JANUARY 16, 2024 VOILA, WE HAVE WIND!

 

JANUARY 16, 2024

VOILA, WE HAVE WIND!

Winter sailing can present challenges in Santa Cruz.  As if rain and shoaling at the harbor were not enough of a challenge, predictions of “light and variable” winds are too common. For this afternoon, we got a reprieve with no rain until later and the harbor deep enough for all boats to transit the entrance at high tide.  We still had to contend with Mr. “light and variable”, so we were pleasantly surprised to see a steady 8 knot wind across the water.  Since the wind was so light, we set a windward mark out off the end of the wharf.  We had six boats out for the fun, and we called for twice around the windward mark. We could always shorten course if Mr. “light and variable” raised his ugly head.

We blew the five-minute horn at 2:55 for a 3pm start and all boats tacked their way toward the temporary windward mark. Rosie was first around, followed by Avatar, Aquavit, Pair A Dice and Kicks.  With no decrease in the wind, we all made it around the second time and finished at GOV with the finish line being an extension of the line from  wharf end through GOV

At the finish, Rosie was first 27:29, then Avatar 28:11, Aquavit 28:46, Pair A Dice 33:16 and Kicks 35:02.  All times are elapsed, and the course distance was one nautical mile.

As we collected the marks, we were getting peppered with rain, a small price to pay for a pleasant sail.  It is always a pleasant surprise when you expect no wind and show up to a bay with enough wind to have a sail and a race: VOILA, WE HAVE WIND!

PHRF CORRECTED RESULTS:

PLACE          BOAT                     PHRF            CORRECTED TIME

1        ROSIE                             162             24:47

2        AVATAR                           132             25:59

3        AQUAVIT                         72               27:34

4        PAIR A DICE                   180             30:16

5        KICKS                             180             32:02        

 

RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be seen at:

 https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1147771&updatedAt=2024-01-17T00:40:51Z&dt=2024-01-16T14:49:59-08:00..2024-01-16T16:40:48-08:00&boat=Aquavit&time=1705447379037&focus=Aquavit&rival=Sailing%20Pair%20A%20Dice&tab=setup&view=follow&lat=36.955641&lon=-122.015391&tilt=11&range=595&heading=340       

I hope conditions are favorable for us next Tuesday and hope to see you then.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice