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