OCTOBER 28, 2025
SEASON FINALE WITH A
GLITCH
Predictions for the afternoon were for 2-10 knots of wind
and clear skies. As we left the harbor
at 4 o’clock there was a steady 8-10 knot breeze across the bay. The wind was from 230 degrees and we set a
line square to this and called for W5.
Paul covers the conditions in great detail in the Zoop Scoop below. As we sailed toward Schuyler we saw the wind
was decreasing and tried to shorten course in Regatta Hero without success, so
we shortened course by radio to finish at Schuyler. As we approached Schuyler RH notified us that
the race would start in 5 minutes.
Regatta Hero was starting our race at 6pm even though we had set it for a 5pm start. This was a major problem since the tracks did
not start until 5:55 and most of A fleet had finished with no display of tracks
to collect finish times. Since we were
not able to shorten course in RH, all boats in both fleets were rated DNF by
Regatta Hero.
Despite the lack of data from RH, there were boats that did
well in the challenging conditions.
Absolute 05 executed a perfect race and was halfway to the harbor by the
time the RH track appeared at 5:55.
Perfect 36 also did well. With no
data from Regatta Hero it is impossible to
assign scores for boats. It was a good season finale but with a glitch: no RH
data.
We had a great turnout at the barbecue. A HUGE thanks to Mike Gross for all of his
work on this event for the whole season.
WINTER SEASON TUESDAY
AFTERNOON SAILING
Next Tuesday will be the
start of the winter Tuesday sailing starting at 3:00. A Horn will be blown at 2:50 for A Fleet to
start at 2:55, B Fleet starting at 3:00.
A third, new spinnaker fleet, will start at 3:05. The single horn, blown at 2:50 is a 5 minute
horn for Fleet A, a 10 minute horn for Fleet B and a 15 minute horn for the
spinnaker fleet. As usual, racers may
choose whichever fleet they prefer, but Fleet A and B are for Jib and Main
and Spin fleet is only for spinnakers.
Fleets may be combined with low participation. Different courses may be used
for different fleets. Listen on channel 69 and Regatta Hero for announcement of
courses and other pertinent information. If you have not registered in Clubspot
for this series please register so you will be notified if a race is cancelled.
To register click on this link https://scyc.org/regatta/jOnYPnfHqB Registration is free.
REGATTA HERO CHANGES:
In the past, in the registration
screen we asked for the boat name to be entered in the sail number. This has
changed to putting the boat name in the boat name field and sail number goes in
the sail number slot. This allows
identification of boats on the replay.
Other RH changes will be
covered in future blog posts.
“Zoop
Scoop” by Paul Tara
POOF!
Poof!
Not with a Bang or a Whimper. Just Poof, as in “into the ether”. That’s how our
season ended. Either we muffed Regatta Hero, or Halloween gremlins snuck in an
early appearance. Because one thing that didn’t appear was our track.
Probably just as well.
First
mistake: picked the wrong fleet. A Fleet had breeze pretty much all the way to
Schuyler. B Fleet wasn’t so lucky. The wind, a light southwesterly at 240° was
showing signs of giving up as we left the Harbor. But we were lulled into
ignoring it by the beautiful evening and earlier start time.
Second
mistake: OCS at the port end. (It’s amazing how no amount luffing and
zig-zagging will slow down six and a half tons when you really need it to.) We
did not restart because the other end of the line was completely obscured by
half the fleet that were in the same predicament. But we did later request
Barry score us OCS.
Third
mistake: greed (starting to believe your own BS). In the last Scoop I wrote
about footing out from under the fleet on starboard. Looked good right after
the start. But it wasn’t the same kind of night. At about 7 minutes we
could have easily tacked and crossed the fleet. But, we ignored the
opportunity, the wind went right and were trapped on the left. When we finally
tacked, Absolute ‘05 came out lifted on starboard and crossed ahead.
Then, as the breeze continued to die, it backed to the south and we were
caught on the right. Absolute ‘05, now sailing lifted on port, crossed several
hundred feet ahead to finish first, followed by P36 which rode a puff off
Lighthouse Field (the forecast offshore trying to fill?) right around us at the
finish. Whereupon we hit Schuyler and withdrew.
In
retrospect, the breeze behaved predictably. First half of the beat, as usual,
it shifted right (we were on the left). Second half, as it began to die, it
shifted left (we were on the right). Then it continued backing until it
was easterly. That’s sailboat racing.
LET
THERE BE LIGHTS
It’s
getting darker. Time to think about nav lights.
Green
to green, red to red,
All
is clear, go ahead.
If
in doubt which is proper,
Port,
starboard, back, or stop her.
While
it’s true that “port wine is red,” running light
colors are not based on alcoholic beverages. If they
were, we’d all be sailing around with port and ‘absinthe’ running lights.
Red is the universally recognized signal for danger (Code flag B, solid red,
means danger —“protest” or, “I am loading ammunition” — take your pick.)
Because of their restricted arcs of visibility (112.5° either side of dead
ahead) running lights convey a lot of info quickly. Seeing both red and green
simultaneously is self-explanatory; better alter course immediately so that
only one color is visible. If two sailing vessels are approaching on opposite
tacks, we know the one on starboard tack has the right-of-way. She is the
“stand-on” vessel and is presenting her RED port running light to the other.
Red = STOP, you are in danger. Conversely, the vessel on port tack is the
“give-way” vessel and is presenting her GREEN starboard running light to the
other. Green = GO. It’s just like a traffic signal. If you
see a red light you should stop or alter course so as to avoid collision.
In fact, it’s something to contemplate the next time you’re sitting
at an intersection. Why does that car on the right get to go
first? Easy — humans were sailing with ‘steerboards’ about 1,000 years before
the advent of the automobile — it’s on starboard tack.
Thank you
Paul!
I hope to see
you sailing next Tuesday afternoon at 3pm.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair
A Dice
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