FEBRUARY 22, 2022 HEAVY WINDS

                                                         FEBRUARY 22, 2022

                                                            HEAVY WINDS

This was the day of the heavy winds. To compensate, it was sunny and the seas were relatively flat.  As we got out to the start area, the winds were in the mid-teens and gusting, but none of the gusts were more than 27 kts (!!). Well, if there's "no bad weather, just bad gear", perhaps the sailing equivalent is "there are no strong winds, just too much sail area".  There were only five boats out, but all had reduced sail area with small jibs, reefed mains, or a combination.  The wind was a typical westerly, from about 250 deg M.  Stefan, standing in for the absent Barry, set a line square to the wind, and with a short course of Start, Gov, Finish. 

The right end of the line was favored, and the lead boats sailed mostly on the longer port tack, headed for the beach. It was shifty, but not enough to lay Gov in one tack. At the mark, Avatar had a substantial lead, but sailed past Gov as they tried to shake out their mainsail reef preparatory to the downwind run to the finish.  Aquavit was close behind, but had some odd autopilot issue so they, too, were a bit slow in rounding.  As they headed off, Simpatico and Pair-a-Dice worked their way up to the mark, and rounded close together, with Dice slightly ahead.  The downwind run was fast with the strong breeze pushing everybody, and some boats exceeding 7 kts in the puffs.

Nobody changed positions on the downwind leg.  Finishing order was Avatar, Aquavit, Dice, Simpatico, Nidaros.  Corrected finish times were fairly spread out for a fast, 2 nm race: Avatar 20:05, Aquavit 22:47, Dice 24:13, Simpatico 25:04, Nidaros 31:58. About the time boats were finishing, the expected northerly finally kicked in, but it didn't make a difference in the outcome.

It's understandable that a lot of Tuesday afternoon sailors and crews are reluctant to go out in strong winds, but we've had some lovely races in those conditions.  For one thing, the race organizers generally choose courses that are sheltered from the worst of the winds and waves, and for another, the courses are usually short enough that people and boats don't get beat up.  It's good experience for crews to practice handling their boats in stiffer conditions, not  to mention dressing for greater winds and seas.  And, provided the boat and its crew are properly prepared and equipped, it can be a lot of fun racing in faster conditions. Spring in Santa Cruz generally brings stronger winds, so hopefully we'll all have some more opportunities in the coming weeks to sharpen our heavy weather skills. Of course it goes without saying that the skipper, with advice from the crew,  has the ultimate responsibility to decide if it's safe to sail under the conditions.

This was the final Tuesday of February, so it was BYOB (bring your own BBQ) at the club.  It was a smaller than usual crowd, but a lively one.  Perhaps it was fueled by survivors' relief at cheating death once again?  (grin)  Next Tuesday we'll be back to regular drinks and dinner at the club following the races. See you all then!


Doug.

doug@dmahone.com
(916) 541-6607

THANKS DOUG FOR THE EXCELLENT WRITEUP!  Race QS track is below:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011635&divisionId=78354&updatedAt=2022-02-23T01:30:45Z&dt=2022-02-22T14:59:59-08:00..2022-02-22T17:30:42-08:00&boat=Dice&model=J24&time=1645570831829&focus=Dice&rival=Avatar&tab=fleet&view=auto

See you next Tuesday

BARRY

FEBRUARY 15, 2022 DEJA VU NORTH WIND

 

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

DÉJÀ VU NORTH WINDS

It must be that time of year.  Within 2 weeks, we had conditions that were nearly identical with very light wind punctuated with blasts of north wind up to 20 knots.  The question as we were setting up the boat was: Do we set up for the light wind lulls (keep the 155 jib) or set up for the stronger puffs and swap out to the 135?  We thought it would be advantageous to keep the 155 and partially furl it for the stronger gusts.  When we got to the start area and got hit with the first blast of wind, we decided to reef the main also.

We called for a course: start, Gov, Mile and finish with the “start stick” to port.  Since the wind was coming from the north and the first mark (Gov) was to the west, we set the start line square to the mark rather than square to the wind.  We blew the 5 minute horn and set up for our start.

Everyone made it off the line without incident and all boats made their way to Gov. It was amazing to see boats as they got blasted and heeled over out of control. At Gov, the first around was Aquavit followed by Zoop,  Pacific Spirit, Perfect 36, Nidaros, Avatar,  PAD, Aeolian, Sea Quake and Kicks.

On the run to Mile, boats that had reefed sails shook out their reefs.  At Mile, first around was Aquavit followed by Perfect 36, Zoop, Avatar, Pacific Spirit, Nidaros, Pair a Dice, Sea Quake, Aeolian and Kicks.

It was a beat back up wind for the finish with strong blasts of wind knocking the boats on the way.  The first boat to finish was Aquavit 32:00, Perfect 36 33:59,  Zoop 34:55, Pacific Spirit 35:50, Avatar 36:04, Nidaros 38:02, PAD 38:40, Sea Quake 41:55, Aeolian 43:04 and Kicks 45:55. All times are elapsed and course length was 3.15 NM.

With the strong winds blasting us from the North, I had a feeling of Déjà vu.  We had been here before!

PHRF adjusted results:

PLACE        BOAT        ADJUSTED SECONDS

1              PERFECT 36                 1585

2             PACIFIC SPIRIT            1639

3              ZOOP                             1641

4              AQUAVIT                     1696

5              AVATAR                       1748

6              PAIR A DICE                 1753

7              NIDAROS                     1922            

8             SEA QUAKE                1951                            

9            AEOLIAN                      2054

10           KICKS                            2188                                           

RACE QS:

Most of us are running tracks on this app.  In order to be accounted in our Tuesday races, you must run this app.

The Track for this evening can be seen at:  https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=78233&updatedAt=2022-02-16T01:14:29Z&dt=2022-02-15T15:45:00-08:00..2022-02-15T17:13:32-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1644971508767&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Nidaros%20II&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.951403&lon=-121.994298&tilt=13&range=270&heading=230

 

DEALING WITH NORTHERLY BREEZE:

Mark Schipper is a club member who has extensive racing experience in Santa Cruz.  He offered his perception of dealing with a North breeze:

The Northerly that comes offshore in very pronounced gusts and can go from zero to 25 or even 30 in a heartbeat and usually last for less than a minute. You can see those puffs coming on the water as much darker patches. These puffs make for big right hand shifts as much as 30 degrees and are particularly hard to handle while close hauled on starboard tack. Not only are you dealing with a big increase in velocity (which tends to heel the boat excessively) but you are also dealing with a significant lift, both of which will cause the helmsman to steer up a lot to keep the boat on her feet. When the puff hits your jib trimmer needs to ease the jib a lot (couple of feet) to depower the top half of the jib, and then trim back in as the helm steers up. At the same time the helmsman needs to drop the traveler to depower the top of the main. You should also trim the main with more twist than normal to open the leach. There is no such thing as a perfectly trimmed main in those conditions. When the gust dies the helm and sail trim return to where they were before the gust so big left turn, jib in and travel up.

 

Port tack is just the opposite. The gusts are big headers and you need to drive down and trim in (some) just as the gust hits. But be careful on the trim in as it is easy to round up. And when the gust subsides the heading and trim return to where they were before the gust. The real key in these conditions is trying to keep the boat flat. You want to minimize heel (and subsequent leeway) by depowering rapidly.

 

The light stuff is always a given up near government buoy. This is due in part to the wharf and the cliff/trees up by Indicators blocking the NNW sea breeze combined with the Boardwalk and Beach Hill blocking the Northerly gusts. It can be very shifty and light and lead changes can happen quickly. As you get further off shore and down towards the fixed start mark (or Soquel mark) the NNW comes into play increasingly and the Northerly gusts a little less...but they are always in the picture. Flat boat downwind and consistent 20 degree heel upwind are ideal. Heel is more important than sail trim during the gusts. This is the most challenging (or rewarding) breeze we get in Santa Cruz. Very hard to sail it well.

 

I will miss next Tuesday’s sail but Stefan will be conducting the race on Sailing Pair A Dice.  Have a gareat sail.

 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

FEBRUARY 8, 2022 AWESOME SAIL WITH CLOSE FINISHES

 

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

AWESOME SAIL WITH CLOSE FINISHES

Sailing these races on a consistent basis, I have found it best to not worry about conditions that are presented to us. I simply show up and deal with what we have.  Predict wind predicted “light and variable” but when we left the harbor at about 3:25 there was a good consistent 10 knot wind across the bay.

We approached the start mark area and set a line square to the wind. We called for a course of start line to Schuyler, Mile and finish at the start mark taking the start mark to port.  We blew a 5 minute horn at 3:55 and set up for our start.  As it turned out, our line was a little short for the 15 boats participating. The line was a little crowded with many boats starting right on time at the line.

Everyone tacked their way to Schuyler.  There were several crossing situations without incident.  At Schuyler, the first around was Aboriginal (welcome to Tuesday afternoon sailing!) followed by Aquavit, Jersey Girl, Avatar, Zoop, PAD, Patricia J, Perfect 36, Muffin, Pacific Spirit, Nidaros, Simpatico, Aeolian, Kicks and Sea Quake.  Aboriginal was so fast, they added another leg and sailed around Schuyler and Mile for another turn (adding another 1.5NM to their course)

On the reach to Mile, Patricia J inched ahead of PAD.  Other than this one change, the order of the boats remained the same at Mile.  All boats made their way to the finish mark with various attempts to set whisker poles with limited success.  Watching the Race QS track it was amazing how close some of the finishes were between boats.  At the finish, the first across was Aquavit 38:01 followed by Jersey Girl 39:35, Zoop 40:07, Avatar 40:12, Patricia J 40:14, Pair A Dice 41:54, Perfect 36 42:39, Muffin 43:39, Nidaros 45:14, Pacific Spirit 45:34, Aeolian 47:00 with Simpatico at 47:01, Aboriginal 49:21 (after sailing a 1.5 mile longer course) and Kicks at 52:00.  All times are elapsed and the course length was 3.12 NM  (4.62 for Aboriginal).  Note how Zoop, Avatar and Patricia J all finished within a 7 second window and Aeolian and Simpatico finished within 1 second of each other!  Finishes this close are hard to call with Race QS but it is all part of the fun.

With such a beautiful evening for a sail and boats finishing in such close proximity, it was an awesome sail with some very close finishes.

PHRF adjusted positions:

(CORRECTED 2/9/22)

PHRF APPLICATION:

We are approaching the start of another Tuesday Evening sailing season.  There has been a lot of confusion around PHRF rate for each boat.  It does not help that everyone can change their rating in the Race QS app.  Not that anyone is fudging, but some have changed their number for “no spinnaker” while others have not.  My spreadsheet has the rating reported on the application submitted last year.  When we apply next month with the time change, I believe it would be better to report your PHRF as you are sailing on Tuesdays.  If your PHRF cert is for flying a spinnaker and you do not use one on Tuesdays, I believe it would be appropriate to add 12 seconds to your PHRF number.  I am open for suggestions on this issue.

Race QS:

Wow, we got all boats on this app now!  The track can be observed at:   

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&updatedAt=2022-02-09T01:26:21Z&dt=2022-02-08T15:45:01-08:00..2022-02-08T17:24:52-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1644368045014&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Nidaros%20II&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.953569&lon=-122.005094&tilt=10&range=3703&heading=216

SAILING STRATEGY IN SANTA CRUZ:

When racing in Santa Cruz with a normal 240-degree wind and the first mark being Schuyler (old Wharf mark), the common strategy is to tack over to port tack as soon as possible to take advantage of the lift on the inside.  Is this path always the best way to go?  I have noticed times when there is slightly less wind inside which can be a negative factor.  There are times when just sailing a couple of hundred yards out before tacking over can get you in a better path of more wind.  Another factor to consider:  what is the sea state?  I have found that sailing out further does not work if the sea state is short choppy waves right on the bow. In these conditions, the more time you spend sailing into waves slowing you down is not advantageous.  It is better to tack over and take the waves and chop on the beam. Frequently sailing further in and sailing out closer to the point offers a more benign sea state.   On this Tuesday sail, the sea state was very flat with no chop or waves to slow us down and we sailed further out before tacking over.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

FEBRUARY 1, 2022 WIND BOMBS ON THE BAY

 

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

WIND BOMBS ON THE BAY

With all predictions indicating strong wind for this afternoon, Q dock was active with people swapping out their large “light wind” jibs for their smaller jibs for the greater wind.  Even as we were working on sail change at the dock, you could tell the wind was not consistent as there were lulls and puffs cycling through the harbor.

As we left the harbor at about 3:25 you could see the puffs of wind hitting the water with glassy areas of very light wind evenly dispersed across the bay.  It was intimidating to see a heavily reefed boat out in the bay heeled way over as it dealt with one of the puffs.  As we approached the start mark area we determined that the wind direction was about 350 degrees and set up a line square to the wind.  I decided a course of start line to GOV, Mile and the finish at the “finish stick” to port.  With this course, the one drawback was that the port end of the line was incredibly favored.

At the start, Pacific Spirit nailed the port end of the line right on time with Pair A Dice right behind. Aquavit also had a great start.  It was challenging as we all sailed toward Gov, trying to negotiate between the very light wind areas and the strong puffs.  At one point Aquavit got “knocked” by a header and wisely tacked to take advantage of it.  At Gov, the first around was Aquavit followed by PAD, Pacific Spirit, Avatar, Perfect 36, Kicks, Sea Quake and Nidaros.  The last 3 boats around Gov were dealing with a lull in the wind which can be very challenging.  You need a moving boat to round a mark.

On the reach to Mile, most boats set their whisker pole.  At Mile, Aquavit was once again first around followed by Avatar, PAD, Pacific Spirit, Perfect 36, Nidaros, Sea Quake and Kicks.  On the way to the finish line, we all experienced several light wind areas which resulted in painfully slow sailing.

At the finish, it was Aquavit 39:15, Avatar 42:36, Pair A Dice 45:50, Pacific Spirit 46:31, Perfect 36 48:22, Nidaros 54:01, Sea Quake 57:44 and Kicks 58:40.  Times are elapsed the course distance was 3.15NM.

After our experiences with very light wind through the winter, it was exhilarating to actually experience strong winds even if it was not consistent with the puffs feeling like wind bombs on the bay.

PHRF adjusted times are as follows:

ADJ SEC	ADJ PLACE
2093.55	AQUAVIT	1
2140.2	AVATAR	2
2183	SAILING PAIR A DICE                3
2280.7	PACIFIC SPIRIT4
2448.4	THE PERFECT 36   5
2881.9	NIDAROS II   6
2900.15	SEAQUAKE   7
2953	KICKS	8

FIRST TWO BOATS AROUND GOV

ALL 8 BOATS IN ONE PHOTO

RACE QS:

 The tracks for tonight can be found at:

 https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&updatedAt=2022-02-02T01:34:52Z&dt=2022-02-01T15:45:02-08:00..2022-02-01T17:32:34-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1643763520422&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Nidaros%20II&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.950563&lon=-121.993838&tilt=16&range=162&heading=227

SAILING IN INCONSISTENT WIND:

When racing, you will find that maintaining your boat at a consistent angle of heel results in more efficient sailing. Think of the energy it takes to push and heel your boat way over and the disturbance in  the wind that flows over the foils (sails) that pull the boat forward.  There are two ways to keep the boat at the same angle of heel when hit with gusts:  Travel the mainsail down or head up, using the extra wind as a lift.  The strategy used depends on whether you can use a lift to round the next mark.

I observed tonight that the longer boats with taller masts seemed to have a more consistent boat speed while the smaller boats seemed to be more affected by the lulls.  We all know there are times when there is more wind up higher, and sometimes this higher wind does not hit the water creating glassy water and the lull.  So how can you use this information other than buying a larger boat?  My theory is that more attention should be paid to sail trim in the upper part of your sail to take advantage of this higher wind.   I am guilty of concentrating on the lower tell-tales for steering, but it may be better to keep looking up while in a lull!  Time to appeal to a “Higher Power”.

See you next Tuesday for a 4:00 start.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice