OCTOBER 3, 2023 A NIGHT TO RETIRE

 

OCTOBER 3, 2023

A NIGHT TO RETIRE

I was involved in a boat delivery up the coast so was not able to sail in the race on this evening, but returned in time to witness the activity from the beach.  It was a beautiful, light wind evening with over 20 boats out.  The wind direction was from 240 degrees but was changing direction as time progressed.  The 10 minute horn was blown and a course was called: Start line> Mile> finish at S/F (to port).

For the Fleet A start, there were “Close Quarters” in slow motion as the wind was very light. B Fleet had a clean start with no issue.  As boats rounded mile, about half of the boats got frustrated with the light wind and retired heading for the harbor (and the bar!)  Despite the frustration the first A Fleet boat to round Mile was Aboriginal followed by New Wave, Watts Moore, Yellow Belly, Perigon and Aquavit.  B Fleet rounded with Zoop in front, followed by Pair A Dice, Makani and Kicks.

At the finish A Fleet was led by Aboriginal 38:49 followed by Watts Moore 43:00, New Wave 43:28, Yellow Belly 43:52, Perigon 46:52 and Aquavit 1:01:03.  B Fleet was led by Zoop 54:30 followed by Makani 1:08:05, Pair A Dice 1:08:49 and Kicks 1:13:12.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 2.11NM.

For the boats that continued to sail there was a delightful Easterly wind that finally developed for the end of the race.  With the frustrating decrease in wind, it was understandable that more than half of the boats retired. It turned into a night to retire.

THE VIEW FROM THE BEACH    

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                   BOAT                                     PHRF                     ADJUSTED TIME

A FLEET:

1                             ABORIGINAL                    33                           37:39

2                             WATTS MOORE                 150                        37:43

3                             YELLOW BELLY               141                        38:54

4                             NEW WAVE                         99                           39:59

5                             PERIGON                             81                           44:01

6                             AQUAVIT                             72                           58:31

B FLEET

1                             ZOOP                                    144                        49:26

2                             PAIR A DICE                        180                        62:29

3                             MAKANI                              147                        62:54

4                             KICKS                                   180                        66:52

RACE QS:

Race QS seems to be back on track for people that uploaded tracks.  The track for this evening can be found at:

ttps://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1200720&divisionId=94848&updatedAt=2023-10-04T05:21:31Z&dt=2023-10-03T17:30:01-07:00..2023-10-03T21:01:28-07:00&boat=Wind%20Goddess&model=Express27&time=1696385628777&focus=Yellow%20Belly&rival=Watts%20Moore…&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.954571&lon=-122.001477&tilt=7&range=3600&heading=50

LET'S FOLLOW THE RULES!

Right from the rule book:

BASIC PRINCIPLES
SPORTSMANSHIP AND THE RULES
Competitors in the sport of sailing are governed by a body of rules that they are expected to follow and enforce. A fundamental principle of sportsmanship is that when a boat breaks a rule and is not exonerated she will promptly take an appropriate penalty or action, which may be to retire.

By signing up for this series you have signed a statement that indicates that you will follow the racing rules of sailing. As this series becomes more popular, with many boats crowded together it becomes even more critical to follow the rules.  We had a few instances on this night where rules were broken. Kudos to the boats that retired after breaking a rule which is one of the options to exonerate after breaking a rule.

It is important for each of us to have a red protest flag readily available to deploy and to hail “PROTEST!”.  Again, protests in this series are a great opportunity to better learn the rules.   

OBSERVATIONS ON A DELIVERY:

The delivery was on a boat from Long  Beach to Santa Cruz.  As we were motoring along at 7 knots in an unsettled sea state, I noticed that every once in a while, we would crash off the back of a wave as the boat slammed down.  I was looking astern and most of the waves were being taken at an angle, but some waves were taken straight on.  All waves were the same in the moderate 3-5 foot range.  To stop the slamming of the boat over the top of the occasional wave, we cracked off about 5 degrees more and  slowed the boat down to 5 knots.  No more bashing over the waves.

If you have ever witnessed a phosphorescent sea at night,  you know how special the experience can be.  We were motoring along at night and I was impressed with all of the phosphorescence I was witnessing as dolphins cavorted and splashed along the starboard side of the boat.  There was no phosphorescence on the port side though there were dolphins there also. Finally, it dawned on me that the “phosphorescence” on the starboard side was simply the whitewater reflecting the (green) light from the running lights.  Red (port) running lights don’t seem to reflect the light!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice