DECEMBER 12, 2023 GUENTER'S RACE

 

DECEMBER 12, 2023

GUENTER’S RACE

With predictions for 7 knot winds, I was encouraged with the prospects for this afternoon’s sail. Unfortunately, as we left the harbor, the ocean looked more like a lake than an ocean.  Such is winter sailing in Santa Cruz!  We motored over to the Gov area and sat motionless in the water, though we did feel a very faint southerly breeze.  When I say faint, I am talking about 1-2 knots of “breeze”.  With 10 boats out, we set a line and placed a “breeze-ward” mark some 150 yards out and blew a 5-minute horn at 2:55 for a single fleet 3pm start.

It was frustrating with boats milling aimlessly around the start line, but some boats had reasonable starts. In such light wind, clear air is more essential than ever, especially if you are not sailing a light boat.  This was apparent as the heavier boats needed to beam reach up and down the start line while the lighter boats made their way to the temporary mark. The first boat around the mark was Guenter’s Wind II followed by Rosie, Interlude, Yellow Belly and Avatar.  Several boats got close to the mark, but were not able to round.

The first boat to cross the finish line was Wind II 34:48 followed by Rosie 38:55, Yellow Belly 43:43 and Avatar 46:53.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 0.34 NM. While it was a frustrating afternoon on the water, the lighter boats were the only ones to finish with Guenter leading the group on Wind II.

Race QS:

The track for this evening can be viewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=96164&updatedAt=2023-12-13T00:45:46Z&dt=2023-12-12T14:45:01-08:00..2023-12-12T16:41:47-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1702421936578&focus=Yellowbelly&rival=ROSIE&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.957286&lon=-122.010070&tilt=11&range=974&heading=164

 

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE   BOAT                                     PHRF                     CORRECTED TIME

1             WIND II                                 213                        33:35

2             ROSIE                                    162                        37:59

3             YELLOW BELLY                    141                        42:55

4             AVATAR                                132                        46:08

TIDAL CURRENTS AND LIGHT WINDS:

This evening was interesting with the interplay of the light wind and the currents that were in effect. On Pair A Dice, we had some close crossings with other boats as we s-l-o-w-l-y drifted by each other. There seemed to be a current that made the crossings even more interesting.  We even had a close encounter with GOV with just enough wind to fight the current and clear the ball within inches.  I usually watch the kelp that is attached to the bottom to see which way the current is flowing, but there was no attached kelp in the area.  You can also determine currents by observing kelp attached to a mark.

Lets hope for a “Christmas wind” next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice