quickly release the jib sheet.  It is also critical to not pinch so you keep your speed up even if aimed for the wrong side of the mark.  With the mark just in front of your boat, turn the boat directly into the wind while releasing the jib completely.  If done correctly (enough speed and jib released) you can coast around the mark.  If the jib is not released quickly enough and gets backwinded, the boat stops and you have failed.   It is difficult to accomplish this move if other boats are in close proximity. As always if you get romantic and “kiss the mark”, you need to do a 360.

See you next Tuesday for another race and Taco Tuesday at the club.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice