SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 WHERE'S THE WIND NOW?

 

                                                                         September 28, 2021

                                                                 WHERE'S THE WIND NOW?

 

This was the night of “Where’s the Wind Now?”  The wind predictions were a bit spicy: 10-12 kts, gusting to 17 kts out of the northwest, possibly fading by 7:00p.  When we got out to the start area around 5:30, the wind was around 12 kts from the north under sunny, warm skies; the wind was also warm, coming out from the land. We counted more than 18 boats ready to race, and 17 recorded tracks on RaceQs.

 

The crew of Tusitala set the start line, with the red ball offshore of the permanent Start mark.  Apparently there was some trouble with the anchor not holding in the deeper water, as the mark seemed to move before the start.  The result was a line that heavily favored the right end.  They called the course: Start, Government, Blacks, Finish.

 

It was an “interesting” start, with quite a crowd of boats maneuvering for position.  We didn’t observe any obvious fouls or collisions, although there was some shouting for room on the sail up toward the start.  Given the north wind blowing, it seemed possible to lay the Gov mark on one starboard tack, which everybody was trying to do at the same time.

 

THE START

ROUNDING GOV

On the upwind leg, the fleet spread out a bit.  The first starters were over 300 m ahead of the last starters, and the faster boats were extending their leads.  As we went, the wind slowed a bit to perhaps 7 or 8 kts, and it also became rather shifty.  Most of the fleet were actually unable to lay the Gov mark on one tack, so there was a bunch of short tacking to get there.  We were pleased to see that boats were respecting the starboard tack right-of-way rule.  The course to Blacks brought the boats that had rounded Gov back through the fleet of boats still heading for Gov, but again without incident.  Rounding order was: New Wave, Watts Moore, P36, Aquavit, Makani, Sanctuaire, Zoop, Good Timin’, Tusitala, Toad, Nidaro, Emeritus, Kicks, Avatar, Simpatico, Natorius, Sophia.

 

As the boats headed out on the long leg down to Blacks, which was a beam reach, the fleet began to sort itself out.  The winds were lightening considerable, and becoming spotty.  Some of the boats headed for the beach, some steered farther offshore, some stayed close to the rhumb line. It became apparent that there was very little wind down near Blacks, as the leading boats looked to be slatting while the back of the fleet started to catch up. By this time, the northerly had died and we were in a spotty transition to what eventually became a weak easterly. It was interesting that the easterly was noticeably cooler than the warm northerly; we could literally feel the wind changing by the temperature before we could see it in the sails.

 

Some of the boats that went toward the beach picked it up first and started moving again toward Blacks.  The boats on the outside were largely dead in the water. In the shifty easterly, rounding Blacks became a game of patience and luck, as it was costly to tack if you didn’t lay the mark.  The rounding order at Blacks was: Watts, New Wave, Sanctuaire, Tusitala, Avatar, Nidaro, Zoop, P36.  After those boats rounded, the rest of the fleet got stuck in the “parking lot” around Blacks, with no wind, bobbing around trying to round the mark.  Eventually, , they got around in this order: Toad, Makani, Aquavit, Simpatico, Good Timin’, Emeritus, Natorius.  A few boats dropped out and headed for the harbor during this drifting contest.

 

But for the boats that rounded in the first group, they found themselves with a renewed northerly wind that made for a nice upwind leg to the Finish.  Eventually, that breeze made it to the parking lot at Blacks so that the rest of the fleet could also sail home to the Finish.  The finishing order (with elapsed times) was: New Wave 55:04, Tusitala 55:56, Avatar 57:20, Sanctuaire 1:05:05, Nidaros 1:05:07, Zoop 1:05:12, Aquavit 1:05:15, P36 1:06:32, Kicks 1:07:05, Toad 1:07:44, Makani 1:07:49, Natorius 1:09:04  (all times approximate). Despite the fluky winds, it was a pretty close race, with several boats separated only by seconds, and only a 14 minute difference between the first and last boats.

 

On corrected time, RaceQs reports the following nine finishers: New Wave 50:52, Avatar 51:39, Tusitala 51:51, Kicks 59:20, Nidaros 1:00:03, Sanctuaire 1:00:16, P36 1:00:39, Toad 1:01:24, Makani 1:01:29. 

 

Whatever the outcome, it was a lovely evening of sailing. The race took essentially one hour, and the sun was below the horizon before most of the fleet finished.  This will become increasingly common in the final weeks of the racing season, and races will need to get shorter as available daylight goes away.  Be sure that your running lights are in good working order.

 

Rumor has it that Tusitala had some difficulty finding the red start mark after the race; apparently it had drifted some distance from its original location.  Those guys had to work to carry out their race setup duties, but we thank them for their good service!

 

Because it was the last Tuesday of the month, it was BYO BBQ night at the club.  There was a lively scene around the grill, and a lot of fun conversation around the decks and in the clubhouse.

 

Barry’s on vacation this week and next, so Doug Mahone is filling in with the blog writing until he returns.  He missed a good evening on the water, but we don’t feel too sorry for him (he’s in Hawaii).

THANK YOU DOUG FOR AN EXCELLENT RECAP AND TUSITALA CREW FOR SETTING THE COURSE!

BARRY