SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 WHISPERING SOUTHERN BREEZE

 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

WHISPERING SOUTHERN BREEZE

When I got to the harbor at about 3, the flags showed a very light wind with little change as the afternoon progressed.  As we left the harbor at 5, there were signs of patches of faint wind on the water.  The direction of the wind was from 200 degrees, almost due South.  This presented an unusual challenge: the shortest South wind course we have is to finish at Mile.  If the wind died, there would be no way to shorten course.  I decided to set a temporary mark about halfway in the direction of Mile.  It was comical since the water in that location showed 54 feet and my rode for the "flag buoy" is only about 50 feet.  Sure enough, when deployed the buoy was submerged requiring a long boat hook to retrieve.  We set the usual orange (start line ball) at that location.   We went back in and set the "flag buoy" for a start line square to the wind.  We called for the course to be once around the orange ball and back to the finish and blew a horn at 5:50 for a two-fleet start.

On PAD we approached the line on port tack with about two minutes to the start and jibed around for a starboard tack start close to the yellow ball end of the line.  While we started on time, this position left us with a lot of dirty wind and many boats that we would need to dip if we tacked over. As we tacked our way to the mark, the wind was increasing and the request was proposed to go twice around the mark, so we announced the lengthening of the course to twice around.  All boats made their way to the mark with Pacific High being first of Fleet A around followed Yellow Belly, Frisky, Avatar, Sanctuaire, Tusitala, Sagittarius, Perfect 36, Pair A Dice, Muffin and Big Mac.  The first of Fleet B around the mark was Makani, followed by Zoop. Toad, Nidaros, Sweet Pea, Pacific Spirit and Kicks.

While the decision to lengthen course to twice around worked for fleet A, the wind was dying and the request for  once around for fleet B was requested and announced.  At the finish for Fleet A, Yellow Belly was first 33:06, followed by Pacific High 34:30, Geronimo 34:48, Sanctuaire 39:37, Avatar 39:39, Frisky 40:03, Tusitala 45:30, Perfect 36 48:25, Pair A Dice 49:57 and Big Mac 51:32.  All times are elapsed, and the course distance was 1.45 NM.

Fleet B finished their one lap course with Makani in the lead 18:42, Zoop 20:07, Toad 22:19, Nidaros 22:46, Sweet Pea 24:16, Pacific Spirit 24:21 and Kicks 31:53.  Times are elapsed, and the course distance was 0.72 nm.

Despite the light wind, it was a beautiful evening on the water with about 25 boats out to enjoy the whispering southern breeze.

 PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS

PLACE                   BOAT                                     ADJUSTED SECONDS                       HIGH SCORE

FLEET A: course length 1.45NM

1              YELLOW BELLY                                1781                                                    10

2              PACIFIC HIGH                                    1935                                                      9  

3              GERONIMO                                        1961                                                       8

4              AVATAR                                               2187                                                       7

5              SANCTUAIRE                                    2211                                                        6

6              FRISKY                                               2285                                                        5

7              TUSITALA                                          2599                                                        4

8              PERFECT 36                                       2696                                                        3

9              PAIR A DICE                                      2736                                                         2

10           BIG MAC                                            2770                                                          1

FLEET B Course length .72NM

1              MAKANI                                              1016                                                        8

2              ZOOP                                                    1103                                                        7

3              TOAD                                                    1231                                                        6

4              NIDAROS                                             1288                                                        5

5              MAKANI                                              1316                                                         4

6              SWEET PEA                                         1337                                                        3

7              PACIFIC SPIRIT                                   1342                                                        2

8              KICKS                                                    1783                                                       1  

 

RACE QS:

We routinely have several boats that complete the race that "forget to start their Race QS track".  We cannot count boats that do not run their track.  I know there are many tasks required to prepare a boat for the race.  I suggest presetting the start of the track before you even get to harbor.  If you are planning on racing, you could preset the start for 17:45 while having breakfast or your morning coffee.  Just make sure you bring your phone to the boat and, for best results mount the phone face up with the top of the phone pointed toward the bow.

The track for this evening can be viewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=84160&updatedAt=2022-09-07T02:18:53Z&dt=2022-09-06T17:40:00-07:00..2022-09-06T19:17:40-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1662511237556&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Makani&tab=fleet&view=match

SEMINAR ABOUT STARTING RACES:

We had a great seminar about setting up for a good start in a race.   Thanks to Chris Hoffman for this great presentation with about 20 people attending.

See you next Tuesday and please pray for wind!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice