JULY 19, 2022 A SWELL WIND

 

JULY 19, 2022

A SWELL WIND

Like a dark cloud hanging over us, the harbor had issued a warning about a huge South swell predicted to hit its climax here on Tuesday afternoon.  This creates two issues for sailors, transiting the harbor entrance safely and dealing with intense currents in the harbor creating hazards while docking.  I watched the harbor cam Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning and did not see anything too intense with five wave sets of about 5 foot waves hitting about every 15 minutes.  I went to the harbor at about 3:30 and was surprised to see plumes of water splashing on the lighthouse jetty.  I looked from the end of the dock and was surprised to see a large set breaking into the harbor.  I walked down to the entrance to get a closer look and watched for 20 minutes and saw no other sets come through.  With a light Easterly showing on the Crow's Nest flag, it seemed crazy to risk the waves for another night of bobbing in light wind. I returned to the boat and prepped for sailing. 

As we exited the harbor just after 5 o'clock, there was a healthy Easterly wind filling in that seemed to be increasing.  Yet another problem to resolve was the fact that the start mark was not visible because it was submerged. We set one of our marks for the start mark and the red ball for the other end of the line.  With the wind increasing and 14 boats out for the fun, I called for course Echo 2.  This course frequently presents problems as the Easterly wind can die.  We blew a 5 minute horn for a single start at 6pm.

On PAD, the plan for the start was to achieve clear air and not get shadowed by other boats.  We accomplished this close to the beach end of the line.  All boats tacked their way to the first mark, as the wind seemed to be increasing.  At one moment I noticed apparent wind of 20 knots!  The first around was Aboriginal followed by Geronimo, Tusitala, Sagittarius, Avatar, Pair A Dice, Perfect 36, Pacific Spirit, Good Timin',  Simpatico, Kicks, Muffin and Nidaros.

After rounding, we had the run to Blacks, but had to steer clear of the heavy kelp bed extending south from the point.  It was also an unusual experience trying to find Blacks approaching from that angle.  First around Blacks was Aboriginal then Geronimo, Tusitala, Sagittarius, Avatar, Pair A Dice, Perfect 36, Pacific Spirit, Good Timin', Kicks, Simpatico, Muffin and Nidaros.

With the yellow start mark submerged just outside our temporary mark, it was  announced to use the red finish line ball as the finish mark to avoid the "submerged start mark danger".  Many boats used the start line as the finish line which is normal for racing, so this was the finish line I used rather than the extension line from the lighthouse. At the finish, Aboriginal was first 32:12, followed by Geronimo 35:41, Tusitala 38:59, Sagittarius 40:23, Avatar 40:46, Sailing Pair A Dice 41:16, Perfect 36 41:59, Pacific Spirit 44:08, Good Timin' 45:08, Kicks 45:49, Simpatico 46:01, Muffin 46:29 and Nidaros 47:54.  All times are elapsed and the course length was 3.12 NM.

With the hazard of the large swell, I was asked how many boats I expected to come out and my estimate was eight or nine.  We exceeded that number with 14 boats.  It was a beautiful sunny day on the bay with a swell wind.

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                   BOAT                                     ADJUSTED SECONDS                       HIGH SCORE

1              ABORIGINAL                                     1829                                                       13

2              GERONIMO                                        1869                                                       12

3              SAILING PAIR A DICE                      1914                                                       11

4              AVATAR                                               2034                                                       10                          

5              SAGITTARIUS                                    2048                                                       9

6              TUSITALA                                           2058                                                       8

7              PERFECT 36                                        2069                                                       7

8              PACIFIC SPIRIT                                  2142                                                       6

9              KICKS                                                  2187                                                       5

10           SIMPATICO                                          2246                                                       4

11           GOOD TIMIN'                                      2268                                                       3

12           MUFFIN                                                2358                                                       2

13           NIDAROS                                             2537                                                       1

 

RACE QS:

All boats recorded their tracks.  The track for this evening can be found at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=82156&updatedAt=2022-07-20T02:28:33Z&dt=2022-07-19T17:40:01-07:00..2022-07-19T19:22:39-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1658277640225&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Nidaros%20II&tab=fleet&view=match

BIG BROTHERS, BIG SISTERS REGATTA:

This regatta is a yearly event put on by the yacht club that is very fun and will occur on July 31 this year.  This is an event worth participating in.  On top of benefiting the children, this is a great regatta with a party (music and food) after the regatta.  Check out the SCYC.org website under "regattas" to register.

EPIC SWELL:

My transformation from being a surfer to being a sailor is interesting.  As a surfer, I always wanted waves. As a sailor, I must deal with waves leaving and entering the harbor.  While the swell was definitely something to be considered on this evening, we only received a minimal amount of the energy in Santa Cruz.  In Hawaii, they were closer to the source of the swell.  Check out this You Tube video to see the energy they experienced on Maui:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZiAe8KINB0

 

NEXT TUESDAY IS THE LAST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH: BARBECUE NIGHT AT THE CLUB AFTER THE RACE.  BRING YOUR BEST GRILLING FOOD!

See you next Tuesday!

 

Barr Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice