APRIL 26, 2022 GUSTY NORTHERLY

 

APRIL 26, 2022

GUSTY NORTHERLY

It was great to show up at the harbor and see wind on the water.  As we left the harbor there was a Northwesterly breeze further out on the bay but the most apparent wind at the start mark was northerly though it looked like the northwesterly could come back.  We called for course N2 which would be a reaching course.  We set a line that was square to the first mark, but with the wind changing to a Northerly, the beach end of the line was incredibly favored.  We blew the five minute horn for the 17 boats out for the sail.

All boats seemed to congregate at the beach end creating a close-quarter start. All boats got off a clean start and made their way to Gov.  At Gov, the first around was Aboriginal followed by Sweetheart, Tusitala, New Wave, Aquavit,  Watts Moore, Water Dragon, Sweet Pea, Good Timin’, Pacific Spirit, Perfect 36, Pair A Dice, Toad and Tessa.

The run back to Blacks required constant adjustment of the sails because of the shifty wind. Aboriginal once again rounded Blacks first followed by Sweetheart, Tusitala, Watts Moore, Aquavit, New Wave, Water Dragon, Good Timin’, Sweet Pea, Perfect 36, Pacific Spirit, Pair A Dice, Toad and Tessa.

At the finish line, Aboriginal was first 23:40, Sweetheart 26:48, Frisky 27:57, Tusitala 28:34, Watts Moore 30:09, Aquavit 30:33, New Wave 32:07, Water Dragon 32:34, Perfect 36 35:04, Good Timin’ 35:23, Pacific Spirit 36:11, Sweet Pea 36:50, Pair a Dice 37:41, Toad 39:44 and Tessa 44:06.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 2.72 NM.

It was a beautiful evening with plenty of wind that turned out to be a gusty Northerly.

THE VIEW FROM ABORIGINAL

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                 BOAT                         ADJUSTED SECONDS                            HIGH SCORE

1              ABORIGINAL                            1330                                                          14                     

2              WATTS MOORE                        1401                                                          13

3              TUSITALA                                 1469                                                           12                                       

4              WATER DRAGON                     1570                                                           11

5              SWEETHEART                          1624                                                           10         

6              AQUAVIT                                   1637                                                             9

7              NEW WAVE                               1657                                                             8

8              PERFECT 36                              1712                                                             7                           

9              PACIFIC SPIRIT                        1730                                                              6

10           GOOD TIMIN’                            1739                                                              5

11           SWEET PEA                                1761                                                              4

12           PAIR A DICE                                1771                                                             3

13          TOAD                                             1976                                                             2

14          TESSA                                            2025                                                             1                                            

RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be found at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=79417&updatedAt=2022-04-27T02:20:02Z&dt=2022-04-26T17:45:01-07:00..2022-04-26T19:17:29-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1651023846981&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Nueva%20Ola&tab=fleet&view=follow&lat=36.951099&lon=-121.992763&tilt=9&range=322&heading=236

               

RULES DISCUSSION:

We had a barbecue at the club and a very interesting rules discussion.  The rules discussion went into a detailed discussion on a couple of cases.  There were several things I learned but to me there seemed to be two main things that seem to be missing in every incident: being aware and effective communication.  You must be aware of situations as they develop.  Being aware is not just the skipper’s responsibility! Every crew member, while racing, should keep focused on racing and issues that may arise.  Issues can be everything from avoiding clumps of kelp and crab pots to impending situations with other boats.

 While focusing on getting the most speed and employing tactics, humans seem to get quiet as they concentrate.  This is a problem when issues are developing, we need to communicate in a loud clear voice such things as “No Overlap” or “Clear” when entering the zone.   There will be times that communicating that you are unable to yield properly (lack of control or prevention of a collision) can let the right of way boat know you are in a predicament.  If this happens, you should do a turn to exonerate.  It is critical to always remember rule 14 and avoid contact.

Barry Keeler

 Sailing Pair A Dice

APRIL 19, 2022 GOOD CONSISTENT WIND

 

APRIL 19, 2022

GOOD CONSISTENT WIND

Once again wind predictions were all over the place for this evening and once again we found ourselves in heavy gusts with a large jib.  When we got to the start area, we determined the wind was from the normal 240 degrees.  We set a line square to this direction but realized that the line was too short as more boats were sailing out of the harbor.  We snagged the ball and extended the line which turned out well with 23 boats participating.

