MAY 31, 2022
FAILURE TO
COMMUNICATE
As I arrived at the harbor around 4:30 there was an Easterly
showing on the flags. Yet another light
wind Easterly evening! ☹ We prepped
the boat and left the harbor around 5pm with an apparent Easterly filling the
bay. We set the line and called for course
Echo 5: twice around Blacks with a finish at the start mark. We blew the 5-minute horn for a single start
and set up for our start.
After studying Race QS from last week, I determined that the
best starts with clear air were further down the line towards the beach and I
set up to start in this area. We
achieved a clear air start into the building Easterly. The Easterly usually fills in first toward
the beach. We sailed further in than
most boats before tacking over to round Blacks. As we approached Blacks, the
wind seemed to be dying so I decided to shorten course but got involved in
sailing and did not make the shorten course announcement. The first around Blacks (1st
rounding) was Jersey Girl (whose Race QS track died shortly after) followed by
Sagittarius, Tusitala, New Wave, Gold Rush, Sanctuaire, Zoop, Perfect 36,
Avatar, Nidaros, Makani, Pacific Spirit, Big Mac , Geronimo, Pair A Dice, Kicks
and Sea Quake.
All boats made their way to the start mark and I was
surprised when the boats started the second lap until my crew informed me that
I had never announced to shorten course! The first around the start mark was
New Wave followed by four boats rounding practically together (Sanctuaire, Gold
Rush, Avatar, Sagittarius) then Zoop, Tusitala, Big Mac, Perfect 36, Nidaros,
Geronimo, Pacific Spirit, Pair A Dice, Makani, Kicks and Sea Quake.
On the way to the second rounding of Blacks, most boats
sailed further inside toward the beach while a few boats sailed further
out. On Pair A Dice, it seemed the
texture of the water outside indicated more wind. On the second rounding of Blacks New Wave was
first, followed by Sagittarius, Zoop, Gold Rush, Avatar, Sanctuaire, Tusitala,
Perfect 36, Big Mac, Makani, Pacific Spirit, Nidaros, Pair A Dice, Sea Quake
and Kicks. Geronimo’s Race QS track had stopped.
The wind seemed to be dying even more as boats approached
the finish line. Wind II was first to
finish 51:35 followed by New Wave 51:39, Gold Rush 1:03:15, Avatar 1:04:13,
Sagittarius 1:06:44, Sanctuaire 1:07:52, Perfect 36 1:09:44, Tusitala 1:09:44,
Zoop 1:09:53, Big Mac 1:11:21, Nidaros 1:12:31, Pacific Spirit 1:14:04 and
Makani 1:16:40. Pair A Dice, Kicks and
Sea Quake got caught with no wind and DNF. All times are elapsed, and the
course distance was 1.68NM.
Though the wind was light, it was a beautiful evening on the
water. With regards to my failure to
announce to shorten course, its like the officer in the movie “Cool Hand Luke”
who said, “what we have here is a failure to communicate”. Sometimes it’s hard to walk and chew gum at
the same time.
PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:
PLACE BOAT CORRECTED SECONDS HIGH SCORE
1 WIND II 2737 13
2 NEW WAVE 2932 12
3 GOLD
RUSH 3583 11
4 AVATAR 3631 10
5 SAGITTARIUS 3802 9
6 SANCTUAIRE 3880 8
7 BIG MAC 3908 7
PERFECT
36 TIED 3942 6
ZOOP TIED 3942 6
10 TUSITALA 4032 4
11 NIDAROS 4154 3
12 PACIFIC
SPIRIT 4171 2
13 MAKANI 4353 1
RACE QS:
There were several tracks that did not complete or upload
for this evening. There was no track for
Aboriginal, though they completed 3 times around Blacks. Jersey Girl and Geronimo did not have
complete tracks. I like to plug my phone
in while running the track to be certain the battery does not run out. If unable to plug your phone in, be certain it
is charged before the race.
The track for this evening can be found at:
MAJOR CHANGE WITH TWO STARTS:
As Tuesday sailing
has become very popular, issues have occurred.
I is not normal to have a regatta with such a diverse group of boats
starting on a line at the same time. To compensate for this, we have been setting a longer start line than normal.
Despite the long line, we end up with a myriad of boats to tack through and big
wind shadows. This problem is
accentuated when the first mark is Blacks with a light Easterly working. This is a problem that requires attention for
safety reasons. We tried short course/
long course, but problems arise when boats round marks in opposite directions.
This Tuesday we will try the following changes:
1)
We
will split the fleet into two classes by PHRF.
If your PHRF is less than 115, you will start first. The
second start will be for boats with PHRF 115 or higher.
2)
The
lower PHRF (<115) will start at 5:55 with a 5 minute horn blown at
5:50. The five minute horn for PHRF of
115 up will be blown at 5:55. The 5:55 horn is the start horn for the low PHRF boats and the 5 minute horn for the higher
PHRF.
3)
The
start line will be shortened to a more normal start line.
4)
Both
classes will sail the same course which will be announced on channel 69. If conditions are appropriate for a longer
race, the first boat that finishes in the lower PHRF class may have the option
to indicate (Channel 69) what the extended leg is.
SAILING IN
LIGHT WIND:
Though Pair A
Dice did not even finish the course, it offered an opportunity to learn and
improve. What did we do wrong? After rounding the start mark and starting
the second lap, we sailed outside where there seemed to be more texture on the
water. I was reminded later that
Easterly winds are always stronger toward shore, but some of the boats that
went out did not do badly.
Another error
we made was “sailing to the corner” rather than tacking our way up the middle
of the course. This allowed clear air sailing
but had us sailing much further than necessary.
In very light
winds, it is common for many boats to wander from side to side trying to keep
the tell tales flowing. This is apparent when observing Race QS for this
evening. The tighter the sails are
trimmed, the narrower the groove. I had forgotten the technique I previously
used: loosen the jib sheet a little to widen the groove and have your jib sheet
trimmer adjust the sail to keep telltales flowing as the wind shifts. This
allows the boat to sail a straighter line.
Less helm, allows better boat speed.
It is important to keep this wider angle of steering in mind when
assessing a proper lay line for the next mark.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair
A Dice
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