SEPTEMBER 27, 2022
SHORT BUT SWEET SAIL
Anyone involved with sailboat races always has one big
concern: will there be enough wind to have a race? The wind was looking pretty feeble when I
arrived at the harbor around 3:30. We prepped the boat and left the harbor,
relieved to see an Easterly breeze developing.
As we approached the start area, we determined the wind was from about
80 degrees and set a line square to that direction. With the evening getting shorter and being a barbecue
night, we did not need a long race so we called for course Echo 5: start to
Blacks twice around finishing at the start buoy. We blew the 10-minute horn for A Fleet to
start at 5:55 and B Fleet to start at 6 pm.
While we had over 20 boats out, only 12 uploaded tracks in A
fleet and 5 in B Fleet. You must run and
upload the Race QS track to be counted!
Going twice around is perfect because it is easy to shorten course if
necessary, but the wind, as light as it was kept the boats moving. The first of A Fleet to round Blacks the
first time was Aboriginal, followed by Sweetheart, Aquavit, Pinata,
Sagittarius, Sanctuaire, Jersey Girl, Avatar, Tusitala, Gold Rush, New Wave and
Good Timin'. B Fleet was led around Blacks
by Zoop, Perfect 36, Pair A Dice, Sea Quake and Sweet Pea.
At the finish for A Fleet Aboriginal was first 26:07,
followed by Sweetheart 28:51, Pinata 29:06, Sagittarius 31:31, Jersey Girl
32:23, Avatar 32:45, Aquavit 32:54 Gold Rush 33:22, Sanctuaire 34:27, New Wave
35:31, Good Timin' 35:43 and Tusitala 36:43.
All times are elapsed and course distance was 1.68NM.
For B Fleet, Zoop was first 29:32 followed by Perfect 36
29:59, Pair A Dice 31:51, Sea Quake 38:06 and Sweet Pea 47:31. Times are elapsed, and course distance was
1.68 NM.
With the wind lasting long enough for all boats to finish
and the sun setting quickly in the West, it was a short but sweet sail.
PHRF ADJUSTED RESULT:
PLACE BOAT ADJUSTED
SECONDS HIGH SCORE
FLEET A:
1 ABORIGINAL 1511 12
2 PINATA 1584 11
3 SAGITTARIUS 1689 10
4 JERSEY
GIRL 1706 9
5 SWEETHEART 1741 8
6 AVATAR 1743 7
7 GOLD
RUSH 1790 6
8 AQUAVIT 1853 5
9 SANCTUAIRE 1875 4
10 GOOD
TIMIN' 1906 3
11 NEW WAVE 1964 2
12 TUSITALA 2051 1
FLEET B:
1 ZOOP 1530 5
2 PERFECT
36 1557 4
3 SAILING
PAIR A DICE 1608 3
4 SEA
QUAKE 1985 2
5 SWEET PEA 2573 1
RACE QS:
The track for this evening showing all that uploaded their
track can be viewed at:
https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=85073&updatedAt=2022-09-28T02:05:50Z&dt=2022-09-27T17:40:04-07:00..2022-09-27T19:04:58-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1664325641855&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Avatar&tab=fleet&view=match
GUEST COMMENTS:
In Santa Cruz, we are blessed with many very talented and
experienced sailors. I am going to start
tapping this resource for information to share with our group. Our first contribution will be from Paul Tara
(Zoop) who shares his interpretation of what was happening last Tuesday. Paul has over 60 years of experience sailing
in Santa Cruz, mostly in dinghies. I have taken the liberty to highlight what I
believe are key takeaway points.
"TARA TALK"
My first thought is, “It’s better to be lucky than good.” I
have no idea why the breeze veered 90 degrees last night. But prior to
the start, we made a couple of jogs inshore and noted a decrease in easterly
pressure on the beach. Also,
there was no fog in Capitola, and not much chill. The easterly can be a
flirty breeze and, any time there isn’t more pressure on the beach, I get
uneasy. If the fog is sweeping in by Seacliff, and it’s chilly, then it’s
more dependable.
Our reason for going offshore had more to do with
strategy than the breeze. SF -BP is a short weather leg. There’s really
only enough distance for one or, at most, two tacks. Unless there’s a lot more
pressure on the beach, only the fastest boats have enough race track to punch
out and cross on port. For everyone else it’s “Duck Soup”. If
we can, we like to sail the short port tack first to ensure we don’t get
trapped. Last night’s veer was icing on the cake. We had only just
gotten up to speed on port when the header hit and we were on the starboard
tack layline. I can’t remember the last time I sailed in that
condition. Usually an
easterly veer to a southerly results in less pressure, or “transition”,
followed by a calm or westerly refill. But that didn’t happen. The
southerly actually built. After our finish, there was a boat out
by MB rail-down on port heading SSW, while it was glass along the beach.
A flirty breeze.
Sailing a keelboat in those conditions can be
very, VERY frustrating. The swells result in such radical changes in
apparent wind that there’s almost no such thing as a groove to be in.
Make the sails round, accept that they’re going to be mistrimmed part of the
time, and DO NOT PINCH. Better to close reach and have flow over the
foils than try to squeeze it up and slide sideways. Wear as few clothes
as you can tolerate, particularly head gear. Human skin is the most
sensitive wind instrument. Zoop has no instruments other than a depth
sounder and a compass.
_) _) _) (_ (_ (_
Thank you Paul and we will see you next Tuesday!
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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