APRIL 30, 2024 CHALLENGING CONDITIONS

 

APRIL  30, 2024

CHALLENGING CONDITIONS!

With wind predictions calling for 5 knot winds with 23 knot gusts, it was anyone's guess what we would get.  Watching the flags through the afternoon and was not encouraging.  As we left the harbor around 5 o’clock, we saw a wind line further out, but lighter wind at the start area.  Being a BBQ night at the club, I was thinking of a short course and called for a Mile and back to start course but at about 5:45 the wind kicked up and I changed the course to Whiskey 3: Start> Schuyler>Blacks>Finish.  We blew the “10 minute horn” at 5:50 as the wind settled back into a lull. 

There were two possible strategies for a start.  Start at the S/F end  of the line to be closer to the wind line or start toward the orange ball to take advantage of greater wind developing further west.  The latter strategy seemed to work best as we saw very little wind at the southern end of the line as the boats sailed away on the other end of the line.  The game for this evening was searching and getting to the pockets of wind.  As I saw boats drifting in light wind, I called over the radio to shorten the course to eliminate Blacks and to round S/F to port after rounding Schuyler. 

The first  Fleet A boat to round Schuyler was Watts Moore followed by Aboriginal, Sagittarius, Double Espresso, Interlude, Aquavit, Flexi Flyer and Rosie.  Zoop led Fleet B followed by Animal House, Avatar, Gold Rush, Big Mac, Pacific Spirit, Kicks, and Pair A Dice.  While it was very frustrating sailing into a very light wind and waves impeding progress, once we rounded Schuyler, we were sailing into a developing Easterly for a delightful sail  back to the S/F finish.

At the finish, Watts Moore was first in  A Fleet 54:19 followed by Aboriginal 54:40, Sagittarius 1:01:03, Double Espresso 1:07:56, Interlude 1:11:34, Aquavit 1:11:43, Duet 1:12:27, Flexi Flyer 1:20:02 and Rosie 1:39:49.  B Fleet was led by Zoop 1:18:52 then Animal House   1:20:54, Gold Rush 1:22:08, Avatar 1:24:48, Big Mac 1:28:36, Pacific Spirit 1:31:13, Sailing Pair A Dice 1:41:04 and Kicks 1:48:25.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 2.69NM.

On this evening, it was all about finding the pockets of wind to get ahead of other boats.  My goal is to call for courses that allow most boats to finish, and though we had a few boats drop out, most boats continued to finish this evening despite the challenging conditions.

 

DESPITE THE CHALLENGING CONDITIONS, WE WERE REWARDED WITH A GLORIOUS                                                                                 SUNSET

 PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                 BOAT                                   PHRF                   CORRECTED TIME

FLEET A:

1             WATTS MOORE                             150                       47:35

2             ABORIGINAL                                 33                         53:11

3             SAGITTARIUS                                120                       55:40

4             DOUBLE ESPRESSO                      99                         1:03:29

5             INTERLUDE                                    141                       1:05:14

6             DUET                                                141                       1:06:07

7             AQUAVIT                                         72                          1:08:29

8             FLEXI FLYER                                  96                          1:15:43

9             ROSIE                                               162                        1:32:33

FLEET B:

1             ZOOP                                                 144                       1:12:24

2             ANIMAL HOUSE                             108                       1:16:03

3             GOLD RUSH                                    126                       1:16:29

4             BIG MAC                                          222                       1:18:38             

5             AVATAR                                            130                       1:18:53

6             PACIFIC SPIRIT                              165                       1:23:49

7             SAILING PAIR A DICE                   180                       1:32:59

8             KICKS                                              180                        1:40:20

_)                     _)                                            _)                                                  (_           (_

RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be reviewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=98181&updatedAt=2024-05-01T03:06:11Z&dt=2024-04-30T17:45:04-07:00..2024-04-30T20:05:02-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1714530880586&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Big%20Mac&tab=match&view=match

SAILING IN VERY LIGHT WIND:

While flopping around in light wind and not making any progress.  I decided to furl our jib, which was not working at all.  We tightened the main sheet, traveled down so the light wind was blowing directly into the main sail.  Without the jib flopping around, and using the mainsail we seemed to make better progress.

COMMODORES REGATTA:  

This Saturday, May 4 is the yearly Commodores regatta.  Be sure to register to participate in this fun regatta.  It will be a pursuit race meaning the slower boats start first. You can register at:  SCYC.org/regattas.  Scroll down to Commodore’s regatta and register.

I hope to see you sailing  next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice