OCTOBER 19, 2021
NO RAIN, LIGHT WIND
My heart sank when I first heard of predictions for rain on
Tuesday. We all want rain, but please
don’t rain on my parade! I got to the
harbor around 4 and the sun was shining, but the wind was very light as
evidenced by limp flags on the Crow’s Nest.
As we left the harbor around 5:15, it was encouraging to see a steady
wind on the water of about 9-10 knots.
As boats filed out of the harbor, we determined that the direction of
the wind seemed to be changing but predominantly around 240 degrees. We decided on course G3 which was the
shortest course available for this direction of wind and set a start line between
square to wind and square to Gov.
Despite our efforts, the starboard end of the line was favored. We had 15 boats out for the fun and blew the
5 minute horn for a 7:55 start. As the 5
minute time started, it seemed the wind took the horn as a signal to decrease.
On Pair a Dice, though the starboard end of the line was
favored, I wanted to get clear wind further down the line. When we finally got going in the very light,
less than 4 knot wind, we were only moving at between 1.5 to 2 knots of boat
speed. I called to shorten course to
finish at the line between Gov and wharf end taking Gov to starboard. With the nonexistent breeze, even this
shortened course seemed like an ambitious task.
One by one, boats started retiring and heading for the “Taco Bar” at the
club.
Kudos to the boats that actually made it to the finish: Tusitala, Toad and Friskie (Homer’s new boat). New Wave got very close but could not cross the line. It was a nice evening on the water blessed with a beautiful amber full moon rising from the East horizon. It turned into a no rain, light wind evening.
We had a good turnout at the club for the food offered which was a Spaghetti dish with excellent salad, garlic bread and even a dessert. Though we like the Taco’s usually served, spaghetti was a great switch.
Next Tuesday is the last Tuesday of the month and will be a
barbecue potluck evening at the club after the race. Please show up for this last potluck. At 8pm I will be announcing boats and persons
of special note and tokens of appreciation.
Since this is a potluck night, this will be the last Tuesday NIGHT sail
of the season. See below about our
continuing to sail on Tuesday afternoons starting on November 2.
NEXT
TUESDAY IS A BARBECUE POTLUCK EVENT AND WILL BE THE LAST TUESDAY NIGHT SAIL OF
THE SEASON.
Race QS:
Most boats are running this app. To see the track from this night click on this
site: https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&updatedAt=2021-10-20T02:15:52Z&dt=2021-10-19T17:45:05-07:00..2021-10-19T19:15:41-07:00&boat=Pairadice&time=1634694916102&focus=Pairadice&tab=setup&view=manual&lat=36.958420&lon=-122.012577&tilt=6&range=720&heading=0
TUESDAY AFTERNOON RACING:
Since many of us are retired, we will continue
racing on Tuesday afternoon through the winter.
This endeavor is much different from the summertime with multiple
obstacles: rain, the harbor getting shoaled over, the marks we use for racing
are taken in for the winter. Despite these problems, winter sailing in Santa
Cruz is often sublime with sunny conditions and steady light winds. With variable conditions and obstacles, there
may be Tuesdays we will not race. Each
boat that wants to participate in these Tuesday afternoon races should send me
an email or fill out a form (next Tuesday at the barbecue) for me with the
following information: Boat name, contact person and email address for notification
of cancellation if conditions are not appropriate. We will continue to meet at
the start mark until the SCYC marks are removed for the winter. Once the marks are removed, we will meet at
Gov and will set up a start line there.
I am thinking that we should meet at 2 o’clock for these races and
communication will still be on channel 69.
SCYC SANCTIONED RACES:
Tuesday Night Sailing has been very popular and
is a great way to hone your racing skills.
I have seen incredible progress by boats that had never raced until they
came out for Tuesday Nights. Why not
apply these new-found skills in a SCYC sanctioned race? All that is necessary is a current PHRF
certificate (PHRF forms at SCYC) and
registering through the SCYC.org website under regattas. The next sanctioned series of racing is the
Mid winters series which will be on the 3rd Saturday of each month
starting on November 20. You may even
win a trophy to display at home.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