We called for course whiskey 3 and blew the 5 minute horn.  Right after I blew the horn, I realized my VHF was on Channel 16, so nobody heard the course or the countdown for the horn.  Time for a reset. We announced the course and blew a 5 minute horn for a 6:06 start.  I do my best, but sometimes things happen.  I appreciate the patience exhibited towards me for such a faux pau.

It is amazing to me that, with 23 boats on the line, that many boats had such excellent starts: right on the line right on time.   We all tacked our way to Schuyler.  The first around was Aboriginal followed by Zoop, New Wave, Aquavit, Perfect 36, Avatar, Watts Moore, Good Timin’, Makani, Patricia J, Jersey Girl, Pair A Dice, Pacific Spirit, Muffin, Big Mac, Toad, Sweet Pea, Nidaros and Sea Quake.

On the run back to Blacks, boats shook out their reefs and set poles.  The first around Blacks was Aboriginal once again followed by Sweetheart,  Aquavit, Zoop, New Wave, Perfect 36, Avatar, Watts Moore, Makani, Good TImin’, Patricia J, Jersey Girl, Muffin, Pair A Dice, Pacific Spirit, Toad, Big Mac, Nidaros, Sweet Pea and Sea Quake.

At the finish Aboriginal maintained their lead 34:33 followed by Sweetheart 37:00, Aquavit 42:07, Zoop 42:57, New Wave 43:33, Perfect 36 44:29, Avatar 45:11, Good Timin’ 46:11, Makani 46:27, Patricia J 46:41, Watts Moore 46:58, Jersey Girl 47:08, Muffin 48:01, Pair A Dice 50:55, Pacific Spirit 51:35, Toad 52:01, Big Mac 53:14, Nidaros 53:23, Sweet Pea 55:21, Sea Quake 56:38 and  Meja Duzia 1:10:15.  All times are elapsed and the course length was 3.42 NM.

After several weeks of very light wind and then one week of winds shifting all through the evening, it was great to have an evening with good consistent wind. 

PHOTO TAKEN FROM ZOOP:    AN ENVIABLE POSITION 

 PHRF CORRECTED RESULTS:

PLACE              BOAT        ELAPSED TIME    CORRECTED SECONDS  HIGH SCORE

1              ABORIGINAL                      34:33                     1960                       21

2              ZOOP                                    42:57                     2084                       20

3              PERFECT 36                         44:29                     2176                      19

4              SWEETHEART                     37:00                     2240                      18

5              AVATAR                                45:11                     2259                       17

6              NEW WAVE                         43:33                     2274                       16

7              AQUAVIT                             42:07                     2284.18                  15                          

8              MAKANI                              46:27                     2284.26                  14

9              GOOD TIMIN’                     46:11                     2288                       13

10           JERSEY GIRL                       47:08                     2304                       12

11           WATTS MOORE                   46:58                     2305                       11

12           BIG MAC                              53:14                     2434                       10

13           PAIR A DICE                        50:55                     2439                       9

14           PATRICIA J                           46:41                     2462                       8

15           PACIFIC SPIRIT                   51:35                     2540                       7                             

16           TOAD                                    52:01                     2608                       6                             

17           SWEET PEA                         55:21                     2756                       5

18           SEA QUAKE                        56:38                     2785                       4

19           NIDAROS                            53:23                     2802                       3

20           MUFFIN                               48:01                     2841                       2

21           MEIA DUZIA                   1:10:15                      3496                       1

 

What an amazing race with many very close finishes on corrected time! 

                     

RACE QS:

We had 23 boats out for the night and 21 of them ran and uploaded their race QS tracks.  You can view these tracks by clicking on this link:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=79270&updatedAt=2022-04-20T02:35:50Z&dt=2022-04-19T17:45:02-07:00..2022-04-19T19:35:46-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1650422146000&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Avatar&tab=match&view=manual&lat=36.952538&lon=-121.993004&tilt=15&range=3430&heading=188                

Since we are using Race QS as our race committee, it is advisable to have two phones on each boat run the track. Only one phone should be uploaded, the second phone is the backup in case there is a snafu with the other phone.  I like to preset the start so the track starts at 5:45 (17:45) to be able to see the starting sequence.            

