NOVEMBER 29, 2022 ONE AWESOME SAIL

 

NOVEMBER 29, 2022

ONE AWESOME SAIL

With predictions of eight knot winds, I was surprised to see the flags flying briskly when I arrived at the harbor.  We prepped the boat and with a full crew, left the slip at 2pm.  As we left the harbor, we saw steady wind across the bay.  After the "bob-fests" we have had this month, prospects were looking good. 

The winds were coming from the normal 240 direction.  This presents a problem with the few marks we have in the winter with no windward mark. I decided to set the orange ball mark straight upwind from the start line.  The distance of about 300 yards seemed to be a little short for such a large fleet. We had about 13 boats out for the fun and blew a 5-minute horn for a single start at 3pm.  The course was announced: Start line to round the orange ball to port, Mile to port, SC 2 to port and finish line being the line from the end of the wharf to Gov.

The start line was crowded as all boats rocketed off the line in the 12-13 knot winds  and made their way to the first Red-ball mark, then off to Mile.  The first boat to round Mile was New Wave, followed by Perfect 36, Rosie, Pair A Dice and Pacific Spirit (together), Simpatico, Aeolian, Aquavit, Big Mac and Kicks. 

The wind was not subsiding as we have experienced too often this November and all boats made their way to SC2 and then finishing.  This is when the confusion started as some boats thought that they needed to round Gov and finish going to weather while others used the Wharf-Gov line as a finish line.  In the future, I will designate to take the finish mark to port or starboard to prevent this dangerous situation.  Still learning! At the finish, Perfect 36 was first 22:50, Aquavit 24:29, Rosie 24:48, Simpatico 25:06, New Wave 25:12, Aeolian 26:42, Sailing Pair A Dice 26:55, Big Mac 27:19, Pacific Spirit 27:42, Wind II 28:45 and Kicks 35:05. All times are elapsed and the course length was 2.5 NM.

Some of the confusion on the finish line is because we traditionally round the start mark outside of the line using the extension of the lighthouse and start mark.  The reason for this is so I can retrieve the start line mark before the last boat finishes.   The finish line, wharf-end to Gov, are both permanent marks so the line between them can be used.  I should have explained this over the VHF when calling the course.

After all of the "No-winder sails" we have had this month, it was great to have enough steady wind for one awesome sail!

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                   BOAT                                                     CORRECTED TIME

1                              PERFECT 36                                         16:54

2                              ROSIE                                                    18:20

3                              BIG MAC                                              18:28

4                              SIMPATICO                                         18:39

5                              AEOLIAN                                              19:42

5                              PAIR A DICE                                        19:42    (TIE)

7                              WIND II                                                19:52

8                              AQUAVIT                                             21:08

9                              PACIFIC SPIRIT                                   21:13

10                           NEW WAVE                                         21:14

11                           KICKS                                                    27:35

As a side note, New Wave sailed an extra leg out to the red ball before finishing.  Kicks had a late start and Avatar raced but had no track on Race QS. 

Race QS:

I encourage people to preset their start so their track begins before the start. Race QS uses 24hr timing so 3pm reads as 15:00 and you must preset your start for some time before 15:00 (like 14:45). 

The track for this race can be found at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=86470&updatedAt=2022-11-30T01:39:09Z&dt=2022-11-29T14:40:04-08:00..2022-11-29T16:19:40-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1669762498892&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Nueva%20Ola&tab=fleet&view=follow&lat=36.957954&lon=-122.012053&tilt=0&range=1028&heading=145

WHAT A SEASON:

One of the things that keeps me going in our Tuesday sailing adventure,  is seeing all of us bringing our game up.  How amazing it is to see so many boats right on the start line right on time for the start.  Exciting (crowded) rounding of the first mark and everyone following rules resulting in no "incidents".  Almost all boats finishing withing 5 minutes of each other (elapsed time).  With the confusion at the finish having some boats going through the line in opposite directions BUT following rules resulting in no collisions.  I am proud to be associated with such an awesome group of sailors!

I am looking forward to next Tuesday!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice