August 8, 2023
MISTY COOL BREEZE
As the day progressed, I observed
a heavy fog bank offshore, but at least there was wind in the harbor. Predictions were for light wind for the
evening but as we left the harbor, there was a nice 10 knot breeze across the
bay. We determined the wind was coming
from 230 and set a line square to this direction. We called for course Whiskey
6: Start> Schuyler> Finish and blew the 10 minute horn.
We observed as A fleet got off to
a clean start. Even B fleet got off to a
clean start, though it was crowded on parts of the line. The first A fleet boat to round Schuyler was
Flexi Flye, followed by Watts Moore, Sagittarius, Sticky Fingers, Coyote,
Odonata and Aquavit. Zoop led the charge
around Schuyler for fleet B followed by Avatar, Perfect 36, Pair A Dice, Nidaros,
TOAD, Wind Goddess, Simpatico and Muffin.
At the finish, Fleet A was led by
Flexi Flyer 48:48 followed by Watts Moore 49:21, Sticky Fingers 52:03,
Sagittarius 52:27,Wind 1:02:47, Coyote 1:06:29, Odonata 1:10:27 and Aquavit
1:15:17. Fleet B had Zoop finish first
54:41 followed by Avatar 57:29, Sailing Pair A Dice 1:02:05, Perfect 36 1:03:18
and Nidaros 1:05:58. All times are
elapsed and the course distance was 3.5 NM.
Though the wind was fading,
causing many boats to give up and “head to the bar”, it was a great evening to
be sailing. With the rest of the nation
still dealing with intense heat, it was awesome to be sailing in a misty cool
breeze.
PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:
PLACE BOAT PHRF FINISH TIME
FLEET A
1 WATTS
MOORE 150 40:36
2 STICKY
FINGERS 162 42:36
3 FLEXI
FLYER 96 43:12
4 SAGITTARIUS 120 45:27
5 WIND II 213 50:21
6 ODONATA 243 56:16
7 COYOTE 86 1:01:28
8 AQUAVIT 72 1:11:05
FLEET B
1 ZOOP 144 46:17
2 AVATAR 132 49:47
3 SAILING
PAIR A DICE 180 51:35
4 PERFECT
36 144 54:54
5 NIDAROS 108 5
.jpg)
RACE QS
The track for this evening can be seen at:
OVERHEATING
ENGINE?
This is not a
racing issue, but an interesting discovery.
If you have a diesel engine, it is important to monitor the amount of
water expelled in your exhaust. Recently
someone commented that the amount of water coming from my boat was
decreasing. Sure enough, this last week
my engine overheated. I found that my raw
water intake hose was clogged. I disconnected
the hose from the thru-hull to the raw water strainer. I opened the ball cock
and blew through the hose to dislodge the “mini log jam”. This is one of several things that can cause
overheating, but a very simple remedy if this is the cause.
THE PROTEST
PROCESS:
Years ago, I
was participating in a national regatta in San Francisco and hailed a
“PROTEST!” against a boat that had committed a foul. Back at the club I was trying to decide whether
to proceed with the protest procedure.
An accomplished sailor advised: “You must protest! If we are not going
to follow the rules, let’s just start the engines!”.
Being fouled
is not fun and protests can be a nuisance but are a necessary part of racing. If you break a rule, commit a foul and are
protested, you need to take a proper turn (usually 360 degrees) to
exonerate. Apologizing at the bar is not
an acceptable alternative. We all make mistakes but when you commit a foul and exonerate
yourself by sailing to a clear area (not interfering with other boats) and take
a turn, I guarantee it will increase your awareness and help prevent errors
(and fouls) in the future. Protests in
this series should not be viewed as a shaming experience but they are a huge
opportunity for us all to learn the Racing Rules of Sailing.
Though there is
reference in our course card SIs about filing protests, one definitive action
is not covered in our SIs: the requirement to hail "PROTEST” and wave a
red protest flag. To file a protest, the following actions must be
followed:
1) Hail:
PROTEST! as loud as possible and wave a RED PROTEST FLAG very soon after the
incident.
2) If protested boat
does not exonerate (perform a 360 degree turn) the incident should be filed in
an email to SAILINGPAIRADICE@GMAIL.COM. This email
should describe the perspective of the protesting boat and the details of the
incident. This protesting email must be sent by 12 noon the day after the race.
3)The incident
report will be submitted to the protested boat for their perspective of what
happened. It is also good if other “witness boats” can offer their perspective.
4) The reports from
each party will be considered by a protest committee of at least two judges.
5) Resolution of
incidents may require a private meeting with parties from each
boat and the protest committee to render a ruling.
6) Results from this
correspondence and meeting may be posted in the blog for educational purposes.
This change
to our Tuesday evening sails should not inhibit our fun and should improve our
sailing and knowledge of the rules.
The Racing Rules of Sailing can be reviewed at this site:
I hope to see you sailing next Tuesday.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
No comments:
Post a Comment