FEBRUARY 13, 2024 REACH UNTIL YOU FINISH

 

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

REACH UNTIL YOU FINISH

We have been very fortunate this winter being able to sail on most Tuesdays despite dodging storm fronts, storm surf and shoaled harbor entrance.  For this pre-valentine day sail, all systems came together for a perfect sail.  Rain was due for Wednesday, but clear for Tuesday and a nice  16 knot breeze was predicted.  As we left the harbor, it was apparent that the Predict Wind forecast was spot on!  The only problem was the presence of only one mark to use: MILE.   From Gov to Mile, with a 235 degree wind is a reach both ways.  That’s ok, there is nothing wrong with drag racing!  We set the start line not square to the wind so that there was not a predominant favored end of the line.  We called for a course: Start>Mile>Gov>Mile>finish at Gov. We had ten boats out for the fun and blew a 5 minute at 3:55 for a single fleet start.

All boats got off for a clean start as the drag race to Mile began. The only tactic to employ was trying to get clear unobstructed wind as all boats sailed straight for Mile.  The first boat to round Mile was Flexi Flyer followed closely by Perfect 36, Watts Moore, Avatar, Pair A Dice, Simpatico and Nidaros. As boats rounded Mile they all reached (once again) back toward Gov then reached back to Mile and yet another reach back to finish at Gov.

The first across the finish line was Flexi Flyer 39:37 then Perfect 36 39:42,  Watts Moore 40:54, Avatar 41:22, Simpatico 42:10, Pair A Dice 43:22 and  Nidaros 44:28.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 4.52NM.

It was awesome getting back out on the water with such great wind  and sailing conditions.  With all legs of the course being reaching legs, all you needed to do was reach until you finished.

PHRF CORRECTED RESULTS:

PLACE   BOAT                                     PHRF                     CORRECTED TIME

1             PERFECT 36                        144                        28:51

2             WATTS MOORE                  150                        29:36

3             SIMPATICO                          165                        29:44

4             SAILING PAIR A DICE       180                        29:48

5             AVATAR                                132                        31:26

6             FLEXY FLYER                      96                         32:23

7             NIDAROS                             108                        36:20

 

 RACE QS:

We had several boats that did not upload tracks.  If you want to be certain that you have a track shown on Race QS, it may be good to have two phones record the track, so if one fails the other can be used. The track for this evening can be found at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=96923&updatedAt=2024-02-14T01:16:48Z&dt=2024-02-13T15:50:11-08:00..2024-02-13T17:04:13-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1707871468334&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Perf36&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.958293&lon=-122.012386&tilt=8&range=239&heading=232

COMMENTS ON REACH SAILING:

It seems like there is nothing to learn when there are no tactics involved with all legs of a 4.5 mile race being a reaching point of sail.  Waterline becomes a distinct advantage, but there are other things to consider.  While racing normally is windward- leeward (upwind-downwind), reaching all the way has a few different considerations.    Clear air is one consideration, but studying the Race QS tracks reveals another important consideration. Click the arrow on the left of the screen and select “compare two boats”. Select two boats to consider and after boats have finished the race in Race QS, check the results. One of the factors to consider is average angle of heel for the whole race.  Angle of heel is always an important consideration, but when no tactics are involved, it becomes critical.  The angle of heel between all boats sailing this afternoon ranged from 1 degree to 14 degrees.  The boats that did best on this evening had low heeling angles.  Getting weight up on the rail is one consideration, but twisting the top of the sail  (travel  up,  sheet out) can help to decrease the angle of heel.

These are my observations. We have many excellent sailors in our group. I would be interested in other sailors’ perspective on this subject.

It looks like rain is forecast for next Tuesday.  We will see what develops.  I will email a cancellation by noon on Tuesday if the race will be cancelled.

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This excellent perspective was presented by John Robison who was  sailing on Perfect 36. 

RE: your blog comments I can add a few thoughts (some discussed on P36 during the race)

I think in general reaching has slightly fewer tactics (no tack/jibe considerations), but everything else still holds, keeping things just as interesting from my perspective...

• Lots of tactics on mark rounding (as always), and clean tack/jibe even more important since it happens infrequently.
• Waterline is a part of the equation, but if you look at finishing order, its not everything, even when reaching...
• You noted clean air - which is always a consideration, but even more so on a long reach without any chance to "tack away" for clearer air.
• Heel (or maybe more generally, proper heel as a result of proper sail trim) is ALWAYS important, regardless of wind angle. ;)
• More generally on sail trim - trimming to "maximize gusts" was really important for us in this race, anticipating the wind and constantly adjusting sails to match, as opposed to close-hauled where we typically adjust the boat angle more than the sail angle. Reaching is a good workout/training for the trimmers!

In addition to clean air, we were so close to FF in this race, we also tried to ride their stern wave. Though the swells were pretty small, being inside the (water) wake, but high enough to avoid bad air, kept us very close despite FF having a much better PHRF rating. 

Thank you John!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice