OCTOBER 14,2024
THE DEFINITION OF
“LIGHT AND VARIABLE”
I watched through the afternoon as the flags showed a
healthy Westerly breeze. Predictions for
the evening were for 9 knots decreasing to 3 knots. As we left the harbor around 4:15, there was
a good Westerly breeze with a large cloud bank overhead sprinkling us with
chilly drops of encouragement. You do
have foul weather gear on board, right?
We called for course W 5 and the wind diminished as the
clock ticked down for the Fleet A start.
As we approached the B Fleet start time, the wind was quickly dropping
even more. Indeed, as we crossed the
start line, something was strange with the wind. We were in a weak Easterly breeze and we
adjusted sails for the new wind. We
sailed very slowly downwind toward Schuyler.
At one point we sat motionless
with no wind at all, then suddenly a 13
knot Westerly hit us that got us around Schuyler.
On the sail back to Schuyler, most boats sailed the rhum
line through the very weak Easterly.
Makani stayed outside in the stronger westerly breeze avoiding the very
large transition zone and crossed the finish line minutes ahead of the next
boat to finish. Due to a Regatta Hero glitch, Makani had no track but we all
saw them finish. Sailing through such a
large transition zone was the true definition of “Light and Variable”
conditions.
To see the Fleet A track:
Fleet B can be viewed
at:
PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:
PLACE BOAT PHRF ET CORRECTED
FLEET A: COURSE W5 DISTANCE 2.4NM
1 SOPHIE 141 48:50 43:12
2 DOUBLE
ESPRESSO 99 51:44 47:46
3 ABORIGINAL 33 50:12 48:52
FLEET B: COURSE W5
DISTANCE 2.4NM
1 MAKANI 147 ?? ??
2 PERFECT
36 144 1:06:36 1:00:50
3 SAILING
PAIR A DICE 180 1:09:33 1:02:20
4 PACIFIC
SPIRIT 165 1:09:26 1:02:49
5 NIDAROS 118 1:08:45 1:04:01
6 GOLD RUSH 122 1:11:00 1:06:07
7 ABSOLUTE
05 117 1:15:20 1:10:39
WINTER TUESDAY AFTERNOON SAILING:
This may be redundant but we need a representative for each
boat (the skipper?) to provide contact information in case a race is cancelled
during our winter sails. This
registration requires no money, just 5 minutes of your time.
Please use this link to
register for our Winter Tuesday Afternoon series. Even if you registered for
the Tues Night, we still need you to register for the Afternoon Series to
review updated NOR and SI's AND to
ensure we have current contact information.
ZOOP
SCOOP BY PAUL TARA
THE
RACE
Zoop
did not sail this week. From the Harbor Cam and Regatta Hero it looked
like a classic go and stop race. In A, Sophie proved again that little boats
rule in light air. In B, Perfect 36 proved that good karma pays. She did
a penalty turn right after the start and came from behind for the win.
OCTOBER
CHANGE
I
was not sure what to write this morning. Until I went out and got the paper.
.jpeg)
Santa
Cruz Harbor was justified as a “Harbor of Refuge” for the local fishing fleet.
This is why. Prior to its construction in the 1960’s, every fall, after
the first storm, the Main Beach would be littered with scenes like this.
Probably the most well known wreck was the 125’ schooner Shamrock
VI. Driven ashore by a southerly gale in 1972, she later sank under tow off
Half Moon Bay. The photo below is 1959.
.jpeg)
October is the month when things change. In a normal southwesterly (240°) Santa Cruz provides a nice protected anchorage. That’s the bait. But Monday’s forecast was for south southwesterly (200°). Forty degree shift. Oops, no more lee. That’s the trap springing shut. Winter sailing here is not without risks. Conditions can change rapidly. Pay attention to the marine forecasts and heed Barry’s warnings.
Monday
was Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day. A Genoese, sailing for Spain, Chris
never made it to North America. He couldn’t. His ships weren’t weatherly enough.
After leaving Spain, he basically just ran down the northeast trades, straight
to the Caribbean. For the return, he reached north, picked up the
westerlies and ran back. But as for thrashing across the North Atlantic,
forget it. The Spanish left that to the French and English — big mistake.
Not only did they never bag any meaningful East Coast real estate north of
Florida but, around a century later, their ships’ lack of windward ability really
caught up with the them. In 1588, the Armada set out from Lisbon, and
sailed close-hauled on starboard tack for 36 hours, got headed, tacked, and
sailed back close-hauled on port tack for another 36, only to end up with a
gain to weather of just 5 miles after 3 days. (Beating to
Davenport would have taken them a week and a half, or more.) When
they did finally make it into the Channel, the English ships were so much more
weatherly they literally sailed rings around the Spanish. A series of westerly
gales finished the job. As a maritime power, Spain never recovered. Fast is fun
— but you have to stay off the beach.
WISS I’ve
been asked to speak at one of these. Any topic you’re particularly
interested in? zoop@cruzio.com.
I hope to see you sailing next Tuesday with our early (4:55 & 5:00) start.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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