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