WHAT MAKES A GOOD CREW?

Maintaining and working with a good crew is critical to excellent race performance.  Ask any boat owner about crew problems and they will express their exasperation.  There are many factors that come into play when selecting crew: knowledge of sailing, availability and actions while on the boat are just a few.

Obviously, the more you know about sailing, the more value you offer as a crew member.  If you are proficient in all positions (mainsheet, Jib sheet, foredeck, tactician and even helmsman), you are more desirable than someone who has never sailed and has no experience. This does not mean you cannot learn.  Everybody that sails and pays attention is on a path of continued improvement

Availability is a critical factor in crewing.  We all have issues that arise that inhibit our availability, this is normal and to be expected.  The critical issue is COMMUNICATION!  If you are a crewmember that is available 90% of the time and you will not be available for an event, let the skipper know well in advance so they can scour for crew.  Even if you are not a consistent crew and you have COMMITTED to being at an event, DON’T just not show up!  You should know how to communicate with the skipper (text, phone or email) and let him know if you cannot make it. My preference is a phone call.

Your actions while on the boat are huge! Keep in mind that the skipper is responsible for prevention of problems, all while trying to maximize boat speed.  It is a HUGE asset for a crew member to keep the skipper apprized AT ALL TIMES of issues happening on the water.  This is critical in the starting sequence when boats are in very close quarters.  Racing is not a “day on the bay” as boats are converging on each other in closer quarters than in a normal day sail.  It is the job of crew to keep the skipper apprised of impending situations. An example: “You have a  port-tack boat at 10 o’clock, it looks like they have us cleared” lets the skipper know about a potential situation.  Crew can have discussions and socialize, but at least one crew member should be keeping their head “out of the boat” looking for potential issues.

Years ago, I had a discussion with the late Rob Schuyler, who was a consistent regatta winner.  I asked him what the secret to winning races was. He said they had analyzed this for years and the consensus was that the critical factor was having a crew that worked well together. 

Next Tuesday will be the last Tuesday of the month and will be a potluck barbecue.  We will also have another discussion on rules.

 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

APRIL 12, 2022 CRAZY WIND EVENING

 

APRIL 12, 2022

CRAZY WIND EVENING

After a blustery Monday, I was expecting the wind to decrease for Tuesday.  I got to the harbor at about 3:30 and watched the ocean for a while to see what the wind was doing AT THAT POINT IN TIME.  The flags on the Crow’s Nest showed a light breeze with a wind line about a half mile off shore.  The wind offshore did not look like it was more than 18 knots.  Seeing the light wind on the flags, I took this as an omen of decreasing wind through the evening and I kept my 155 jib on.   Little did I know what was in store for us.  While sitting in the slip, we saw hints of an Easterly blowing, then a Northerly as the wind continually clocked around.

As we left the harbor at about 5:15 I scanned the ocean and felt that the 155 jib was the right sail for the evening.  As we approached the start mark area, the wind was increasing and changing direction constantly.  We decided to call an “inside course” of start to Gov, Blacks and finish at the start mark. It was impossible to set a line square to the constantly changing wind so we set a line square to the first “windward” mark.  We blew a 5 minute horn for the 6pm start and set up for our start.

All boats got over the line, but PAD ended up tapping the start mark and did a quick Jibe and tack to exonerate.  Most of the smaller boats put reefs in to decrease sail area in the puffs that were blasting across the bay.  The larger boats enjoyed the full power of the wind in full sails as we all made our way to Gov.  The first around Gov was Sweetheart followed by Aboriginal, New Wave, Patricia J, Perfect 36, Sanctuaire, Zoop, Makani, Pacific Spirit, Big Mack, Pair A Dice, Kicks and Toad.

All boats sailed downwind toward Blacks, with some using their whisker poles and shaking out reefs. At Blacks, the order of rounding remained the same except Zoop had pulled ahead of Sanctuaire,  PAD  got a lead on Big Mack and Toad passed Kicks.

At the finish Sweetheart was first 27:48, then Aboriginal 29:26, New Wave 33:59, Patricia J 35:21, Perfect 36 35:43, Zoop 36:30, Sanctuaire 36:33, Watts Moore 37:33, Makani 39:20, Good Timin’ 39:25, Pacific Spirit 40:31, Pair A Dice 43:01, Big Mac 43:22, Toad 44:01 and Kicks 44:32, Nidaros 49:05.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 2.72NM.

With the wind that was consistently clocking from almost all points of the compass and wild puffs of wind blasting across the bay, it was a crazy wind evening.

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE              BOAT                               ADJUSTED SECONDS                       HIGH SCORE

1              ABORIGINAL                                 1676                                                     16

2              SWEETHEART                                  1684                                                        15

3              PERFECT 36                                   1751                                                         14

4              NEW WAVE                                     1769                                                        13          

5            ZOOP                                                  1798                                                        12

6              WATTS MOORE                              1845                                                        11          

7              PATRICIA J                                      1851                                                        10

8              SANCTUAIRE                                 1882                                                         9

9              MAKANI                                          1960                                                         8

10            GOOD TIMIN’                                 1981                                                         7

11            PACIFIC SPIRIT                              1990                                                         6

12            BIG MACK                                      1998                                                         5

13            PAIR A DICE                                   2091                                                         4

14            KICKS                                              2182                                                        3

15            TOAD                                               2233                                                        2

16            NIDAROS                                        2621                                                        1

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be found at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=79187&updatedAt=2022-04-13T02:34:06Z&dt=2022-04-12T17:45:01-07:00..2022-04-12T19:30:43-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1649814272078&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Nueva%20Ola&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.949935&lon=-121.992667&tilt=8&range=455&heading=234

REEFING:

My favorite story about reefing is the time I was sailing up the coast of Baja on the Alaska Eagle.  We were sitting in the cockpit as the wind was increasing.  The skipper said it was time to put a reef in.  As I left the cockpit, I saw that our boat speed was 8 knots. We put the reef in and when I returned to the cockpit, our speed had increased to 9 knots.  This taught me that reefing at the appropriate time can increase your speed.

Every boat has its own conditions that require putting a reef in to decrease sail area. Heavier and larger boats seem to tolerate more wind without reefing while lighter boats should reef earlier.  The dynamics involve keeping the boat from heeling too much.  Excessive heeling of the boat  will cause the boat to side-slip away from your intended goal (mark).  With enough moveable ballast (people up on the rail), you may be able to put off reefing for awhile but always keep in mind that reefing earlier will usually improve your race results.  This is counterintuitive: decrease sail area to increase speed!

REACTING TO CHANGING CONDITIONS:

It has been some time since I have sailed in winds like we had this night: big gusts and huge shifts in direction. This presented a lot of obstacles (distractions) in getting the sails set appropriately.  In setting up for our start, the wind was blowing from about 310 degrees, which was a great angle for the line we had set.  By the time of the start, the strong wind had shifted to the normal 240 degrees making it hard to clear the line.  If I had been paying attention, we could have tacked to take advantage of this new wind rather than hitting the mark.   We are all accustomed to calling out headers and lifts but missing such a huge shift really set us back. This is not an excuse, but it is an opportunity to learn: do not get so distracted that you miss the “elephant in the room” wind shift.  Looking at the Race QS track shows how the boats that took advantage of this change in wind direction really pulled ahead.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

APRIL 5, 2022 SLOW MOTION RACING

 

APRIL 5, 2022

S-L-O-W   M-O-T-I-O-N   RACING

Forget all wind predictions, We are cursed with no wind Tuesdays!  It looked encouraging as we left the harbor at about 5:15 with a healthy looking Easterly building.  We took the wind direction and it was about 110 degrees and we set a line fairly square to this direction.  As the clock ticked down, the wind seemed to be dying.  Some people announced that there was 12 knot wind out by the yellow ball end of the line, which attracted a lot of boats to that end of the line.  We called for course Echo 5, with the option to shorten course. We postponed 5 minutes twice waiting for the wind to build from any direction and finally started the race at 6:10.

It was amazing, with such light wind that many boats had excellent starts with most boats crossing the start line within 5 minutes of the start.  It was amazing to watch Watts Moore (Moore 24) execute an excellent start and horizon the fleet like it was the only boat built for these conditions.  Of course the skill of the Watts Moore skipper cannot be minimized.  The conditions were very challenging with light wind that was very shifty.  With normal wind speeds, you can tack on the shifts, but when you are creeping along at less than 1 knot speed, this is not an option.  The first boat around Blacks was Watts Moore followed by Good Timin’, New Wave, Tusitala, Sweetheart, Water Dragon, Perfect 36, Sagittarius, Zoop/Makani/Simpatico together, Toad, Nidaros, Avatar, Sea Quake and Pair A Dice.  As everyone was drifting and the wind never building as anticipated, we shortened the course to once around.

On the way back to the finish line, some boats went inside looking for the building Easterly and some of us sailed the rhumb line straight to the finish line.  With the unpredictable wind never filling in, the boats sailing closer to shore surrendered any lead they had.   At the finish Watts Moore was first 22:34, followed by Wind II 34:07,  New Wave 34:59, Water Dragon 35:47, Sweetheart 37:30, Good Timin’ 38:40, Nidaros 40:35, Sagittarius 48:22, Pair A Dice 49:09, Simpatico 51:35, Sea Quake 51:43, Toad 52:01,  Zoop 52:08, Avatar 52:10, Makani 52:11 and Tusitala 54:22.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 0.84NM.

With the unpredictable very light wind, the tracks on Race QS were very erratic.  The highest speed I noticed for the whole race was 1.5 knots with many moments of zero speed.  It was a classic set up for slow motion racing. In situations like this, we are seeing more boats start their motors to retire, often trying to prevent collisions in out of control situations.  Perfect 36 was closing in on the finish line and, rather than fight the crowd of boats in dicey conditions,  started their motor to retire and get out of the way. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. 

MULTIPLE BOATS CLOSING IN FOR THE FINISH

  PHRF ADJUSTED POSITIONS:

PLACE               BOAT NAME                          ADJUSTED SECONDS                      HIGH SCORE

1              WATTS MOORE                                 1228                                              16

2              WIND II (FINN)                                1868                                                15

3             NEW WAVE                                        2015                                                14

4              WATER DRAGON                             2028                                                13

5              GOOD TIMIN’                                   2201                                                 12

6              SWEETHEART                                  2255                                                 11

7              NIDAROS                                           2435                                                 10

8              SAILING PAIR A DICE                     2797                                                   9

9              SAGITTARIUS                                   2801                                                   8

10           SEA QUAKE                                       2951                                                    7

11           SIMPATICO                                        2956                                                     6

12           TOAD                                                 2995                                                      5

13           MAKANI                                           3007                                                       4

14           ZOOP                                                 3128                                                       3

15          AVATAR                                              3130                                                      2

16          TUSITALA                                         3186                                                       1                                                                                                                                                          

RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be viewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=79068&updatedAt=2022-04-06T02:32:26Z&dt=2022-04-05T17:45:01-07:00..2022-04-05T19:24:05-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1649210753830&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Sagittarius&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.951422&lon=-121.989127&tilt=1&range=1053&heading=94

SAILS AND POINTS OF SAIL:

Normally, in light wind situations, I like to use my larger (155) jib.  In the unusually light, shifting wind experienced on this night the 155 was actually a detriment while sailing to weather.  Everyone knows that sailing to weather has a narrow optimal track. Any header will backwind the larger sail and impede your speed.  This resulted in PAD being the last boat to round Blacks.  On the way back to the finish line, we used our whisker pole and set it so the jib and main were perpendicular to the wind direction as indicated by telltales on the shrouds. It became obvious to me that the “narrow track” to be steered in sailing to weather, is not as critical going down wind.  I also tried to keep the wind direction “in the box” with the windex pointing within the indicator arms on the masthead.  Doing this, we passed a few boats.  It also helped us that the anticipated inside wind did not happen and the shortest path to the finish paid off for us.

FENDING OFF-THE SAFE WAY:

In conditions like we had this night, there are times when boats are out of control in close quarters and light winds. As noted, it is at the discretion of the skipper to attempt to not enter these danger zones.  If need be, it is better to start the engine to escape rather than expose the boat and crew to dangerous situations.  The natural reaction for crew is to fend off to prevent damage to boats.  Nobody likes the sound of crunching fiberglass.  If best efforts to avoid these situations fails, a safer way to fend off when boats are in close quarters is to dangle fenders between the boats.  Fenders are made to absorb energy, your fingers are not!

We will see you next Tuesday!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice